浙东沿海上白垩统小雄组的建立

浙东临海、三门东部的小雄盆地，发育一套中酸偏碱性的火山岩。长期以来，将其称为塘上组。详细的地质调查研究表明；这套火山岩与以天台盆地为代表的塘上组，在火山岩岩石组合、层序、古生物化石组合和同位素年龄等均不相同。火山岩是超覆于永康群馆头组、朝川组和小平田组之上，成岩时代在８５—９８Ｍａ，产晚白垩世翼龙和鸟类化石，是晚白世的喷发一沉积产物。为一独立的具有自身特色的岩石地层单位，故建立新的岩石地层单位一小雄组。     

下扬子盆地石炭系沉积相

下扬子盆地面积约十余万平方公里,石炭系分布广泛,出露完整。早石炭世有四个沉积相区和两个剥蚀区,根据各相区的沉积特征及生物群的不同,本文恢复了它的沉积环境和古地理概貌。晚石炭世为海相碳酸盐岩沉积,主要亚相类型有边缘潮坪相、开阔台地和局限台地相,浅滩相等,表明它是一种缓坡型的碳酸盐台地,盆地南部钱塘地区是下沉较深的碳酸盐台地。     

华北地区下古生界海相烃源岩饱和烃生物标志物地球化学特征

本文对华北地区下古生界海相烃源岩生物标志化合物地球化学进行了系统的研究工作，并在烃源岩抽提物中检测到种类丰富的生物标志物，在此基础上讨论了生物标志化合物的分布特征及其地球化学意义，这一工作不仅为华北地区下古生界油气勘探提供了理论依据，而且丰富了碳酸盐岩有机地球化学理论。     

宁波盆地白垩系古地磁特征兼论馆头组朝川组和方岩组的层位归属

浙东宁波盆地白垩纪陆相火山岩系,经古地磁研究表明,以往认为时代属于早白垩世早期的馆头组,晚期朝川组和晚白垩世早期的方岩组均呈正向磁化,平均磁化方向基本一致。据绝对年龄和古生物旁证,磁化时间属白垩纪中期正向极性超时。因此,馆头组的层位应作相应的提高,从白垩系下部上升到白垩系中部;朝川组随之位于其上。方岩组纳入白垩系中部,在馆头组之下还应有一套以正负极性交迭为特征的白垩纪早期沉积物。从而对以往所谓的上侏罗统磨石山群的时代提出疑问。从古地磁方向特征的规律,支持了白垩系三分说。     

关于粉尘云爆炸下限浓度的讨论

运用Ｓｉｗｅｋ２０升球形粉尘爆炸装置，通过对几种工业粉尘测试研究，发现粉尘最低爆炸下限浓度与燃烧持续时间有关。对于不同的粉尘，从压力一时间曲线中得出的最大持续时间与利用ＩＥＣ标准测定的爆炸下限浓度相接近。依据实验结果，提出了一种新的判据。     

Behavioral and faunal implications of Early Cretaceous deinonychosaur trackways from China

Deinonychosaurian theropods, the dinosaurian sister group of birds, are characterized by a large raptorial claw borne on a highly modified second digit that was thought to be held in a retracted position during locomotion. In this study, we present new trackway evidence for two coeval deinonychosaurian taxa from the Early Cretaceous of Shandong, China that indicate a hitherto unrecognized body size diversity for this period and continent. These fossil tracks confirm diversity and locomotory patterns implied by phylogeny and biogeography, but not yet manifested in the body fossil record. Multiple parallel and closely spaced trackways generated by the larger track maker provide the best evidence yet discovered for gregarious behavior in deinonychosaurian theropods.     

New fossil ants in French Cretaceous amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Recent studies on the ant phylogeny are mainly based on the molecular analyses of extant subfamilies and do not include the extinct, only Cretaceous subfamily Sphecomyrminae. However, the latter is of major importance for ant relationships, as it is considered the most basal subfamily. Therefore, each new discovery of a Mesozoic ant is of high interest for improving our understanding of their early history and basal relationships. In this paper, a new sphecomyrmine ant, allied to the Burmese amber genus Haidomyrmex, is described from mid-Cretaceous amber of France as Haidomyrmodes mammuthus gen. and sp. n. The diagnosis of the tribe Haidomyrmecini is emended based on the new type material, which includes a gyne (alate female) and two incomplete workers. The genus Sphecomyrmodes, hitherto known by a single species from Burmese amber, is also reported and a new species described as S. occidentalis sp. n. after two workers remarkably preserved in a single piece of Early Cenomanian French amber. The new fossils provide additional information on early ant diversity and relationships and demonstrate that the monophyly of the Sphecomyrminae, as currently defined, is still weakly supported.     

An Upper Cretaceous lizard with a lower temporal arcade

The reduced lower temporal arcade of the skull and the movable quadrate are the most distinctive features of squamates. Up to now, no exception has been documented for any fossil or extant squamates. We report here a new fossil lizard that possesses a complete lower temporal arcade and an unmovable quadrate. The anatomical relationships indicate that those two modifications were secondarily obtained in the new lizard. The complete lower temporal bar and the firm contact between the pterygoid and quadrate may have served as a brace to support the quadrate jaw articulation and thus prevent it from twisting anteriorly rather than posteriorly during the bite cycles. This represents an entirely new pattern of jaw muscle functions within the Squamata.     

Turanoceratops tardabilis—the first ceratopsid dinosaur from Asia

Turanoceratops tardabilis from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Bissekty Formation of Dzharakuduk, Uzbekistan, represents the first definite ceratopsid dinosaur recorded from Asia. Reexamination of the original and study of newly collected material indicate that Turanoceratops has well-developed supraorbital horns and apparently lacks a nasal horn. Turanoceratops is more derived than the more or less coeval Zuniceratops from the Moreno Hill Formation of New Mexico in the presence of double-rooted teeth and of two or three teeth in each vertical dental file.     

Microbial Cretaceous park: biodiversity of microbial fossils entrapped in amber

Microorganisms are the most ancient cells on this planet and they include key phyla for understanding cell evolution and Earth history, but, unfortunately, their microbial records are scarce. Here, we present a critical review of fossilized prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms entrapped in Cretaceous ambers (but not exclusively from this geological period) obtained from deposits worldwide. Microbiota in ambers are rather diverse and include bacteria, fungi, and protists. We comment on the most important microbial records from the last 25 years, although it is not an exhaustive bibliographic compilation. The most frequently reported eukaryotic microfossils are shells of amoebae and protists with a cell wall or a complex cortex. Likewise, diverse dormant stages (palmeloid forms, resting cysts, spores, etc.) are abundant in ambers. Besides, viral and protist pathogens have been identified inside insects entrapped in amber. The situation regarding filamentous bacteria and fungi is quite confusing because in some cases, the same record was identified consecutively as a member of these phylogenetically distant groups. To avoid these identification errors in the future, we propose to apply a more resolute microscopic and analytical method in amber studies. Also, we discuss the most recent findings about ancient DNA repair and bacterial survival in remote substrates, which support the real possibility of ancient DNA amplification and bacterial resuscitation from Cretaceous resins.