Fresia Ricardi-Branco

Record of the genus Lycopodites in the Lower Permian of Paraná Basin, Brazil

The genus Lycopodites, which encompasses the herbaceous forms of the lycopsids, presents broad time and spacial distribution during the Paleozoic in the Northern Hemisphere, with its initial records dating from the European Devonian. As to Gondwanan Paleozoic, to this moment, only Lycopodites amazonica Dolianiti had been reported for the Amazonian Middle Devonian (Curuá Group). Thus, the specimens reported in this study such as Lycopodites sp., coming from sedimentary rocks of the Itararé Subgroup, São Paulo State, and Lycopodites riograndensis sp. nov., collected in Rio Bonito Formation, Rio Grande do Sul, represent the oldest fertile forms recorded for Gondwana and the first ones to be described for the Paraná Basin. Its presence in layers, deposited after the end of the Neopaleozoic Glaciation, shows the appearance of new taxa in high latitudes, as well as the diversity of the lycopsids present in the Basin, previously indicated through the abundance of spores associated to the Class Lycopsida present in the palinomorphous assemblages.

The inventory of geological heritage of the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Methodological basis, results and perspectives

An inventory of geological sites based on solid and clear criteria is a first step for any geoconservation strategy. This paper describes the method used in the geoheritage inventory of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, and presents its main results. This inventory developed by the geoscientific community aimed to identify geosites with scientific value in the whole state, using a systematic approach. All 142 geosites representative of 11 geological frameworks were characterised and quantitatively evaluated according to their scientific value and risk of degradation, in order to establish priorities for their future management. An online database of the inventory is under construction, which will be available to be easily consulted and updated by the geoscientific community. All data were made available to the State Geological Institute as the backbone for the implementation of a future state geoconservation strategy.

Itajuba yansanae Gen and SP NOV of Gnetales, Araripe Basin (Albian-Aptian) in Northeast Brazil

It is well known that during the deposition of the Crato Member, semi-arid paleoclimatic conditions prevailed in the northeast of Brazil and influenced the Araripe Basin [1, 2, 3, 4]. The presence of a system of lakes associated with the deposition of the Santana Formation may have favoured the maintenance of a more humid microclimate than the semi-arid conditions prevailing in the surrounding region, or at least a wetter season [5].

Megaspores from coals of the Triunfo Member, Rio Bonito Formation (Lower Permian), northeastern Paraná State, Brazil

This paper presents the results of a detailed study of megaspores occurring in coal seams of the Triunfo Member, Rio Bonito Formation at Figueira, Parana State, Brazil. This coal-bearing sequence accumulated in a marine delta system during the Early Permian. Four species are described and illustrated: Lagenoisporites triunfensis, L. scutiformis, Sublageniculacf. brasiliensis, and Setosisporites cf. furcatus. Of these, the two species of Lagenoisporites are predominant. Relationships to other megaspore species are discussed; and the temporal and spatial distributions of the four species in the Parana Basin are documented.

Hepaticites iporangae n. sp., Rio Bonito Formation, Early Permian (Sakmarian), Paraná Basin, Brazil, Western Gondwana

Abstract The formal description of a liverwort from the Paraná Basin is presented. The fossil was found in the Rio Bonito Formation, Early Permian (Sakmarian), and is identified as a new species of the genus Hepaticites, named H. iporangae n. sp. The samples studied were collected from the macrofossil-rich roof-shale layer of the Quitéria Outcrop in the municipality of Encruzilhada do Sul, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. H. iporangae is one of the oldest liverworts reported from South America. The fossil described here provides more evidence of the relative diversity of liverworts in Paleozoic Gondwana despite the severe climatic conditions during the glaciations of the Permo-Carboniferous.

Plant accumulations along the Itanhaém River Basin, southern coast of São Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract Examination of the mechanisms involved in the construction of present-day vegetative deposits along coastal waterways has made it possible to establish depositional patterns that can be compared with those found in similar environments in geologic time. These patterns include not only the composition and transport of the debris but also an estimation of the time involved in its deposition. Six sites with active deposits of plant macrodebris in the coastal basin of the Itanhaém River, São Paulo State, Brazil, were used in the study. In the central portion of the basin, the interior coastal plain is covered with restinga forest (dense, wet tropical forest of low altitudes), while the lower portion consists of mangrove swamps. The coast reflects anthropogenic intervention, and only a few scattered remnants of precolonization dune vegetation remain. The results after three years of study suggest that the accumulation of plant macrodebris in the middle and lower portions of the basin is parautochthonous, since only the leaves of genera typical of the restinga forest and mangrove swamp, respectively, were found. Along the coast the accumulations involved a mixture of parautochthonous and allochthonous elements. On the levee of the Branco River and within the mangrove swamp, deposition was slow, and many of the elements decayed quickly; such accumulations show little potential for preservation and eventual fossilization. A different site, however, reveals the rapid deposition of thick layers of plant debris, presumably associated with storms, and these accumulations are preserved for long periods, constituting good candidates for possible fossilization.

New approach for the study of paleofloras using geographical information systems applied to Glossopteris Flora

This paper introduces a methodology which makes possible the visualization of the spatial distribution of plant fossils and applies it to the occurrences of the Gondwana Floristic Province present on the eastern border of the Brazilian portion of the Parana Basin during the Neopaleozoic. This province was chosen due to the existence of a large number of publications referring to their occurrence, so that a meta-analysis of their distribution could be based on ample information. The first step was the construction of a composite database including geographical location, geology, and the botanical systematics of each relevant fossil. The geographical locations were then georeferenced for translation into various maps showing various aspects of the distribution of the fossils. The spatial distribution of the fossil-housing outcrops shows that these are distributed along the area of deposition studied. Although some genera persisted for long periods of time, others lasted for only short intervals. As time passed, the fossil composition underwent a gradual change from the Late Carboniferous (Itarare Group) to the Late Permian (Rio do Rasto Formation), with the number of genera represented decreasing from 45 in the Itarare Group to 11 in the Rio do Rasto Formation.

Trace Elements and Palynomorphs in the Core Sediments of a Tropical Urban Pond

Park Hermogenes de Freitas Leitao Filho is located in Campinas (SP), limited by the Cidade Universitaria I and Cidade Universitaria II neighbourhoods and the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), in the Barao Geraldo district, whose population was estimated in 2011 to be around 60,000 inhabitants [1]. The park has an estimated area of 123,901.06 m2 and of this total, 80,111.17 m2 corresponds to the surface of a pond formed by the damming of two streams: one passes through the campus of UNICAMP, draining an area of 325.813 m2. In recent decades, effluent from the University has been released into the pond. In 2004, this release was captured by the sewage system of the municipal sanitation company. Currently, the pond receives urban drainage water from the Cidade Universitaria II neighbourhood and a Centro Medico Hospital, on the right bank, and the university campus and the Cidade Universitaria II neighbourhood on the left bank.

Plant debris accumulations in the Preto River Subbasin, Itanhaém, São Paulo, Brazil: Insights from geotechnology

Abstract Geophysical methods can be used to identify the frequency and spatial distribution of plant debris, as well as for the study of the development of such accumulations in recent depositional settings. Side-scan sonar and a sub-bottom profiler were used to generate acoustic images of plant macroremains along a 16.9 km stretch of the meandering course of the Preto River in the municipality of Itanhaém, São Paulo, Brazil. Numerous inclined heterolithic stratification (IHS) deposits with plant debris constitute point bars, while sand dunes mark the migration of the channel along the straighter portions of the river. A large concentration of methane gas was found associated with older organic sediments in the river. The acoustically generated results were confirmed by the analysis of cores with all data integrated into the geographic information system (GIS) environment. The present study is one of the first to apply the methods of geotechnology to taphonomic research.

Permian woods with preserved primary structures from the southeast of Brazil (Irati Formation, Paraná basin)

This research described fossil woods with preserved pith and primary xylem from strata of the Irati Formation (Artinskian) of the Paraná Basin (southeastern Brazil). The three specimens studied are all related to the Coniferales and include the following taxa: Solenopitys paulistana Kräusel, Atlanticoxylon ibiratinum n. sp. and Abietopitys sp. Kräusel. Solenopitys paulistana represents a species with a solid, heterocellular pith with a peripheral secretory canal system. Atlanticoxylon ibiratinum n. sp. has a lacunose, heterocelular pith with “nests” of sclereids, with a central secretory canal and a peripheral system of canals. Abietopitys sp. has a solid, lobed, homocelular pith associated with a secondary xylem containing cross-fields with non-contiguous pits (abietoid vascular rays). Xeromorphic features observed in these specimens, such as a pith with groups of sclereids and false growth rings, may be related to the depositional environment of the Irati Formation. The specific factor triggering the xeromorphy has not yet been determined, but the present study corroborates clearly the sedimentary evidence of dry conditions during the deposition of the Irati Formation, as seen in the 30-m-thick carbonate layer extending through four South American countries.