Among the Tethyan larger porcelaneous foraminifera widespread from middle–late Eocene to middle Miocene, Austrotrillina Parr, 1942 is only genus showing a non-homogeneous shell structure. This consists of parakeriotheca, coated by thin, dense tectum. Four species (A. brunni, A. eocaenica, howchini, striata) have been often used as biostratigraphical markers in Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific are...

The presence of gigantic apex predators in the eastern Panthalassic and western Tethyan oceans suggests that complex ecosystems in the sea had become re-established in these regions at least by the early Middle Triassic, after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction (PTME). However, it is not clear whether oceanic ecosystem recovery from the PTME was globally synchronous because of the apparent la...

Understanding how regional ecosystems respond to sea-level and environmental perturbations is a main challenge in palaeoecology. Here we use quantitative abundance estimates, integrated within a sequence stratigraphic and environmental framework, to reconstruct benthic community changes through the 13 myr history of the Jurassic Sundance Seaway in the western United States. Sundance Seaway comm...

The problem of mathematical model adequacy of ship dynamics in a seaway is discussed. We have also discussed various approaches to defining mathematical model components of ship interaction with the environment, physical pictures of heeling and capsizing the ship in a seaway, specific features of the computer technology and the interpretation of results. We have given examples of numerical and ...

The Late Cretaceous is marked by geodynamical changes including Africa-Eurasia convergence that resulted in the narrowing of Tethys Ocean and ophiolite obduction along southern margin various continental blocks eastern Tethys. Geochemical mineralogical analyses were performed on Shahneshin section (Zagros Basin - Tethys), to explore consequences this evolution oceanic circulation, estimate role...

[1] Utilizing a climate model of intermediate complexity, we test the hypothesis that the Pliocene closure of the Central American Seaway was a necessary precondition for orbitally triggered Northern Hemisphere glaciation. We conduct a series of sensitivity experiments in order to analyze the isolated and combined effects of Panama closure and orbital forcing on Northern Hemisphere perennial sn...

The isotope geochronology of isochronously deposited Cambrian strata from different tectonostratigraphic zones of the Himalaya confirms new stratigraphic, sedimentological, and faunal evidence indicating that the Himalaya was a single continental margin prior to collision of India with Asia. Lesser, Greater, and Tethyan Himalaya represent proximal to distal parts of a passive continental margin...

The paranthurid genus Curassanthura, represented to date by three species, has an intriguing distribution in anchialine and interstitial habitats on both sides of the North Atlantic. It has been suggested (Wagele, 1985) that the genus is a Tethyan relict, and that its present-day distribution is the result primarily of continental drift. The material reported here, from Cura<;ao, Jamaica, and B...

Tectonically induced changes in oceanic seaways had profound effects on global and regional climate during the Late Neogene. The constriction of the Central American Seaway reached a critical threshold during the early Pliocene ~4.8-4 million years (Ma) ago. Model simulations indicate the strengthening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) with a signature warming response i...

AIM The aim of this work was to improve understanding about the mode, geography and tempo of diversification in deep-sea organisms, using a time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of the heterobranch gastropod genus Scaphander. LOCATION Atlantic and Indo-West Pacific (IWP) oceans. METHODS Two mitochondrial gene markers (COI and 16S) and one nuclear ribosomal gene (28S) from six Atlantic species...