the forumad ophiolite in the northwestern part of the sabzevar region has embraced the largedepleted harzburgites and dunitic bodies associated with podiform chromitites. in some deposits, chromitegrains have segregated as nodules. the stretched shape along with high cr2o3 and tio2 contents are thecharacteristics of the nodules. compared to the other tethyan nodular chromites, the forumad nodul...

Field observations from Gonto La (southern Tibet), a pass through the high Himalaya, reveal a continuous, planar, ~l&N-dipping detachment horizon (the Gonto La detachment). The detachment juxtaposes Tethyan dark slates over a footwall of extensive leucogranite of the Khula Kangri pluton, intruded into an injection complex layer regarded as an early Southern Tibet Detachment System (STDS) horizo...

The paleobiodiversity of the Volutidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of the Ranikot Group (Sindh, Pakistan) and particularly of the Lakhra Formation (SBZ 5 biozone, Earliest Eocene), is reconsidered on the basis of new material collected during recent field trips. Ten new species are described (Mitreola brohii sp. nov., Lyrischapa vredenburgi sp. nov., L. brevispira sp. nov., Athleta (Volutopupa) cith...

A high-resolution chemostratigraphic study of a 24-m-thick section at West Blind Fiord on Ellesmere Island (Canadian Arctic) documents stepwise environmental deterioration in the marine Sverdrup Basin during the late Changhsingian (late Late Permian) as a result of volcanic disturbances to surrounding landmasses. A horizon within the upper Lindström Formation (datum A) is characterized by incre...

The Capitanian (Late Guadalupian) Maokou Formation at Chaotian in northern Sichuan, South China, is composed mainly of shallow marine shelf carbonates deposited on the Tethyan side of South China. By detailed field mapping and scientific drilling, we newly found out unique fossil assemblages and a sharp lithologic change in the upper part of the Maokou Formation. The main part of the Maokou For...

The Khoy Ophiolitic Complex (KOC) as a part of Tethyan, Izmir-Ankara- Erzincan and Bitlis-Zagros sutures of South East (SE) Turkey is broadly exposed around Khoy region (NW Iran). This complex comprises dismembered fragments of mantle lithosphere, obducted oceanic lithosphere and parts of volcanic arc remnants. The Khoy Ophiolitic Complex can be structurally divided into two major eastern and w...

We report the first record of a snake from the Cretaceous of northern South America. The remains come from the La Luna Formation (La Aguada Member, Cenomanian of Venezuela) and consist of several vertebrae, which belong to the precloacal region of the vertebral column. Comparisons to extant and extinct snakes show that the remains represent a new taxon, Lunaophis aquaticus gen. et sp nov. An aq...

Article history: Received 28 April 2011 Received in revised form 5 August 2011 Accepted 12 August 2011 Available online xxxx