Sairecabur

Sairecabur () is a volcano located on the frontier between Bolivia and Chile. It is part of the Andean Central Volcanic Zone. Sairecabur proper is high; other mountains in the range are high Curiquinca, high Escalante and high Cerro Colorado, all of which have erupted a number of lava flows. Also in close proximity to Sairecabur lie the volcanic centres Licancabur, Putana and Juriques.
Sairecabur proper is accompanied by a wide caldera. Before the formation of this caldera the volcano may have been high and thus one of the highest volcanoes on Earth. After the formation of this caldera lava effusion occurred during the Pleistocene and Holocene; there is no reported historical activity, however. Eruption products on Escalante and Sairecabur include andesite and dacite. The climate is dry, cold and very sunny.
An Inca sanctuary has been found on Sairecabur, and sulfur mines exist in the mountain chain. More recently, the Receiver Lab Telescope was installed on the volcano. It is the highest submillimeter telescope in the world at an altitude of .
Geology and geography.
Geological context.
West of South America, the Nazca Plate subducts beneath the South America Plate. This process has formed the Andean Volcanic Belt, which is subdivided into the Northern Volcanic Zone, the Central Volcanic Zone and the Southern Volcanic Zone. These belts have different underlying crusts and thus have different typical magma compositions. These volcanic zones are separated from each other by zones where there is no volcanism, associated with a shallow dip of the seismic zone of the subducting plate.
Sairecabur is part of the Andean Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ). A number of stratovolcanoes can be found in the area, many of which were affected by explosive eruptions that have destroyed parts of their edifices. Effusion of large amounts of lava took place from several cones. Many volcanoes are extinct and only a few have documented activity. The geologist Juan Brüggen in 1950 estimated that there were about 800 volcanoes in northern Chile, about 37 of them east of the Salar de Atacama. Also part of the volcanism are large ignimbrites, which are usually thought to be of Miocene age. Those in the area of Sairecabur often originated in the neighbourhood to the conical volcanoes. The volcanoes formed over crust with thicknesses reaching , thus the erupted magmas are heavily influenced by the crust. A number of the highest stratovolcanoes in the world are in the CVZ. Historical activity has been low in comparison to the volcanic zones of southern Chile and Colombia/Ecuador. In Chile, much of the area of the CVZ is desertic and thus difficult to research.
Sairecabur is constructed on the two Pliocene-Pleistocene Puripicar and Chaxas formations. Some lavas from Sairecabur have also overrun the Purico formation, which is of Pleistocene age and includes ignimbrites from the Purico Complex. The basement beneath Sairecabur and Licancabur contains a large number of faults.
Geography.
Sairecabur is located at a distance of from San Pedro de Atacama. The volcano saddles the frontier between Bolivia and Chile, where it lies in the Antofagasta Region. Laguna Verde lake, Licancabur volcano and Portezuelo de Chaxas pass lie south of Sairecabur. East of the Sairecabur range lie Mount Nelly and Cerro Laguna Verde.
The Treaty of Peace and Friendship (1904) traced the frontier between Bolivia and Chile along the Sairecabur chain. Disagreements between the topographic maps in the two countries mean that the naming of the mountains is often confusing. Escalante is also known as Apagado.
The volcano is associated with a mountain range of the same name. The Sairecabur range forms a drainage divide between the Salar de Atacama on the western side and a number of small endorheic basins in Bolivia on the eastern side. Licancabur and Juriques farther south and Tocorpuri farther north are part of the same divide. Dry valleys on the eastern side of the Sairecabur range ultimately drain into Laguna Verde. The Rio Purifica originates on Sairecabur's slope at an altitude of , it later converges with the Rio Puritama to form the San Pedro de Atacama River.
Geology.
The Sairecabur range is a long chain of volcanoes going from Escalante volcano (south of Putana Volcano) to Sairecabur proper in the south, including at least ten centres which have been active in postglacial time. Two additional centres exist northeast of Escalante.
 high Sairecabur is the highest volcano in the range. A wide caldera exists south of Sairecabur and formed on an older volcano. Lava flows extend from Sairecabur as far as to the northwest, and further young lava flows formed south of this caldera. The high Escalante () has a crater lake. Puritama volcano west of Sairecabur has generated lava flows that extend along tectonic canyons. high Curiquinca () and high Cerro Colorado () are found northwest and northeast, respectively, of the range.
The caldera is bounded by cliffs reaching a height of , which are buried by lava flows from Sairecabur on the northern rim; one of these lava flows reaches the caldera bottom. The pre-collapse volcano was about high and would have been one of the highest volcanoes in the world; Ojos del Salado reaches an altitude of . Sairecabur proper has three cones. Thick () and short lava flows emanated from the northern cone. Glacial erosion has affected Sairecabur and moraines cover some lava flows south of Sairecabur. The total volume of the Sairecabur proper is about .
Lava flows with a young appearance extend from each of these ten centres. An older centre has generated a long lava flow that flowed southwestwards. Some older lava flows from Sairecabur were later buried by lava flows from Licancabur.
Cerro Colorado and Curiquinca are aligned in a west-east pattern. Other volcanoes in the area such as Lascar-Aguas Calientes, Licancabur-Juriques and La Torta-Tocorpuri also form such alignments which seem to be controlled by north-south tension in the crust. Sairecabur is located on faults which are also apparent at Laguna Verde.
Petrology.
Escalante and Sairecabur have erupted dark andesites, and later also dacites. Mafic enclaves are found in the post-caldera lavas. The colour of the rocks is black, brown or gray. Minerals include amphibole, biotite, bronzite, -containing augite, clinopyroxene, hornblende, magnetite, orthopyroxene, plagioclase, pyroxene and quartz. In addition, apatite, ilmenite, iron oxides and zirconia are found. At least one lava erupted after the caldera-forming eruption contains olivine. Lavas erupted before the caldera-forming eruption of Sairecabur contain glass and have a microlithic texture. The magmas are calc-alkaline with medium-high content.
Fumarolically altered rocks are found on the eastern flanks of the chain. Desert patine covers post-caldera lavas.
Based on crystal composition, the magmas of Sairecabur formed at temperatures of . The process started by partial melting of the mantle involving peridotite and subsequent interaction with the crust and fractional crystallization. Andesites erupted before the caldera formation were produced at temperatures higher than dacites erupted after the formation of the caldera. , and isotope ratios are typical for magmas in CVZ. The isotope ratios are consistent with these found in the crust, specifically of the so-called "Antofalla" domain of Andean crust, the remnant of a terrane of Gondwana.
Geological history.
The 7 million year-old Chaxas ignimbrite massif has been related to the caldera-forming eruption at Sairecabur. These dacitic ignimbrites spread southwest towards the Salar de Atacama. This high age estimate for the Chaxas ignimbrite however has been questioned, considering that it is inconsistent with stratigraphic relationships of this ignimbrite to older ignimbrite. The lava formations are named Post-Caldera Lavas I and Post-Caldera Lavas II; the first is of Pleistocene and the second of Holocene age. A fresh flow that extends northwest from Sairecabur appears to be the most recent flow.
The formation of the caldera preceded the formation of the other cones in the range. The edifice this caldera formed during the Pliocene-Quaternary considering the morphology of its deposits. During the ice ages, a valley due west of the main Sairecabur summit was occupied by a long glacier that extended down to an elevation of ; the main Sairecabur summit grew inside of the valley occupied by the glacier, which also left lateral and terminal moraines.
Sairecabur volcano is the youngest volcano in the chain; Escalante is also young but not as young as Sairecabur. There are no reports of contemporaneous activity nor has fumarolic activity been reported, although fumaroles and hot springs were found at the shores of Laguna Verde which border on Sairecabur. Future activity at Sairecabur may disturb activity at Atacama Large Millimeter Array.
Climate and biology.
The climate at Sairecabur is dry and cloudless, leading to the absence of glaciers and permanent snowcover at Sairecabur. Overall the Atacama Altiplano has a desert climate with precipitation below , but during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene the climate was wetter. isotope ratios of present-day snowfall are consistent with the isotope ratios determined for precipitation that arises in the continent, rather than from the Pacific Ocean. The rainshadow effect exercised by the Andes and the stability of the South Pacific High are responsible for this dryness.
The dry and cloudless climate together with the low latitude and high altitude gives the region some of the highest insolations on Earth; at Sairecabur it amounts to 98% of the solar constant. The coincidence between the southern hemisphere summer solstice on 21 December and the perihelion, the point of lowest Earth-Sun distance, on 3 January contribute to the high insolation. Ultraviolet radiation is also high in the area, with values reported for ultraviolet radiation B and ultraviolet radiation A respectively.
Temperatures at ranged in 1991–1994. A series of measurements in 1995 indicated that surface temperatures at an altitude of range from in winter, and soil temperatures at depths of also in winter between almost and less than . There are large differences between daytime and night temperatures. Between 1991–1994 the average speed of wind amounted to .
Research on plant diversity in the region west of Sairecabur and Licancabur has shown that about 250 plant species occur there, and on the volcano itself extremophilic yeast species have been found. In 1955, penitentes, a form of ice, was reported to be widespread at Saciel.
Human history.
Pre-modern times.
Sairecabur and Curiquinca both have mountain sanctuaries made by the Inca. Licancabur and Juriques farther south were also sites of such sanctuaries. Sairecabur was considered to be a sacred mountain, and andesite found at some archeological sites in the Atacama may come from Sairecabur.
Recent times.
A sulfur mine is active at Saciel, north of Sairecabur. Sulfur mining there, at Cerro Colorado and Putana in the 1950s contributed to the growth of San Pedro de Atacama, where the mined sulfur was transported to. A report in 1955 indicated the presence of about ore containing 55–60% sulfur. A long mining dirt road with a single lane leads from the El Tatio highway to Sairecabur.
Sairecabur is since 2003 the site of the diameter Receiver Lab Telescope, a telescope which operates in the terahertz range of the electromagnetic spectrum; ground-based astronomy in this range was long considered to be impossible since the atmosphere absorbs radiation in that frequency range heavily. With an altitude of the telescope is the highest submillimeter telescope in the world.


Pseudosiobla campbelli

Pseudosiobla campbelli is an extinct species of sawfly in the family Tenthredinidae that is known from early Eocene Ypresian stage lake deposits near the unincorporated community of Horsefly, British Columbia.
History and classification.
The species is known from only the holotype, a single, mostly complete adult female, now deposited in the Geological Survey of Canada collections as specimen number "GSC No. 22689". The shale specimen is from deposits of the "Horsefly shale" along the Horsefly River in the Cariboo District of British Columbia, Canada.
The holotype was first studied by Harington Rice of the Geological Survey of Canada. Rice published his 1968 type description for "P. campbelli" in the Geological Survey of Canada professional paper number 67-59. The specific name "campbelli" was coined in honor of R. B. Campbell who collected the holotype specimen in 1959.
"Pseudosiobla campbelli" is the smallest species of "Pseudosiobla" to be described from the fossil record. The single known female possesses a head, thorax and posterior segments of the abdomen which are dark brown to black. The central segments of the abdomen appear to have been pale colored. The wings are hyaline with very dark veins and short, stout hairs across the wing membrane. While the specimen is missing portions of her legs and antennae, her ovipositor is visible and well preserved. "P. campbelli" is distinguished from members of the related genus "Eriocampa" in general and "E. tulameenensis" found in the related lake deposits in Princeton, B.C. by several features: "P. campbelli" is notably larger than members of "Eriocampa" and the wing vein patterning is distinct.
There are only two other described species of "Pseudosiobla" from the fossil record, "P. megoura" and "P. misera". Both species are described from specimens found in the Florissant Formation of Colorado which, at 39 million years old, is younger in age then the Horsefly locality, dated to approximately 49 million years old. "P. campbelli" can be distinguished from both younger species in that "P. campbelli" is the smallest species of the three. "P. megoura" also possesses an abdomen which is twice as long as that of "P. campbelli". "P. misera" has a larger and more elongate abdomen. In his 1908 paper on the Tenthredinoidea of Florissant, S.A. Rohwer, put the possibility of "P. megoura" and "P. misera" being the same species.


Maevarano Formation

The Maevarano Formation is a Late Cretaceous sedimentary rock formation found in northwestern Africa. It is most likely Maastrichtian in age, and records a seasonal, semiarid environment with rivers that had greatly varying discharges. Notable animal fossils recovered include the theropod dinosaur "Majungasaurus", the early bird "Vorona", the flying dromaeosaur "Rahonavis", the titanosaurian sauropod "Rapetosaurus", and the giant frog "Beelzebufo".
Description.
The Maevarano Formation is well exposed in the Mahajanga Basin, in particular near the village of Berivotra near the northwestern coast of the island where its outcrops have been heavily dissected by erosion. At the time it was being deposited, its latitude was between 30°S and 25°S as Madagascar drifted northward after splitting from India about 88 million years ago. It is composed of three smaller units or members. The lowest is the Masorobe Member, which is usually reddish and is at least . Its rocks are mostly poorly sorted coarse-grained sandstones with some finer-grained beds. It is separated by an erosional disconformity from the next member, the Anembalemba Member. The lower portion of the Anembalemba Member is fine to coarse clay-rich sandstone, whitish or light grey in color, with cross-bedding. The upper portion of this member is made of poorly sorted clay-rich sandstone, light olive-grey in color, that lacks cross-bedding. Most vertebrate fossils come from the Anembalemba Member, especially from the upper portion. The Miadana Member, the third and uppermost member, is not always present, and is up to in some places. Elsewhere, it is replaced by the marine Berivotra Formation. The Miadana Member is made up of claystone, siltstone, and sandstone, lacks cross-bedding, and has several colors of rock. The Maevarano Formation as a whole is underlain by the Marovoay beds and capped by the Berivotra Formation.
The age of the Maevarano Formation has been debated; the Berivotra Formation, which is partially contemporaneous with the upper portions of the formation, shows that at least the upper part of the Maevarano is Maastrichtian in age. There is no evidence that it is Campanian, despite previous reports to that effect. The Berivotra Formation appears to include near its top a magnetic reversal, interpreted as the shift from Chron 30N to Chron 29R, which occurred approximately 65.8 million years ago (about 300,000 years before the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary and associated Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. This suggests that Maevarano organisms also lived shortly before (geologically speaking) the extinction event.
History of exploration.
The Maevarano Formation was first explored by French military physician Dr. Félix Salètes and his staff officer Landillon in 1895, and fossils and geologic data were sent to paleontologist Charles Depéret. He briefly described the formation and named two dinosaurs from the remains ("Titanosaurus madagascariensis" and "Megalosaurus crenatissimus", now "Majungasaurus"). Similar collections were made throughout the 20th century, yielding mostly fragmentary fossils; one such specimen, a rough partial skull roof, became the holotype of supposed pachycephalosaur (bonehead dinosaur) "Majungatholus" in 1979. (This specimen was later shown to be part of the skull ornamentation of a "Majungasaurus".) Large-scale expeditions (seven to date), under the banner of the Mahajanga Basin Project, began in 1993. These expeditions, conducted jointly by Stony Brook University and the University of Antananarivo, have greatly expanded knowledge of this formation and the organisms that lived while it was being deposited.
Paleoenvironment.
The Maevarano Formation is interpreted as a low-relief alluvial plain that over time was covered by a marine transgression. Broad, shallow rivers flowed to the northwest from central highlands; evidence for debris flows suggests that the discharges of the rivers varied greatly, with periods of dilute water flow, and periods of rapid erosion dumping sediment into the channels. Paleosols are reddish and include root casts. The paleosols and other sedimentologic evidence indicate well-drained floodplains with abundant vegetation adapted to a relatively dry climate, strongly seasonal (rainy and dry seasons) and at times semiarid (not unlike the present climate of the area).
Vertebrate paleofauna.
Animals found in the formation include frogs (including "Beelzebufo ampinga"), turtles, snakes, lizards, at least seven species of crocodyliforms (including species of "Mahajangasuchus" and "Trematochampsa"), abelisaurid theropods "Majungasaurus", noasaurid "Masiakasaurus", two types of titanosaurian sauropods ("Rapetosaurus" and "Vahiny"), and at least five species of birds or very bird-like dinosaurs, including "Rahonavis". The long "Majungasaurus" was likely the apex predator in the terrestrial environment. Crocodyliforms were very diverse and abundant.
Non-Avian dinosaurs.
Indeterminate Lithostrotia remains formerly attributed to the titanosauridae. Undescribed Lithostrotia form. Indeterminate Enantiornithes remains. Possible indeterminate spinosaurid remains.
Mammals.
The mammal fauna known from the Maevarano Formation is dominated by gondwanatheres, a lineage of herbivorous multituberculates. These include "Lavanify miolaka", "Vintana sertichi", "Adalatherium hui" and at least one undescribed taxa. Some taxa are particularly large sized herbivores, exemplifying the diversity of Mesozoic mammals.
Other mammal remains include the broken tooth UA 8699, which has been interpreted both as metatherian and as eutherian, a non-gondwanathere multituberculate tooth fragment, a non-gondwanathere multituberculate femur, and a yet undescribed mammal known from an articulated skeleton.


Mendolaspis

Mendolaspis is an extinct genus of trilobites. It lived during the Arenig stage of the Ordovician Period, approximately 478 to 471 million years ago.


Otter Park Member


Arctosirenites

Arctosirenites is a genus of extinct ceratitid ammonoids from the Triassic of British Columbia and Nunavut, Canada, included in the Trachyceratidae.


Geological Museum of the State Geological Institute

The Geological Museum of the State Geological Institute () is a museum in Warsaw, Poland. The museum was established in 1919.


Brancatherulum

Brancatherulum is an extinct genus of Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian - Tithonian) mammal from the Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania. It is based on a single toothless dentary 21 mm in length. It is currently considered either a stem-zatherian or dryolestidan.


Kodymirus

Kodymirus is a problematic genus of Early Cambrian arthropod, known from the Czech Republic, which bears some resemblance to the eurypterids, aglaspidids and chelicerates. It is part of a small and low-diversity fauna endemic to the area, which dwelt in brackish waters.
Along with the very closely related "Kockurus", it is an enigmatic Cambrian arthropod whose precise taxonomic affinity is uncertain, but is best considered to be a stem-group or ally of the aglaspidids.


Tumbes Peninsula

Tumbes Peninsula is a peninsula in Bío Bío Region, Chile. It connects to the mainland through the Plains of Talcahuano where the city of Talcahuano is located. The peninsula points northward, making the city of Talcahuano an excellent port and allowing port facilities and harbours to be located in its east side. Most of the peninsula is covered by monocultures of exotic trees which are harvested by clearcutting.


Sirenavus

Sirenavus was an early sea cow from the Eocene of Hungary (Eger-Kis-Eged, Felsogalla, Felsotarkany and Urom).
Location.
Fossils of "Sirenavus" are known from the Eocene deposits in Hungary.


Rock of Uku


Mimagoniatites

Mimagoniatites is a genus of ammonoid cephalopod which lived during the early Devonian, regarded as belonging to the Agoniatitdae as a member of the subfamily Mimagoniatitinae.
The shell is discoidal, primarily evolute, becoming mildly involute in later growth stage, moderately to rapidly expanding. Whorl section of first two whorls approximately circular, subtrapezoidal in later whorls. Umbilicas perforated, protoconch swollen, not in contact with first whorl. Growth lines biconvex with prominent ventrolateral projections and a deep ventral sinus.


Mess Creek Escarpment

The Mess Creek Escarpment is an escarpment in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, located on the east side of Mess Creek below Mess Lake and southeast of Telegraph Creek. It forms the central-western flank of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex, exposing several layers of black columnar basaltic lava flows with distal rock fragments and pyroclastic rock deposits.
The Mess Creek Escarpment was named on January 2, 1980 by the Geological Survey of Canada in associated with Mess Creek.


Digonus

Digonus is a genus of trilobites in the order Phacopida, that existed during the lower Devonian in what is now Germany. It was described by Gurich in 1909, and the type species is "Digonus gigas", which was originally described under the genus "Homalonotus" by Roemer in 1843. It also contains the species "Digonus accraensis" and "Digonus noticus" (both of which were formerly placed in "Burmeisteria"), "Digonus vialai", and "Digonus zemmourensis". The type locality was in the Harz mountains.


List of volcanoes in Greece

This is a list of active and extinct volcanoes in Greece.


Granastrapotherium

Granastrapotherium is an extinct genus of ungulate mammals, described from remains found in rocks of the Honda Group in the Tatacoa Desert, in the Colombian departments of Huila and Tolima, at the Miocene fossil site La Venta. The only species formally recognized is "Granastrapotherium snorki" (from Spanish, "gran", "great"; "Astrapotherium", "lightning beast"; and snorkel, breathing tube, in reference to the trunk). Remains found in Bolivia and Peru, seem to belong to "Granastrapotherium" or a very similar animal.
Description.
This astrapothere differs from its coeval, the uruguaytheriine astrapotheriid "Xenastrapotherium" by their larger size, between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes, with tusks about one meter long, making it one of the largest representatives of Astrapotheria, only surpassed by some species of "Parastrapotherium". Other differences include the presence of only one premolar, the lack of incisors in both jaws and the disposition of the canine tooth, which are very large and horizontal, which reminds much less of those of hippos and more of the tusks of some ancient relatives of elephants (such as "Palaeomastodon"), although the defences in elephants and their relatives are not formed by the canines but the incisors. Similarly, the large nostrils appear extremely withdrawn on the skull, so this creature had to have a larger trunk than other astrapotheres. Most likely, like elephants, this animal used its muscular proboscis together with its tusks to cut leaves off trees and shrubs.
Phylogeny.
Cladogram based in the phylogenetic analysis published by Vallejo-Pareja "et al"., 2015, showing the position of "Granastrapotherium":


Nevado Sajama

Nevado Sajama (; ) is an extinct stratovolcano and the highest peak in Bolivia. The mountain is located in the Oruro Department, Sajama Canton. It is situated in Sajama National Park and is a composite volcano consisting of a stratovolcano on top of several lava domes. It is not clear when it erupted last but it may have been during the Pleistocene or Holocene.
The mountain is covered by an ice cap and "Polylepis tarapacana" trees occur up to height.
Geography and geomorphology.
Nevado Sajama is located in the Sajama canton of the Oruro Department in Bolivia, about away from the border with Chile. Cholcani volcano lies southeast of Sajama, and another neighbouring volcano, Pomerape, resembles Sajama in its appearance. A road runs along the southeastern flank of the volcano, with additional roads completing a circle around Sajama. The town of Sajama lies on its western foot, with further villages at Caripe northeast and Lagunas southwest of the mountain; there are also a number of farms.
In Bolivia, the Andes mountain chain splits up into two branches separated by a high plateau, the Altiplano. Nevado Sajama lies in the Western Andes of Bolivia and in the western side of the Altiplano; more specifically the mountain is located before the Western Cordillera.
Nevado Sajama rises about from the surrounding terrain to a height of (earlier estimates of its height are ), making it the highest mountain of Bolivia. Below the mountain is characterized by parasitic vents and a cover of lava fragments and volcanic ash. Two secondary summits and occur west and east-northeast from Sajama respectively; the former is named Cerro Huisalla and the second is called Huayna Potosi. The mountain has a conical shape and is capped by a summit crater that owing to its ice fill appears to be linked to the flat summit plateau of Sajama but other records do not indicate the presence of a crater. The Patokho, Huaqui Jihuata and Phajokhoni valleys are located on the eastern flank; at lower elevations the whole volcano features glacially deepened valleys.
The terrain is characterized by a continuous ice cover in the central sector of the mountain, exposures of bedrock, deposits and rock glaciers in some sites, alluvial fans and scree in the periphery of Sajama and moraines forming a girdle around the upper sector of Sajama. The ground moraines are the most prominent moraines on Sajama, and have varying colours depending on the source of their component rocks. Vegetation and small lakes occur in their proximity, while other parts are unvegetated. They mostly occur within glacial valleys, but some appear to have formed underneath small plateau ice caps on flatter terrain.
A number of wetlands called "bofedales" occur on the mountain. Starting in the lake Laguna Huana Kkota on the northwestern foot of Sajama, the Tomarapi River flows first northeastward, then east, south and southeast around the northern and eastern flanks of the volcano; the Sicuyani River which originates on Sajama joins it there. The southern flanks give rise to the Huaythana River which flows directly south and then makes a sharp turn to the east. On the western side of the volcano originates the Sajama River which flows due south and increasingly turns southeast before joining the Lauca River. The other rivers draining Sajama and its ice cap also eventually join the Lauca River and end in the Salar de Coipasa.
Geology.
Nevado Sajama is part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, where volcanism is triggered by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South America Plate. Changes in the subduction regime took place during the Oligocene and directed an increase of volcanic activity in the region. Volcanoes in the region have ages ranging from Pleistocene to Miocene and grew on top of earlier ignimbrites; the whole volcanic activity was controlled by faults.
The mountain is a stratovolcano located atop several lava domes. The stratovolcano consists of lava flows and pyroclastic material which radiate away from the centre of the volcano. Some parasitic vents occur southeast of Sajama and have produced lava domes and lava flows. The parasitic vents away from the volcano are older and their location appears to be controlled by radial dikes; the whole complex is a compound volcano. Two later volcanic units are known as the Colquen Wilqui lavas and the Jacha Khala tuff. The Sajama volcano rises within a caldera that has been buried by later volcanic activity so that it is only recognizable on its eastern-northeastern side. A circular structure around Sajama may be the origin of the 2.7 million years old Lauca-Perez Ignimbrite.
Argon-argon dating has yielded ages of 679,000 years ago from Sajama and of 80,900 to 25,000 years ago for the Kkota Kkotani lavas, which are unrelated to the main Sajama volcano. The date of the last eruption is not known, it may have occurred in the Pleistocene or Holocene. Hot springs occur on the Junthuma River and reflect the presence of geothermal heat with temperatures of about on the western foot of Sajama, and volcanic rocks of Sajama bear traces of fumarolic activity.
Three major geologic lineaments occur in the region, the north-northwesterly trending Sajama lineament, a west-southwesterly one aligned with high topographical features and a west-northwesterly one. The west-southwesterly one played an important role in the development of Sajama volcano.
Composition.
The volcano has erupted rocks ranging from andesite to rhyodacite, with the main stratovolcano formed by andesites that contain hornblende and pyroxene and phenocrysts of augite, biotite, iron oxide, olivine, orthopyroxene, pargasite, plagioclase, quartz and titanium oxide. Deposits of copper, gold, lead, silver and sulfur were reported as well. The volcanic rocks erupted by Sajama define a potassium-rich calc-alkaline suite and formed through various processes, including assimilation of country rock, fractional crystallization and magma mixing (particularly in the Sayara lavas).
Climate.
At Cosapa on the foot of Sajama, annual mean temperatures are about while the town of Sajama sees annual temperatures of ; precipitation there is about . The daily temperature range approaches there.
Sajama is located between two climate regimes, a westerly one characterized by a dry climate and the Southeast Pacific High and an easterly one with a moister atmosphere. During the southern hemisphere summer, easterly winds carry moist air towards Sajama where solar insolation then triggers showers and thunderstorms; the moisture ultimately originates in the Atlantic Ocean. During winter, dry westerly winds prevail although cold air outbreaks from the westerlies belt sometimes trigger intense snowfall which is often underestimated by precipitation data. Overall, on the Altiplano precipitation diminishes from the northeast to the southwest.
Summer precipitation is typically reduced during El Nino years, but on Nevado Sajama there is little correlation.
Vegetation.
While the vegetation of the surroundings of Sajama is considered to be a dry grassland known as puna, on the mountain itself there is some vertical gradation. Below shrubs such as asteraceae, cactaceae, fabaceae and solanaceae dominate the vegetation. Between the last three families become less important. Here especially during the wet season poaceae grasses become more important; finally above frost-tolerant herbs such as "Azorella" and asteraceae, caryophyllaceae, malvaceae and poaceae make up most of the vegetation. In depressions or places where water occurs, peat bogs called "bofedales" develop. Taxa that occur here include apiaceae, cyperaceae, "Azolla", "Distichia" and "Plantago".
Up to elevation "Polylepis tarapacana" forms woodlands that have both a sharp upper and a sharp lower limit on the mountain. The trees are usually no higher than and are separated by large distances from each other and appear to localize to spots where water is available. The current woods are remnants; whether the decrease is caused by human impact or climate change is not clear. Protecting these woodlands was the impetus for the 1939 creation of the Sajama National Park.
Glaciers.
Above , Sajama is extensively glaciated. It is among the southernmost mountains in the region with significant glaciers; farther south the atmosphere is too dry to permit the development of glaciers. Two ice cores were taken in 1997 from the summit area after a preceding religious ceremony, as the local Aymara people feared that the mountain deities would be angered by the drilling otherwise. Rock glaciers also occur above the zero degree isotherm above , such as on lateral peaks.
Sajama and neighbouring mountains featured much larger glaciers in the past. The history of glaciation on Sajama in general is poorly known, but it appears that the outermost glacial features originated during the late last glacial maximum and the intermediary features during the Middle Holocene which is usually considered to be a warm and dry period in the region.
Human interactions.
A number of oral traditions record beliefs involving Sajama. In one myth, Sajama is the head of the Mururata mountain after the latter was decapitated by Illimani mountain, both in the Eastern Cordillera. Other mythologies assert that the Nevados de Payachata (Pomerape and Parinacota) are the children of Sajama and Anallaxchi. In another local belief, Tacora and Sajama were two mountains in competition for two women (the Nevados de Payachata). Depending on the specific myth either the two women drove Tacora off and removed the top of the mountain, or Sajama did and injured Tacora; Tacora subsequently fled, shedding blood and a piece of its heart.
During the second undisputed ascent on the mountain in 1946, one mountaineer disappeared and his body was never found. In August 2001, two teams of Sajama villagers and Bolivian mountain guides played a football match on top of Mount Sajama in an effort to show that altitude itself is not a limitation to physical strain. In 2015, a challenge to hold a political debate on the summit of Sajama was made by a candidate to an election. The 50-boliviano Bolivian banknote launched in October 2018 shows Sajama on its reverse.


Halibut Oil Field

The Halibut Field, is an oil field, within the Gippsland Basin. The oil field is located approximately 64 km offshore of southeastern Australia. The total area of this field is 26.9 km2 and is composed of 10 mappable units.
Geologic history.
During the late Jurassic, a rift complex forms between the Australian Plate/Tasman Fold Belt, and the Antarctic Plate. This rifting continues through the early Cretaceous, and in the middle Cretaceous, begins to assist in the separation of Gondwana (In is what now southern Australia). During this same time, ocean crust is created to the west of Tasmania, and the separation of the Australian Plate from New Zealand, the Antarctic Plate, and the Campbell Plateau occurs. During the late Cretaceous, more extension occurs in this region, which creates syn-rift troughs. This extension forms the central depression, which is an integral part of the petroleum system, and is the location of nearly all of the oil/gas fields in the Gippsland Basin. Also during the late Cretaceous, volcanism occurred due to the Tasman Sea rifting. From the Eocene to the middle Miocene, a compressional tectonic period begins, and forms a series of anticlines, as well as nearly all of the structural features present today.
Stratigraphy.
Strzelecki Group.
The Strzelecki Group is a geologic group present in the Halibut Field area. The group was mainly deposited in the early Cretaceous. It is mainly composed of continental and lacustrine clastics. The lithology is predominantly nonmarine greywackes, and mudstones, with minor layers of sandstone, conglomerate, coals, and volcanoclastics. Depositional environments of this group include lakes, swamps, and floodplains. This group is the economic basement of the Halibut Field, meaning it is the stratigraphically lowest group for hydrocarbon production potential. This is known due to burial of 8 km or more in the offshore portion of the basin, which places the group in the overmature range. There is currently research being done on potential hydrocarbon reserves in the onshore portion of the Gippsland Basin.
Golden Beach Group.
The Golden Beach Group lies unconformably above the Strzelecki Group, and was deposited in the late Cretaceous. The lithology of this group is shale, and sandstone. In addition to these major lithologic groups, there are also volcanic flows of andesitic-basaltic composition present. The depositional environments represented by this group are deep water lakes, and floodplains. The Kipper Shale Formation within this group is a 1,0000 m thick lacustrine shale. Though this would typically make a good source rock, it is believed that oxidation of organic matter inhibited the generation of hydrocarbons.
Latrobe Group.
The Latrobe Group is stratigraphically above the Golden Beach Group, and was deposited in the late Cretaceous to the Eocene. This group is the most valuable for hydrocarbon production, since it makes up the majority of the source rocks, and the reservoir rocks. The major rock types include sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, shale, coals, and volcanic rocks. These rock types are representative of alluvial, shoreline, and shallow shelf marine depositional environments. The coals and shales of this group are the main source rock in this field, and throughout the basin. Sandstone from this group makes up the reservoir rocks, and exhibits a porosity of 20-25%, and a permeability of 5000-7000 millidarcies. This group has been subjected to much research due to its hydrocarbon implications. This has allowed researchers to reconstruct paleoshorelines, and paleoflow directions. Multiple transgressions and regressions are recorded in the rocks from the upper Paleocene to the Eocene. Throughout the area, the surrounding sandstones display a high amount of dolomite cement present, which drastically decreases porosity (it can make up to 30% of the total rock volume). Dissolution of this cement in hydrocarbon bearing sandstones, has not been completely understood by researchers. The small amount of research done on this phenomenon has pointed to hydrocarbon emplacement as the reason for dissolution. This is only due to the lack of evidence for other common causes of dolomite dissolution.
Seaspray Group.
The Seaspray Group lies unconformably above the Latrobe Group, and was deposited in the Oligocene to the Miocene. This group makes up the majority of the seals in the region due to the unconformity with the Latrobe Group, as well as the low permeability of the rock types, which include shales, marls, limestones, calcareous claystones, siltstones, and sandstones. The typical depositional environments of these rock types, are low energy marine environments.
Petroleum geology.
Source rocks.
The majority of the source rocks are coals, and coaly shales originating from the Latrobe group. The hydrocarbon formation is due to the high heat flow, and subsidence that occurred in the late Cretaceous through the early Paleocene. The shales of the Latrobe Group display Total Organic Carbon (TOC) values of 1-3% wt.
Reservoir rocks.
The reservoir rocks in this field are primarily sandstones from the Latrobe Group. The secondary porosity accounts for the majority of the porosity, and therefore its ability to contain hydrocarbons. The reason for this is due to the high amount of dolomite cement which filled up the pores, and then was dissolved by the hydrocarbons migrating into the pores. The porosity of the sandstones are 20-25%, and the permeability is 5000-7000 md.
Seals.
The seals in this region are mainly marl, limestone, and sandstone from the Seaspray Group. These rock types are aided by being deposited on the Latrobe unconformity. This unconformity is due to the anticlines that formed in the Latrobe group being eroded, and then the Seaspray group being deposited on top of this erosional surface.
Traps.
The traps in this oil field, are mainly late Eocene to middle Miocene in age. The traps were formed due to a small compressional event associated with the opening of the Tasman Sea. This is why anticlines, along with faults are the predominant trapping mechanism throughout the basin. The Halibut Field is located directly on an anticline, which serves as the trap.
Migration.
Migration of the hydrocarbons is mainly vertical. Oil migration occurs from depths of 4–5 km, while gas migration occurs from depths of 5–6 km.
Production.
The field was discovered in 1967, and has been producing oil and gas since 1970. The water depth is 73 m, and there are 14 producing wells. The oil water contact is located at approximately 2399 m depth. The porosity is 22%, and the permeability is 5000-7000 millidarcy. The oil gravity is 43.3, and is paraffinic. From 1970-2008 approximately 840,000,000 barrels of oil or approximately $105,000,000,000,000 (calculated with a price of $125.00 per barrel) was produced. The field is being produced by Esso Australia, which is a subsidiary of Exxon. The Gippsland Basin as a whole was Australia's largest petroleum producing basin from the mid 1960s when it was discovered until 1996 when the North West Shelf surpassed it. The basin was integral in Australia becoming a self sufficient petroleum producing country.


Nuevo Mundo volcano

Nuevo Mundo also known as Jatun Mundo Quri Warani (Hispanicized spellings "Jatun Mundo Khori Huarani, Jatun Mundo Khorihuarani"), is a stratovolcano, lava dome and a lava flow complex between Potosí and Uyuni, Bolivia, in the Andes rising to a peak at . It is located in the Potosí Department, Antonio Quijarro Province, Tomave Municipality. It lies northeast of the peaks of Uyuni, Kuntur Chukuña and Chuqi Warani and south of Sirk'i.
Name.
The term "Jatun Mundo Quri Warani" contains Quechua and/or Aymara words ("jatun" "big", "quri" "gold", "warani" "the one with a scepter" or "constellation"). "Mundo" (Spanish for "world") is possibly a Hispanicized or a broken word of native origin. As it is an unusually long name it may erroneously be composed of two alternate names, either Jatun Mundo or Quri Warani, as occurred with Pacha Qullu (or Kimsa Misa) which is also sometimes regarded as "Pacha Kkollu Quimsa Misa".
In 1995 the Bolivian government used the term "Jatun Mundo Quri Warani" to denominate this mountain and not "Nuevo Mundo". Formerly the maps of the Bolivian "Instituto Geográfico Militar" (IGM) identified another peak as Nuevo Mundo at southwest of the Lípez volcano () which reaches a height of approximately . This was based on an earlier identification of Nuevo Mundo as one of the twin peaks of Cerro Lipez.
History.
The first mountaineering in the area was before 1903, by a Frenchman, Georges Courty, whose notes on a mountain he called "Nuevo Mundo" led to the mysterious entry in the 1987 book "Mountaineering in the Andes" by Jill Neate, "Nuevo Mundo, 6020 m, location uncertain."
The German geologist Frederic Ahlfeld, an avid mountaineer, moved to Bolivia in 1924. He began exploring the mountains in Potosí Department after World War II, climbing a number of the peaks. In a letter to the historian and mountaineer Evelio Echevarría in 1962, Ahlfeld stated that because of the supposed height of Nuevo Mundo one of the two Lípez peaks might be a possible candidate for Monsieur Courty's mysterious mountain. However, in 1969, in Ahlfeld's book "Geografia Fisica de Bolivia", Ahlfeld presented a drawing of a Nuevo Mundo (5438 m.) with its description, and at a location southwest of Potosí and just north of the small village of "Potoco", far away from Cerro Lípez – as he previously had supposed.
There had been doubts that Ahlfeld's Nuevo Mundo lay in the Lípez area because it did not seem to be congruent to his descriptions according to which the mountain that he had visited was southwest of Potosí and immediately north of a village named "Potoco".
At the end of the 1990s, Toto Aramayo, Yossi Brain and Dakin Cook undertook the search for Ahlfeld's Nuevo Mundo, and they confirmed it at Latitude:19°47'0"S, Longitude: 66°29'0"W, "i.e." Jatun Mundo Quri Warani. The Bolivian government and the USGS now recognize this as the correct identification of Nuevo Mundo.
Some maps still as of 2013 labeled the Lípez volcano (Cerro Lípez) as Nuevo Mundo.
Geology.
The Nuevo Mundo volcanic field is a complex eruption center on the edge of the Los Frailes Plateau with a stratovolcano which is capped by cinder cones (mostly of ash and pumice). At the base level there are two lava flows (of a viscous dacite) that erupted along a north–south fault. Apparently at the same time there were block-and-ash flows to the east. Later a highly explosive Plinian eruption produced an ash fall that extended over 200 km to the east, as far as Potosí. This eruption was quite recent, the most recent on the plateau, but it predated the arrival of the Spanish in 1533. While earlier eruption centers, such as the Khari Khari caldera, Wila Qullu, Kuntur Nasa, Villacolo, Cerro Wanapa Pampa created the Los Frailes Plateau, Nuevo Mundo overlaid those Los Frailes plateau deposits in the Holocene with huge ignimbrite deposits, which are mostly pyroclastic dacite and andesite.
Surface exposure dating has yielded ages of 11,700 years for the northern dome. This took place about 3,000 years after the disappearance of a local ice cap, and it is possible that the demise of the ice cap unloaded an underlying magma chamber and thus triggered eruptive activity. Lava coulees erupted from Nuevo Mundo lay above moraines. The last eruption of Nuevo Mundo may have been observed by inhabitants of the Gran Chaco, leading to myths about a great darkness and the sky falling.


Hans-Peter Schultze

Hans-Peter Schultze (born on 13. August 1937 in Swinemünde, Poland) is a German-American paleoichthyologist.
He has described the following taxons:


Edingerella

Edingerella is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Early Triassic of Madagascar. It is a basal capitosaur closely related to "Watsonisuchus".
Phylogeny.
Below is a cladogram from Fortuny "et al." (2011):


Atlanticetus

Atlanticetus is a genus of extinct mysticete known from the Early Miocene of Italy and the US Eastern Seaboard. , the genus was not accepted by the Paleobiology Database.
Species.
The type species, "Atlanticetus patulus" was originally described as "Aglaocetus patulus" from the Calvert Formation by Remington Kellogg in 1968. However, it was recovered by Bisconti et al. (2013) in a different phylogenetic position than the "Aglaocetus" type species "Aglaocetus moreni". In 2020, "A. patulus" was made the type species of a new genus "Atlanticetus". A second species, "A. lavei", is known from the early Miocene Gruppo Pietra da Cantoni of Piedmont, Italy.


Aegolytoceras

Aegolytoceras is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass.


Deadmans Cove Formation

The Deadmans Cove Formation is a geographic formation cropping out in Newfoundland. This is the part of Musgravetown group.


Nevado Piquenes

Nevado Piquenes is a mountain in the Andes Mountains of central Chile. It has a height of .


Auqui

Auqui (possibly from Quechua for prince; a mythical figure of the Andean culture; grandfather) is a mountain in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is situated in the Ancash Region, Huari Province, Huari District. Auqui lies southeast of Jacabamba.


Hornitos, Chile

Hornitos is a coastal town located north of Mejillones and north of Antofagasta in Chile's Antofagasta Region. Hornitos is part of the Mejillones commune, but its residents are mainly Antofagasta inhabitants. Nearly 300 houses comprise the town, but almost none of them are inhabited during the winter.
Hornitos is a beach town with no permanent inhabitants.


Presbytherium

Presbytherium is an extinct pantodont which existed in what is now Alberta, Canada, during the Paleocene period. It was first named by Craig S. Scott in 2010.


Aceruta

 Aceruta (possibly from Aymara "asiru" snail, "uta" house, "snail" or "-ta" a suffix, "from the snail") is a mountain in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is situated in the Arequipa Region, Castilla Province, Chachas District. It lies north-west of the mountain Huayta and north-east of the mountain Huañacagua.


Unity oilfield

The Unity oil field is a major oil field in the Ruweng Administrative Area, South Sudan. It lies to the north of the state capital Bentiu in Rubkona County.
The oil field, and the Heglig field further north, were discovered by Chevron Corporation in 1982, and was to become one of the most productive fields in Sudan. Chevron spent almost $880 million in exploration, but suspended operations soon after the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005) began. The trigger was the killing in 1984 of three Chevron workers by Anyanya II rebels. Chevron demanded a special oilfield protection force in addition to the army. Dissatisfied with security, by 1988 Chevron had closed its operations in Unity province.


Notocaiman

Notocaiman is an extinct genus of alligatorid crocodylian. A fragmentary and poorly preserved left dentary found in the Peñas Coloradas Formation of Argentina that presumably dates back to the Paleocene epoch (Peligran-Riochican), is all that is known from the genus. It may be a junior synonym of "Eocaiman". Similarities between the remains of "Notocaiman" and comparable material from the alligatoroid "Listrognathosuchus" have been observed, but have not been taken as evidence for synonymy. The type species, "N. stromeri", was named in 1937.


Sverrefjellet

Sverrefjellet is a mountain in Haakon VII Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard, at the western side of Bockfjorden. It has a height of 507 m.a.s.l., and is an extinct volcano. Sverrefjellet is named after Sverre Sigurdsson.


Sava Athanasiu

Sava Athanasiu (28 April 1861 – 8 April 1946) was a Romanian geologist and paleontologist.
Born in Ruginești, Vrancea County, he completed a private high school in Iași, where he was attracted to the natural sciences by his teacher Grigore Cobălcescu. He then entered the natural sciences faculty of the University of Iași, where Cobălcescu continued as his professor. From 1888 to 1892, he was Cobălcescu's assistant at Iași University. Aside from teaching younger students, one of his tasks was to organize the extensive collections his mentor had purchased, with a view to setting up a museum. After the latter's 1892 death, he was selected as a substitute professor. In 1890, he was hired by his former high school, and in 1891, by the Iași commercial school. In 1895, he enrolled in the University of Vienna, where his professors included Eduard Suess and Albrecht Penck. He obtained a doctorate in 1899 regarding geological studies of the northern Carpathians. From 1900 to 1909, he taught at Matei Basarab High School in Bucharest. He was a professor at the University of Bucharest from 1910 to 1936, and also worked at the Romanian Geological Institute from 1906 to 1930. He undertook a wide array of field research, writing numerous books and studies about his discoveries. Elected a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy in June 1920, he was made honorary member in June 1945.


Jorge O. Calvo

Jorge Orlando Calvo is an Argentine geologist and paleontologist working for "Centro de Investigaciones Paleontológicas Lago Barreales" (National University of Comahue).
Dr. Jorge Orlando Calvo was born in Córdoba, Argentina, in 1961. At present, he is a professor in Geology and Paleontology at the National University of Comahue, Neuquén. He is one of the founders of the Geology Career (2010) at this University as well as the Director of the Barreales Lake Paleontological Center.
He became a geologist in 1986 and in 1991 he won a Fulbright scholarship to do a Master in Paleontological Sciences (1992) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA, getting his degree in 1994. In 2006, he earned his PhD degree at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He has devoted all his life to the discovering, digging and studying of Vertebrate Paleontology. He has been the first paleontologist living and working in the Neuquén province. He is both author and co-author of many discoveries of his own about new taxa in dinosaurs, birds, crocodiles, frogs, turtles, eggs and dinosaur tracks. He is the first paleontologist to have helped develop not only the Paleontological Science in Norpatagonia (1987) but also the Paleontological Tourism. He is the founder of the Geology and Paleontology Museum of the National University of Comahue (1990), the Paleontological Museum of Rincón de los Sauces (2000) and the Barreales Lake Paleontological Center (2002).
As a researcher of the National University of Comahue, he has been the Director of more than 15 national and international research projects led from institutions such as Conicet, Agencia Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia and Universidad Nacional del Comahue (Argentina), Duke Foundation of United States, Dinosaur Society of America, National Geographic Society, etc.
He has been the Director of theses for graduates, Master and PhD students. He has published more than 88 scientific papers and more than 60 in non-specialist magazines. He has also read more than 135 papers and lectures at Congresses of the specialty worldwide.
He has been invited to lecture on Dinosaurs from Norpatagonia in different cities of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Finland, Romania and Serbia. He has been a coordinator in more than 25 events of paleontological shows, exhibitions and Interactive museums.
He both described and co-described many species:
References.
(a) Calvo, J.O. 1991. Huellas de dinosaurios en la Formación Río Limay (Albiano-Cenomaniano) Picún Leufú. Provincia del Neuquén . Argentina. (Ornithischia-Saurischia: Saurópoda-Terópoda) Ameghiniana, 28 (3-4): 241-258.
(b) Calvo, J. O. y L. Salgado, 1995. Rebbachisaurus tessonei sp. nov. a new sauropod of the Albian-Cenomanian of Argentina; new evidence on the origin of the Diplodocidae. GAIA 11:13-33.
(c) Calvo, J.O.; Engelland, S.; Heredia, S. Salgado, L. 1997. First record of dinosaur eggshells (?Sauropoda-Megaloolithidae) from Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina. GAIA Portugal. 14:23-32.


Lama (geology)

Lama is a local toponym that denotes a wide furrow in the ground typical of the Murge landscape. Lamas convey rainwater from the Murge plateau to the endpoint of the drainage basin they belong to.
Lamas are generally confused with rivers or streams. There is a big difference between lamas and streams, since lamas collect only rainwater of their drainage basin, while they are completely dry when there is no rain. Moreover, in lamas water mostly flows underground and just a small amount of the rainwater flows on its surface.
As for lamas, surface runoff is greatest in the extreme and uncommon situations of heavy rain. Lamas usually contain fertile soil, that deposited over the millennia due to the erosion and they are usually cultivated. Since they contain fertile soil, they are distinguishable from the nearby typical area of the Murge plateau, that is almost everywhere stony, arid and hard to grow. Lamas also occur in proximity of such notable dolines as Pulo di Altamura, Gurio Lamanna and Tre Paduli. Those lamas prove that the above dolines originated due to karst processes, that is the double action, both mechanical and chemical, of the rainwater conveyed by the lamas.
Characteristics.
Lamas are made up of alluvial soil deposited over the millennia and they are very fertile, in juxtaposition with the fractured limestone rocks typical of the Murge plateau. For this reason and for the rainwater frequently flowing through the beds of the lamas, they have been inhabited and cultivated since the Neolithic Age.
The existence of lamas is due to the karst processes of Apulia region and Murge. The fractured limestone rocks turn out to be highly permeable to rainwater (limestone itself is not particularly permeable, but if heavily fractured, it becomes extremely permeable).
The high permeability of the whole region is responsible for the low surface runoff and the higher amount of water flowing underground. Inside lamas, rainwater also flows on its surface, but in a smaller amount. Rainwater flowing underground follows almost the same path as the lama's. This is due to the capillary fringe (Water table).


Walliserops

Walliserops (named after Prof. O. Walliser of the University of Göttingen) is a genus of spinose phacopid trilobite, of the family Acastidae, found in Lower to Middle Devonian age rocks from the Anti-Atlas Mountains of Morocco. All species of "Walliserops" possess a three-pronged "trident" that protrudes from the glabella. "Walliserops" is most closely related to the genus "Comura".
"Walliserops" was originally erected for a single species, W. trifurcatus. Later, two other species were assigned: W. hammii & W. tridens. All three currently described species come from the same strata near Foum Zguid in southern Morocco. Three as yet undescribed species are recorded from other locations.
Early reports of "trident" trilobites and placement within the proposed new genus "Parabolops" ("parabola face") - long tridents being placed within ""P. neptunis", short tridents placed within "P. hammi"" - were pre-empted by the publication of the detailed analysis of "Walliserops".
Departures from bilateral symmetry are an unusual feature within "Walliserops" species, most clearly shown by the curved occipital spine of "W. hammii" taking a noticeable curl to one side. The regular development of these features in multiple specimens suggest a genetically controlled feature of the genus and not mutations or pathology. Most of the exceptions to bilateral symmetry noted (and also the absence of spines on the first two thoracic segments) can be explained by adaptations allowing the trident to be held off the sea floor while walking. Between the species there are variations in the extent of departure from bilateral symmetry: "W. trifurcatus", with a long trident that is curved away from the seabed, has less obvious departures from bilateral symmetry than "W. hammii", with a short trident close to the seabed.
The function of the trident itself is poorly understood. With the amount of energy and nutrients expended in growing such a large adornment (probably multiple times as the trilobite shed its skin) its function was clearly important. Although a number of suggestions have been made (e.g. sensory apparatus, disguise or protection), the most satisfactory current explanation is that the trident served as "horns" similar to those of present-day beetles such as the rhinoceros beetles.
Sexual dimorphism was an intriguing prospect (longer trident forms as jousting males) when only two species (or possible dimorphs) were known. With the description of three species from the same location, polymorphism was another prospect but seemed unlikely. Although the presence of horns strongly suggests sexual dimorphism, lack of data on numerous fronts currently prevents firm conclusions from being drawn.


Chiajarjapata

Chiajarjapata (possibly from Aymara "ch'iyara" black, "k'ark'a" crevice, fissure, crack, "pata" step, "black crevice step") is a mountain in the Vilcanota mountain range in the Andes of Peru. It is located in the Puno Region, Carabaya Province, Corani District. Chiajarjapata Pata lies southeast of Macho Ritti, Tocra and Ananta near a lake named Mancacocha.


Rukwasuchus

Rukwasuchus is an extinct genus of peirosaurid mesoeucrocodylian known from the middle Cretaceous Galula Formation of southwestern Tanzania. It contains a single species, Rukwasuchus yajabalijekundu.
Discovery.
"Rukwasuchus" is known from its holotype, RRBP 08630, a well-preserved rear part of the skull including the cranial table, braincase, and interorbital region lacking the rostrum, the front portion of the palate, both lacrimals, jugals, and quadratojugals, as well as the mandible. RRBP 08630 was collected during 2008 at Namba 2 locality (also known as RRBP 2007-02), together with the titanosaurian "Rukwatitan bisepultus" which is exclusive to this locality. Material referred to "Rukwasuchus" includes four isolated teeth, which came from the neighboring localities RRBP 2007-01 yielding the 3 teeth RRBP 07351, 07369, 09362, and RRBP 2009-01 yielding the tooth RRBP 09367. All specimens came from approximately 25 km south of Lake Rukwa in the Galula Study Area, Rukwa Rift Basin of southwestern Tanzania, belonging to the Namba Member of the Galula Formation which dates to the late Aptian or possibly early Cenomanian stage of the middle Cretaceous, approximately 100 mya.
Etymology.
"Rukwasuchus" was named by Joseph J. W. Sertich and Patrick M. O’Connor in 2014 and the type species is "Rukwasuchus yajabalijekundu". The generic name refers to Lake Rukwa and the Rukwa Rift Basin, located in southwestern Tanzania, where the holotype of "Rukwasuchus" and other vertebrates were collected by the Rukwa Rift Basin Project, and "suchus", Latinized from the Greek "souchos", an Egyptian crocodile god. The specific name "yajabalijekundu" is derived from the Swahili language meaning "of/from the red outcrop", in reference to the Red Sandstone Group deposits exposed at the basin.
Description.
The skull of "Rukwasuchus" possesses several autapomorphies which distinguished it from other crocodyliforms. These include the presence of a mediolaterally narrow, elongate, and septate internal narial fenestra located anteriorly on the pterygoid, the presence of a markedly depressed posterior border of the parietal that excludes the supraoccipital from the dorsal cranial table, and a ventrally directed descending process of the postorbital with a well-developed posteroventral process. The morphology of the skull and isolated teeth suggests close relations to the peirosaurid "Hamadasuchus rebouli" from the middle Cretaceous Kem Kem Beds of Morocco. "Rukwasuchus" is the only known sub-Saharan peirosaurid from Africa, thus representing the only link between middle Cretaceous southern vertebrate faunas and much more abundant and taxonomically diverse faunas from northern Africa.
Phylogeny.
A phylogenetic analysis of Crocodyliformes supports a close relationship between "Rukwasuchus" and other African members of Trematochampsidae, e.g. "Hamadasuchus" and "Trematochampsa", that is positioned within a larger clade of Gondwanan peirosaurids. The following cladogram is simplified after the analysis of Sertich & O’Connor (2014); the relationships within Sebecosuchia and advanced notosuchians are not shown.


Chazy Formation

The Chazy Reef Formation is a mid-Ordovician limestone deposit in northeastern North America.
It consists of some of the oldest reef systems built by a community of organisms rather than the deposit of a limited range of similar organisms, such as Stromatolite mounds deposited by ancient cyanobacteria. The reef structure was formed largely by cryptostome and trepostome bryozoa, some of the oldest known bryozoans, but corals made an early appearance, and stromatoporoids.
The formation is named for the small town of Chazy, New York, where the reef was noted by James Hall in "Palaeontology of New York" (vol. I, 1847) and the fossils first studied by the Canadian paleontologist Elkanah Billings (1858, 1859). The reef extends from Tennessee to Quebec and Newfoundland, but its most easily studied outcropping is at Goodsell Ridge, Isle La Motte, the northernmost island in Lake Champlain; there, gentle uplift has tilted the sediments: the bedding planes now dip slightly to the north, revealing sequences of horizons in exposed rock. The black limestone of Isle La Motte takes a polish, revealing the white "bird's-eye" markings of embedded fossil shells, notably the spirals formed by sliced gastropod shells. Rock of the Chazy Formation was quarried from the nineteenth century at the Fisk Quarry, Isle La Motte, the oldest quarry in Vermont. Portions of the exposed reef on several islands in Lake Champlain were dedicated as the Chazy Fossil Reef National Natural Landmark in 2009.
The system formed in warm tropical waters of the Iapetus Ocean, in low latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. The site was in shallow waters of a continental shelf: the continental craton of Laurentia lay to the west, beyond the lagoon system that formed behind the protective reef. The time was some 480-450 Ma (million years ago), at a period when global paleoclimate was so warm that the planet was all but ice-free. Atmospheric carbon dioxide was fourteen to sixteen times more plentiful than it is today.
The Chazy Reef Formation, which built up vertically from a muddy base catching fine dark silt as it grew, began as mounds deposited by bryozoans that stabilized a muddy bottom, then built up into the water column to such an extent that the connected mounds modified their surrounding environment (Mehrtens). As the reef aged, it began to offer an increasing variety of ecological niches, which fostered the first rich local biodiversity that has characterized all reef systems ever since. One dominant reef-building organism took the place of another, in a slowly evolving faunal succession.
The Chazy Reef Formation has given its name to the contemporaneous mid-Ordovician faunal stage, the Chazyan.


Mount Cameroon Race of Hope

The Mount Cameroon Race of Hope (in French, "La Course de l'Espoir") is an annual, televised footrace held at Mount Cameroon in the Southwest Region of Cameroon in January or February. The 20th edition of the Guinness mount Cameroon race of hope was scheduled for February 14, 2015. The information was made public in a joint press conference granted by the president of the Cameroon Athletics federation, Emmanuel Motomby Mbome and the General manager of Guinness Cameroun, Baker Magunda.
During the Press Conference it was made known that the mode of registration and price (10 million FCFA) remain the same but there will be several innovations this year notably the Olympic flame that would go round the country prior to the race.
The flame of hope will visit every qualifier race notably in Ngaoundere, then move to Batie, Bamenda, Yaounde, Douala, and finally Buea. On each lap of the tour, Guinness Cameroon will carry out some activities of general interest such as constructing water catchments, schools and hospitals. The event begins at Molyko Sports Complex in Buea and follows a path up Mount Cameroon and back; The course runs a distance of . Participants are divided into men's and women's divisions and further subdivided into professionals, youth, and casual runners. Each winner in the men's and women's professional divisions will receive 10,000,000 francs CFA in 2011. Teams may enter the race and compete in the relay division. The first Race of Hope was in 1995. Since then, participation has steadily increased; there were 214 participants in 2005, 390 in 2006, and 643 from nine countries in 2007. As of 2010, the winners since the race's inception had all been Cameroonians. Sarah Etonge has won the women's division for four straight years.
The first race took place in 1973. For many years, the race was organised and sponsored by Guinness under the name Guinness Mount Cameroon Race. In 2005, control of the event was taken by 12 local committees in Buea and representatives of the national Cameroon Athletics Federation (CAF) and the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education. The budget in 2007 was 130 million francs CFA, the bulk of which was provided by the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education. The change to public control was controversial: In 2005, Mayor Charles Mbella Moki of the Buea Rural Council accused the organisers of mismanagement and proposed that Guinness to be given back full control. In 2006, the CAF cut the prize money to the winners by 25% without warning, reportedly to cover their membership fees in the organisation.
About 5,000 visitors come to Buea each year to view the race. Cultural and sporting events take place in Buea. These include artists, choral groups, and dancers; and basketball, handball, and volleyball tournaments. Local authorities sanction the event through the paramount chief of Buea, who climbs Mount Cameroon to petition the gods for their blessing.
The 2007 documentary film "Volcanic Sprint" is about the race.
The 2019 race saw marginal attendance due to the ongoing Anglophone Crisis.


Jacques Amand Eudes-Deslongchamps

Jacques Amand Eudes-Deslongchamps (17 January 179417 January 1867) was a French naturalist and paleontologist. His son, Eugène Eudes-Deslongchamps (1830–1889), was also a paleontologist.
He was born at Caen in Normandy. His parents, though poor, contrived to give him a good education, and he studied medicine in his native town to such good effect that in 1812 he was appointed assistant-surgeon in the navy, and in 1815 surgeon assistant major to the military hospital of Caen. Soon afterwards he proceeded to Paris to qualify for the degree of doctor of surgery, and there the researches and teachings of Cuvier attracted his attention to subjects of natural history and palaeontology.
In 1822 he was elected surgeon to the board of relief at Caen, and while he never ceased to devote his energies to the duties of this post, he sought relaxation in geological studies. Soon he discovered remains of "Teleosaurus" in one of the Caen quarries, and he became an ardent palaeontologist. He was one of the founders of the museum of natural history at Caen, and acted as honorary curator; he was likewise one of the founders of the Socité linnenne de Normandie (1823), to the transactions of which society he communicated papers on "Teleosaurus", "Poekilopleuron" ("Megalosaurus"), on Jurassic mollusca and brachiopoda. In 1825 he became professor of zoology to the faculty of sciences, and in 1847, dean.


Odontomachus paleomyagra

Odontomachus paleomyagra is an extinct species of formicid in the ant subfamily Ponerinae known from a Miocene fossil found in Europe.
History and classification.
"O. paleomyagra" is known from a single ant found in the Czech Republic. The specimen was described from a compression fossil preserved in lignite deposits of the Most Basin. The site is exposed in workings of the Bílina Mine, an opencast lignite mine in Bílina, Bohemia, Czech Republic. The mine exposes an approximately thick sequence of deposits recording the progression of a delta lake and bog ecosystem. Fossils of eleven different insect orders are recorded in the Bílina site, representing members of 31 different insect families, with formicids being the most common insects, being nearly 40% of the specimens collected.
Over the lifetime of the lake, the Bílina area was a delta region of a large drainage system emptying into a shallow lake, with expansive peat bogs surrounding it. There are several different fish and at least one frog from the genus "Rana" also known from the Bílina mine area that may have fed on the ants that fell into the lake. The low bog forest where "O. paleomyagra" lived had a mix of temperate plants such as alders, oaks and swamp cypress along with more tropical plants such as climbing fern, palmetto and rattan palms.
The fossil was studied by a team of paleoentomologists led by Torsten Wappeler, with the group's 2014 type description of the new species being published in the journal "Paläontologische Zeitschrift". The specific epithet "paleomyagra" is a combination of the Greek words for "ancient", "mouse", and "trap". When first described, "O. paleomyagra" was one of three "Odontomachus" species that had been described from fossils, with both "Odontomachus pseudobauri" and "Odontomachus spinifer" being described in 1994 from fossils found in Dominican amber. Both Dominican amber species are placed in the "Odontomachus" "haematodus" species group, which is neotropical in distribution. "O. paleomyagra" is distinct from "haematodus" group species in the less complex mandible dentition, and in the shape of the head.
The simpler mandibles of "O. paleomyagra" are closer to those of the extant south-east African species "Odontomachus assiniensis" and to the south-east Asian species group "rixosus", including "Odontomachus rixosus", "Odontomachus monticola", and "Odontomachus latidens". Unlike these species however, "O. paleomyagra" has a shorter more squared off head, rather than the elongated heads of the modern species.
Description.
The "O. paleomyagra" queen is estimated to have been long in life, and the fossil has a total preserved length of . The head is nearly square in outline, being only 1.2 times longer than wide, with slightly bowed-in sides, rear corners which are rounded, and the rear edge which is concave. The front region of the head has distinct striations and the small oval eyes are placed notably close to the front edge of the head. There is little constriction of the head to the rear of the eyes, with the width across the eyes 1.06 time the width across the vertex of the head. In front of the clypeus, the bases of the long straight mandibles are placed close together. On the masticatory margin there are no denticles, with possibly three teeth present at the tip end of each mandible, though only two are visible. The thorax is slightly elongated, with a mesoscutum that is a little wider than long and attaching with no overhang of the sclerites to the propodeum. The petiole is rounded and narrow, without a spine on the upper surface.


Sierra de la Giganta

The Sierra de la Giganta is a mountain range of eastern Baja California Sur state, located on the southern Baja California Peninsula in northwestern Mexico.
It is a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges System, which extends from Southern California, through the Baja California Peninsula in Baja California and Baja California Sur states.
Geography.
The Sierra de la Giganta extends along the southeastern Baja California Peninsula, parallel and close to the coast of the Gulf of California—Sea of Cortez. The highest point is Cerro de la Giganta at in elevation, located near Loreto
The range runs from Loreto in Loreto Municipality west of Loreto, southwards to La Paz Municipality northwest of La Paz.
Ecology.
The range is predominantly covered in dry (or xeric) shrubland. The Baja California Desert ecoregion covers the Pacific (western) slope of the range, and the Gulf of California xeric scrub ecoregion covers the gulf (eastern) slope. Stream valleys with year-round water sustain palm oases, with groves of the native palm "Washingtonia robusta" and other moisture-loving plants.


Vachonisia

Vachonisia is a Devonian marrellomorph known from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Shale. It grows in a similar fashion to the other Hunsruck marrellomorph, "Mimetaster", and is closely related to the Silurian "Xylokorys". It is known from 20 specimens; its whole body is covered by a shield-like carapace.


Neuquenornis

Neuquenornis volans is a species of enantiornithine birds which lived during the late Cretaceous period in today's Patagonia, Argentina. It is the only known species of the genus "Neuquenornis". Its fossils were found in the Santonian Bajo de la Carpa Formation, dating from about 85-83 million years ago. This was a sizeable bird for its time, with a tarsometatarsus 46.8mm long. Informal estimates suggest that it measured nearly 30 cm (12 in) in length excluding the tail .
"N. volans" was described by Chiappe and Calvo in 1994. It was also mentioned in previous papers by Chiappe, but named only by its catalog number.
The holotype fossil is catalogued as MUCPv-142. It is in the collection of the Museo de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Neuquen, Argentina.
Chiappe and Calvo (1994) placed "N. volans" in the Family Avisauridae, near "Avisaurus" in the Enantiornithiformes. A more recent, unpublished, unreviewed, analysis that includes many newly described Enantiornithes finds it closer to "Concornis" and "Cathayornis" (or "Sinornis").
Etymology: "Flying bird from Neuquén Province". "Neuquenornis", from Neuquén Province + Ancient Greek "ornis" (όρνις) "bird". "volans", Latin for "flying" in reference to the species' well-developed wing skeleton.
A nesting colony has been attributed to this bird, showcasing that it display megapode-like egg burial behaviour.


Lajasvenator

Lajasvenator (meaning "Las Lajas hunter" after the city of Las Lajas in Neuquén, Argentina) is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur from the Mulichinco Formation from Neuquén Province in Argentina. The type and only species is Lajasvenator ascheriae. It was probably one of the smallest known allosauroids, being approximately only half the length of "Concavenator", about .


Skalica Formation

The Skalica Formation is a geologic formation in Austria. It preserves fossils dating back to the Serravallian stage (Sarmatian) of the Miocene period.


Asphinctites

Asphinctites is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass.


Represo Formation

The Represo Formation is a geologic formation in Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Carboniferous period.


Amiopsis

Amiopsis is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish belonging to the family Amiidae.


Sefapanosaurus

Sefapanosaurus was an early, herbivorous sauropodomorph dinosaur occurring in the southern regions of Gondwana some 200 million years ago in the Late Triassic or Early Jurassic. The sauropodomorphs were the dominant terrestrial herbivores throughout much of the Mesozoic Era, from their origins in the mid-Triassic (approximately 230 Ma) until their decline and fall at the end of the Cretaceous (approximately 66 Ma).
Description.
This new genus was described in the 23 June 2015 issue of 'Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society' in an essay titled 'A new basal sauropodiform from South Africa and the phylogenetic relationships of basal sauropodomorphs'. A portion of the left foot and four partial skeletons, including several pieces of spine and limbs, were excavated from the Elliot Formation in the late 1930s in the Zastron district in South Africa, some from the Lesotho border. Until a few years ago these formed part of the large fossil collection curated by the Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) at Wits University.
When finally studied, the remains were thought to be those of the dinosaur "Aardonyx". Further study determined that the remains represented a new dinosaur genus which was intermediate between early bipedal sauropodomorphs and the later giant quadruped sauropods, adding to the list of transitional sauropodomorphs from Argentina and South Africa, and further clarifying their diversification.
A distinctive feature of this dinosaur is the cross-shaped astragalus or talus bone in its ankle. The generic name is derived from the Sesotho word "sefapano", meaning ‘cross’ and the Greek word "saurus", meaning 'lizard'. The specific name refers to Zastron, the type locality, where the specimen was discovered.


Cordillera de Queule

Cordillera de Queule is a minor mountain range in the border of La Araucanía Region and Los Ríos Region, southern Chile. The forested hills of Cordillera de Queule makes up the northern boundary of Lingue Rivers drainage basin.


Arduennella

Arduennella is a Devonian homalonotid genus of trilobite in the order Phacopida, which existed in what is now Belgium, Germany, Morocco and Romania. It was described by Wenndorf in 1990, and the type species is "Arduennella maillieuxi", which was originally described as "Homalonotus maillieuxi" by Asselberghs in 1923.