Planet Earth - In Deep Time Palaeozoic Series

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Ice and dust, sediments and fossils provide a record of past climate change and the evolution of life. Studying the record of periods of great change can shed light on current challenges, and help us understand how variations in our climate affect life on Earth. There were great variations in both biodiversity and climate during the Devonian and Carboniferous Periods (419 ? 229 million years ago), which were the focus of a 5-year International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) project. A new publication entitled ?Planet Earth ? In Deep Time? lays out the findings of this collaborative effort involving specialists from over 30 countries. A changing climate with a large drop in temperature and atmospheric CO2 levels, growing continental land mass as a result of very high plate tectonic activity, and great variations in biodiversity characterize the Devonian and Carboniferous Periods (419 ? 229 million years ago). Aiming to increase and refine our documentation of biodiversity mainly in tropical realms during Early Devonian-Early Carboniferous times and to identify links to climate change, the IGCP project Climate Change and Biodiversity Patterns in the Mid-Paleozoic (IGCP 596) was specifically interested in the interaction between climate change and biodiversity in this period of our Earth?s history. This was a period when terrestrial ecosystems experienced a biodiversity boom, while oceanic ecosystems suffered catastrophic extinctions. The book ?Planet Earth ? In Deep Time?, authored by 114 specialists from over 30 countries, introduces the key areas of IGCP 596?s research into earth deposits of the Devonian and Carboniferous Periods. It shows the different findings in various countries around the world, with each chapter on a specific country in both English and the national language. The project incorporated scientific as well as social purposes. On the one hand, the results of the project could help us to understand our present day situation and climate change in the future. On the other hand, the project?s novel combination of global earth system sciences and analytical paleobiology involved and educated young researchers, who will be responsible for preserving our knowledge for future generations. For over forty years, UNESCO has worked together with the International Union for Geological Sciences (IUGS) to mobilize global cooperation in the Earth sciences through the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP). This Programme has provided an important platform for scientists from across the world to push the frontiers of knowledge forward through concrete projects. IGCP has always built bridges between disciplines and between scientists, including students and early career scientists, with aims of stimulating cutting-edge research and sharing scientific knowledge for the benefit of all. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation 18.02.2016 - Natural Sciences Sector www.unesco.org
 
Im Rahmen des von 2011 bis 2015 laufenden, von der UNESCO unterstützten IGCP-Projekts 596 „Mid Palaeozoic Biodiversity Patterns and Climate Change“ entstand ein Buch, an dem sage und schreibe 114 Autoren aus mehr als 30 Ländern beteiligt waren. Auch sonst fällt dieses Buch buchstäblich aus dem Rahmen, denn es besitzt ein sehr ungewöhnliches Breitformat und ist darüber hinaus vielsprachig. Auf jeweils zwei gegenüberliegenden Seiten werden devonische und karbonische Aufschlüsse oder Landschaften vorgestellt, die stellvertretend für ein Land stehen. Manche Länder sind auch mit mehreren Aufschlüssen vertreten. Die Auswahl ist natürlich subjektiv und hat keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit. Die Fotos sind zwar größtenteils von guter Qualität, allerdings finden sich auch einige unscharfe Ausreißer. Garniert wird dies mit einem typischen Fossil- oder Gesteinsfoto und mit einer kleinen Globendarstellung von Ron Blakey, auf der der Aufschluss zur Devon- oder Karbonzeit verortet ist – was heute benachbart liegt, war damals mitunter noch weit voneinander entfernt und wurde erst in der Folge plattentektonischer Prozesse zusammengeschweißt. Die vorderen Buchbeiträge sind englischsprachigen Ländern gewidmet. Dort werden zusätzlich zur Charakterisierung der Aufschlüsse im regionalen Kontext auf einer halben Seite noch grundlegende, mitunter etwas triviale Informationen zu wichtigen Tier- oder Pflanzengruppen vorgestellt. In den übrigen Beiträgen ist dieser Platz durch eine Übersetzung des englischen Texts in der jeweiligen Landessprache (z.B. Deutsch, Arabisch, Russisch, Chinesisch, Japanisch, Burmesisch, etc.) besetzt. Künstlerische Umsetzungen von marinen und terrestrischen Lebensräumen sind locker eingestreut, wobei Wiederholungen desselben Themas durch unterschiedliche Künstler durchaus ihren Reiz haben. Am Ende des Buchs finden sich zu jedem Land wichtige aktuelle Literaturhinweise und Kontaktadressen, die dem Fachwissenschaftler einen raschen und vertieften Einstieg ermöglichen. Erdgeschichte kann ein ziemlich trockener Stoff sein, wie es im vielfach aufgelegten „Brinkmann/Krömmelbein“ der Fall war: nüchterne Tabellen mit wenig aussagenden Formationsnamen. Aufschlussbilder wie in diesem Buch machen Erdgeschichte wesentlich anschaulicher, und so möchte man sich eine Fortsetzung auch für andere Perioden der Erdgeschichte wünschen. Auf die Vielsprachigkeit kann man dabei meines Erachtens getrost verzichten. Der potenzielle Leserkreis erdgeschichtlich speziell am Devon oder Karbon interessierter Wissenschaftler, Studenten oder Amateure vermag mit den fremdsprachigen Texten sicher rein gar nichts anzufangen. Der gewonnene Platz könnte für ausführlichere Informationen zu den Aufschlüssen und Regionen weit besser genutzt werden. Fossiliensammler werden übrigens explizit darauf hingewiesen, dass viele der präsentierten Aufschlüsse geschützte Geotope sind oder sich in militärischen Sperrbezirken befinden, weswegen das Einholen von Genehmigungen zum Sammeln in diesen Fällen unerlässlich ist. Die sehr gute Ausstattung und Informationsfülle des Buchs rechtfertigt den Preis. Günter Schweigert FOSSILIEN Heft 2016/2
 
This book is the proceedings of the International Geoscience Programme 596, which was an international cooperative program from 2011 to 2015, and concentrated on the interaction of climate change and biodiversity in the Devonian and Carboniferous periods. The volume covers a fascinating topic, as the Devonian and Carboniferous periods comprise a time in the Paleozoic in which terrestrial ecosystems started booming, with the Late Devonian featured as one of the big five mass extinctions. The first part of the book contains a very brief introduction, giving a quick background on stratigraphy, sea-level change, mass extinctions, Devonian and Carboniferous climate, plate tectonics, and the importance of paleontological collections. As a result of the brevity of the introduction, the included sections are overly simplified. A more extensive introduction would have been welcomed, especially for general readers or scientific teachers interested in the topic. The bulk of the volume presents some of the Devonian and Carboniferous outcrops that can be found around the globe. Due to the length of the book, it only presents a few localities per country, but overall the selection is nice and offers a good overview. Interestingly, the authors of the volume decided to take a multilingual approach with all locality descriptions, apart from the ones in Englishspeaking countries, in that the descriptions are in written in English and the native language of the country in which the locality resides. This feature does not appear very useful as it takes away significant amounts of space that could have been used for more detailed locality or fossil descriptions, and the majority of readers are likely to be fluent in English. All localities are presented with a locality map, outcrop, and fossil picture. This is a nice feature, however, some of the fossil pictures are out of focus, and the scale information is buried in the figure captions in the appendix, rather than near the image. Throughout the book, beautiful illustrations depicting Devonian and Carboniferous environments can be found. These artistic interpretations, together with the outcrop pictures that help with visualizing the locality, might be the highlight of the volume as they present a great teaching resource, as well as information for professionals considering fieldwork in a specific locality. The appendix offers an extensive, up-to-date, easily navigable reference list, as the references follow the layout of the book and are separated under taxonomic and geographic headings. This is useful if readers are interested in specific localities and want to dig deeper into the literature. Additionally, the contact information of all 114 authors involved in the volume and project are listed, useful for attentive readers. Planetary Earth—In Deep Time is a nice book illustrating some of the most important mid-Paleozoic localities in the world and their associated fossils. For amateurs, it provides a good introduction to the Devonian and Carboniferous and for professionals it offers great images of important outcrops and a quick reference guide to the important literature related to them. Julien Kimmig, Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas The Quarterly Review of Biology Volume 92
 
The time of the traditional stratigraphy has gone – is this statement true? Fortunately, not! The impressive book edited by Suttner et al. is the best confi rmation of the idea that section-based studies with only hammers in hands and knowledge in heads still matter in the 21st-century geology. This album-styled volume is an outcome from the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) project 596 “Climate Change and Biodiversity Patterns in the Mid-Palaeozoic” realized in 2011–2015 by a team of internationally-known experts from many countries. The book deals with the Devonian and Carboniferous stratigraphy, palaeontology, and palaeoenvironments. The introductory sections present the actual version of the time scale (developed by the International Commission on Stratigraphy) with indication of the main mid-Paleozoic events and the plate tectonic reconstructions (more “fresh” models would be used – e.g., Stampfli et al. 2013). The authors also stress the importance of scientific collections. The main and the biggest part of the book is as follows. For 35 countries from all parts of the world (except for Antarctica), the key Devonian and Carboniferous localities are presented. In each case, there are one page-long explanatory text, page-sized image of the locality, image of any remarkable fossil, and insert maps showing the modern geographical and palaeogeographical position of the study area. Only one thing is lacking in this book: it would be very important to see stratigraphical column for each section/outcrop described. With the reviewed book, one can learn about the crinoid-rich Mississippian limestones from southern Kentucky, the post-Frasnian/Famennian biotic recovery in the Junggar basin of China, the Devonian nekton revolution documented in the rocks of the Rhenish Massif in Germany, the Eifelian tetrapod trackways from the Holy Cross Mountains in Poland, the rich mid-Mississippian ecosystem of tropical shelf from Vietnam, and many-many other interesting features. A typical example is as follows. The Bashkirian stratotype is an outcrop along the Yuryuzan River. On pp. 194–195, it is possible to see the general view of shallow-water carbonates, including bioclastic limestones, and to learn that these bear a lot of fossils. An additional figure illustrates pseudostaff ellid foraminifers in a thin section (scale is not provided). Yes, this book informs fi rst of all about the geological time, the fossils, and the palaeoenvironments. But its importance is not limited to these. In fact, this is a book about stratigraphical and palaeogeographical types of geological heritage that are in the focus of the present-day research (Bruno et al. 2014; Gnezdilova et al. 2016). The fact the described localities are so important for understanding of the mid-Paleozoic world means they belong to the global-scale geological heritage that should be conserved and promoted for educational and tourism purposes. The organization of the book is unusual, but nice. The countries are presented not in the alphabetic order, but according to their languages. The localities in non-English speaking countries are described in the both English and national language. Thus, the reader should not be surprised seeing Arabic, Hindi, or Thai letters. An outline of the IGCP project 596 is also given in several languages. Undoubtedly, such a principle of organization makes this book a contribution to the preservation of the world cultural diversity through the international research cooperation. In the other words, this book solves an important social task. Books like that reviewed can be either too popular and full of obvious facts (and, thus disinteresting for professionals) or too academic (in contrast, to be interesting for only professionals). Fortunately, the masterpiece edited by Suttner et al. belongs to none of these. It is very informative and attractive for the both specialists and beginners. It delivers a lot of new knowledge, but in the easy-to-understand form. The text is written talentedly, and the illustrations are large, accurate and impressive. Besides the images of locations, these include also several artist representations of the mid-Paleozoic landscapes and ecosystems. The book bears extensive reference list, and this source of essential bibliographical knowledge on the mid-Paleozoic research will be appreciated by many specialists. Well, how great would be to have such books for all intervals of the geological time! The reviewed book is a treasure for all geoscientists. Professionals can use it as a reference volume for finding information on outstanding outcrops. Students will be happy with this book as an excellent educational material. Finally, amateurs will enjoy to see outstanding geological localities depicted on impressive images. Dmitry A. Ruban, Rostov am Don Zentralblatt für Geologie und Paläontologie, Teil II, Jg. 2016 Heft 3-4