|
Angwa Sandstone Formation
The Angwa Sandstone is a geological formation of the mid-Triassic Cabora Bassa Basin and Mana Pools Basin of southern Africa, consisting mainly of sandstone. Description Stratigraphy The Angwa Sandstone is the lowest formation in the Upper Karoo Group of the Karoo Supergroup, underlying the Pebbly Arkose Formation and overlying the Lower Karoo Group. The formation is divided into two members: the Alternations Member and the Massive Sandstone (Chirambakadoma) Member. The Angwa Sandstone has been correlated to the Molteno Formation of the Great Karoo Basin, South Africa, and to the Escarpment Grit of the Mid-Zambezi Basin. Lithology The formation is a sedimentary unit, consisting mainly of fluvial sands and silts. It has been dated as covering rocks from much of the Triassic, with pollen and flora identified from the Induan, and Ladinian to Norian. Occurrence The Angwa Sandstone Formation is found in Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chirundu, Zimbabwe
Chirundu is a village and border post in Zimbabwe on the border with Zambia, in Mashonaland West province. The name Chirundu means "people following one another in a line or queue" probably referring to the crossing of the Zambezi river by bridge at Chirundu. The village is located on the banks of the Zambezi river, and as a result it lies in the hot Zambezi Valley. It is the site of the Chirundu Bridges, two of only five road or rail bridges across the Zambezi river. On the Zambian side of the river is a slightly larger town also called Chirundu, Zambia, Chirundu. The bridge is the principal border crossing for traffic travelling from Harare in Zimbabwe, to Lusaka in Zambia. Chirundu is surrounded by wildlife/safari areas, elephants frequently wander around the village. It is also a popular destination for fishing. Transport In 2009, a railway branch extension is proposed to this town. See also * Railway stations in Zimbabwe * Chirundu Bridge The Chirundu Bridge now consist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Induan
The Induan is the first age of the Early Triassic epoch in the geologic timescale, or the lowest stage of the Lower Triassic series in chronostratigraphy. It spans the time between 251.902 Ma and Ma (million years ago). The Induan is sometimes divided into the Griesbachian and the Dienerian subages or substages. The Induan is preceded by the Changhsingian (latest Permian) and is followed by the Olenekian. The Induan is roughly coeval with the regional Feixianguanian Stage of China. Geology Stratigraphy The Triassic is the first period of the Mesozoic era. It is subdivided into the Lower, Middle, and Upper Triassic series, which are further subdivided into stages. The Induan is the first stage of the Lower Triassic, from 251.9 million to 251.2 million years ago, spanning the first 700,000 years after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Stages can be defined globally or regionally. For global stratigraphic correlation, the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sphenobaiera
''Sphenobaiera'' is a form genus for plant leaves found in rocks from Triassic to Cretaceous periods. The genus ''Sphenobaiera'' is used for plants with wedge-shaped leaves that can be distinguished from ''Ginkgo'', ''Ginkgoites'' and ''Baiera'' by the lack of a Petiole (botany), petiole. It became extinct about . The family to which this genus belongs has not been conclusively established; an affinity with the Karkeniaceae has been suggested on morphological grounds. Locations ''Sphenobaiera ikorfatensis'' (Seward) Florin f. ''papillata'' Samylina has been found in Lower Cretaceous formations of Western Greenland, the Upper Jurassic of the Asiatic USSR, and the basal rock unit of the Lakota formation of the Black Hills, which Fontaine considered to be of Lower Cretaceous age. It is a ginkgophyte. In Paleorrota geopark in Brazil. Upper Triassic period, the Santa Maria Formation. References Prehistoric gymnosperm genera Late Cretaceous plants Ginkgophyta {{cretaceo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ginkgoales
Ginkgoales are a gymnosperm order containing only one extant species: ''Ginkgo biloba'', the ginkgo tree. It is monotypic, (the only taxon) within the class Ginkgoopsida, which itself is monotypic within the division Ginkgophyta . The order includes five families, of which only Ginkgoaceae remains extant. History Ginkgophyta and Cycadophyta have a very ancient divergence dating to the early Carboniferous. The earliest representative of the group in the fossil record is probably '' Trichopitys'' from the Asselian (299-293 million years ago) of France. The earliest representatives of ''Ginkgo'', represented by reproductive organs similar to the living species, first appear in the Middle Jurassic, alongside other, related forms such as ''Yimaia'' and ''Karkenia'', which have differently arranged reproductive structures and seeds associated with ''Ginkgo''-like leaves. The diversity of Ginkgoales declined during the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic, coincident with the rise of flowerin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dicroidium
''Dicroidium'' is an extinct genus of fork-leaved seed ferns that were widely distributed over Gondwana during the Triassic (). Their fossils are known from South Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Madagascar, the Indian subcontinent and Antarctica. They were first discovered in Triassic sediments of Tasmania by Morris in 1845. Fossils from the Umm Irna Formation in Jordan and in Pakistan indicate that these plants already existed in Late Permian. Late surviving members of the genus are known from the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian) of East Antarctica. Within paleobotany, ''Dicroidium'' is a form genus used to refers to the leaves, associated with ovuluate organs classified as '' Umkomasia'' and pollen organs classified as '' Pteruchus,'' while ''Dicroidum'' is also used collectively to refer to the whole plant. Description The leaves are similar to those of modern ferns but like all seed ferns (Pteridospermatophyta The term Pteridospermat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lepidopteris
''Lepidopteris'' ("scaly fern") is a form genus for leaves of Late Permian to Late Triassic Period Pteridospermatophyta, or seed ferns, which lived from around 260 to 200 million years ago in what is now Australia, Antarctica, India, South America, South Africa, Russia and China. Nine species are currently recognized. ''Lepidopteris'' was a common and widespread seed fern, which survived the Permian-Triassic extinction event but succumbed to the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. ''Lepidopteris callipteroides'' is especially common between the first two episodes of Permian-Triassic extinction event, and ''L. ottonis'' forms a comparable acme zone immediate before the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. ''Lepidopteris'' would persist into the Early Jurassic in Patagonia, represented by the species ''Lepidopteris scassoi.'' Description In the form generic system of paleobotany ''Lepidopteris'' is used only for leaves, which are fern-like with pinnules attached to the rac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Callistophytaceae
The Callistophytaceae was a family of seed ferns (pteridosperms) from the Carboniferous and Permian periods. They first appeared in late Middle Pennsylvanian (Moscovian) times, 306.5–311.7 million years ago ( Ma) in the tropical coal forests of Euramerica, and became an important component of Late Pennsylvanian (Kasimovian-Gzhelian; 299.0–306.5 Ma) vegetation of clastic soils and some peat soils. The best known callistophyte was documented from Late Pennsylvanian coal ball petrifactions in North America.Rothwell, G. W. (1981). "The Callistophytales (Pteridospermopsida). Reproductively sophisticated gymnosperms." ''Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology'', 32: 103-121. Description Stems The relatively slender stems (fossil genus ''Callistophyton'') had a eustele with a well-developed zone of secondary wood, and unlike most (but not all)Hamer, J. J. & Rothwell, G. W. (1988). The vegetative structure of ''Medullosa endocentrica'' (Pteridospermopsida). ''Canadian Journal of Bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mbire District
Mbire District is a district of the Province Mashonaland Central in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and .... References Districts of Mashonaland Central Province {{Zimbabwe-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dadoxylon
''Agathoxylon'' (previously known as ''Dadoxylon'') is a form genus of araucarian fossil wood, including massive tree trunks. Although identified from the late Palaeozoic to the end of the Mesozoic, ''Agathoxylon'' is common from the Carboniferous to Triassic. Description ''Agathoxylon'' were large trees that bore long strap-like leaves and trunks with small, narrow rays. Often the original cellular structure is preserved as a result of silica in solution in the ground water becoming deposited within the wood cells. This mode of fossilization is termed permineralization. Systematics As a genus, ''Dadoxylon'' was poorly defined, and apart from Araucariaceae, has been associated with fossil wood as diverse as Cordaitales, Glossopteridales and Podocarpaceae. Furthermore, it may be the same form genus as ''Araucarioxylon'', hence the usage ''Dadoxylon'' (''Araucarioxylon''). The genus ''Agathoxylon'', classified under the family Araucariaceae, has nomenclatural priority over the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinales
The order Pinales in the division Pinophyta, class Pinopsida, comprises all the extant conifers. The distinguishing characteristic is the reproductive structure known as a cone produced by all Pinales. All of the extant conifers, such as cedar, celery-pine, cypress, fir, juniper, larch, pine, redwood, spruce, yew and ''Araucaria araucana'' ("Monkey tail tree" or "Monkey puzzle tree") are included here. Some fossil conifers, however, belong to other distinct orders within the division Pinophyta. Multiple molecular studies indicate this order being paraphyletic with respect to Gnetales, with studies recovering Gnetales as either a sister group to Pinaceae or being more derived than Pinaceae but sister to the rest of the group. Taxonomy History Brown (1825) first discerned that there were two groups of seed plants, distinguished by the form of seed development, based on whether the ovules were exposed, receiving pollen directly, or enclosed, which do not. Shortly afterwar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the northeast, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the southeast, Zimbabwe and Botswana to the south, Namibia to the southwest, and Angola to the west. The capital city of Zambia is Lusaka, located in the south-central part of Zambia. The nation's population of around 19.5 million is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the north, the core economic hubs of the country. Originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region was affected by the Bantu expansion of the thirteenth century. Following the arrival of European exploration of Africa, European explorers in the eighteenth century, the British colonised the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Africa to the southwest. The sovereign state is separated from the Comoros, Mayotte and Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel to the east. The capital and largest city is Maputo. Notably Northern Mozambique lies within the monsoon trade winds of the Indian Ocean and is frequentely affected by disruptive weather. Between the 7th and 11th centuries, a series of Swahili port towns developed on that area, which contributed to the development of a distinct Swahili culture and language. In the late medieval period, these towns were frequented by traders from Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, and India. The voyage of Vasco da Gama in 1498 marked the arrival of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
