Abstract:   A set of 14 abstracts and short papers (extended abstracts) of presentations given at a meeting organized by the NFSR Working Group, "Micropaléontologie végétale et Palynologie (MVP)", held on May 11, 2005 at the University of Liège, Belgium. These contributions are available only in English.

1- Breuer P., Al-Ghazi A., Filatoff J., Higgs K.T., Steemans P. & Wellman C.H.- Stratigraphic palynology of Devonian boreholes from northern Saudi Arabia.
DOI:10.4267/2042/4355
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2- François L., Grard A. & Goddéris Y.- Modelling atmospheric CO₂ changes at geological time scales.
DOI:10.4267/2042/4356
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3- Gerrienne P., Meyer-Berthaud B. & Fairon-Demaret M.- The significance of Runcaria (Middle Devonian, Belgium) in the evolution of seed plants.
DOI:10.4267/2042/4357
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4- Golubkova E. & Raevskaya E.- Main changes in microfossil communities during the Upper Proterozoic of Russia.
DOI:10.4267/2042/4358
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5- Javaux E.J. & Marshall C.P.- Tracking the record of early life.
DOI:10.4267/2042/4359
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6- Prestianni C.- Early diversification of seeds and seed-like structures.
DOI:10.4267/2042/4360
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7- Raevskaya E.- Diversity and distribution of Cambrian acritarchs from the Siberian and East-European platforms - a generalized scheme.
DOI:10.4267/2042/4361
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8- Ribecai C., Bagnoli G., Mazzarini F. & Musumeci G.- Paleontological evidence for Late Cambrian in the Arburese area, SW Sardinia.
DOI:10.4267/2042/4362
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9- Rubinstein C.V.- Ordovician to Lower Silurian palynomorphs from the Sierras subandinas (Subandean ranges), northwestern Argentina: a preliminary report.
DOI:10.4267/2042/4363
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10- Streel M. & Hartkopf-Fröder C.- Late Famennian correlation by miospores between the Refrath 1 borehole (Bergisch Gladbach-Paffrath Syncline, Germany) and the reference section of Chanxhe (Dinant Syncline, Belgium).
DOI:10.4267/2042/4364
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11- Vanguestaine M. & Brück P.M.- A Middle Cambrian age for the Ediacara fauna from the Booley Bay Formation, County Wexford, Ireland: new acritarch data and its implications.
DOI:10.4267/2042/4365
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12- Vanmeirhaeghe J., Yans J., Préat A., Grassineau N. & Verniers J.- New evidence for the Hirnantian (Upper Ordovician) in Belgium? An integrated isotopical, biostratigraphical and sedimentological approach.
DOI:10.4267/2042/4366
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13- Vecoli M., Lehnert O. & Servais T.- The role of marine microphytoplankton in the Ordovician biodiversification event.
DOI:10.4267/2042/4367
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14- Wauthoz B.- Correlation and biostratigraphy of the Kortrijk (Sint-Antonius) and Kortrijk (Lust) boreholes (early Silurian, Belgium).
DOI:10.4267/2042/4368
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 Abstract:  Comparison of oxygen and carbon isotope and manganese evolution curves in bulk carbonate from the historical Bedoulian stratotype (Cassis-La Bédoule area, Provence, France) reveals an important geochemical event (negative δ¹³C and high Mn content) located within the D. deshayesi ammonite Zone and at the base of the R. hambrowi ammonite Subzone. This worldwide event, which can be observed in environments ranging from the fluvial to the pelagic realm (Selli/Goguel level), seems to be related to methane hydrate destabilization. Scenarios for manganese, carbon and oxygen evolutions are proposed for early Bedoulian oxic conditions and for dysoxic/anoxic conditions related to methane hydrate destabilization at the early/late Bedoulian transition. The impacts of this global event on the biosphere (nannoconid crisis) and its stratigraphic implications are considered. Comparison of geochemical and biostratigraphical data from the Cassis-La Bédoule stratotype with that of the Cismon-Apticore reference borehole shows that the La Bedoule sequence records geochemical evolution during the Goguel/Selli Event in more detail than that of any other previously published section.

 Abstract:   Abundant worm borings were found in some brachiopod shells (Clitambonites, Estlandia, Nicolella) from the Ordovician (Caradoc) oil shale in North Estonia. 9 of 21 brachiopod genera (43 %) have been bored. Excluding the size and thickness of valves, no common morphological feature discriminates the brachiopods with borings from those without them. The Trypanites are host-specific, and the frequency of bored valves varies from 6.5 % in Bekkerina to 51 % in Estlandia. The worm larvae preferred hosts with thick lamellose shells, such as those of the clitambonitids, especially Clitambonites schmidti. The boring organisms were size-selective; they preferred large adult specimens. The majority of the borings are oriented, and living hosts were preferred to dead shells. Some clitambonitidine brachiopods, like C. schmidti tolerated a large number of the borer's shafts in their valves. Few bored valves have the blister-like shell-repair structures in their interior.

 Abstract:  A vertebra from the Albian of Mesnil-Saint-Père (Aube, eastern Paris Basin), previously identified as the first caudal of a sauropod dinosaur, is shown to be a dorsal vertebra of a large pliosaur. The specimen resembles vertebrae from the Albian of England and eastern France that have been referred to the pliosaur Polyptychodon, a taxon in need of revision.

A paper-printed version was published as: "Association Géologique Auboise, Bulletin Annuel, Sainte-Savine, n° 26 (décembre 2005), p. 3-8".

 Abstract:  Thirteen time-stratigraphic associations of the nannofossil Discoaster have been defined and used in the Miocene Kutei Basin of eastern Borneo to establish a regional stratigraphic framework. The methodology used is discussed and the fossils employed are figured and annotated. Their aid in resolving the timing, stages and details of delta construction is presented graphically.

 Abstract:  This paper presents a thorough analysis of foraminiferal assemblages ranging in age from the Bedoulian-Gargasian transition to the middle Gargasian in the Cassis-La Bédoule area (SE France), the historical stratotype of the Lower Aptian substage. This region is particularly suitable for detailed studies of Aptian foraminifera owing to rapid and continuous sediment depositional rates and well-diversified microfaunas. The ranges of benthic forms appear to be fairly stable but some species (Praedorothia praeoxycona, Lenticulina cf. nodosa, Astacolus crepidularis, Globorotalites bartensteini) become extinct at the end of the Bedoulian and thus can be used to separate this substage from the Gargasian. The stratotypic area also offers an opportunity to follow the evolution of planktonic forms step by step at a crucial period of their history, when modalities of speciation and phylogenetic relationships appear to be particularly complex. The important morphologic variability of Aptian planktonic foraminifera does not help finding stable stratigraphic markers; nevertheless, we are able to propose a biozonation comprising five zones (Cabri, Luterbacheri, Ferreolensis, Barri, Algerianus) for the interval under consideration, usually subdivided into three zones. Our study of foraminiferal assemblages and species took into account the range of variability among populations and not just the characteristics of a single specimen, such as the holotype. As a result this paper provides new taxonomic precisions on certain planktonic species hitherto controversial or possibly of doubtful validity.

 Abstract:   The Quaternary, mainly freshwater sediments of the Lower Mesopotamian plain include a thin transgressive marine unit which extends inland some 250 km from the present coastline, the Hammar Formation. The identity and respective areal extent of continental and transgressive units are based mainly on their molluscan faunas. Those faunas reflect the several environments of the Middle Eastern biogeographic province: fluviatile, lacustrine, estuarine and lagoonal. The ecological requirements of the more common subfossil and living species of the malacofauna were studied during a month of field reconnaissance.
The freshwater portion comprises only four bivalve species (Corbicula, Unio, Anodonta and Pseudodontopsis). The principal gastropods include Theodoxus (Neritaea), Melanopsis, Melanoides, Bellamya, Gyraulus, Lymnaea (Radix) spp. Corbicula characterizes both fluviatile channels and lacustrine environments; Melanopsis, Melanoides, Theodoxus and the Unionaceae prefer shallow, sparsely vegetated, freshwater lakes. The greatest diversity was seen in the slowly flowing water of the channels draining the marshes; small Planorbids are rarely abundant whereas viviparid and lymnaeids may accumulate near the margins of marshes due to floatation during floods.
The brackish water faunas are characterized by Neritina (Dostia), the potamid Cerithidea (Cerithideopsilla), and Stenothyra. The new combination Theora mesopotamica (Annandale, 1918) is introduced here as the exact equivalent of Abra cadabra Eames et Wilkins, 1957. The abundance of these species is indicative of a restricted, low energy marine environment, confirmed by great numbers of the foraminiferan Ammonia gr. beccarii and the ostracod Cyprideis gr. torosa.
Reworked Hammar Fm marine fossils, first recorded by the Annandale (1918) collection from a lacustrine deposit near Nassiriyah, have been observed in river, marsh and lake sediments too, usually in association with scarce foraminifera. The limited occurrence of these macrofossils (abundant in their life environment) indicates reworking.