The marine vertebrate faunas from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Syria

2000 ◽  
Vol 137 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. BARDET ◽  
H. CAPPETTA ◽  
X. PEREDA SUBERBIOLA ◽  
M. MOUTY ◽  
A. K. AL MALEH ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Faunal Composition ◽  
Suitable Material ◽  
Fossil Assemblages ◽  
Marine Vertebrates ◽  
The Difference ◽  
First Time

Marine vertebrate faunas from the latest Cretaceous phosphates of the Palmyrides Chain of Syria are described for the first time. Recent fieldwork in the phosphatic deposits of the Palmyra area (mines of Charquieh and Khneifiss, outcrops of Bardeh, Soukkari and Soukhneh) have yielded a rich and diversified assemblage of marine vertebrates, including more than 50 species of chondrichthyes, osteichthyes, squamates, chelonians, plesiosaurians and crocodilians. Selachians are the most abundant and diverse component of the faunas and are represented by at least 34 species of both sharks and rays. Actinopterygians include representatives of six families, the most common being the enchodontids. Squamates are known by six mosasaurid species and an indeterminate varanoid. Chelonians are represented by at least two bothremydids and two chelonioids. Finally, elasmosaurid plesiosaurs and indeterminate crocodilians are also present in the fossil assemblages. The difference in faunal composition observed between the sites is interpreted as being due to palaeoecological preferences related to the Hamad Uplift palaeostructure. The marine vertebrate faunas of Syria show close affinities with those of the latest Cretaceous phosphatic deposits of North Africa and the Middle East and are typical of the southern Tethyan realm. From a biostratigraphical point of view, the selachians are the only suitable material to provide elements of an answer to the long debated question of the age of the Syrian Senonian phosphates. They suggest an Early Maastrichtian age for most of the phosphates of the Palmyrides Chain.

scholarly journals Cretaceous ammonites from the Sultanate of Oman (Adam Foothills)

GeoArabia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-74
Author(s):  
Christian Meister ◽  
André Piuz
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Sultanate Of Oman ◽  
Lithostratigraphic Units ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
First Time

ABSTRACT Twenty taxa are described from the Cretaceous of Oman (Adam Foothills). The genera Puzosia, Placenticeras, Cunningtoniceras, Nigericeras, Metoicoceras, Rubroceras and Hoplitoides and the subgenus C. (Gentoniceras) are recorded for the first time from the Arabian Peninsula. Based on the ammonite ranges, a sequence of nine bioevents of the Albian–Turonian is correlated within the zonation, and some markers allow correlations at a larger scale, at least along the southern Neo-Tethys margin. The ammonite data give new constraints for the correlations of the lithological units along the Adam Foothills West-East transect and they question the definition of the lithostratigraphic units within the Natih Formation, especially the Natih A and B members. From a paleogeographic point of view Oman is a landmark for the distribution of the ammonites between the western Neo-Tethys (Europe, North Africa, Middle East) and the eastern Neo-Tethys (Africa, Madagascar and India).

Memoirs: On a New Genus of Synascidians from Japan

1892 ◽  
Vol s2-33 (130) ◽  
pp. 313-324
Author(s):  
ASAJIRO OKA ◽  
ARTHUR WILLEY
Keyword(s):  
Thin Layer ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Postembryonic Development ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Canal System ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
New Form ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Bladder Cells ◽  
First Time

Sarcodidemnoides misakiense, Oka and Willey. Generic Characters.--Colony (or cormus) forming very thick lobose masses, laterally compressed; sessile, but not encrusting. Excurrent orifices placed on the tips of the knoll-like prominences. Ascidiozooids very numerous, not arranged in systems; branchial sac with four rows of stigmata; canal system complicated, differentiated into peripheral and central portions. Specific Characters.--Atrial apertures of Ascidiozooids simple pores without teeth or languet; spicules fairly abundant, extremely delicate, confined to a thin layer near surface of test. Test gelatinous, containing numerous bladder-cells, crystals, fusiform cells, and pigment concretions. Stomach of Ascidiozooids vertically placed; surface of attachment of colony narrower than the free portion. Colour, brilliant red. Habitat.--Moroiso, Japan, between the tide-marks. N.B.--Since the above was written I have seen for the first time the exhaustive work of Fernand Lahille, entitled ‘Recherches sur les Tuniciers des côtes de France,' Toulouse, 1890. Lahille devotes considerable attention to what have been spoken of above as tentacle-like processes of the larva, figures them in many larvæ, and gives an excellent figure of the metamorphosing larva of Styela glomerata. He gives an opinion as to their significance which I cannot entirely endorse in the light of my own researches on the "Postembryonic development of Styela," commenced last August at Plymouth. However, I hope to return to this question on a future occasion. Lahille raises an objection to von Drasche's genus Didemnoides on the ground that the thickness of the cormus is not an anatomical character, and that the distinction between thick and thin colonies is a purely subjective one. There is no doubt some truth in this; but the difference between a compound Ascidian which possesses, say, a very few spicules, and one which possesses none at all, would appear to be no more fundamental than that between a colony whose mode of growth resulted in the production of a fleshy mass and one which grew in the form of a thin leathery crust. As stated above, von Drasche intends by Didemnoides a fleshy form of Leptoclinum, the test containing spicules, and the Ascidiozooids having four rows of stigmata in the branchial sac. Lahille, on the contrary,applies the name Didemnoides to those Didemnidse which are characterised by the absence of spicules, and the possession of three rows of stigmata in the branchial sac. The compound Ascidian which we have described above has spicules in the test, and four rows of stigmata in the branchial sac. But as it would be too absurd to call the new form "Sarcoleptoclinum," we shall persist in regarding the genus Didemnoides from the point of view of von Drasche.--A. W.

scholarly journals Urbanization and the Development of Gender in the Arabic Dialects

1970 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 87-120
Author(s):  
Muhammad Al-Sharkawi
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Gender Development ◽  
Urbanization Process ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Feminine Gender ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Classical Arabic ◽  
Structural Simplification

This article makes the claim that the difference between Bedouin and urban dialects of Arabic in gender representation in the plural is a function of the urbanization process the urban dialects of Arabic went through in the 7th century in the conquered territories. Contact-induced linguistic processes of koineization and structural simplification in the newly established urban centers in the Middle East and North Africa helped enhance the gender development that was already in effect before the Arab conquests. By comparing Bedouin and urban dialects to Classical Arabic, the article establishes that the three varieties were in a process of development in gender. Classical Arabic stopped at a particular stage, and Bedouin and urban dialects continued. Comparing Central Asian dialects to urban dialects of Egypt we can see that at least to the 8th century gender was a common feature of Peninsular dialects. The article concludes by stating that the urban dialects developed further to lose all gender distinction in the plural because of the leveling and borrowing processes of the koineization in the urban centers in their formative period.Keywords: Contact Arabic, feminine gender, development, koineization, simplification, Foreigner Talk

DIGITAL SOCIETY IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: NEW OPPORTUNITIES

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (10) ◽  
pp. 190-196
Author(s):  
Maria V. Melanina ◽  
◽  
Viktoria S. Ponomareva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Information Society ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Digital Content ◽  
East West

The article examines the features of the formation of the information society in the countries of the Arab East (West Asia and North Africa), justifies the need for the development of digitalization from the point of view of the long-term tasks facing these states in the field of sustainable development, including the need to diversify the economy, production and exports. It is established that the countries of the Arab world have intensified regional cooperation in this direction, and are currently at the stage of forming Arab digital content.

scholarly journals Investigation of CATS aerosol products and application toward global diurnal variation of aerosols

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (19) ◽  
pp. 12687-12707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Logan Lee ◽  
Jianglong Zhang ◽  
Jeffrey S. Reid ◽  
John E. Yorks
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Orthogonal Polarization ◽  
Aerosol Extinction ◽  
Extinction Data ◽  
Time Variations ◽  
First Time ◽  
Global Oceans ◽  
Level 2 ◽  
Global Mean

Abstract. We present a comparison of 1064 nm aerosol optical depth (AOD) and aerosol extinction profiles from the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) level 2 aerosol product with collocated Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) AOD, Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua and Terra Dark Target AOD and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) AOD and extinction data for the period of March 2015–October 2017. Upon quality-assurance checks of CATS data, reasonable agreement is found between aerosol data from CATS and other sensors. Using quality-assured CATS aerosol data, for the first time, variations in AODs and aerosol extinction profiles are evaluated at 00:00, 06:00, 12:00 and 18:00 UTC (and/or 00:00, 06:00, 12:00 and 18:00 local time or LT) on both regional and global scales. This study suggests that marginal variations are found in AOD from a global mean perspective, with the minimum aerosol extinction values found at 18:00 LT near the surface layer for global oceans, for both the June–November and December–May seasons. Over land, below 500 m, the daily minimum and maximum aerosol extinction values are found at 12:00 and 00:00/06:00 LT, respectively. Strong diurnal variations are also found over north Africa, the Middle East and India for the December–May season, and over north Africa, south Africa, the Middle East and India for the June–November season.

scholarly journals Polish Tartar Travel Writing in the Interwar Period: Themes, Motifs, Narrative Strategies

2016 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 681-695
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Czerwiński
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Travel Writing ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
Polish Literature ◽  
Islamic Countries

Summary The article analyzes Polish Tartar travel writing in the interwar period, i.e. Mustafa Aleksandrowicz’s, Leon Kryczyński’s, Edige Szynkiewicz’s and Ali Ismail Woronowicz’s (all of them Polish Muslims) accounts of their journeys to North Africa (Morocco, Egypt) and the Middle East (Persia). The analysis shows that the themes and narrative strategies of their work differ in many ways from those of mainstream contemporary Polish literature and journalism. Most importantly, the Tartar authors saw the Islamic countries through Muslim eyes. This perspective also determined their interests (the themes) and their point of view (they combined the roles of the observer and the participant).

“Arab Spring” and Fortunes of Post-Soviet States

2012 ◽  
pp. 122-123
Author(s):  
M. Cheshkov
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Present Article ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Round Table ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Development Level

The present article is published as an addition to materials of the round-table "Events in North Africa and in the Middle East: international factors", placed in the current and previous issues. The author investigates the Arab revolutions at the beginning of the current decade from the standpoint of what they could contribute to understanding of the post-Soviet states' fortune. Russia found itself close to a civilizational collapse that fairly aligns its fortune with Arab world countries. From the author's point of view, it's possible to propel Russia to a higher development level, if civilizational shift happened, based on a human communities evolutional movement principle.

scholarly journals Migration Routes of the Aptian to Turonian Ostracod Assemblages from North Africa and the Middle East

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashraf M. T. Elewa ◽  
Omar Mohamed
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Quantitative Study ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
North Africa ◽  
The Other ◽  
Migration Routes ◽  
Oxygen Conditions ◽  
Early Late ◽  
East West ◽  
Ostracod Species

Quantitative paleobiogeography is a powerful tool for detecting the migration routes of microfossils. This is factual and applicable when we select appropriate analyses for proper problems in the following manner. The quantitative study of 43 selected ostracod species (total of 136 species) from 11 countries of North Africa and the Middle East led to the detection of two migration routes in the late Early to early Late Cretaceous times. The first route of migration was from east to west during the intervals of Aptian-Albian to Cenomanian. While in the Turonian time, reduced oxygen conditions prevailed and minimized the east-west migration. The second route was from north to south for the duration of Aptian-Albian to Cenomanian. On the other hand, four ostracod biofacies, each with its distinctive environmental conditions, have been identified in the studied countries ranging in age from Aptian to Turonian.

scholarly journals Rediscovery of “Liodon” asiaticum Répelin, 1915, a Mosasaurini (Squamata, Mosasauridae, Mosasaurinae) from the Upper Cretaceous of the vicinity of Jerusalem – Biostratigraphical insights from microfossils

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie BARDET ◽  
Delphine DESMARES ◽  
Raquel SÁNCHEZ-PELLICER ◽  
Silvia GARDIN
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Calcareous Nannofossils ◽  
Specific Level ◽  
Southern France ◽  
Incertae Sedis ◽  
Near Shore ◽  
First Time

Briefly mentioned in 1915 by the palaeontologist Répelin, the mosasaurid Liodon asiaticum Répelin, 1915 was found by a missionary to Africa, Father Ruffier, in Late Cretaceous strata near Jerusalem (without further details on the exact provenance). This material was never described in detail, figured, or revised and was recently rediscovered in the collections of the Muséum d’histoire naturelle of Marseille (Provence, southern France). Here we describe and figure for the first time this material, which now includes more specimens than the original lot mentioned by Répelin, and we propose new systematic assignments for the identified specimens. First of all we demonstrate that the five original vertebrae briefly described by Répelin represent a composite assemblage and are not diagnostic at the specific level. Thus Liodon asiaticum should be considered a nomem dubium. The most complete and diagnostic specimen belongs to a Mosasaurini (Mosasaurinae) incertae sedis, close to Mosasaurus Conybeare, 1822 and Plotosaurus Camp, 1951, as shown by the unique configuration of its frontal-parietal-postorbitofrontal complex. The two other specimens are identified as indeterminate Mosasaurinae. The study of several groups of microfossils (calcareous nannofossils, planktonic foraminifera and palynomorphs) found in the white chalk preserved with most of the bones constrains the age of these mosasaurid remains to the lower part of the middle Campanian (C. plummerae (Gandolfi, 1955) / G. rosetta (Carsey, 1926) and CC18 / UC14-15a Zones). This corresponds to the local Mishash Formation that crops out extensively East of Jerusalem (Mount of Olives and surroundings). Father Ruffier probably collected these bones in one of the outcrops of this formation, possibly not very far from where he worked and lived (Saint-Anne Community in Jerusalem). These chalky levels, common in the Middle East, represent a shallow and rather open marine environment, possibly near-shore.

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