How Did 436-Million-Year-Old Sea Creatures Use Setae for "Social Distancing"?w Did 436-Million-Year-Old Sea Creatures Use Setae for "Social Distancing"?
Recently, researchers Huang Bing and Rong Jiayu from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, conducted a detailed study on a fossil population of early Silurian brachiopods, approximately 436 million years old, discovered in the Tongzi and Renhuai region of Guizhou Province, South China. They have revealed for the first time how these ancient marine bottom-dwellers “cleverly” used tiny structures on their bodies, their setae, to maintain "social distancing" from each other, forming a remarkably orderly living arrangement. This research has been published in the journal PNAS.
2025-07-21
Understanding Earth's Critical Life Transitions: New Special Issue Deciphers Deep-Time Crises
China and adjacent regions, particularly the South China Block, preserve uniquely continuous and complete stratigraphic records spanning the paleo-equator within the Tethyan domain. This serves as a natural laboratory for studying Earth system changes during crucial turning points. The international journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology has recently published a virtual special issue titled "Biotic crises and environmental changes during the critical transitions from the late Neoproterozoic to the late Triassic in China and adjacent regions".
2025-07-16
“Explosive” development of Ordovician reefs may be an illusion of preservation bias
Forseveraldecades,thescientificconsensusheldthatreef-buildingorganismslikestromatoporoidsponges,corals,andbryozoansunderwentsudden"explosive"developmentduringtheGreatOrdovicianBiodiversificationEvent(GOBE)inthelateDarriwilian(MiddleOrdovician),dramaticallyincreasingmarinebiodiversity.However,recentdiscoveriesbyresearchersfromtheNanjingInstituteofGeologyandPalaeontology,ChineseAcademyofScienceschallengedthisnarrative.Theteamidentifiedtheoldestknownstromatoporoidfossils(~480millionyearsold)inYuan'an,Yichang,HubeiProvince—pushingtherecordofstromatoporoidreefsbacktoEarlyOrdovician.Surprisingly,thiswasfollowedbya20-million-year"reefgap"wherefossilrecordsnearlyvanished,raisingcriticalquestions:WhydidreefrecordsdisappearaftertheEarlyOrdovician?Whydidreef-buildingorganismsseeminglyvanishfor20millionyears?Andwhydidtheysuddenly"explode"indiversityduringthelateDarriwilian?OnJune30th,researchersledbyLiQijian(NIGPAS),JeonJuwan(KoreaUniversity),andLeeJeong-Hyun(ChungnamNationalUniversity)integratedstratigraphicsequencesandfossiloccurrencedatafrommajorpaleocontinents.Databasedcorrelationanalysesrevealedthattheapparent"explosion"maynotreflecttrueevolutionarydynamicsofreefecosystemduringthelateMiddleOrdovician.Instead,itlikelystemsfromaglobalsea-levelfall(~475–460millionyearsago)thaterasedshallowmarinecarbonateenvironments—criticalforreefdevelopmentandfossilpreservation.Thisregressioncausedwidespreaderosion,wipingoutfossilrecordsofearlyreef-builders.Whensealevelsroseagaininthemid-lateDarriwilian,already-diversifiedorganismsrapidlyrecolonizednewlyfloodedhabitats,creatinganillusionofsuddendiversification.Thisphenomenon—termedthe"Sppil-Rongiseffect"(theinverseoftheSignor-Lippseffect)—demonstrateshowimprovedpreservationconditionscangeneratefalsesignalsofabruptbiologicalradiation.Critically,thestudyreframestheGOBEnotasadiscrete"explosiveevent"butaspartofacontinuousevolutionarytrajectory,repeatedlyinterruptedandreshapedbysea-levelfluctuationsandpreservationbiases.ThissupportstheviewthattheCambrianExplosionandOrdovicianBiodiversificationconstituteasingleextendeddiversificationprocess.Theresearchunderscoreshowpreservationbiasesfundamentallydistortourunderstandingofevolutionaryhistory,emphasizingtheneedtodisentangletruebiologicalsignalsfromgeologicalartifactsinreconstructingEarth'slifestory.Fig.1.Diversity(numberofgenera)ofreef-buildingmetazoans(stromatoporoids,corals,andbryozoans)andreefoccurrencesthroughtime.Fig.2.Globalsea-levelcurveduringtheOrdovician,schematicstratigraphiccolumnsforLaurentiaandSino-KoreanBlock,andcarbonateandsiliciclasticsedimentaryrockarea.Fig.3.GlobalpaleogeographicmapsoftheEarly,Middle,andLateOrdovician,showingthedistributionofreef-buildingmetazoans(stromatoporoids,tabulateandrugosecorals,andbryozoans).Fig.4.SchematicillustrationoftheSppil–Rongiseffectinreefevolution,coupledwithsea-levelchanges.
2025-07-07
Junggar Basin Sediments Reveal Interplay Between Solar System Chaos and Earth’s Carbon Cycle
Researchers from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Columbia University, along with their collaborators, have analyzed sediments from the terrestrial Sangonghe Formation (Late Early Jurassic) in China’s Junggar Basin, revealing information both on Solar System chaos and the global carbon cycle. Their findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
2025-07-02
Multidisciplinary Evidence Reveals Climate–Carbon-Cycle Interactions During the Carnian Pluvial Episode
TheMesozoicErawasmarkedbylong-termgreenhouseclimatesandrepeatedhyperthermalevents—periodsofrapidglobalwarming—thatprofoundlyaffectedlife,ecosystems,andpetroleumsystems.TheCarnianPluvialEpisode(CPE,~234–232Ma),ischaracterizedbyglobalwarming,intensifiedhydrologicalcycling,increasedcontinentalweatheringanderosion,andexpandedmarineanoxia.Popularizedasa“million‑yearglobalrain”(Marshall2019,Nature),andoftenlinkedtodinosauremergence,theCPE’striggermechanismsandclimatefeedbackpatternshavelongremainedcontroversial.AmultinationalteamledbyProf.BoWangfromtheNanjingInstituteofGeologyandPalaeontology(CAS),withcollaboratorsfromtheInstituteofVertebratePaleontologyandPaleoanthropology(CAS),SouthernMarineScienceandEngineeringGuangdongLaboratory(Zhuhai),InstituteofGeochemistry(CAS),GuangzhouInstituteofGeochemistry(CAS),VrijeUniversiteitBrussel,UniversityofOxford,UniversityofMünster,AlfredWegenerInstitute,reportedacontinuouslacustrinesequence(Dalongkousection)inthesouthernJunggarBasin,northwesternChina.Usingmethodsofstratigraphy,sedimentology,geochemistry,cyclostratigraphyandEarthsystemmodeling,theysystematicallyinvestigatedthemechanisticoriginoftheCPE,climate–carbonfeedbacks,andprecipitationpatterns.TheirfindingswerepublishedonlineonJune30,2025inNatureCommunications.1.MechanisticoriginoftheCPEHigh-resolutionmercury(Hg)concentrationsandisotopesrevealthatapproximately38,000yearsbeforetheCPEonset,theWrangelliaLargeIgneousProvince(LIP)beganreleasingisotopicallylightcarbon.ThisreleasecorrespondedwithHganomaliesandanabruptbutrelativelyweaknegativeδ13Cshift(POE),coincidingwithinitialwarming.Astemperaturespassedathreshold,heat-sensitivecarbonreservoirs,suchassedimentaryorganicmatter,permafrost,andespeciallymarinemethanehydratesweretriggered.Thesequenceofevents,includingevidenceforvolcanicactivityfollowedbyalargeCIEmaysupportascenariowherebytheemplacementoftheWrangelliaLIPpriortotheCPEinducednetpositiveclimate–carbon-cyclefeedbacks.2.Climate–carbon-cycleinteractionthroughtheCPETheirfindingsshowthattheCPEterrestrialcarboncycling,ataδ13Corgscaleof±1‰,displaysanin-phaserelationshipwiththe405-kyrlong-eccentricitymetronome,whichappearssimilartothewarmhouseclimate–carbon-cyclepresentthroughouttheOligo–Mioceneinterval.Thisresult,togetherwithpreviouslong-termcarbon-isotoperecords,showsthatsuchaclimate–carbon-cycleinteractionmayhavebeenwidespreadthroughoutthewarmMesozoicEra,includinghyperthermalintervals.Therefore,thisclimate–carboninteractionmaybethenormaftertheemergenceofvascularplants,whereasthecoldhouseclimate–carbon-cycledynamicsoftheearliestPliocenemayrepresentamoreunusualsituation.3.ThehydrologicalcycleduringtheCPEAnalysisofpalynologyandEarthsystemmodelsimulationsrevealsthatprecipitationchangesduringtheCPEexhibitedspatialheterogeneity,accompaniedbyapolewardshiftofpre-existingprecipitationzonesandnoevidenceforglobalhumidification.TheheterogeneouspatternofprecipitationchangesischaracterisedbypredominantlyincreasedprecipitationneartheEquatorandathighlatitudes,whilesubtropicallatitudesexhibitdiminishedrainfall.IncontrasttoprevioushypothesesregardingunusualglobalhumidificationduringtheCPE,theintegratedstratigraphyandEarthsystemmodelhighlightthespatialvariationsinglobalprecipitationpatterns,characterisedbyincreasedaridificationincontinentalinteriorsandtheemergenceofmultipleprecipitationcentresinlow-latitudeeasterncontinentsandpolarregions,includingtheArctic,northeasternTethys,northeasternGondwana,andtheAntarctic.4.ImplicationforunderstandingpasthyperthermaleventsTheCPEshareskeyfeaturesandperhapsdrivingmechanismswithseveralotherhyperthermaleventsincludingtheTriassic–Jurassichyperthermalevent,CretaceousOAEs,aswellasthePaleocene–EoceneThermalMaximum.Moreover,duringthehyperthermalevents,differentregionsmayhaveexperiencedperiodsofextremedroughtorsevereflooding,reflectingthecontrastingextremesofclimate.Thus,despitedifferencesinnomenclature,theseeventsshareafundamentalnatureashyperthermalepisodes.Thesesimilaritiessuggestthatunderstandingtheircommonalitymightholdessentialinformationonthenatureofhyperthermaleventsandspecificallywhichelementsintheclimateandcarboncyclecontributetotheseanomalouslywarmperiods.TheresearchwassupportedbytheNationalNaturalScienceFoundationofChinaandtheChineseAcademyofSciences.Reference:ZhaoXiangdong,XueNaihua,YangHu,ZhengDaran,PengJungang,FrielingJ.,DeVleeschouwerD.,FuXuewu,JiaWanglu,FangYanan,LiSha,WangMeng,ZhaoXianye,WangQiang,ZhangHaichun,ShaJingeng,JenkynsH.C.,ClaeysP.,WangBo(2025)Climate–carbon-cycleinteractionsandspatialheterogeneityoftheLateTriassicCarnianPluvialEpisode.NatureCommunications,https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61262-7.FieldworkphotoattheDalongkousection,XinjiangTheintegratedstratigraphycalibratedtotheastronomicaltimescaleoftheHuangshanjieFormationMagnificationofhigh-resolutiondataofthecarbon-isotopeexcursions(CIEs)andmodelforthecarboncycleduringtheCarnianPluvialEpisodeSimulatedclimatestatesbeforeandduringtheCarnianPluvialEpisode
2025-06-30
Fossils of Nemejcopteris haiwangii from the “vegetational Pompeii” provides new evidence for the climbing habit in late Paleozoic plants
Climbingisagrowthstrategyinwhichplantsrelyonotherplantsorsubstratesformechanicalsupporttogrowupward.Climbingplantsoccupyimportantecologicalnichesinnaturalcommunitiesandalsoholdsignificantvalueinhorticulturallandscapes.TheoriginofthisgrowthhabitcanbetracedbacktothelatePaleozoic,anditsevolutionarydiversificationiscloselycorrelatedwiththeincreasingstructuralcomplexityofforestecosystems.However,duetothelimitationsoffossilpreservation,directfossilevidenceofactualclimbingheightandecologicalinteractionsbetweenclimbersandtheirhostplantsremainsexceedinglyrareinpalaeobotanicalstudies.TheearlyPermianfossilLagerstätte“vegetationalPompeii”intheWudaCoalfieldofInnerMongolia,owingtoitsuniquemodeofburial,preservesnotonlytheexternalmorphologyandinternalanatomyofplantfossilsbutalsoevidenceofinteractionsbetweenplants.Therefore,itoftenprovidesexceptionalfossilevidenceofclimbingbehaviorinlatePaleozoicplants.Recently,theresearchteamleadbyProf.JunWangfromtheNanjingInstituteofGeologyandPalaeontology,ChineseAcademyofSciences,incollaborationwithcolleaguesfromtheInstituteofGeologyv.v.i.(CzechAcademyofSciences),theWestBohemianMuseuminPilsen,andStanfordUniversity,conductedanin-depthstudyonthefernNemejcopterishaiwangii.TheirfindingsconfirmthatN.haiwangiiexhibitedaclimbinghabit.TheresultswerepublishedintheinternationaljournalPalaeogeography,Palaeoclimatology,Palaeoecology.Nemejcopterishaiwangii,firstdiscoveredintheWuda“vegetationalPompeii,”wasoriginallyreconstructedasaground-coverplantwitharhizomatousstemanduprightfronds.Althoughpreviousstudiesidentifiedprickle-likestructuresonitsrachises,whichcouldhaveassistedinclimbing,directevidenceforthisbehaviorhadnotbeendocumented.ThisnewstudypresentsseveralexceptionallypreservedspecimensthatclearlyshowphysicalinteractionbetweenthefrondsofN.haiwangiiandthetrunksofPsaronius,therebyprovidingdefinitivefossilevidenceofclimbingbehaviorinthistaxon.PricklesofvaryingsizesarepresentonallordersofN.haiwangiirachises,suggestingthattheplantusedahook-climbingmechanismtogainsupportfromnearbyvegetation.However,comparedtoclimbingstrategiessuchastwiningoradhesivepads,thishook-basedmechanismappearsrelativelyweak.Quadrat-basedpalaeoecologicaldatafurtherrevealthatN.haiwangiifrondsinteractedprimarilywiththemiddletolowerportionsofPsaroniustrunks,suggestingalimitedclimbingheight—likelynomorethanfourmeters.Thisfurthersupportstheinterpretationofitsweakclimbingability.Takentogether,thenewfindingsindicatethatNemejcopterishaiwangiitypicallygrewasaground-coveringplantwitharhizomatousstemanderectfronds.However,whenencounteringasuitablehostsuchasPsaronius,itsfrondscouldbendandusethehostforadditionalsupport.ContrarytothetraditionalviewthatplantclimbinghabitsduringthelatePaleozoicwereprimarilycontrolledbylocalcanopyclosure,thisstudysuggeststhatNemejcopterishaiwangiicouldnotreachthecanopyandwasthereforenotregulatedbyforestcanopydensity.Itsfacultativeclimbingstrategymorelikelyrepresentsanadaptationtotheperiodicallywaterloggedconditionsattheforestfloorinswampyenvironments:whenwaterlevelsrose,facultativeclimberscouldascendtohigherpositions,enablingtheirfoliagetoconductgasexchangemoreeffectively.ThisprovidesanovelexplanationfortheabundantoccurrenceofclimbingplantsinthePermo-Carboniferouswetlandvegetation.ThisresearchwasjointlysupportedbytheNationalKeyResearchandDevelopmentProgramofChina,theNationalNaturalScienceFoundationofChina,andtheYouthInnovationPromotionAssociationofChineseAcademyofSciences.Reference:LiF.Y.,LiD.D.,VotočkováFrojdovaJ.,PšeničkaJ.,BoyceC.K.,WangJ.,ZhouW.M.*,2025.ClimbinghabitconfirmedintheearlyPermianzygopteridfernNemejcopterishaiwangiianditspalaeoecologicalsignificance.Palaeogeography,Palaeoclimatology,Palaeoecology.675:113101https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.113101.InteractionbetweenNemejcopterishaiwangiiandPsaronius.(A–C)Differentportionsofthesametrunk,showingN.haiwangiifrondsbendingandleaningagainstthetreefernstem;(D–E)ClimbingrachisesofN.haiwangiiandthepricklesontheirsurface;(F–G)UltimateandpenultimatepinnaeofN.haiwangiiNemejcopterishaiwangii(nh)climbingonthetreefernPsaronius(ps).(A)Dronephotographoftheexcavationsite;(B)CrownofthehosttreefernPsaronius;(C–D)PreservationofN.haiwangiimainlyconcentratedaroundthemiddletolowerportionsofaPsaroniustreefern,fieldphotosfrom2023Quadrat-basedfielddatashowingthatNemejcopterishaiwangiiprimarilyconcentratedaroundthemiddletolowerpportionsofaPsaroniustreefern.Quadratdatafrom2015
2025-06-26
Study of Ancient Rocks Helps Predict Potential for Future Marine Anoxia
Earth’s current climate is considered an “icehouse climate” due to the existence of polar ice caps. This is important because previous icehouse climates can better predict how atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels today may affect the risk of marine anoxia and subsequent marine biodiversity loss in the future.By combining these records with previously published carbonate carbon isotopes, paleo-CO2 data, and records of volcanic activity and plant evolution, the researchers quantitatively explored, through biogeochemical modeling, the global carbon cycle and marine oxygen conditions for this geological period. This work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).
2025-06-24
Major research advances have been made to the Ediacaran–Cambrian Boundary in Anti-Atlas, Morocco
TheEdiacaran–Cambriantransition(ECT)marksoneofthemostpivotalintervalsinevolutionaryhistory,characterizedbytheemergenceandrapidradiationofmulticellularlife.Arobustglobalchronostratigraphicframeworkiscrucialforelucidatingtheprocessesunderlyingthismajorbiologicalinnovationanditsrelationshiptocoevalpaleoenvironmentalchanges.Morocco'sAnti-AtlasregionpreservesoneofthemostcompletelateEdiacarantoearlyCambriancarbonatesuccessionsglobally(Figure1),providinganexceptionalnaturallaboratoryforsuchinvestigations.Nevertheless,theabsenceofdefinitivebiostratigraphicmarkersandincompleteunderstandingofbasintectonicshaveresultedinpersistentuncertaintiesregardingboththepreciseplacementoftheEdiacaran–Cambrianboundary(theCambrianBase)anditsconnectiontothebasin'stectonic-sedimentaryevolution.Toaddressthesequestions,Dr.YiweiXiongfromtheEarlyEvolutionofEarth-LifeSystemteamattheNanjingInstituteofGeologyandPalaeontology,ChineseAcademyofSciences,undertheguidanceofProfessorsBoChenandMaoyanZhu,collaboratedwithProfessorElHafidBouougri(CadiAyyadUniversity,Morocco)andcolleagues.Theteamconductedasystematic,interdisciplinarystudyoftheTabiasectioninMorocco’sAnti-Atlas,theirworkyieldedtwokeyfindings:Firstidentificationoffourdistincttectono-sedimentaryevolutionaryphasesintheAnti-AtlasBasinduringtheEdiacaran-Cambriantransition(Figure2);AreviseddefinitionoftheregionalEdiacaran-Cambrianboundary.TheseresultsunderwentpeerreviewandwerepublishedinGondwanaResearchonJune6,2025.ThisstudyrevealsthattheTabiaMemberexperiencedthreedistinctsyn-rifttectono-sedimentaryevolutionarystages,transitioningtoapost-riftstageintheoverlyingTifnoutFormation(Figure2).Systematicgeochemicalanalysessupportthisinterpretation.Thesyn-riftdolostonesoftheTabiaFormationdisplaycharacteristicallyelevated⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Srratios,positiveEu/Eu*anomalies,andsignificantenrichmentinMn,Pb,Fe,andZn(Figure3),indicatingdolomitizationinfluencedbymixedhydrothermal-seawaterfluids(Figure4).Incontrast,thepost-riftdolostonesoftheTifnoutFormationshowsubstantiallydiminishedhydrothermalsignatures(Figure3),consistentwithseawater-dominateddolomitization(Figure4).Thesecontrastinggeochemicalpatternsdocumentthebasin'stectonictransitionfromsyn-rifttopost-riftconditions.Furthermore,theinvestigationrevealedthepresenceofVendotaeniamacroalgae,adiagnosticlateEdiacaranindexfossil,withinshalehorizonsoftheTabiamember'sthirdsedimentarysequence(DS3).Integratedwithregionalchemostratigraphiccorrelations,thisstudypreciselyconstrainedthebaseofCambrian(theBACE-BasalCambrianCarbonIsotopeExcursion)toapositionapproximately50metersabovetheTamjoutDolomite(Figure5).Thisdefinedboundaryexhibitsremarkableconcordancewiththebasin'smajortectonictransitionsurface.ThestudydemonstratesthattheBACEnegativecarbonisotopeexcursionrepresentsagloballysynchronouschronostratigraphicmarker,therebyestablishingarobuststandardforidentifyingtheEdiacaran-CambrianboundarynotonlyintheAnti-Atlasbutalsoincoevalsedimentarybasinsworldwide.TheresearchwassupportedbytheNationalKeyResearchandDevelopmentProgramofChinaandtheNationalNaturalScienceFoundationofChina.Reference:YiweiXiong,BoChen*,XiaojuanSun,KaiChen,IbtissamChraiki,AihuaYang,ChunlinHu,ZhixinSun,BingPan,ChuanYang,TianchenHe,MiaoLu,TaoLi,FangchenZhao,MaoyanZhu,ElHafidBouougri.2025.IntegratedanalysesoftheEdiacaran-CambrianboundarysequenceinnorthernGondwana(Anti-Atlasplatform,Morocco).GondwanaResearch145:79–106.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2025.05.003.Figure1SimplifiedmapalongthenorthernmarginofWestAfricanCraton(WAC)showingtheoccurrenceoftheLateEdiacaran-CambrianstrataintheAnti-Atlasandcompositeδ13CcarbprofileoftheEdiacaran-LowerCambriansequenceintheAnti-AtlasFigure2Paleogeographyandtectono-sedimentaryevolutionacrosstheEdiacaran-CambriantransitionSynriftstage1(DS1):TheriftinitiationSynriftstage2,(DS2):Faultsreactivatedandriftpropagation,Synriftstage3(DS3):Continuedbasingrowth,tectonicsubsidenceandmarinetransgression,Postriftstage:StablecarbonateplatformandthermalsubsidenceFigure3Boxplotforcomparingalldata-featuresoftheDolomitetype1andDolomitetype2.Figure4InterpretativegeologicalsectionshowingtheconceptualmodelfortheformationmechanismoftheDolomitetype1(a)andDolomitetype2(b)(nottoscale)Figure5CarbonisotopechemostratigraphicandbiostratigraphiccorrelationbetweentheTabia,OuedSdass,OuedN’OuliliandZaouiasectionsinAnti-Atlasplatform
2025-06-17
How Did 436-Million-Year-Old Sea Creatures Use Setae for "Social Distancing"?w Did 436-Million-Year-Old Sea Creatures Use Setae for "Social Distancing"?Recently, researchers Huang Bing and Rong Jiayu from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, conducted a detailed study on a fossil population of early Silurian brachiopods, approximately 436 million years old, discovered in the Tongzi and Renhuai region of Guizhou Province, South China. They have revealed for the first time how these ancient marine bottom-dwellers “cleverly” used tiny structures on their bodies, their setae, to maintain "social distancing" from each other, forming a remarkably orderly living arrangement. This research has been published in the journal PNAS.2025-07-21
Middle Jurassic Coral Fossil from the Qiangtang Block Unveils New Paleobiogeographic Evidence for the Tibetan PlateauBased on 225 collected coral fossil specimens from the Buqu Formation in the Biluocuo area of northern Tibet, the research team prepared numerous thin sections, including 128 serial slices to observe morphological variations of the species. The results have recently been published in journal Palaeoworld.2025-07-18
Understanding Earth's Critical Life Transitions: New Special Issue Deciphers Deep-Time CrisesChina and adjacent regions, particularly the South China Block, preserve uniquely continuous and complete stratigraphic records spanning the paleo-equator within the Tethyan domain. This serves as a natural laboratory for studying Earth system changes during crucial turning points. The international journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology has recently published a virtual special issue titled "Biotic crises and environmental changes during the critical transitions from the late Neoproterozoic to the late Triassic in China and adjacent regions".2025-07-16
Breakthrough Study Confirms Lhasa Terrane Originated from Northeastern India BodyThe study led by Profs WANG Guangxu, ZHAN Renben from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS), along with their colleagues provides compelling evidence to resolve this longstanding controversy. Their findings were published in Gondwana Research.2025-07-11
“Explosive” development of Ordovician reefs may be an illusion of preservation biasForseveraldecades,thescientificconsensusheldthatreef-buildingorganismslikestromatoporoidsponges,corals,andbryozoansunderwentsudden"explosive"developmentduringtheGreatOrdovicianBiodiversificationEvent(GOBE)inthelateDarriwilian(MiddleOrdovician),dramaticallyincreasingmarinebiodiversity.However,recentdiscoveriesbyresearchersfromtheNanjingInstituteofGeologyandPalaeontology,ChineseAcademyofScienceschallengedthisnarrative.Theteamidentifiedtheoldestknownstromatoporoidfossils(~480millionyearsold)inYuan'an,Yichang,HubeiProvince—pushingtherecordofstromatoporoidreefsbacktoEarlyOrdovician.Surprisingly,thiswasfollowedbya20-million-year"reefgap"wherefossilrecordsnearlyvanished,raisingcriticalquestions:WhydidreefrecordsdisappearaftertheEarlyOrdovician?Whydidreef-buildingorganismsseeminglyvanishfor20millionyears?Andwhydidtheysuddenly"explode"indiversityduringthelateDarriwilian?OnJune30th,researchersledbyLiQijian(NIGPAS),JeonJuwan(KoreaUniversity),andLeeJeong-Hyun(ChungnamNationalUniversity)integratedstratigraphicsequencesandfossiloccurrencedatafrommajorpaleocontinents.Databasedcorrelationanalysesrevealedthattheapparent"explosion"maynotreflecttrueevolutionarydynamicsofreefecosystemduringthelateMiddleOrdovician.Instead,itlikelystemsfromaglobalsea-levelfall(~475–460millionyearsago)thaterasedshallowmarinecarbonateenvironments—criticalforreefdevelopmentandfossilpreservation.Thisregressioncausedwidespreaderosion,wipingoutfossilrecordsofearlyreef-builders.Whensealevelsroseagaininthemid-lateDarriwilian,already-diversifiedorganismsrapidlyrecolonizednewlyfloodedhabitats,creatinganillusionofsuddendiversification.Thisphenomenon—termedthe"Sppil-Rongiseffect"(theinverseoftheSignor-Lippseffect)—demonstrateshowimprovedpreservationconditionscangeneratefalsesignalsofabruptbiologicalradiation.Critically,thestudyreframestheGOBEnotasadiscrete"explosiveevent"butaspartofacontinuousevolutionarytrajectory,repeatedlyinterruptedandreshapedbysea-levelfluctuationsandpreservationbiases.ThissupportstheviewthattheCambrianExplosionandOrdovicianBiodiversificationconstituteasingleextendeddiversificationprocess.Theresearchunderscoreshowpreservationbiasesfundamentallydistortourunderstandingofevolutionaryhistory,emphasizingtheneedtodisentangletruebiologicalsignalsfromgeologicalartifactsinreconstructingEarth'slifestory.Fig.1.Diversity(numberofgenera)ofreef-buildingmetazoans(stromatoporoids,corals,andbryozoans)andreefoccurrencesthroughtime.Fig.2.Globalsea-levelcurveduringtheOrdovician,schematicstratigraphiccolumnsforLaurentiaandSino-KoreanBlock,andcarbonateandsiliciclasticsedimentaryrockarea.Fig.3.GlobalpaleogeographicmapsoftheEarly,Middle,andLateOrdovician,showingthedistributionofreef-buildingmetazoans(stromatoporoids,tabulateandrugosecorals,andbryozoans).Fig.4.SchematicillustrationoftheSppil–Rongiseffectinreefevolution,coupledwithsea-levelchanges.2025-07-07
Junggar Basin Sediments Reveal Interplay Between Solar System Chaos and Earth’s Carbon CycleResearchers from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Columbia University, along with their collaborators, have analyzed sediments from the terrestrial Sangonghe Formation (Late Early Jurassic) in China’s Junggar Basin, revealing information both on Solar System chaos and the global carbon cycle. Their findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).2025-07-02
Multidisciplinary Evidence Reveals Climate–Carbon-Cycle Interactions During the Carnian Pluvial EpisodeTheMesozoicErawasmarkedbylong-termgreenhouseclimatesandrepeatedhyperthermalevents—periodsofrapidglobalwarming—thatprofoundlyaffectedlife,ecosystems,andpetroleumsystems.TheCarnianPluvialEpisode(CPE,~234–232Ma),ischaracterizedbyglobalwarming,intensifiedhydrologicalcycling,increasedcontinentalweatheringanderosion,andexpandedmarineanoxia.Popularizedasa“million‑yearglobalrain”(Marshall2019,Nature),andoftenlinkedtodinosauremergence,theCPE’striggermechanismsandclimatefeedbackpatternshavelongremainedcontroversial.AmultinationalteamledbyProf.BoWangfromtheNanjingInstituteofGeologyandPalaeontology(CAS),withcollaboratorsfromtheInstituteofVertebratePaleontologyandPaleoanthropology(CAS),SouthernMarineScienceandEngineeringGuangdongLaboratory(Zhuhai),InstituteofGeochemistry(CAS),GuangzhouInstituteofGeochemistry(CAS),VrijeUniversiteitBrussel,UniversityofOxford,UniversityofMünster,AlfredWegenerInstitute,reportedacontinuouslacustrinesequence(Dalongkousection)inthesouthernJunggarBasin,northwesternChina.Usingmethodsofstratigraphy,sedimentology,geochemistry,cyclostratigraphyandEarthsystemmodeling,theysystematicallyinvestigatedthemechanisticoriginoftheCPE,climate–carbonfeedbacks,andprecipitationpatterns.TheirfindingswerepublishedonlineonJune30,2025inNatureCommunications.1.MechanisticoriginoftheCPEHigh-resolutionmercury(Hg)concentrationsandisotopesrevealthatapproximately38,000yearsbeforetheCPEonset,theWrangelliaLargeIgneousProvince(LIP)beganreleasingisotopicallylightcarbon.ThisreleasecorrespondedwithHganomaliesandanabruptbutrelativelyweaknegativeδ13Cshift(POE),coincidingwithinitialwarming.Astemperaturespassedathreshold,heat-sensitivecarbonreservoirs,suchassedimentaryorganicmatter,permafrost,andespeciallymarinemethanehydratesweretriggered.Thesequenceofevents,includingevidenceforvolcanicactivityfollowedbyalargeCIEmaysupportascenariowherebytheemplacementoftheWrangelliaLIPpriortotheCPEinducednetpositiveclimate–carbon-cyclefeedbacks.2.Climate–carbon-cycleinteractionthroughtheCPETheirfindingsshowthattheCPEterrestrialcarboncycling,ataδ13Corgscaleof±1‰,displaysanin-phaserelationshipwiththe405-kyrlong-eccentricitymetronome,whichappearssimilartothewarmhouseclimate–carbon-cyclepresentthroughouttheOligo–Mioceneinterval.Thisresult,togetherwithpreviouslong-termcarbon-isotoperecords,showsthatsuchaclimate–carbon-cycleinteractionmayhavebeenwidespreadthroughoutthewarmMesozoicEra,includinghyperthermalintervals.Therefore,thisclimate–carboninteractionmaybethenormaftertheemergenceofvascularplants,whereasthecoldhouseclimate–carbon-cycledynamicsoftheearliestPliocenemayrepresentamoreunusualsituation.3.ThehydrologicalcycleduringtheCPEAnalysisofpalynologyandEarthsystemmodelsimulationsrevealsthatprecipitationchangesduringtheCPEexhibitedspatialheterogeneity,accompaniedbyapolewardshiftofpre-existingprecipitationzonesandnoevidenceforglobalhumidification.TheheterogeneouspatternofprecipitationchangesischaracterisedbypredominantlyincreasedprecipitationneartheEquatorandathighlatitudes,whilesubtropicallatitudesexhibitdiminishedrainfall.IncontrasttoprevioushypothesesregardingunusualglobalhumidificationduringtheCPE,theintegratedstratigraphyandEarthsystemmodelhighlightthespatialvariationsinglobalprecipitationpatterns,characterisedbyincreasedaridificationincontinentalinteriorsandtheemergenceofmultipleprecipitationcentresinlow-latitudeeasterncontinentsandpolarregions,includingtheArctic,northeasternTethys,northeasternGondwana,andtheAntarctic.4.ImplicationforunderstandingpasthyperthermaleventsTheCPEshareskeyfeaturesandperhapsdrivingmechanismswithseveralotherhyperthermaleventsincludingtheTriassic–Jurassichyperthermalevent,CretaceousOAEs,aswellasthePaleocene–EoceneThermalMaximum.Moreover,duringthehyperthermalevents,differentregionsmayhaveexperiencedperiodsofextremedroughtorsevereflooding,reflectingthecontrastingextremesofclimate.Thus,despitedifferencesinnomenclature,theseeventsshareafundamentalnatureashyperthermalepisodes.Thesesimilaritiessuggestthatunderstandingtheircommonalitymightholdessentialinformationonthenatureofhyperthermaleventsandspecificallywhichelementsintheclimateandcarboncyclecontributetotheseanomalouslywarmperiods.TheresearchwassupportedbytheNationalNaturalScienceFoundationofChinaandtheChineseAcademyofSciences.Reference:ZhaoXiangdong,XueNaihua,YangHu,ZhengDaran,PengJungang,FrielingJ.,DeVleeschouwerD.,FuXuewu,JiaWanglu,FangYanan,LiSha,WangMeng,ZhaoXianye,WangQiang,ZhangHaichun,ShaJingeng,JenkynsH.C.,ClaeysP.,WangBo(2025)Climate–carbon-cycleinteractionsandspatialheterogeneityoftheLateTriassicCarnianPluvialEpisode.NatureCommunications,https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61262-7.FieldworkphotoattheDalongkousection,XinjiangTheintegratedstratigraphycalibratedtotheastronomicaltimescaleoftheHuangshanjieFormationMagnificationofhigh-resolutiondataofthecarbon-isotopeexcursions(CIEs)andmodelforthecarboncycleduringtheCarnianPluvialEpisodeSimulatedclimatestatesbeforeandduringtheCarnianPluvialEpisode2025-06-30
Fossils of Nemejcopteris haiwangii from the “vegetational Pompeii” provides new evidence for the climbing habit in late Paleozoic plantsClimbingisagrowthstrategyinwhichplantsrelyonotherplantsorsubstratesformechanicalsupporttogrowupward.Climbingplantsoccupyimportantecologicalnichesinnaturalcommunitiesandalsoholdsignificantvalueinhorticulturallandscapes.TheoriginofthisgrowthhabitcanbetracedbacktothelatePaleozoic,anditsevolutionarydiversificationiscloselycorrelatedwiththeincreasingstructuralcomplexityofforestecosystems.However,duetothelimitationsoffossilpreservation,directfossilevidenceofactualclimbingheightandecologicalinteractionsbetweenclimbersandtheirhostplantsremainsexceedinglyrareinpalaeobotanicalstudies.TheearlyPermianfossilLagerstätte“vegetationalPompeii”intheWudaCoalfieldofInnerMongolia,owingtoitsuniquemodeofburial,preservesnotonlytheexternalmorphologyandinternalanatomyofplantfossilsbutalsoevidenceofinteractionsbetweenplants.Therefore,itoftenprovidesexceptionalfossilevidenceofclimbingbehaviorinlatePaleozoicplants.Recently,theresearchteamleadbyProf.JunWangfromtheNanjingInstituteofGeologyandPalaeontology,ChineseAcademyofSciences,incollaborationwithcolleaguesfromtheInstituteofGeologyv.v.i.(CzechAcademyofSciences),theWestBohemianMuseuminPilsen,andStanfordUniversity,conductedanin-depthstudyonthefernNemejcopterishaiwangii.TheirfindingsconfirmthatN.haiwangiiexhibitedaclimbinghabit.TheresultswerepublishedintheinternationaljournalPalaeogeography,Palaeoclimatology,Palaeoecology.Nemejcopterishaiwangii,firstdiscoveredintheWuda“vegetationalPompeii,”wasoriginallyreconstructedasaground-coverplantwitharhizomatousstemanduprightfronds.Althoughpreviousstudiesidentifiedprickle-likestructuresonitsrachises,whichcouldhaveassistedinclimbing,directevidenceforthisbehaviorhadnotbeendocumented.ThisnewstudypresentsseveralexceptionallypreservedspecimensthatclearlyshowphysicalinteractionbetweenthefrondsofN.haiwangiiandthetrunksofPsaronius,therebyprovidingdefinitivefossilevidenceofclimbingbehaviorinthistaxon.PricklesofvaryingsizesarepresentonallordersofN.haiwangiirachises,suggestingthattheplantusedahook-climbingmechanismtogainsupportfromnearbyvegetation.However,comparedtoclimbingstrategiessuchastwiningoradhesivepads,thishook-basedmechanismappearsrelativelyweak.Quadrat-basedpalaeoecologicaldatafurtherrevealthatN.haiwangiifrondsinteractedprimarilywiththemiddletolowerportionsofPsaroniustrunks,suggestingalimitedclimbingheight—likelynomorethanfourmeters.Thisfurthersupportstheinterpretationofitsweakclimbingability.Takentogether,thenewfindingsindicatethatNemejcopterishaiwangiitypicallygrewasaground-coveringplantwitharhizomatousstemanderectfronds.However,whenencounteringasuitablehostsuchasPsaronius,itsfrondscouldbendandusethehostforadditionalsupport.ContrarytothetraditionalviewthatplantclimbinghabitsduringthelatePaleozoicwereprimarilycontrolledbylocalcanopyclosure,thisstudysuggeststhatNemejcopterishaiwangiicouldnotreachthecanopyandwasthereforenotregulatedbyforestcanopydensity.Itsfacultativeclimbingstrategymorelikelyrepresentsanadaptationtotheperiodicallywaterloggedconditionsattheforestfloorinswampyenvironments:whenwaterlevelsrose,facultativeclimberscouldascendtohigherpositions,enablingtheirfoliagetoconductgasexchangemoreeffectively.ThisprovidesanovelexplanationfortheabundantoccurrenceofclimbingplantsinthePermo-Carboniferouswetlandvegetation.ThisresearchwasjointlysupportedbytheNationalKeyResearchandDevelopmentProgramofChina,theNationalNaturalScienceFoundationofChina,andtheYouthInnovationPromotionAssociationofChineseAcademyofSciences.Reference:LiF.Y.,LiD.D.,VotočkováFrojdovaJ.,PšeničkaJ.,BoyceC.K.,WangJ.,ZhouW.M.*,2025.ClimbinghabitconfirmedintheearlyPermianzygopteridfernNemejcopterishaiwangiianditspalaeoecologicalsignificance.Palaeogeography,Palaeoclimatology,Palaeoecology.675:113101https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.113101.InteractionbetweenNemejcopterishaiwangiiandPsaronius.(A–C)Differentportionsofthesametrunk,showingN.haiwangiifrondsbendingandleaningagainstthetreefernstem;(D–E)ClimbingrachisesofN.haiwangiiandthepricklesontheirsurface;(F–G)UltimateandpenultimatepinnaeofN.haiwangiiNemejcopterishaiwangii(nh)climbingonthetreefernPsaronius(ps).(A)Dronephotographoftheexcavationsite;(B)CrownofthehosttreefernPsaronius;(C–D)PreservationofN.haiwangiimainlyconcentratedaroundthemiddletolowerportionsofaPsaroniustreefern,fieldphotosfrom2023Quadrat-basedfielddatashowingthatNemejcopterishaiwangiiprimarilyconcentratedaroundthemiddletolowerpportionsofaPsaroniustreefern.Quadratdatafrom20152025-06-26
Study of Ancient Rocks Helps Predict Potential for Future Marine AnoxiaEarth’s current climate is considered an “icehouse climate” due to the existence of polar ice caps. This is important because previous icehouse climates can better predict how atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels today may affect the risk of marine anoxia and subsequent marine biodiversity loss in the future.By combining these records with previously published carbonate carbon isotopes, paleo-CO2 data, and records of volcanic activity and plant evolution, the researchers quantitatively explored, through biogeochemical modeling, the global carbon cycle and marine oxygen conditions for this geological period. This work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).2025-06-24
Major research advances have been made to the Ediacaran–Cambrian Boundary in Anti-Atlas, MoroccoTheEdiacaran–Cambriantransition(ECT)marksoneofthemostpivotalintervalsinevolutionaryhistory,characterizedbytheemergenceandrapidradiationofmulticellularlife.Arobustglobalchronostratigraphicframeworkiscrucialforelucidatingtheprocessesunderlyingthismajorbiologicalinnovationanditsrelationshiptocoevalpaleoenvironmentalchanges.Morocco'sAnti-AtlasregionpreservesoneofthemostcompletelateEdiacarantoearlyCambriancarbonatesuccessionsglobally(Figure1),providinganexceptionalnaturallaboratoryforsuchinvestigations.Nevertheless,theabsenceofdefinitivebiostratigraphicmarkersandincompleteunderstandingofbasintectonicshaveresultedinpersistentuncertaintiesregardingboththepreciseplacementoftheEdiacaran–Cambrianboundary(theCambrianBase)anditsconnectiontothebasin'stectonic-sedimentaryevolution.Toaddressthesequestions,Dr.YiweiXiongfromtheEarlyEvolutionofEarth-LifeSystemteamattheNanjingInstituteofGeologyandPalaeontology,ChineseAcademyofSciences,undertheguidanceofProfessorsBoChenandMaoyanZhu,collaboratedwithProfessorElHafidBouougri(CadiAyyadUniversity,Morocco)andcolleagues.Theteamconductedasystematic,interdisciplinarystudyoftheTabiasectioninMorocco’sAnti-Atlas,theirworkyieldedtwokeyfindings:Firstidentificationoffourdistincttectono-sedimentaryevolutionaryphasesintheAnti-AtlasBasinduringtheEdiacaran-Cambriantransition(Figure2);AreviseddefinitionoftheregionalEdiacaran-Cambrianboundary.TheseresultsunderwentpeerreviewandwerepublishedinGondwanaResearchonJune6,2025.ThisstudyrevealsthattheTabiaMemberexperiencedthreedistinctsyn-rifttectono-sedimentaryevolutionarystages,transitioningtoapost-riftstageintheoverlyingTifnoutFormation(Figure2).Systematicgeochemicalanalysessupportthisinterpretation.Thesyn-riftdolostonesoftheTabiaFormationdisplaycharacteristicallyelevated⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Srratios,positiveEu/Eu*anomalies,andsignificantenrichmentinMn,Pb,Fe,andZn(Figure3),indicatingdolomitizationinfluencedbymixedhydrothermal-seawaterfluids(Figure4).Incontrast,thepost-riftdolostonesoftheTifnoutFormationshowsubstantiallydiminishedhydrothermalsignatures(Figure3),consistentwithseawater-dominateddolomitization(Figure4).Thesecontrastinggeochemicalpatternsdocumentthebasin'stectonictransitionfromsyn-rifttopost-riftconditions.Furthermore,theinvestigationrevealedthepresenceofVendotaeniamacroalgae,adiagnosticlateEdiacaranindexfossil,withinshalehorizonsoftheTabiamember'sthirdsedimentarysequence(DS3).Integratedwithregionalchemostratigraphiccorrelations,thisstudypreciselyconstrainedthebaseofCambrian(theBACE-BasalCambrianCarbonIsotopeExcursion)toapositionapproximately50metersabovetheTamjoutDolomite(Figure5).Thisdefinedboundaryexhibitsremarkableconcordancewiththebasin'smajortectonictransitionsurface.ThestudydemonstratesthattheBACEnegativecarbonisotopeexcursionrepresentsagloballysynchronouschronostratigraphicmarker,therebyestablishingarobuststandardforidentifyingtheEdiacaran-CambrianboundarynotonlyintheAnti-Atlasbutalsoincoevalsedimentarybasinsworldwide.TheresearchwassupportedbytheNationalKeyResearchandDevelopmentProgramofChinaandtheNationalNaturalScienceFoundationofChina.Reference:YiweiXiong,BoChen*,XiaojuanSun,KaiChen,IbtissamChraiki,AihuaYang,ChunlinHu,ZhixinSun,BingPan,ChuanYang,TianchenHe,MiaoLu,TaoLi,FangchenZhao,MaoyanZhu,ElHafidBouougri.2025.IntegratedanalysesoftheEdiacaran-CambrianboundarysequenceinnorthernGondwana(Anti-Atlasplatform,Morocco).GondwanaResearch145:79–106.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2025.05.003.Figure1SimplifiedmapalongthenorthernmarginofWestAfricanCraton(WAC)showingtheoccurrenceoftheLateEdiacaran-CambrianstrataintheAnti-Atlasandcompositeδ13CcarbprofileoftheEdiacaran-LowerCambriansequenceintheAnti-AtlasFigure2Paleogeographyandtectono-sedimentaryevolutionacrosstheEdiacaran-CambriantransitionSynriftstage1(DS1):TheriftinitiationSynriftstage2,(DS2):Faultsreactivatedandriftpropagation,Synriftstage3(DS3):Continuedbasingrowth,tectonicsubsidenceandmarinetransgression,Postriftstage:StablecarbonateplatformandthermalsubsidenceFigure3Boxplotforcomparingalldata-featuresoftheDolomitetype1andDolomitetype2.Figure4InterpretativegeologicalsectionshowingtheconceptualmodelfortheformationmechanismoftheDolomitetype1(a)andDolomitetype2(b)(nottoscale)Figure5CarbonisotopechemostratigraphicandbiostratigraphiccorrelationbetweentheTabia,OuedSdass,OuedN’OuliliandZaouiasectionsinAnti-Atlasplatform2025-06-17