Envoi Invictus Zimbabwe Farmout
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
A New Coelurosaurian Dinosaur from the Forest Sandstone of Rhodesia. Arnoldia, 4(28
-'- .ARNOLDIA (RHODESIA) SERIES OF MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF RHODESIA No. 28 Volume 4 14th October, 1969 A NEW COELUROSAURIAN DINOSAUR FROM THE FOREST SANDSTONE OF RHODESIA by M. A. RAATH Queen Victoria Museum, Salisbury INTRODUCTION During 1963, a group of boys from North1ea School, Bulawayo, under the direction of their teacher, Mr. Ian K. Stewart, came across a partially exposed fossil in Forest Sandstone on Southcote Farm in the Nyamandhlovu district of Rhodesia. When the author joined the staff of the school in 1964, the fossil was pointed out to him and was later excavated over a protracted period, during weekends and school holidays. On development, the fossil proved to consist of most of the postcranial skeleton of-a small Coelurosaurian dinosaur in a very remarkable state of preservation and articu lation. The animal was preserved lying on its left side, which was largely complete, while the right side had been exposed and weathered to some extent. The specimen was found in the sandstone bank of a small stream, the Kwengula River, on Southcote farm, which lies 20 miles N.W. of Bulawayo (19058' S; 28°24' 35" E). Other dinosaur remains have been recovered from the rather limited exposures in the Southcote stream in the past (see e.g. Bond, 1955; Attridge, 1963), and on the basis of its fossil fauna Bond (op. cit.) has correlated the Forest Sandstone with the Upper part of the South African Red Beds. The deposits are thus Upper Karroo (Upper Triassic) in age. In order to preserve the articulated state of some of the bones, development has not yet been completed. -
The Origin and Early Evolution of Dinosaurs
Biol. Rev. (2010), 85, pp. 55–110. 55 doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00094.x The origin and early evolution of dinosaurs Max C. Langer1∗,MartinD.Ezcurra2, Jonathas S. Bittencourt1 and Fernando E. Novas2,3 1Departamento de Biologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de S˜ao Paulo; Av. Bandeirantes 3900, Ribeir˜ao Preto-SP, Brazil 2Laboratorio de Anatomia Comparada y Evoluci´on de los Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘‘Bernardino Rivadavia’’, Avda. Angel Gallardo 470, Cdad. de Buenos Aires, Argentina 3CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient´ıficas y T´ecnicas); Avda. Rivadavia 1917 - Cdad. de Buenos Aires, Argentina (Received 28 November 2008; revised 09 July 2009; accepted 14 July 2009) ABSTRACT The oldest unequivocal records of Dinosauria were unearthed from Late Triassic rocks (approximately 230 Ma) accumulated over extensional rift basins in southwestern Pangea. The better known of these are Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, Pisanosaurus mertii, Eoraptor lunensis,andPanphagia protos from the Ischigualasto Formation, Argentina, and Staurikosaurus pricei and Saturnalia tupiniquim from the Santa Maria Formation, Brazil. No uncontroversial dinosaur body fossils are known from older strata, but the Middle Triassic origin of the lineage may be inferred from both the footprint record and its sister-group relation to Ladinian basal dinosauromorphs. These include the typical Marasuchus lilloensis, more basal forms such as Lagerpeton and Dromomeron, as well as silesaurids: a possibly monophyletic group composed of Mid-Late Triassic forms that may represent immediate sister taxa to dinosaurs. The first phylogenetic definition to fit the current understanding of Dinosauria as a node-based taxon solely composed of mutually exclusive Saurischia and Ornithischia was given as ‘‘all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of birds and Triceratops’’. -
The Sauropodomorph Biostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation of Southern Africa: Tracking the Evolution of Sauropodomorpha Across the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary
Editors' choice The sauropodomorph biostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation of southern Africa: Tracking the evolution of Sauropodomorpha across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary BLAIR W. MCPHEE, EMESE M. BORDY, LARA SCISCIO, and JONAH N. CHOINIERE McPhee, B.W., Bordy, E.M., Sciscio, L., and Choiniere, J.N. 2017. The sauropodomorph biostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation of southern Africa: Tracking the evolution of Sauropodomorpha across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 62 (3): 441–465. The latest Triassic is notable for coinciding with the dramatic decline of many previously dominant groups, followed by the rapid radiation of Dinosauria in the Early Jurassic. Among the most common terrestrial vertebrates from this time, sauropodomorph dinosaurs provide an important insight into the changing dynamics of the biota across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. The Elliot Formation of South Africa and Lesotho preserves the richest assemblage of sauropodomorphs known from this age, and is a key index assemblage for biostratigraphic correlations with other simi- larly-aged global terrestrial deposits. Past assessments of Elliot Formation biostratigraphy were hampered by an overly simplistic biozonation scheme which divided it into a lower “Euskelosaurus” Range Zone and an upper Massospondylus Range Zone. Here we revise the zonation of the Elliot Formation by: (i) synthesizing the last three decades’ worth of fossil discoveries, taxonomic revision, and lithostratigraphic investigation; and (ii) systematically reappraising the strati- graphic provenance of important fossil locations. We then use our revised stratigraphic information in conjunction with phylogenetic character data to assess morphological disparity between Late Triassic and Early Jurassic sauropodomorph taxa. Our results demonstrate that the Early Jurassic upper Elliot Formation is considerably more taxonomically and morphologically diverse than previously thought. -
Gastroliths in an Ornithopod Dinosaur
Brief report Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53 (2): 351–355, 2008 Gastroliths in an ornithopod dinosaur IGNACIO A. CERDA Gastroliths (stomach stones) are known from many extant Institutional abbreviations.—MCSPv, Vertebrate paleontology and extinct vertebrates, including dinosaurs. Reported here collection of the Museo de Cinco Saltos, Río Negro Province, is the first unambiguous record of gastroliths in an ornitho− Argentina; MUCPv, Vertebrate paleontology collection of the pod dinosaur. Clusters of small stones found in the abdomi− Museo de la Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Neuquén nal region of three articulated skeletons of Gasparinisaura Province, Argentina. cincosaltensis were identified as gastroliths on the basis of taphonomic and sedimentologic evidence. The large number Material and geologic setting of stones found in each individual, their size, and the fact that Gasparinisaura cincosaltensis was herbivorous, all sug− Three specimens of Gasparinisaura cincosaltensis, MUCPv 213, gest that they were ingested as a result of lithophagy rather MCSPv 111, and MCSPv 112, were collected near the city of than accidental swallowing. Cinco Saltos (Río Negro Province, Patagonia, Argentina) (Fig. 1), in mudstones and sandstones of the early Campanian Anacleto Introduction Formation, in the uppermost portion of the Neuquén Group (Ramos 1981; Dingus et al. 2000). MUCPv 213 (Fig. 2A) consists Gastroliths or geo−gastroliths sensu Wings (2007) are known in of a partial skeleton that includes cranial and postcranial elements many taxa of extant and fossil vertebrates (Whittle and Everhart (see Salgado et al. 1997 for a detailed anatomical description). A 2000). Gastroliths have been occasionally reported in non−avian portion of the preserved elements (both incomplete humeri articu− dinosaurs (Wings 2004) but only few cases can withstand rigorous lated with both radii and ulnae, several posterior dorsal ribs from testing. -
Groundwater Exploration and Assessment in the Eastern Lowlands and Associated Highlands of the Ogaden Basin Area, Eastern Ethiopia: Phase 1 Final Technical Report
Prepared in cooperation with the United States Geological Survey Groundwater Exploration and Assessment in the Eastern Lowlands and Associated Highlands of the Ogaden Basin Area, Eastern Ethiopia: Phase 1 Final Technical Report By Saud Amer, Alain Gachet, Wayne R. Belcher, James R. Bartolino, and Candice B. Hopkins Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 4 1.1. Background ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2. Purpose and scope ............................................................................................................................................. 5 2. Study Area ................................................................................................................................................................. 6 2.1. Geographic location ............................................................................................................................................ 6 2.2. Climate ................................................................................................................................................................ 7 3. Geology .................................................................................................................................................................... -
Ethiopia on the Cusp
Ethiopia on the Cusp A guest article by Jane Whaley, Editor in and eastern Ogaden, before WWII disrupted Chief, GEO ExPro Magazine exploration. In 1945 Sinclair Petroleum obtained an exploration license covering all Ethiopia, undertaking surface mapping before spudding the first oil well in the country, Gumboro-1, on 17 May 1949, which proved to be dry. The company drilled a series of ‘structural’ holes looking for regional structures – a technique successful in Saudi Arabia but which failed to identify any Ghawar-type structures in the Ogaden Basin. The 1955 Galadi well had encouraging oil shows in the Jurassic and Triassic. A country that has long held fascination in the west, Ethiopia is rich in history and culture as well as minerals, but after 100 years of hydrocarbon exploration it is only now close to commercial oil and gas production. Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa at the northern end of the East African Rift System (EARS), a proven hydrocarbon hunting ground, and is located near successful oil and gas provinces in Yemen, Kenya and South Sudan - but has yet to yield similar riches. One of the fastest growing economies in the world, with a population of over 100 million, Ethiopia has a Sinclair supply plane, 1948. growing critical need for power supplies, given that 50% of the population and 25% of the After Sinclair left in 1956, more companies health clinics lack access to electricity. While entered the arena and 43 wells were drilled in some power is supplied by hydropower, the the Ogaden Basin between 1950 and 1995, the rest is dependent on imported coal and oil. -
Statistics of Petroleum Exploration in the Caribbean, Latin America, Western Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Non-Communist Asia, and the Southwestern Pacific
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 1096 Statistics of Petroleum Exploration in the Caribbean, Latin America, Western Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Non-Communist Asia, and the Southwestern Pacific j AVAILABILITY OF BOOKS AND MAPS OF THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Instructions on ordering publications of the U.S. Geological Survey, along with prices of the last offerings, are given in the current-year issues of the monthly catalog "New Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey." Prices of available U.S. Geological Survey publications released prior to the current year are listed in the most recent annual "Price and Availability List." Publications that may be listed in various U.S. Geological Survey catalogs (see back inside cover) but not listed in the most recent annual "Price and Availability List" may be no longer available. Reports released through the NTIS may be obtained by writing to the National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161; please include NTIS report number with inquiry. Order U.S. Geological Survey publications by mail or over the counter from the offices given below. BY MAIL OVER THE COUNTER Books Books and Maps Professional Papers, Bulletins, Water-Supply Papers, Tech Books and maps of the U.S. Geological Survey are niques of Water-Resources Investigations, Circulars, publications available over the counter at the following U.S. Geological Survey of general interest (such as leaflets, pamphlets, booklets), single offices, all of which are authorized agents of the Superintendent of copies of Earthquakes & Volcanoes, Preliminary Determination of Documents: Epicenters, and some miscellaneous reports, including some of the foregoing series that have gone out of print at the Superintendent of Documents, are obtainable by mail from • ANCHORAGE, Alaska-Rm. -
Map Compilations and Synthesis of Africa's Petroleum Basins and Systems
Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on October 1, 2021 Map compilations and synthesis of Africa's petroleum basins and systems E. G. PURDY1 & D. S. MACGREGOR2 1Foxbourne, Hamm Court, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8YA, UK (e-mail: [email protected]) 2Sasol Petroleum International, 93 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 1HJ, UK (e-mail: duncan. mac g re g or @ sasol. com) Abstract: The purpose of this short contribution is to provide an overview of our current state of knowledge of Africa's petroleum systems as an introduction to the detailed volume accounts that follow. Toward that end we introduce a set of maps on a supplementary CD compiled by Purdy as part of a confidential report provided to industry subscribers some ten years ago. The maps include subsurface as well as surface structural information but, because of their vintage, have not taken account of more recent information. Nonetheless, the regional geological frame- work apparent on the maps has not changed and, in that sense, the maps are as relevant today as when they were first compiled. Moreover the maps serve as a useful building block on which more recently acquired exploration data can be readily added by others using facilitating com- puter programs. Map compilations basement and below the first age-diagnostic fos- sils. Two map compilations are provided on the sup- The map's basin classification follows the ter- plementary CD (Purdy 2003). The first is entitled minology of Kingston et al. (1983) with two major Exploration Fabric of Africa and includes not only modifications. The first is the designation of delta conventional outcrop geology but also pertinent sag (DS) for large basins that are dominated by subsurface structural trends, including the depths delta fill. -
Ethiopia: Prospects for Peace in Ogaden
Ethiopia: Prospects for Peace in Ogaden Africa Report N°207 | 6 August 2013 International Crisis Group Headquarters Avenue Louise 149 1050 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 502 90 38 Fax: +32 2 502 50 38 [email protected] Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... i I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 II. Ogaden: Ethiopia’s Most Contested Territory ................................................................. 2 III. The ONLF and Federal Ethiopia ...................................................................................... 5 A. The ONLF and the EPRDF ........................................................................................ 5 B. Article 39 .................................................................................................................... 7 C. Amateur Insurgents ................................................................................................... 7 D. Local Governance Issues ............................................................................................ 9 IV. Externalisation of the Conflict ......................................................................................... 10 A. The Eritrean Factor .................................................................................................... 10 B. The Somali Factor ..................................................................................................... -
Geology and Petroleum Resources of Central and East-Central Africa by James A. Peterson* Open-File Report 85-589 This Report Is
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Geology and petroleum resources of central and east-central Africa By James A. Peterson* Open-File Report 85-589 This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards and stratigraphic nomenclature Missoula, Montana 1985 CONTENTS Page Abs tract 1 Introduction 2 Sources of Information 2 Geography 2 Acknowledgment s 2 Regional geology 5 Structure 5 Horn of Africa 5 Plateau and rift belt 11 Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Basins 13 Central Africa interior basins 13 Upper Nile Basin (Sudan trough) 13 Chad, Doba-Doseo (Chari), and lullemmeden (Niger) Basins 13 Benue trough 15 Stratigraphy 15 Precambrian 19 Paleozoic 19 Mesozoic 21 East-central Africa 21 Jurassic 21 Cretaceous 22 Tertiary 22 Central Africa interior basins 26 Benue trough 27 Petroleum geology 27 Somali basin 28 Res ervo i r s 2 9 Source rocks 29 Seals 29 Traps 2 9 Estimated resources 30 Plateau and rift belt 30 Red Sea Basin (western half) 30 Reservoirs 30 Source rocks 34 Seals 34 Traps 34 Estimated resources 34 Central Africa interior basins 34 Reservoirs, source rocks, seals 36 Traps 36 Estimated resources 36 Benue trough 40 Res er voi r s 4 0 Source rocks 40 Seals 40 Traps 40 Estimated resources 40 CONTENTS (continued) Page Resource assessment 42 Procedures 42 As s es smen t 4 3 Comments 43 Selected references 45 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Index map of north and central Africa 3 2. Generalized structural map of central and east Africa 4 3. -
Sauropod Dinosaur Remains from a New Early Jurassic Locality in the Central High Atlas of Morocco
Sauropod dinosaur remains from a new Early Jurassic locality in the Central High Atlas of Morocco CECILY S.C. NICHOLL, PHILIP D. MANNION, and PAUL M. BARRETT Nicholl, C.S.C., Mannion, P.D., and Barrett, P.M. 2018. Sauropod dinosaur remains from a new Early Jurassic locality in the Central High Atlas of Morocco. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 63 (1): 147–157. Despite being globally widespread and abundant throughout much of the Mesozoic, the early record of sauropod dinosaur evolution is extremely poor. As such, any new remains can provide significant additions to our understand- ing of this important radiation. Here, we describe two sauropod middle cervical vertebrae from a new Early Jurassic locality in the Haute Moulouya Basin, Central High Atlas of Morocco. The possession of opisthocoelous centra, a well-developed system of centrodiapophyseal laminae, and the higher elevation of the postzygapophyses relative to the prezygapophyses, all provide strong support for a placement within Sauropoda. Absence of pneumaticity indicates non-neosauropod affinities, and several other features, including a tubercle on the dorsal margin of the prezygapophyses and an anteriorly slanting neural spine, suggest close relationships with various basal eusauropods, such as the Middle Jurassic taxa Jobaria tiguidensis and Patagosaurus fariasi. Phylogenetic analyses also support a position close to the base of Eusauropoda. The vertebrae differ from the only other Early Jurassic African sauropod dinosaurs preserving overlapping remains (the Moroccan Tazoudasaurus naimi and South African Pulanesaura eocollum), as well as strati- graphically younger taxa, although we refrain from erecting a new taxon due to the limited nature of the material. -
A Juvenile Coelophysoid Skull from the Early Jurassic of Zimbabwe, and the Synonymy of Coelophysis and Syntarsus
A juvenile coelophysoid skull from the Early Jurassic of Zimbabwe, and the synonymy of Coelophysis and Syntarsus Anthea Bristowe* & Michael A. Raath Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS, 2050 South Africa Received 23 September 2004. Accepted 5 December 2004 Several authors have drawn attention to the close similarities between the neotheropod dinosaurs Coelophysis and Syntarsus. Recon- struction and analysis of a skull from a juvenile specimen of Syntarsus (collected from the Forest Sandstone Formation of Zimbabwe) show that cranial characters previously used to distinguish these taxa and justify their generic separation (namely the presence of a ‘nasal fenestra’ in Syntarsus and the length of its antorbital fenestra), were based on erroneous reconstructions of disassociated cranial elements. On the basis of this reinterpretation we conclude that Syntarsus is a junior synonym of Coelophysis. Variations are noted in three cranial characters – the length of the maxillary tooth row, the width of the base of the lachrymal and the shape of the antorbital maxillary fossa – that taken together with the chronological and geographical separation of the two taxa justify separation at species level. Keywords: Dinosaurs, Neotheropoda, Coelophysoid, taxonomy, Triassic, Jurassic. INTRODUCTION Following the work of Gauthier (1986), these taxa were Ever since the theropod Syntarsus rhodesiensis was first suggested to belong to a monophyletic clade known as described (Raath 1969), a succession of authors have Ceratosauria. However, more recent works by a number commented on the close morphological similarity be- of authors (Sereno 1997, 1999; Holtz 2000; Wilson et al. tween it and Coelophysis bauri (Raath 1969, 1977; Paul 1988, 2003; Rauhut 2003) have re-evaluated theropod interrela- 1993; Colbert 1989; Rowe 1989; Tykoski 1998; Downs tionships.