Gondwana Research最新文献

{"title":"Strategic insights into geosustainable Excellence: Unveiling a Resource-Based dynamic approach in global food supply chains for carbon neutrality and economic performance","authors":"An Duong Thi Binh ,&nbsp;Thang Ta Duc ,&nbsp;Hung Nguyen ,&nbsp;Thinh Gia Hoang ,&nbsp;Huy Truong Quang ,&nbsp;Mohammadreza Akbari","doi":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In food-centric nations, such as Vietnam, the roles of (1) organizations, (2) the supply chain, and (3) the government are explained theoretically. This study centers on clarifying the influence of each of these determinants on geosustainable performance in terms of carbon neutrality and economics. This research also provides insight into the moderating role of the Food Safety Management System 4.0 (FSMS 4.0). From 225 replies obtained from Vietnamese organizations, we determined that our model could account for 61.4% Carbon Neutrality and 30.5% Economic Performance. As justified by the hypothesis testing, “Top management support,” “Human resource management,” “Infrastructure,” and “Integration” play contributory roles in fostering Carbon Neutrality. Two elements that have only a negligible impact on achieving carbon neutrality are “External assistance” and “Food safety administration.” Irrespective of no prominent influence on Carbon Neutrality, “Food safety administration” has an appreciable and statistically significant impact on Economic Performance. Regarding FSMS 4.0, while Carbon Neutrality bears the negative influence of “Ecosystem” and “Robustness” when engaging with “Food safety administration,” the opposite —a positive impact of the interaction between “Quality standard” and “Integration”—is witnessed on Carbon Neutrality. This study makes three contributions to the current body of knowledge. First, leveraging a plethora of FSMS 4.0-level-specific factors, this research expands resource-based dynamic theory. Second, this research highlights the importance of external FSMS 4.0 activities, such as stakeholder participation and support from various sources, in providing both commercial and regulatory insights into the key determinants of FSMS 4.0 implementation. In addition, as one of the first studies to shed light on the correlation between an organization’s carbon neutrality commitment and its geosustainable performance, as influenced by the determinants, this research could serve as an ideal motivator for businesses in the food supply chain to embark on their carbon neutrality journeys. Through a multi-level lens, our study investigates the extent to which stakeholder influence and institutional requirements can exert an impact on the deployment of an efficacious FSMS 4.0 to promote and reinforce carbon neutrality and geosustainable performance. This lays the groundwork for enriching existing literature.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12761,"journal":{"name":"Gondwana Research","volume":"145 ","pages":"Pages 155-169"},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143901848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development and application of an efficient microplastics extraction method based on glycerol flotation for environmental soil samples","authors":"Yingmiao Chen ,&nbsp;Muhammad Junaid ,&nbsp;Kai Yin ,&nbsp;Xue Li ,&nbsp;Xiaobing Wang ,&nbsp;Sai Wang ,&nbsp;Hailong Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.015","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Risk assessment and removal of microplastics (size 1 µm to &lt; 5 mm) from the environment necessitate continuous improvements in extraction methods, particularly for complex matrices such as soil. Glycerol exhibits flotation ability that can be used to improve microplastic extraction. In this study, we primarily evaluated glycerol flotation capability and measured its recovery rate, cost, and safety, compared to conventional microplastics extraction salts, including sodium chloride (NaCl) and sodium iodide (NaI). Our results showed that glycerol efficiently extracted five standard microplastic polymers (recovery rates 60 ± 10 % to 100 %), with recovery rates for polyethylene glycol terephthalate (PET) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in glycerol higher than that in NaCl. NaI is costly and toxic, and its color effects microplastic analysis, while glycerol is 40 times cheaper and safer than NaI. The glycerol flotation efficiency was highest at 0.5 h, and the recommended time for glycerol flotation was 0.5 h. This newly developed method was applied for extraction of microplastic from environmental soil samples, and we found PP and PS, with an abundance of 0.11 ± 0.04 items/g in tidal spreading soils, and PP, PVC, and PE, with abundance of 0.21 ± 0.13 items/g in agricultural soils. In conclusion, glycerol flotation, as an innovative flotation technique, demonstrates superior flotation efficiency compared to NaCl. The expense of glycerol is inferior to that of NaI, and it is relatively safer for microplastic extraction. Glycerol flotation provides an effective method for microplastic extraction from complex matrices, saves laboratory costs, and ensures environmental safety. This study provides practical and novel insights into the safe and efficient extraction of environmental microplastics from biological, solid, and liquid samples.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12761,"journal":{"name":"Gondwana Research","volume":"143 ","pages":"Pages 226-238"},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143891466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Substrate type-driven differences in interfacial microbial community and pathogenic risk: Clay, microplastics and activated carbon","authors":"Taishuo Zhang ,&nbsp;Wenfu Wang ,&nbsp;Xiang Zhi ,&nbsp;Xiaoqian Ye ,&nbsp;Rui Wang ,&nbsp;Jiarui Zhao ,&nbsp;Jiamin Dai ,&nbsp;Hong Qiang ,&nbsp;Peng Liu ,&nbsp;Hanzhong Jia","doi":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.017","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigated the microbial colonization, bacterial community and potential risks in natural (montmorillonite (MMT)) and artificial substrates (activated carbon (AC), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS)) by microcosm incubations in surface water. Biofilm biomass and polysaccharide content indicate that the colonization potential of microbes on different substrates followed the order of AC &gt; MMT &gt; PP &gt; PS. High-throughput sequencing results reveal that microbes selectively colonized various substrates and formed unique bacterial community. Compared to the artificial substrate, natural substrate enriched with high abundance but low diversity of microbial community. In addition, bacterial community on natural substrates exhibited stronger nitrogen cycling function than artificial substrates, whereas bacterial community on artificial substrates (especially microplastics) exhibited stronger carbon cycling functions, such as aromatic_compound_degradation and hydrocarbon_degradation. Also, <em>Brevundimonas diminuta</em>, <em>Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Paracoccus sanguinis</em> and other twenty-five species of pathogenic bacteria were identified in various substrates and their abundance was higher on MMT than on other substrates. However, many more species of pathogenic bacteria on microplastic are associated with human diseases, implying a higher environmental risk. These results indicated that microbial community composition and function on natural and artificial substrates exhibited substrate-driven differences, highlighting the lower concerns of artificial substrates than natural ones with associated biofilms in surface water.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12761,"journal":{"name":"Gondwana Research","volume":"143 ","pages":"Pages 157-165"},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143870291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Changes in the spatial variability of extreme climate characteristics across the Sabarmati River basin: Past and future","authors":"Alka Sharma ,&nbsp;P.L. Patel ,&nbsp;Priyank J. Sharma","doi":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.016","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change significantly impacts the global and regional hydrological dynamics, consequently altering the climate extremes. Through a comprehensive analysis, this study presents how the spatial variability of climate extremes is changing in major west-flowing Sabarmati River basin (SRB) in India, due to a gradually warming climate. A methodological framework to assess joint variability and temporal evolution of climate extremes for a semi-arid, water-scarce, and densely populated region, using baseline and future datasets is developed. Here, the statistically downscaled climate projections of five general circulation models (GCMs) of the coupled model intercomparison project (CMIP5) under two representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios are analyzed for the SRB. The study performs robust statistical analyses to assess the projected (2020–2100) changes with reference to the baseline (1951–2019) period using a multi-model mean ensemble approach. The distributional changes in climate extremes are evaluated using non-parametric kernel density estimates and the Mann-Whitney test. The individual and joint variability of rainfall and temperature indices is investigated using correlation and principal component analysis. The results show that the SRB will experience a wetter and warmer climate in the future, with increased frequency and intensity of extreme events such as heat waves, flash floods, and droughts. Further, the heat waves may likely intensify, while the cold waves would subside by the end of 21st century. A strong dependency between the rainfall and temperature extremes is detected in the SRB under higher levels of anthropogenic warming (i.e., RCP8.5) compared to the RCP4.5 and baseline period, indicating a sign of global warming in the far future. The results urge the need for immediate and effective policy actions to reduce climate change impacts for sustainable development in the basin.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12761,"journal":{"name":"Gondwana Research","volume":"143 ","pages":"Pages 199-213"},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143876861","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"EnMap hyperspectral data in geological investigations: Evaluation for lithological and hydrothermal alteration mapping in Neoproterozoic rocks","authors":"Ali Shebl ,&nbsp;Mahmoud Abdellatif ,&nbsp;Dávid Abriha ,&nbsp;Maher Dawoud ,&nbsp;Mosaad Ali Hussein Ali ,&nbsp;Abdelhalim S. Mahmoud ,&nbsp;Ferenc Kristály ,&nbsp;Árpád Csámer","doi":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.014","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study conducted a rigorous evaluation of Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMap) data in geological applications, specifically focusing on lithological and hydrothermal alteration mapping. This research represents one of the earliest attempts to apply EnMap data for such purposes, and the first to integrate EnMap and airborne geophysical data for geological mapping over the entire Arabian Nubian Shield. To ensure a comprehensive appraisal, we selected a study area characterized by complex Precambrian rocks, including igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary formations, alongside structural intricacies and hydrothermal activities. Our study utilized various image-processing techniques, including principal component analysis (PCA), Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP), Sequential Maximum Angle Convex Cone (SMACC) endmember analysis, and spectral resampling. These techniques successfully discriminated ophiolitic serpentinite, volcaniclastic metasediments (as part of the ophiolitic mélange matrix), metavolcanics, metagabbro-diorite, <em>syn</em>-orogenic granite, post-orogenic granite, Nubian sandstone, and Wadi deposits. Additionally, they revealed the prevalence of OH-bearing minerals and iron oxides as the primary hydrothermal alteration products within the study area. By correlating the findings with USGS spectral libraries and airborne geophysical data, we determined the efficacy of EnMap data in these applications. Our findings were further validated through multiscale observations, field investigations, petrographic analyses, and scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). In addition to endorsing the use of the UMAP algorithm and EnMap data for future applications, this study highlights key alteration zones that could serve as potential targets for future gold exploration, alongside insights into bauxite ore occurrences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12761,"journal":{"name":"Gondwana Research","volume":"143 ","pages":"Pages 91-124"},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143856061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate policy uncertainty and greenhouse gas emissions in G7 countries: Policy recommendations for environmental sustainability","authors":"Shabir Mohsin Hashmi ,&nbsp;Li Rong ,&nbsp;Daniel Balsalobre-Lorente ,&nbsp;Qasim Raza Syed","doi":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since the inception of the 21st century, climate policy uncertainty (CPU) has been rising in G7 countries, which can impact economic and environmental sustainability. Therefore, the present empirical study explores the influence of CPU on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in G7 countries. The results from the method of moment quantile regression delineate that CPU upsurges GHG emissions at the middle and upper quantiles, indicating that CPU contributes to GHG emissions if emissions are at their average (mean) level or above. The findings from robustness analysis are also in line with baseline empirical outcomes. The findings recommend initiating measures to shrink the CPU. For instance, climate policies at the federal and state levels should be in line and should be announced for a long period.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12761,"journal":{"name":"Gondwana Research","volume":"143 ","pages":"Pages 214-225"},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143891465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A modeling framework for assessing the future changes in the occurrence of extreme rain-induced landslides","authors":"Xinlong Zhang ,&nbsp;Qigen Lin ,&nbsp;Manhoi Lok ,&nbsp;Taosheng Huang ,&nbsp;Xuan Yu ,&nbsp;Weiping Wang ,&nbsp;Ping Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Landslides triggered by extreme rainfall pose a serious threat to lives and livelihoods under climate change. However, the influence of climate change on the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall and the resulting landslide hazard remains insufficiently investigated. Here we develop a novel framework to assess how future changes in extreme rainfall affect landslide occurrence, using a comprehensive dataset of landslide events in Guangdong province, China. We apply the XGBoost machine learning algorithm with a correction by feature interaction constraints to model landslide hazards based on various predisposing and triggering factors. We use a new extreme rainfall correction method to account for the global climate model-projected changes in rainfall patterns under different emission scenarios, based on which we perform a multi-model ensemble analysis to reduce the uncertainty of climate projections. We find that regions with high landslide probability are strongly associated with intense rainfall events, especially in steep and erodible river valleys. Our projections show that under a high-emission scenario, extreme rainfall events and landslide hazards will increase substantially in Guangdong, highlighting the urgency of adaptation of climate change and risk management. Our framework provides a valuable tool for understanding the interactions between climate change, extreme rainfall, and landslide occurrence, and for developing effective mitigation strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12761,"journal":{"name":"Gondwana Research","volume":"143 ","pages":"Pages 52-63"},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143847386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Topographic stress proxy as a new causative factor in landslide susceptibility mapping","authors":"Weilin Kong ,&nbsp;Ruilong Wei ,&nbsp;Chunhao Wu ,&nbsp;Peng Cui ,&nbsp;Guoqing Chen ,&nbsp;Yifan Zhang ,&nbsp;Dongchen Li ,&nbsp;Chenxiao Tang","doi":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>On the Tibetan Plateau, the frequency of bedrock landslides has significantly increased due to high altitude, high seismic intensity, and high topographic stress, posing severe threats to human safety and infrastructure. Landslide susceptibility assessment (LSA) is an effective tool for preventing and managing landslide hazards. Although the extent of slope failure depends on landscape-scale patterns of bedrock fracturing induced by topographic stress, current LSA models rarely incorporate this factor and fail to adequately link the causative factors considered with the mechanisms of landslide formation. This study introduces a new factor—topographic stress—into existing LSA models to capture the mechanisms underlying landslide formation better. Several popular machine learning models (LGR, MLP, SVM, and RF) were employed to investigate the impact of topographic stress proxies on landslide susceptibility assessments. Results reveal that stress proxies outperform conventional factors across models, with FP recalibrating susceptibility distributions by reducing High/Very High-risk zones by 3.1 ∼ 9.1 % and expanding Low/Very Low areas by 5.3 ∼ 14.9 % in both coseismic and pre-seismic scenarios. Model performance metrics significantly improved: overall accuracy increased by 3 ∼ 6 %, recall by 0.5 ∼ 1.6 %, and AUC values by 2 ∼ 4 %, with RF_FP and SVM_FP achieving peak discriminative power (AUC: 0.898 and 0.858). The topographic stress proxy FP bridges geomechanical processes (stress-fracture-weathering interactions) and data-driven modeling, identifying fracture zones that precondition slopes for failure—particularly near active faults where stress accumulation elevates landslide risk by amplifying fracture density and strain localization. This framework enables proactive hazard mitigation in tectonically active orogens by prioritizing physics-informed stress preconditioning over trigger-centric approaches. Future applications should leverage stress proxies to decode landscape-scale fracture evolution and cascading slope destabilization mechanisms, advancing toward predictive, process-based landslide susceptibility mapping.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12761,"journal":{"name":"Gondwana Research","volume":"143 ","pages":"Pages 32-51"},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143848049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tectonic reworking in the Arabian-Nubian Shield: An analysis of the textural record of the exhumation of the Meatiq Gneiss dome (Egypt)","authors":"Mahmoud K. Alawy ,&nbsp;Juan Gómez-Barreiro ,&nbsp;Zakaria Hamimi ,&nbsp;Abdel-Kader M. Moghazi ,&nbsp;Mohammed Hassan Younis ,&nbsp;Inés Puente Orench ,&nbsp;Santos Barrios Sánchez","doi":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The construction of the northern section of the East Africa Orogen (EAO) is a subject of debate. The extensive activity of late orogenic wrench tectonics, recognized in the Arabian Nubian Shield (ANS), dismembered and obscured the accretionary and collisional record. We have investigated the Meatiq Gneiss dome (MGD), in the Central Eastern Desert (CED, Egypt) where compressional, extensional and transcurrent structures converge. Three structural domains have been identified: Meatiq Dome (MDSZ), Murr (MSZ) and Atalla (ASZ) shear zones. We have conducted neutron diffraction quantitative texture analysis on mylonites, to investigate deformation conditions at different structural levels of the MGD and provide new evidence on its evolution and discuss regional implications for the CED. Results indicate that the MGD is an individual fault-related gneiss dome, bounded by a major extensional detachment with ∼ NW-SE kinematics (MDSZ). Textural record documents tectonic denudation under deformation conditions from 750° to 350 °C, compatible with a fast isothermal exhumation from 620-580 Ma, as supported by existing age and metamorphic data. Field investigation suggest that the NW-SE elongated geometry of the dome is not related to the extensional activity, but with a coeval NE-SW shortening component. Large wrench shear zones (MSZ and ASZ) postdate this architecture and accommodate transpressional strain under low T conditions (&lt;400 °C). Given that the activity of the MDSZ was contemporary with the main collisional phase of the formation of the Gondwana supercontinent in the Late Neoproterozoic, is postulated that the Meatiq Gneiss Dome exhumation was the result of a <em>syn</em>-collisional collapse, which was triggered by gravitational instabilities, and modulated by coeval contraction, without a genetic relation with late strike-slip tectonics (e.g., Najd fault system). MGD tectonothermal evolution indicates that the lithosphere of this EAO segment has followed a complex tectonic reworking where large-scale boundaries like the MDSZ and played a significant rheological role.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12761,"journal":{"name":"Gondwana Research","volume":"143 ","pages":"Pages 64-90"},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143856060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ancient depths: Unprecedented completeness of mesophotic coral-fish ecosystem from the Devonian of Eastern Gondwana","authors":"Mikołaj K. Zapalski ,&nbsp;Błażej Berkowski ,&nbsp;Stanisław Skompski ,&nbsp;John W. Pickett ,&nbsp;Gavin C. Young","doi":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gr.2025.03.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Modern mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) are built by zooxanthellate scleractinian corals anatomically adapted (platy growth) to light harvesting at greater depths. Ecosystems of this kind date back to the Silurian (∼430 Ma) and in the Palaeozoic were built by now-extinct tabulate corals. Palaeozoic MCEs were recognized for the first time quite recently, and are still poorly known – only from isolated occurrences on the tropical shelves of palaeocontinents of Laurussia (Silurian, Middle Devonian), with a single example from Western Gondwana (Morocco, Middle Devonian). This study reveals a Lower Devonian (Emsian, ∼395 Ma) coral biostrome at Wee Jasper (New South Wales, Australia; Eastern Gondwana). The area has long been noted for its diverse, well- preserved fossil fish fauna, and the investigated beds, besides corals, are associated with many fish remains, mainly armoured fishes – placoderms. With about 70 species identified so far (placoderms, acanthodians, osteichthyans) this is the most diverse Devonian fish assemblage known to date. We identified a platy tabulate coral (a growth form adapted to low-light conditions) assemblage. Numerous anatomical features of corals (e.g., growth forms, corallite sizes) and fish (e.g., teeth adaptations for herbivory or durophagy) are directly comparable with modern taxa. Along with sedimentological data, the entire assemblage can be interpreted as a MCE. The description of the Wee Jasper MCE highlights numerous functional similarities between Palaeozoic and Recent mesophotic ecosystems, despite major taxonomical differences. Moreover, it suggests a broad distribution of MCEs on tropical shelves of Gondwana as early as the Early Devonian, evidencing proliferation of photosymbiotic, habitat-forming tabulate corals during the reef acme in the middle Palaeozoic. We propose the Wee Jasper MCE as the most complete Palaeozoic coral-fish ecosystem known to date.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12761,"journal":{"name":"Gondwana Research","volume":"142 ","pages":"Pages 252-261"},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143816674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}