Iharkút's Vertebrate Locality was Deposited by a Seasonal Flash Flood in a Low-level, wet, Alluvial Plain With a Humid, but Seasonal PaleoClimate

Facies architecture and palaeoenvironmental implications of the upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbánya formation at the Iharkút vertebrate locality (Bakony Mountains, Northwestern Hungary)

Authors:

Botfalvai et al

Abstract:

The Csehbánya Formation (Santonian), exposed in the Iharkút open-pit, Bakony Mountains, Hungary, is made up of a cyclic alternation of conglomerate, sandstone, and variegated siltstone and clay deposited in a fluviolacustrine environment. As a result of continuous excavation since 2002 it has yielded rich and diverse continental vertebrate and plant assemblages. A facies and architectural analysis of the Csehbánya Formation at this location identified four main lithofacies associations with eight subtypes consisting of (1) lenticular sandstones representing river channels, (2) conglomerates with sandstone (coarse grained likewise representing channel deposits), (3) heterolithic-channel fill (high density flash flow deposits) (4) splay sandstones produced by crevasse splays, (5) dark sandy siltstone (small-scale stagnant pool deposits with high organic content), (6) greenish-grey claystone (deposits of shallow lakes and ponds), (7) reddish (moderately drained) paleosols, and (8) yellowish, mottled (hydromorphic) paleosols.

The sedimentological investigations revealed that the terrestrial deposits exposed by the Iharkút open-pit were formed in an anastomosing fluvial system because: (i) the alluvial architecture is characterized by large proportion of overbank deposits encasing the channel sandstone bodies, (ii) the ribbon shaped sandstone bodies are dominant, (iii) cross-bedding and lateral accretion are almost completely absent in the channel fill deposits and (iv) the sandstone bodies are clearly isolated from each other, embedded in floodplain sediments, suggesting multiple co-existing channels.

The most important vertebrate fossil site (SZ-6) was examined in special detail because it shows peculiar lithological features. The layers richest in fossils (Unit 1) of SZ-6 site are interpreted as a lag deposit formed during an episodic high density flash flood event representing a relatively short time interval, i.e., probably within a single rainy season.

Ten European Union Members Send Letter Stating Russo-German NordStream Gas Pipeline NOT in European Interests

Russia's plans to extend its gas link to Germany run counter to EU interests and risk further destabilizing Ukraine, 10 European governments said in a letter to the European Commission that called for a summit-level debate on the issue.

A group of European companies signed an agreement with Gazprom in September to expand its Nord Stream pipeline to Germany, bypassing Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Gazprom said it would halt gas deliveries to Ukraine while Kiev said it could find cheaper supplies elsewhere.

The letter, written on Thursday and signed by Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, says the project should come under the closest regulatory scrutiny and called for "an inclusive debate" at next month's EU summit.

"The position of the European Commission on the Nord Stream II project will also essentially influence the perception of the EU's common foreign and security policy among its core allies and traditional partners," the letter, seen by Reuters, said.

World leaders have been urging Moscow and Ankara to avoid any escalation of tensions following the shooting down of a Russian jet by NATO member Turkey.

Russia's relationships with the European Union and Ukraine have been volatile since the annexation of Crimea in March last year.

The Nord Stream extension to deliver increased volumes of gas straight to Germany could have serious consequences for Kiev and EU nations, the letter said.

link.

The Environment and Ecology of Santonian Cretaceous Hungary

Taphonomic and paleoecologic investigations of the Late Cretaceous (Santonian) Iharkút vertebrate assemblage (Bakony Mts, Northwestern Hungary)

Authors:

Botfalvai et al

Abstract:

The Iharkút vertebrate locality, an open-pit mine in the Bakony Mountains (western Hungary), has provided a rich and diverse assemblage of Late Cretaceous (Santonian) continental vertebrates. The isolated and associated remains represent 31 different taxa including fish, amphibians, turtles, lizards, pterosaurs, crocodilians, non-avian dinosaurs and birds. Sedimentologic investigations suggest that the Iharkút depositional environment was represented by the floodplain of a very low-gradient river. The 10–50 cm thick bonebed of site SZ-6, is the most important fossiliferous layer in the open-pit mine and analysis of this site indicates alternating energy conditions during the bone accumulation, which resulted in fossils of different states of preservation being deposited together. The vertebrate assemblage of site SZ-6 includes three main different subsets with widely different taphonomic history. The characteristics and the preservation mode (high rate of abrasion and the spherical shape) of the “bone pebbles” suggest that this type of the isolated bones was more exposed to abrasion and probably the remains were transported from farther away than the other isolated bones. The second group includes 88% of the Iharkút collection, containing most of the identified isolated bones and teeth, and represents polytypic attritional remains transported and deposited by high density flow during ephemeral flood events. Meanwhile the monospecific ankylosaur skeletal material from Iharkút site SZ-6 may represent a mass death assemblage because seven skeletons of Hungarosaurus were discovered from an area of approximately 400 m2 and in many cases close to each other in the same layer. The Iharkút vertebrate assemblage is dominated by bones of aquatic/semi-aquatic animals, while the number of terrestrial animal remains is subordinate. The taphonomic analysis of the ankylosaur material from Iharkút locality further strengthens the previously suggested hypothesis that some of the ankylosaurs preferred wetland habitats (e.g. areas along fluvial systems) while the other two herbivorous dinosaur groups from Iharkút (ornithopods and ceratopsians) were probably living in distal habitats.

Hidden Pterosaur Diversity in Late Cretaceous Hungary

Does morphology reflect osteohistology-based ontogeny? A case study of Late Cretaceous pterosaur jaw symphyses from Hungary reveals hidden taxonomic diversity

Authors:

Prondvai et al

Abstract:

With a single complete mandible and 56 mandibular symphyseal fragments of various sizes, the Late Cretaceous Hungarian azhdarchid material has been considered one of the most extensive monospecific pterosaur assemblages in the world. Representing a broad size range, these elements have been thought to demonstrate a developmental series of Bakonydraco galaczi. As such, they were ideal to test whether absolute size and/or morphology reliably indicate relative ontogenetic stages in this pterosaur. Forty-five specimens were selected for multivariate morphometrics and classified into four size classes. After acquiring the morphometric data set, we thin-sectioned eight symphyses representing all size groups and classified them into relative ontogenetic stages based on qualitative microstructural inspection prior to quantitative histological analyses. Microstructural characters suggestive of developmental state were then quantified for intra- and interindividual uni- and multivariate analyses to test the correspondence among the results of qualitative and quantitative analyses. In contrast to our expectations, histological features identified the smallest specimen as an adult and not an early juvenile. The substantial size difference between this specimen and other adults, along with its distinct microanatomical and histological features, implies the presence of at least two pterosaur taxa in this symphysis assemblage. This hypothesis is further supported by multivariate morphometrics, which separate the smallest symphyses from all other specimens that form one continuous group. Although the latter group also shows considerable size variability in corresponding ontogenetic stages, this suggests developmental plasticity rather than the presence of even more taxa, and indicates that symphysis size and morphology are poor indicators of skeletal maturity in these animals. Hence, bone histology is an important independent test of the assessment of ontogenetic stage using size and morphology.

Ankylosaur Hungarosaurus may Have Had a Cursorial Lifestyle in the Santonian Cretaceous

Partial skull and endocranial cast of the ankylosaurian dinosaur Hungarosaurus from the Late Cretaceous of Hungary: implications for locomotion

Authors:

Ősi et al

Abstract:

A partial skull of ankylosaur from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbánya Formation in Iharkút and the endocranial cast taken from it are described. The morphology of the exoccipital, the elongated 'neck' region of the basioccipital, the shape of the occipital condyle, and the different flexure of the medulla relative to the forebrain unambiguously differentiate this specimen from the basicranium of Struthiosaurus, so it is assigned to Hungarosaurus sp. Whereas the endocranial cast reflects a brain generally similar to those of other ankylosaurs, the dorsally hypertrophied cerebellum (also present is Struthiosaurus transylvanicus) is quite unusual within the group suggesting a more sophisticated cerebral coordination of posture and movement, and perhaps a more cursorial locomotary habit than predicted for other ankylosaurs.

Was There a Guadelupean Mass Extinction?

CAPITANIAN (MIDDLE PERMIAN) MASS EXTINCTION AND RECOVERY IN WESTERN TETHYS: A FOSSIL, FACIES, AND δ13C STUDY FROM HUNGARY AND HYDRA ISLAND (GREECE)


Authors:

1. PAUL B. WIGNALL (a,*)
2. DAVID P. G. BOND (a)
3. JÁNOS HAAS (b)
4. WEI WANG (c)
5. HAISHUI JIANG (d)
6. XULONG LAI (d)
7. DEMIR ALTINER (e)
8. STÉPHANIE VÉDRINE (f)
9. KINGA HIPS (b)
10. NORBERT ZAJZON (g)
11. YADONG SUN (d)
12. ROBERT J. NEWTON (a)


Affiliations:

a. School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom

b. Geological Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

c. Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China

d. Key Laboratory of Geobiology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China

e.  Marine Micropalaeontology Research Unit, Department of Geological Engineering, Middle East Technical University, TR-06531 Ankara, Turkey

f.  7 rue Albert 1er, 45000 Orléans, France

g.  Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, University of Miskolc, Miskolc, Hungary

*. Corresponding author, Email: p.wignall@see.leeds.ac.uk


Abstract:

The Capitanian (middle Permian) extinction and recovery event is examined in carbonate platform settings from western Tethys (Hungary and Hydra, Greece). The age model for these sections is poorly resolved and we have constructed a δ13C chemostratigraphic correlation scheme, supported by conodont and foraminifer data, which attempts correlation with the well-dated events in China. This reveals the timing of events was similar in all Tethyan regions: extinction losses in the middle of the Capitanian produced late Capitanian assemblages in Hungary and Hydra with a distinctive late Permian character (for example, they lack large fusulinaceans). There is no evidence for an extinction event at the end of the Guadalupian (Capitanian) suggesting that previous claims for an end-Guadalupian mass extinction are based on poorly dated records of a mid-Capitanian event. Base level was stable through much of the middle–late Permian transition with the exception of a major regression within the Capitanian Stage. The subsequent transgression established widespread shallow-water carbonate deposition, such as the Episkopi Formation in Hydra and the Nagyvisnyó Limestone Formation in Hungary.

Missed this one a while back.  Timing is damned important here for this sort of thing.  The Guadalupean was a smaller mass extinction but an important one: the dinocephalians probably bit it then.