No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Sedimentological analysis of cored sections within the Merrimelia Formation (basal Gidgealpa Group, Cooper Basin, South Australia) reveals a complex glacigenic environment, including glaciolacustrine, deltaic, shorezone, fluvial, aeolian and other associated terrestrial facies (over 20 different facies have been identified). These facies are observed within terminoglacial and proglacial environments and interfinger laterally and vertically constantly throughout the Merrimelia Formation, exhibiting rapid environment change related to the position of ice sheet. Detailed sedimentological and petrographical (Cubitt 1998) analysis suggests that Tirrawarra sandstone-type sandstones facies belong within the Merrimelia depositional realm. Provenance data (Cubitt 1998) indicates that the lithic component of the Tirrawarra Sandstone (sensu stricto), is sourced from reworked Merrimelia coeval depositional facies. It is proposed that the fluvial sandstones of the Merrimelia Formation are part of the same fluvial deposystem as the Tirrawarra Sandstone (sensu stricto) as the two sandstone sequences are the natural progression of coarsening sediment as more detritus was released from melting glaciers during deglaciation. It is suggested that there no longer remain any sedimentological, stratigraphical or petrographical (Cubitt 1998) reasons why the Tirrawarra Sandstone (sensu stricto) and the Merrimelia Formation glaciofluvial sandstones should not be grouped together as Tirrawarra-type facies within the Merrimelia glacigenic domain. Facies architecture across the basin on both field and basin wide scales has identified two regional lacustrine episodes, both of which are followed by a period of lacustrine basin clastic infill. Such cycles represent ice advance and retreat, allowing two deglaciation phases and one ice advance phase to be identified.

The middle Cretaceous (sediments of Albian to Turonian) lithostratigraphy and foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the central North Sea has been described using data from fifteen wells. These wells are located in or on the margins of major Cretaceous depocentres, namely the Witch Ground Graben, Dutch Bank, Moray Firth, 'Buchan' and Forth Approaches Basins. The lithology of cuttings, sidewall core, and conventional core samples have been described and with the help of electric logs a lithostratigraphic subdivision of each well has been achieved. In this area of the North Sea the middle Cretaceous sequences are subdivided into five units, these are the Valhall (part), Rodby, Hidra, Plenus Marl and Herring Formations. As an aid to correlation the Hidra and Herring Formations have been further subdivided on lithologic and electric log character. The microfaunal content of cuttings, sidewall core and conventional core samples from eight wells has been analysed and the taxonomy of the stratigraphically valuable foraminifera is briefly discussed. Seven new species (Bigeneria sp.1. and 2. , Textularia sp.1. and 2., Uvigerinamina sp.1., Gyroidinoides sp.1. and Osangularia sp.1.) and two new varieties, (Gavelinella intermedia (Berthelin) var A and var B) of foraminifera are described. The abundance of planktonic taxa allows the erection of a local zonal scheme comprising five bio-stratigraphic zones. The mid-Cretaceous microfaunas have many elements in common with the well documented assemblages recorded in the equivalent onshore sequences. This allows the ages of the middle Cretaceous formations to be interpreted by correlation of their microfaunas (particularly planktonic foraminifera) with those recovered from onshore sequences in which the standard macrofossil zonations have been identified. Lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic analysis indicates the presence of a significant non-sequence within the middle Cretaceous sections in the area of the Buchan Field. This is correlated with unconformities in the Moray Firth, the Dutch Bank Basin, the Witch Ground Graben, the Fladen Ground Spur and Forties Field area. The mid-Cretaceous geological history of the central North Sea is described and related to that of the surrounding onshore and offshore areas of North West Europe. An overall transgression during the Albian to latest Cenomanian/early Turonian was followed by a brief regression and associated erosion later in the early Turonian. A further episode of transgression which was initiated later in the Turonian probably continued into the Maastrichtian. This transgressive-regressive-transgressive cycle may be related to eustatic fluctuations in sea level in conjunction with the mild tectonic activity which persisted through mid-Cretaceous times.

Over 300 samples were examined from a wide range of Lower Cretaceous exposures. A total of 26 Circumpolles species were recognised, 7 previously published and 19 newly described in this thesis. Each species is described using optical (O.M.), scanning electron (S.E.M.), and, where possible, transmission electron microscopy (T.E.M.). Several new techniques for combined S.E.M., O.M. and T.E.M. microscopy are discussed. The stratigraphic distribution of these Circumpolles allows the recognition of 8 informal palynostratigraphic zones, 6 of which are recognised in both marine and non-marine basins of deposition. These are; the late Volgian, early Ryazanian, late Ryazanian - early Valanginian, late Valanginian, early Hauterivian, Hauterivian - Barremian, late Barremian - early Aptian and Aptian - Albian. Combined S.E.M. and T.E.M. analyses of the Circumpolles described highlights some important phylogenetic trends seen within the Circumpolles group of pollen grains and their parent plants the Cheirolepidiaceae. There is a progressive evolutionary change from an essentially gymnospermous, Late Triassic group to a more advanced Early Cretaceous group (exhibiting many morphological features similar to those found on more recent angiospermous pollen grains). This includes a change in the intexine from undifferentiated to reticulate and from granulate/columellate to alveolate. A change in the external microsculpture of the Circumpolles group is also evident from smooth, to roughened, to granulate, echinate and eventually microechinate. The range of variation shown by the intexine appears to have phylogenetic importance and useful for both generic and specific identification of Circumpolles. Microsculptural variation, however, may well be controlled by environmental factors such as climate and is more useful for specific and suprageneric classification. Of fundamental importance to the Circumpolles group is the change from distal germination in the Jurassic to rimulate germination in the Late Jurassic, Early Cretaceous and eventually to a colpate style of germination in the Aptian. This latter mode of germination was previously considered to be restricted to, and characteristic of, angiosperm pollen grains.

PhD. (Geology) / The lithology, stratigraphy, metamorphism and structure of the rocks in a highly deformed and metamorphosed terrain, some 5 000 km 2 in extent, south of the Soutpansberg in the Northern Transvaal, are described. The Bandelierkop Formation, which is comprised of Ultramafic-, Mafic- and Pelitic gneisses occur as deformed and metamorphosed remnants in tonalitic grey granitoids known as the Baviaanskloof Gneiss. The Ultramafic- and Mafic gneisses of the Bandelierkop Formation, in which granulite grade mineral assemblages exist, are chemically equivalent to peridotitic and basaltic komatiites and basaltic tholeiites of Archaean greenstone terrains. The greenstone origin for the gneisses is also indicated by the Hout River traverse in which material, at the lower to middle amphibolite facies, becomes progressively metamorphosed and deformed over a distance of 10 km to the granulite grade of metamorphism. The Pelitic gneiss of the Bandelierkop. Formation is chemically similar to greywackes and shales of the Fig Tree Group and Belvue Road Formations of the Swaziland sequence. The area of investigation is divided into two high-grade metamorphic zones separated by an eastnortheast trending Orthopyroxene isograd. The rocks of the Orthopyroxene zone to the north of the isograd were subjected to two events of regional metamorphism (M 1 and M2 ). The area south of the isograd, known as the Orthoamphibole zone, is characterised by the presence of silverygrey anthophyllite blades in Pelitic gneiss which formed during the M3 event. The southern limit of the Orthoamphibole zone, in the south-eastern portion of the area is poorly exposed and thus less well defined.

A Bacia Bauru formou-se no Cretáceo Superior (Coniaciano-Maastrichtiano), por subsidência termo-mecânica, na parte centro-sul da Plataforma Sul-Americana. Esta bacia, continental interior, acumulou uma seqüência sedimentar essencialmente arenosa (atualmente com espessura máxima de quase 300 m), que ocorre em área de cerca 370.000 km². Tem por substrato rochas vulcânicas da Fm. Serra Geral (Ki), sobretudo basaltos, da qual é separada por superfície erosiva regional. A área investigada corresponde à parte oriental da Bacia Bauru (oeste de São Paulo, Triângulo Mineiro e noroeste do Paraná), situada entre as coordenadas 18° S e 25° S; e 47° W e 55° W, com cerca de 180.000 km². O presente estudo discute a estratigrafia e a evolução sedimentar daquela área, mediante análise de sistemas deposicionais - baseada em levantamentos de campo - e ensaios com amostras em laboratório (microscopia óptica, microscopia eletrônica de varredura com EDS, e difração de raios X). Segundo a distribuição das associações de fácies e suas relações encontradas é proposta uma revisão estratigráfica para a parte oriental da Bacia Bauru. Nesta área, a seqüência neocretácea foi dividida em dois grupos parcialmente cronocorrelatos: Caiuá (formações Rio Paraná, Goio Erê e Santo Anastácio) e Bauru (formações Uberaba, Vale do Rio do Peixe, Araçatuba, São José do Rio Preto, Presidente Prudente e Marília, mais os Analcimitos Taiúva). A sedimentação na Bacia Bauru ocorreu em duas fases principais, a primeira em condições essencialmente desérticas, a seguinte com maior presença de água, ainda que em clima semi-árido. As associações de fácies da primeira fase correspondem, em termos litoestratigráficos, a depósitos de: lençóis de areia com campos de dunas baixas, loesse e wadis (Vale do Rio do Peixe); lençóis de areia secos (Santo Anastácio); dunas eólicas médias e interdunas úmidas, zona periféricas de sand sea (Goio Erê); e complexos de dunas eólicas de grande porte (draas), parte central de sand sea interior (Rio Paraná). As associações da segunda fase correspondem a depósitos de: rios entrelaçados, de baixa a média sinuosidade (Uberaba); pantanal interior (Araçatuba); zonas distais de leques aluviais (Echaporã); sistema fluvial entrelaçado, partes medianas de leques aluviais (Serra da Galga); sistema fluvial entrelaçado, partes medianas de leques aluviais (Ponte Alta); sistema fluvial entrelaçado arenoso (São José do Rio Preto); e sistema fluvial meandrante arenoso fino, de canais rasos (Presidente Prudente). A primeira corresponde ao sepultamento progressivo do substrato basáltico por extensa e monótona manta arenosa, formada principalmente por depósitos de lençóis de areia, com pequenas dunas e estratos de loesse. Desta fase, os raros depósitos fluviais preservados correspondem a fluxos de enxurradas de deserto (wadis). A intensificação das atividades tectônicas nas bordas norte-nordeste e leste, e provavelmente na borda noroeste, provocaram significativa mudança no quadro paleogeográfico da bacia, promovendo o avanço de leques aluviais para o seu interior. Ao mesmo tempo, mudanças climáticas graduais trouxeram maior umidade às zonas marginais. Tais alterações assinalam o início da segunda fase de sedimentação, em que se desenvolveram sistemas fluviais importantes, de nordeste para sudoeste, entre as bordas e o deserto interior. O clima quente e seco determinou a manutenção de condições desérticas no interior da bacia, desde o início até a segunda fase de sedimentação. Durante a elevação das bordas houve a instalação de diversos corpos de rochas alcalinas nos altos marginais, magmatismo extrusivo próximo da borda leste (analcimitos Taiúva) e silicificação localizada, no sul da bacia. A nova moldura, realçada na passagem entre as fases I e II, corresponde a charneiras de importantes altos tectônicos marginais. O trato de sistemas desértico é formado pelas formações Vale do Rio do Peixe, Santo Anastácio, Goio Erê e Rio Paraná. O relevo original do substrato criou condições endorrêicas em zona interior da bacia, determinando a formação de uma grande área pantanosa em clima semi-árido (Pantanal Araçatuba), no início da sedimentação neocretácea. O soerguimento das margens norte e nordeste provocou modificações na paleogeografia da bacia. Talvez o mais importante tenha sido o embutimento - pós-sedimentação - da faixa do Triângulo Mineiro onde hoje ocorre a Fm. Uberaba (depressão de Uberaba). Os fluxos fluviais distais de leques aluviais do Mb. Serra da Galga, posteriores a este evento, apresentavam persistentes rumos para noroeste, possivelmente por influência de barreiras internas então criadas. Os fluxos fluviais entrelaçados do Mb. Serra da Galga avançaram sobre a Fm. Uberaba, soterrando-a. Os influxos de material originados em leques aluviais marginais foram gradualmente transformados, bacia a dentro, em sistemas fluviais entrelaçados e depois em meandrantes, até a sua desarticulação na periferia do deserto Caiuá. Os fluxos fluviais provenientes da parte nordeste alcançavam o interior da bacia em sistemas entrelaçados arenosos (Fm. São José do Rio Preto), de rumo geral sudoeste, muito constante. À medida que adentravam a bacia, a paisagem tornava-se cada vez mais plana, e os sedimentos transportados cada vez mais finos. Assim, devido ao baixo gradiente da bacia, nas porções distais este sistema fluvial tornava-se meandrante, ainda arenoso, com canais mais estáveis, definidos e rasos (Fm. Presidente Prudente). Serpenteavam em extensas planícies aluviais, entre lagoas residuais formadas sobretudo após eventos de transbordamento. Os arenitos e arenitos conglomeráticos dos membros Serra da Galga e Ponte Alta correspondem portanto às fácies proximais das associações fluviais São José do Rio Preto e Presidente Prudente. O aumento da aridez rumo ao interior determinava progressivo aumento da evaporação e escassez de água no ambiente, até o desaparecimento do sistema fluvial nas planícies arenosas. As unidades de origem eólica exibem notável constância do sentido de transporte, durante a sedimentação da seqüência neocretácea. O padrão geral de fluxos fluviais aponta para o interior da bacia. Os resultados obtidos para o Mb. Serra da Galga, entretanto, são claramente discordantes. Admitindo-se que esta unidade corresponde às porções proximais do sistema São José do Rio Preto-Presidente Prudente, supõe-se que tenha existido uma barreira geográfica na borda nordeste da bacia, associada às transformações tectônicas ali ocorridas, que teria determinado a passagem dos fluxos fluviais rumo ao interior da bacia, mais para oeste. O estabelecimento do Pantanal Araçatuba, subambiente peculiar criado no estádio inicial, provavelmente decorre da posição topográfica mais baixa original do substrato naquela região. O limite oeste da área de ocorrência atual da Fm. Araçatuba corresponde a uma feição elevada do substrato basáltico (soleira de Jales-Andradina). O aporte continuado de sedimentos eólicos, que inicialmente supriu dunas e lençóis de areia marginais ao charco, terminou por soterrar a depressão original. Todas as ocorrências fossilíferas conhecidas na bacia localizam-se na sua parte oriental e refletem o controle essencialmente paleogeográfico. Compreendem restos ósseos, sobretudo de répteis - crocodilos, quelônios e dinossauros -, anfíbios, peixes, moluscos, crustáceos e oogônios de algas carófitas. Em geral, predominam ocorrências vinculadas a litofácies de origem fluvial, com remobilização e transporte de material, do que decorre rara preservação de esqueletos completos. As principais ocorrências estão em depósitos de planícies fluviais de transbordamento e lagoas efêmeras (no interior da bacia) e naqueles vinculados a fluxos aquosos entrelaçados e a lagoas de zonas de leques aluviais marginais da bacia. No interior mantiveram-se, durante os dois estádios de sedimentação, condições desérticas quentes, motivo da escassez e baixa diversidade das ocorrências. A fossilização ocorreu quase sempre com perfeita preservação da estrutura óssea e manutenção da natureza fosfática original, independente das litofácies ou unidades geológicas de origem. Os ossos são constituídos por fluorapatita de baixa birrefringência, com laminação concêntrica, canais haversianos e camadas fibrosas, similares às estruturas de ossos dos vertebrados atuais. Não foram verificadas deformações mecânicas após o soterramento, provavelmente devido ao baixo grau de diagênese a que foram submetidas as rochas, além da proteção fornecida pela cimentação carbonática precoce, presente em muitos casos. Este cimento ocorre freqüentemente associado, permineralizando ou substituindo parcialmente a estrutura orgânica. Algumas vezes os espaços internos estão preenchidos por material clástico. Nos compartimentos paleoecológicos mais interiores da bacia (São José do Rio Preto e Presidente Prudente) a grande maioria dos restos fósseis é constituída por ossos fragmentados e/ou desarticulados, concentrados em fácies de barras de canais rasos ou wadis. Por outro lado, nos jazigos fossilíferos da região de Peirópolis, situados próximos da borda da bacia, são encontrados ossos de vertebrados em melhor estado de preservação. Sem dúvida, a maior disponibilidade de água favoreceu o florescimento e a manutenção da fauna e flora nas regiões marginais, em lagoas de planícies de inundação e corpos aquosos formados entre leques aluviais coalescentes. Os restos ali encontrados sofreram, assim como os do Mb. Echaporã, menor transporte antes do soterramento. Nestas regiões, a maior porosidade dos sedimentos e a maior disponibilidade de águas ricas em carbonatos, propiciou intensa cimentação dos ossos, sendo neles comuns as feições de rompimento por crescimento expansivo (displacive) de calcita. Três tipos principais de cimentação carbonática foram identificados na parte leste da bacia: pedogenética, subterrânea e diagenética; de ordem temporal aproximadamente definida, porém com freqüente sobreposição de eventos, dependendo da vulnerabilidade dos depósitos em relação aos sucessivos processos de dissolução e reprecipitação no decorrer do tempo. Os calcretes do Mb. Ponte Alta preservam claras feições de gênese associada a fluxos rasos de águas subterrâneas. Por outro lado, os calcretes pedogênicos do Mb. Echaporã são registros inequívocos de formação por processos edáficos. Nas outras unidades, em geral mais interiores, portanto originalmente menos cimentadas, a remobilização diagenética parece ter sido o principal processo transformador registrado. De modo geral, todas as associações litofaciológicas da parte oriental da Bacia Bauru apresentam algum vestígio de atividades biológicas e/ou de processos edáficos. Os melhores exemplos de formação de calcretes pedogenéticos são encontrados no Mb. Echaporã. Dentre os vestígios de raízes identificados são comuns os contra-moldes, caracterizados como túbulos preenchidos por material distinto do arcabouço (arenito ou siltito, cimentados ou não). Moldes de raízes foram encontrados, em geral, em litofácies mais finas, associadas a ambientes de maior umidade (pântano, lagoas ou planícies de inundação). A análise das seções delgadas permitiu ainda reconhecer vestígios de processos pedogenéticos de dois tipos: autóctones (encontrados em amostras do próprio horizonte edáfico) e alóctones (partículas e fragmentos líticos de origem edáfica, removidos e acumulados em litofácies de maior energia, como na base de estratos cruzados de barras arenosas ou em depósitos residuais de canal fluvial). / The Bauru Basin was formed in the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian-Maastrichtian) as a result of the thermo-mechanical subsidence of the central-southern part of the South-American Platform. This inner continental basin spreads over an area of approximately 370,000 km² and is filled by a sandy sequence with maximum thickness of 300 meters at present. Its substratum is constituted by volcanic rocks (mainly basalts) of the Serra Geral Fm. (Kl) from which it is separated by a regional erosive surface. The area examined in this research corresponds to its eastern part of the basin (west of São Paulo, southwest of Minas Gerais, northwest of Paraná), with about 180,000 km², and is located between the coordinates 18°S to 25° S and 47° W to 54° W. This research deals with stratigraphy and sedimentary evolution of the Bauru Basin through analysis of the depositional systems, based on fields data and mineralogical, petrographic and microchemical evaluation (optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with EDS, X-ray diffractometry) of significant samples. Based on the distribution and interrelations of facies associations a stratigraphic revision is proposed for this part of the basin. In this area the neocretaceous sequence is now divided in two groups, partially contemporaneous: Caiuá Gr. (Rio Paraná, Goio Erê and Santo Anastácio formations) and Bauru Gr. (Uberaba, Vale do Rio do Peixe, Araçatuba, São José do Rio Preto, Presidente Prudente, and Marília formations, with the Taiúva analcimites). Sedimentation in Bauru Basin occurred in two main phases: the first in an essentially desertic environment, the second with more water available, but still under semi-arid conditions. The facies associations of the first depositional phase correspond, in lithostratigraphic terms, to the following deposits: sandsheets with low dune fields, loess and wadi deposits (Vale do Rio do Peixe Fm.); dry sandsheets (Santo Anastácio Fm.); medium sized dunes and humid interdunes from peripheral zones of sand seas (Goio Erê Fm.); complex of large sized eolic dune (draas), corresponding to the central part of an inland sand sea (Rio Paraná Fm.). The associations of the second phase correspond to: braided river system of low to medium sinuosity (Uberaba Fm.); inland swamps (Araçatuba Fm.); distal parts of aluvial fans (Echaporã Mb.); braided fluvial system, medium parts of alluvial fans (Ponte Alta and Serra da Ganga members); braided sandy fluvial system (São José do Rio Preto Fm.); meandering fluvial system with fine sandy deposits of shallows channels (Presidente Prudente Fm.). The first depositional phase corresponds to the progressive burial of the basaltic surface by widespread and homogeneous sandy blanket, formed mainly of sand sheets, with small dunes (wadis). The intensification of the tectonic activities at the north-northeastern and eastern margins, and probably also at the northwestern margin, caused significant changes in the paleogeographic conditions of the basin, promoting inward progression of the alluvial fans. At the same time, climatic changes increased the humidity level in the marginal zones. These changes mark the beginning of the second sedimentary phase, during which important fluvial systems were established between the marginal zone and the inland desert from northeast to southwest. The hot and dry climate determined the maintenance of desertic conditions in the interior of the basin during most of the sedimentation time. During the uplift of the margins, several alkaline magmatic bodies intruded into the marginal zones, causing extrusive magmatism near the eastern border (Taiúva analcites), as well as localized silicification in the southern border. This new frame corresponds to the hinge of important marginal tectonic heights. The formations Vale do Rio do Peixe, Santo Anastácio, Goio Erê and Rio Paraná constitute the systems deposited in the desertic environment. The original relief of the basaltic rocks favored the formation of an endorrheic drainage system in the interior of the basin, causing the appearance of a large swampy area under semi-arid climate (Araçatuba Swamp), in the beginning of the sedimentation cycle. The uplift of the northern and northeastern margins had a large influence on the paleogeography and in the basin sedimentar record, the most important being the postdepositional development of the Uberaba depression in the eastern part of the Triangulo Mineiro, where part of the Uberaba Fm. was preserved. The river flows of distal parts of alluvial fans (Serra da Galga Mb.) show steady shift to northwest, possibly due to geographic barriers. The braided river sedimentation of the Serra da Galga Mb. moved over the Uberaba Fm., causing its burial. The marginal alluvial fans gradually transformed in braided fluvial systems, evolving to meandering systems in the interior of the basin, that deteriorated in the vicinities of the Caiuá Desert. The alluvial fans coming from the northeastern part of the basin reached its interior as braided sandy systems (São José do Rio Preto Fm.), with a general and very constant southwestern direction. Toward its interior the basin topography became flatter, and the deposited sediments, finer. Due to the low relief of the basin, this fluvial system became meandering in its distal portions, with more stable and defined but shallow channels filled with sandy sediments (Presidente Prudente Fm.). The rivers flowed through wide alluvial plains, among lagoons formed mainly after flood events. The sandstones and conglomeratic sandstones of the members Serra da Galga and Ponte Alta represent accordingly the proximal facies of the fluvial sediments São José do Rio Preto and Presidente Prudente. The increasing aridity towards the interior of the basin caused the deterioration of the fluvial system in the sandy flats. The eolic sediments show a remarkable persistence of the transportation direction during the sedimentation of the neocretacic sequence. The general pattern of the fluvial flows is directed toward the interior of the basin. The data from the Serra da Galga Mb. are, however, clearly discordant. Supposing that this unit represents the proximal facies of the system São José do Rio Preto-Presidente Prudente, the existence of a topographic barrier in the northwestern part of the basin can be inferred, which must have determined the direction of the fluvial flow westwards, to the interior of the basin. The development of the Araçatuba Swamp, a peculiar sub-environment of the beginning of the depositional history of the Bauru Basin, was probably a consequence of the originally lower topographic position of the basin substratum in that region. The western limit of occurrence of the Araçatuba Fm. corresponds to a height of the basaltic substratum (Jales-Andradina Height). The constant arrival of material transported by the wind, which initially formed dunes and sandsheets marginally to the swamp, eventually buried the original depression. All known fossil occurrences in this basin are located in the eastern part of the basin and were controlled mainly by the paleogeography. They comprise bone remains, mainly from reptiles-crocodiles, turtles, dinossaurs -, as well as amphibians, fishes, mollusks, crustaceans, and oogones of charophytic algae. These fossils were originally deposited in a fluvial environment, with subsequent remobilization and transportation of the pieces, resulting in very scarce preservation of complete skeletons. The main occurrences are from deposits of fluvial flood plains and ephemeral lagoons in the interior of the basin, as well as from those of braided water flows and lagoons located in zones of marginal alluvial fans. In the interior of the basin the hot desertic conditions prevailed during the two phases of sedimentation, causing great scarcity and lack of variety of occurrences. The fossilization process led mostly to the perfect conservation of the bone structure and maintenance of the phosphoric material, independant of which the original depositional lithofacies or geological unit. The bones are constituted of fluorapatite with low birefringence, presenting concentric lamination, haversian channels and fibrous layers, similar to the bones structure of present day vertebrates. No post-burial mechanical deformations could be detected, probably due to the low degree of diagenesis of the sediments and the protection by the carbonatic cementation, present in many cases. This cement is frequently associated to the organic structure, in form of mineralization or partial substitution of the organic material. Sometimes the internal voids are filled with clastic material. In the innermost paleoenvironments of the basin (São José do Rio Preto and Presidente Prudente) the great majority of the fossil remains is constituted of bone fragments or disarticulated pieces, accumulated mainly in bars facies of shallow channels or wadis. On the other side, in the fossiliferous levels in the region of Peirópolis, near the border of the basin, the bones are better preserved. The greater water availability in the marginal areas surely favored the existence and maintenance of the fauna and flora in flood plain lagoons and water bodies occurring between coalescing alluvial fans. The remains found in these sediments (as well as those found in the Echaporã Mb.) were subjected to less transport before burial. In these regions the higher porosity of the sediments and the greater availability of carbonate-rich waters led to intense cementation of the bones, often causing disruptive patterns due to the displacive growth of calcite. The main carbonate cemented materials types could be identified in the eastern part of the basin: crusts and nodular levels of pedogenetic origin, ground water calcretes, and diagenetic cemented sandstones. Their time sequence of the formation is roughly defined, but frequent superposition of events ocurred, controlled by the accessibility of the deposits to successive processes of dissolution and reprecipitation. The calcretes of the Ponte Alta Mb. show clear features linked to the genesis due to shallow groundwater. On the other side, the pedogenetic calcretes of the Echaporã Mb. are unmistakable records of genesis through the action of edaphic processes. In other more interior units, originally less cemented, the diagenetic mobilization seems to have been the main transforming process. Generally, all lithofacies associations in the eastern part of the Bauru Basin present some vestiges of biological activities and/or edaphic processes. The best examples of the formation of pedogenetic calcretes are found in the Echaporã Mb. Among the identified vestiges of vegetable roots, the countermoulds are very common, characteristically occurring as tubules filled with material other than the surrounding rocks (sandstone or siltistone, cemented or not). Root moulds were generally found in finer lithofacies deposited in wetter environments (swamps, lagoons or flood plains). The analysis of thin sections allowed the recognition of two types of pedogenetic features: autochtonic (found in samples of the same edafic horizon) and allochtonic (found as particle and lithic fragments of edaphic origin, transported and accumulated in lithofacies of higher energy, for instance in the base of cross beds or in residual deposits of river channels).

Comprehensive fracture assessment is not an easy task as most fracture analyses rely on two-dimensional outcrops. A newly developed acquisition system of full resolution 3D Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and subsequent migration of the data allow, for the first time, to image fracture and deformation band networks in three dimensions. A full resolution GPR data set was acquired in the Madonna della Mazza quarry in the Maiella mountains, Italy. The quarry is cut into the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Orfento Formation in the limb of an anticline. Combining 3D GPR and outcrop analysis reveals both the sedimentology and fracture characteristics in the quarry. The GPR data images the strata in more detail than what is visible in the quarry walls. For example, GPR data reveal a series of prograding bedsets that are interpreted as sub-aqueous dunes resulting from a unidirectional bottom or tidal current in the outer ramp environment. A fine-grained carbonate, lithofacies B, appears intermittently throughout the whole strata. In the massive grainstone beds extensive bioturbation destroyed the sedimentary structure and prevents the interpretation of the depositional process. The fracture development in the quarry is partly stratigraphically controlled. Deformation bands preferentially occur in the high porosity and high permeability massive grainstone unit, while stylolites are extensively developed in the thin-bedded packstone-grainstone lithofacies. The fracture analysis in the GPR data corroborates results of the outcrop analysis of previous workers. Performing a manual interpretation of the GPR data, faults with two dominant orientations (N-NW and E-W) were identified. The automated "Ant Tracking" analysis of the GPR data, however, revealed four dominant fracture orientations (N-NW, NW, W-NW, and EW). Furthermore, the automated ("Ant Tracking") 3D GPR analysis reveals a mechanical unit boundary; lithofacies C contains almost twice the density of deformation bands as the strata below. Integrating the outcrop analysis with the automated analysis of the 3D GPR data using "Ant Tracking" is essential for accurately quantifying the entire fracture population in the quarry. Total fracture diversity and abundance has previously been underestimated by 2D outcrop mapping and is also not completely depicted using manual interpretation of 3D GPR data.

The fossil record is the only direct source of data for studying modes (patterns) and rates of morphological change over geologic time periods. Determining modes is critical for understanding macroevolutionary processes, but just how modes can vary within a taxon, and why, have hitherto been largely understudied. To address this, I examined patterns of morphological change in the shell of the Mesozoic marine bivalve genus Buchia over its geographic and temporal range. Buchia was chosen as a test subject because it is abundant, well-preserved across a variety of facies, and is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere where the likelihood of multiple lineages is low. While the focus of this thesis is on evolutionary patterns, it is also necessary to address issues of taxonomy and geographical variation, making this research applicable to a wide-variety of fields. Previous to this study there was no protocol for measuring buchiid valves, nor was the genus studied in a quantitative manner. Throughout this research I used ten morphological characters to describe shell shape and size. Multivariate methods (principle component and canonical variate analyses) were employed to discriminate between species of Buchia and examine how morphological characters change through time and space within the genus. Evolutionary patterns were delineated using two well-established programs that discriminate between multiple modes of evolution. Overall, nearly 2000 specimens from eight geographical locations around the world were studied for this thesis. I found the genus Buchia was a useful tool for evolutionary studies as it can be studied quantitatively in space and time. Specically I have found that buchiid species can be delineated using morphometrics; the genus is restricted to the Northern Hemisphere; while the environment significantly affects morphology, there is no evidence of a latitudinal gradient; diversity and disparity within Buchia are not correlated; most evolutionary modes conformed to random walks or stasis; and modes and rates vary across the geographical range of the genus. Overall, I have found that the environment plays an important role in shaping both morphology and modes.