Notes on some Late Cretaceous goniasterid starfish (Echinodermata, Asteroidea) from Belgium and Germany

Both partially articulated specimens and dissociated marginal ossicles form the basis for erection of two new species of Late Cretaceous goniasterids from the Mons and Liège-Limburg basins (Belgium) and the Hannover area (Germany). Chomataster breizh sp. nov., which recalls the type species, Chomataster acules Spencer, 1913, but differs in several respects, is based on a partial external mould of the marginal frame of disc and arms in flint (upper Campanian Spiennes Chalk Formation; Mons Basin), as well as on a more or less complete individual, preserving small, spherical spines and granules and encased in a flint nodule from the upper Maastrichtian Nekum Member (Maastricht Formation; Liège-Limburg Basin). In Ch. breizh sp. nov., supero- and inferomarginals bear close-set granule pits, of varying sizes, as well as bivalved alveolar scars of pedicellariae; median superomarginals and all inferomarginals lack large, crater-shaped spine pits – such are found only in the disc/arm transition and along the arms. Dissociated supero- and inferomarginal ossicles from the lower and upper Campanian of the Hannover area and the upper Campanian of northeast Belgium, previously recorded either as indeterminate astropectinids or as Nymphaster obtusus (Forbes, 1848) var. nov. and as Nymphaster sp., respectively, here are assigned to Nymphaster mudzborgh sp. nov. This species is characterised by a row of 3–5 large spine pits on the aboral and lateral surfaces of superomarginals; inferomarginals have an angular profile and a close cover of granule pits. Nymphaster tethysiensis Villier, 2001, from the upper Campanian of Landes (southwest France; Villier and Odin, 2001) appears best accommodated in Chomataster as well, because in the arm superomarginals alternate rather than meet over the mid-radial line.

Alternatives for large crater repairs using Rapid Set Concrete Mix®

Research was conducted at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, MS, to identify alternative repair methods and materials for large crater repairs using Rapid Set Concrete Mix®. This report presents the technical evaluation of the field performance of full-depth slab replacement methods conducted using Rapid Set Concrete Mix® over varying strength foundations. The performance of each large crater repair was determined by using a load cart representing one-half of the full gear of a C-17 aircraft. Results indicate that using rapid-setting concrete is a viable material for large crater repairs, and the performance is dependent on surface thickness and base strength.