• Liu et al. (2026) reconstruct marine biogeochemical cycles during the Proterozoic, and find that dense phytoplankton at the surface of the ocean resulting from lack of predators would have prevented sunlight from reaching subsurface layers of the ocean, causing reduction of subsurface net primary productivity. • El Khoury et al. (2026) report geochemical data from the
Franceville basin (Gabon) indicating that during
Paleoproterozoic seawater in the studied area episodically reached nutrient and oxygen levels comparable to those observed in Cambrian oceans. • Fernandes et al. (2026) study the chromium, cadmium and strontium isotope composition of carbonate rocks from the
Corumbá Group (Brazil) to reconstruct local environmental conditions during the late
Ediacaran, and interpret the extent of habitats suitable for early animals as limited by the extent of oxygenated shallow waters, which in turn was influenced by an intricate interplay of water circulation, redox and productivity. • Jamart et al. (2026) determine the locations of the Wuliuan–Drumian and Drumian–Guzhangian stage boundaries and the duration of the Drumian Carbon Isotope Excursion on the basis of the study of Albjära-1 core from the
Alum Shale Formation (Sweden). • Evidence from the study of zinc isotope data from the
Chattanooga Shale (Tennessee, United States), linking marine
euxinia during the Late Devonian mass extinctions to increased marine productivity, is presented by Li et al. (2026). • Evidence from the Chattanooga Shale in the southeastern United States indicating that massive wildfires did not trigger marine anoxia during the Late Devonian mass extinctions but rather were its consequence is presented by Lu et al. (2026). • Evidence linking two stages of the
Capitanian mass extinction event to two pulses of eruptive activity of the
Emeishan Traps is presented by Wei, Zhang & Qiu (2026). • Bagherpour et al. (2026) report evidence from the study of the Abadeh and Baghuk sections of the
Hambast Formation (Iran) indicative of presence of oxygenated shallow water environment (but with episodes of anoxic conditions) in the central
Tethys Ocean during the Permian-Triassic transition. • Ruciński et al. (2026) study the taphonomy of the
Grippia Bonebed from the Lower Triassic
Vikinghøgda Formation (Norway), identifying processes resulting in a concentrated accumulation of vertebrate remains in the studied area. • Barrenechea et al. (2026) report evidence of higher content of aluminium phosphate–sulphate minerals in the Lower Triassic strata from the equatorial areas compared to strata from higher latitudes, indicative of prolonged or recurrent acidic episodes continental basins near the equator during the Early Triassic, and interpret the acidity conditions in continental environments as contributing to the
Smithian–Spathian boundary event and moderated the recovery after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. • Evidence linking major episodes of marine
large igneous provinces to at least four extinctions of marine biota during the Triassic is presented by Fan et al. (2026). • Ruciński et al. (2026) provide new information on the sedimentology, stratigraphy and taphonomy of the Upper Triassic Silves Marl-Carbonate Evaporitic Complex in the upper portion of the Silves Group (Portugal), and report the identification of new fossil-bearing layers yielding vertebrate fossil material. • Chai et al. (2026) reconstruct major processes of tectonic evolution in the northern part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (China) during the Late Triassic, providing evidence of high volcanic
viscosity approximately 220 million years ago that might have been caused by multiple tectonic events, and report evidence of coeval climate changes, and discuss possible links between the studied tectonic events and environmental changes and extinctions in the
Norian. • Evidence from the study of the geochemical records of the
McCarthy Formation from the Grotto Creek site (Alaska, United States), indicative of progressive deoxygenation in eastern
Panthalassa that began approximately 8 million years before
Central Atlantic magmatic province emplacement and
Triassic–Jurassic extinction and coincided by pattern of regional decline of biodiversity of ammonites and global decline of biodiversity of benthic organisms, is presented by McCabe et al. (2026). • Chen et al. (2026) report evidence from chemostratigraphic and astrochronological analysis of a drill core from the Kunming Basin (Yunnan, China) indicative of negative carbon isotope excursions mirroring disturbances in the global carbon cycle during the Triassic-Jurassic transition, and indicative impact of both Central Atlantic magmatic province and regional factors on environmental disruption on the studied area at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary; the authors also determine the oldest sauropodomorph dinosaur fossils from the Kunming Basin to be 200.17-million-years-old, and interpret this result as evidence of colonization of low palaeolatitude area of southwest China by medium- to large-bodied dinosaurs in the aftermath of the
Triassic–Jurassic extinction. • Wang et al. (2026) report evidence of high elevations and complex topography in northeastern Asia resulting from mid–Late Jurassic plate convergence and promoting the emergence of
Yanliao Biota, as well as evidence of topographic ruggedness during the Early Cretaceous that expanded the surface area, amplified the available ecological niche space and resulted in diversification of the
Jehol Biota. • Rey et al. (2026) study the elemental variability of vertebrate
coprolites from the
Angeac-Charente bonebed (France), providing evidence that the chemical composition of the studied coprolites was affected by burial environment to a greater degree than by diets of the producers. • Evidence from the study of sediments and trace fossils from the Lower Cretaceous Três Barras Formation (Sanfranciscana Basin, Brazil), indicative of marine incursions during the Early Cretaceous that were long enough to support benthic colonization of the substrate in probable estuarine setting, is presented by Sedorko (2026). • Lu et al. (2026) report evidence of asynchronous carbon isotope excursions associated with
Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a in terrestrial and marine systems, and question the proposal to place the boundary between Barremian and Aptian at the base of the studied oceanic anoxic event. • Antonietto et al. (2026) identify the strata of the Lower Cretaceous
Romualdo Formation (Brazil) as deposited in estuarine bay environments identifiable as
mangrove forest-analogues, and interpret the presence of marine fishes in the strata of the studied formation as related to presence of their seasonal breeding grounds in the studied area. • Buryak et al. (2026) study two exploration drill cores from the Wombat pipe locality in the
Lac de Gras kimberlite field (Northwest Territories, Canada), providing information on the climate and environment in the subarctic Canada during the Late Cretaceous, and interpret the sedimentary organic matter from the studied drill cores as derived from
C3 land plants and, to a lesser degree, algae. • Landman et al. (2026) reconstruct the environment of deposition of the Pierre Shale on the Cedar Creek Anticline (Montana, United States) spanning the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary on the basis of the study of geochemical and sedimentological evidence and on the basis of the composition of the fauna. • Liu et al. (2026) present sedimentological and geophysical evidence indicative of multilayered oceanic circulation and high productivity in the Arctic Ocean during the Late Cretaceous. • Evidence of earthquakes and seismically-induced deformations triggered by the Chicxulub impact is reported from the strata from the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition from Colombia and Mexico by Bermúdez et al. (2026). • The first record of soft-sediment deformation structures from Cuba that were caused by the Chicxulub impact, affecting deep marine deposits and causing sediment remobilization, is reported from the
Peñas Formation by Rojas Consuegra et al. (2026). • Bartali et al. (2026) report evidence of preservation of a high-resolution record of the Chicxulub impact in the strata from the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition from the Rayon reef boundary section from the Valles-San Luis Potosi platform across the Gulf of Mexico. • Kaiho et al. (2026) report evidence from the study of marine sedimentary rocks from Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary sections in Haiti and Spain indicative of two peaks of mercury enrichments of the studied sediments (the first one likely linked to Deccan Traps volcanism shortly before the Chicxulub impact, the second one linked to the impact itself), and indicating that extinction of Cretaceous planktonic foraminifera coincided with the Chicxulub impact. • Evidence from the study of spores, pollen and microcharcoal abundances from Paleogene sediments from a hydrothermal vent crater in the
North Atlantic Igneous Province on the Norwegian Margin and from other mid- and high latitude continental margins, indicative of rapid vegetation and soil disturbances in response to environmental changes at the onset of the
Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum resulting in widespread appearance of fern-dominated pioneer vegetation across mid- and high-latitude regions of the world, is presented by Nelissen et al. (2026). • Evidence of
Priabonian age of
Baltic amber from the
Sambia Peninsula (Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia) is presented by Ross, Bojarski & Szwedo (2026). • Öğretmen et al. (2026) provide new information on the age of marine deposits exposed on land in Latakia (Syria) on the basis of foraminiferal, nannofossil and palynological data, providing evidence that the shoreline of the easternmost Mediterranean was approximately 15 km inland during the Early Pleistocene, evidence that the coastal strip of the Levantine Corridor was not available for hominin migrations before 1.28 million years ago, and evidence of Mediterranean climate during the
Calabrian. • The first molecular evidence of
HPV16 in ancient anatomically modern humans is reported from the study of ancient DNA of the
Ust'-Ishim man and
Ötzi by Yazigi et al. (2026). • Evidence from the study of the fossil record of Cenozoic foraminifera, Cretaceous echinoids, Carboniferous crinoids and Cambrian trilobites using a
birth–death-sampling model, indicating that long-lived ancestral species that gave rise to many descendant species over the course of their existence should be common in the fossil record of groups with high levels of preservation, is presented by Parins-Fukuchi (2026). • Chiappone et al. (2026) determine factors influencing transport of bones in unsteady flows, including their travel distance and transport groups, on the basis of experiments with bones of modern sheep and models of bones of
Eolambia caroljonesa and
Edmontosaurus regalis. • Siviero et al. (2026) report evidence from the study of bones of
Edmontosaurus annectens from the Cretaceous
Lance Formation (Wyoming, United States) indicating that fossil bone abnormalities resulting from postmortem taphonomic processes can be superficially similar to pathologies resulting from disease, and recommend testing diagnoses based on purported fossil bone pathologies with histological analysis. • Van Hinsbergen et al. (2026) provide a new upgrade of the online calculator Paleolatitude.org used for estimates of paleolatitude for any location on Earth through time.
Paleoclimate • Myrow, Hu & Lamb (2026) report evidence from the study of storm deposits from the
Fountain and
Minturn formations (Colorado, United States) indicative of large waves and large cyclonic storms irreconcilable with climate reconstructions suggestive of cold equatorial climate during the middle
Pennsylvanian. • Evidence indicative of decrease of atmospheric CO2 during the early and main flood basalt phases of the
Emeishan Large Igneous Province emplacement followed by its increase during silicic eruptions, and indicating that environmental impact of Emeishan volcanism began before the main eruptive phase, is presented by Shen et al. (2026). • Evidence from the study of the paleoclimatic data from a Late Triassic sequence in the Zigui Basin (China), indicative of a delayed onset of humidification in the South China Block (postdating the
Carnian pluvial episode) relative to the North China Block rather than a uniform climate change during the Triassic, is presented by Yi et al. (2026). • Mao et al. (2026) study the elevation of the
Central Asian Orogenic Belt during the Late Triassic, and report evidence of an uplift resulting from collision of the Tarim, European, and Siberian cratons resulting in mountain glaciation, global cooling, intensification of the monsoon system of
Pangaea and disruption of regional ecosystem stability. • Evidence linking late Miocene global cooling and northern Tibetan Plateau uplift to near-synchronous monsoon intensification and turnover of mammalian communities in Asia approximately 8.7 million years ago is presented by Han et al. (2026). • Burgener, Griffith & Hyland (2026) report evidence from the study of modern topography and land cover data indicating that differences between reconstructions of past mean annual ranges in temperature based on paleobotanical and geochemical proxies are at least partly explained by differences in fossil leaf and soil carbonate land cover types, and interpret most proxies as likely recording true local signals of temperature within larger regions with variable temperatures. • Evidence indicating that reconstructions of past tropical climate variability based on the study of geochemical tracers measured in corals may be affected by a non-climate noise component inflating the variance of reconstructed temperature is presented by Dolman et al. (2026). == References ==