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Konservat-Lagerstätten—deposits with exceptionally preserved fossils—vary in abundance across geographic and stratigraphic space due to paleoenvironmental heterogeneity. While oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) may have promoted preservation of marine lagerstätten, the environmental controls on their taphonomy remain unclear. Here, we provide new data on the mineralization of fossils in three Lower Jurassic Lagerstätten—Strawberry Bank (UK), Ya Ha Tinda (Canada), and Posidonia Shale (Germany) —and test the hypothesis that they were preserved under similar conditions. Biostratigraphy indicates that all three Lagerstätten were deposited during the Toarcian OAE (TOAE), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) show that each deposit contains a variety of taxa preserved as phosphatized skeletons and tissues. Thus, despite their geographic and paleoenvironmental differences, all of these Lagerstätten were deposited in settings conducive to phosphatization, indicating that the TOAE fostered exceptional preservation in marine settings around the world. Phosphatization may have been fueled by phosphate delivery from climatically-driven sea level change and continental weathering, with anoxic basins acting as phosphorus traps.

Rice plants are known to be more susceptible to arsenic (As) contamination during the cultivation process. Arsenic is genotoxic and can be a big threat to the rice eating people at large. Studies on an effective mitigation mechanism are the need of the hour. This work was an approach using iron (Fe3+) to form Fe-plaque in the plant root that could trap As. The present research was designed with several experimental set ups for rice cultivation in pot culture using different Fe doses with fertilizer in the soil, and finally, the optimum dose was selected considering the translocation ability, plant health, and molecular and stress biomarkers. The study revealed that on an increase in Fe dose, translocation factor (TF) and stress marker (malondialdehyde content) of the plant decreased gradually and encountered minimum (0.12 and 0.03 mg/kg, respectively) at the dose of 4.5gm/kg. In contrast, higher values of chlorophyll (2.5 mg/kg) and carbohydrate (2.2 mg/kg) and intact DNA content were recorded highlighting the rich health condition of the plant. Thus, the experiment supported well the fact that the dose of Fe as fortified fertilizer can be considered the most effective in reducing soil arsenic accumulation in the rice plants. This approach might save the rice eating people from harmful effects of As contamination in this region of India.

The diversity of fishes represented in upper Paleocene microfossil localities in the Ravenscrag Formation near Roche Percée, Saskatchewan, is documented. Thirteen kinds of fishes are recognized. Two chondrosteans are present, a sturgeon and a paddlefish, both represented by small, irregularly shaped, ornamented bony plates. Four kinds of basal neopterygians are identified. Two of these, Atractosteus and Cyclurus, are widely distributed in both Paleocene and Upper Cretaceous localities. The remaining two are unnamed taxa designated Holostean A and Holostean B that were known previously from Upper Cretaceous localities but have not been reported from the Paleocene prior to this report. The presence of these taxa in the late Paleocene further supports the conclusion that basal neopterygians were little affected by the K/Pg mass extinction event. Seven teleosts are present in the assemblage. This assemblage of teleosts is similar to assemblages of upper Paleocene fishes from the Paskapoo Formation of Alberta in the presence of osteoglossomorphs, a gonorhynchiform, the esocid Esox, a percopsiform, and at least one other acanthomorph. It differs in the presence of a generically indeterminate protacanthopterygian designated here as morphotype ES-1 and a teleost of uncertain relationships designated morphotype PT-1. Neither of these taxa is present in the Late Cretaceous, suggesting that they first appeared in the area during the early or middle Paleocene. Comparison of the fish assemblages of the late Paleocene and early Eocene suggests that a major faunal transition occurred at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary, and that this involved a decrease in diversity of basal neopterygians.

When I became a Commonwealth Shared Scholar, all my worries regarding finance vanished as the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and the University of Southampton would jointly meet the full costs. Since I was not under any financial burden, I could be truly happy about going to Southampton for my postgraduation.