Objectives

The members of the group were previously included in other groups. Their main objectives were:

1. To increase the palaeontologic and biostratigraphic studies based on trilobite fossil assemblages and to develop palaeogeographic and paleoenvironmental models of the Lower Palaeozoic Basins of the Iberian Peninsula.

2. To improve taxonomic data of Paleozoic and Mesozoic brachiopods with the help of 3D reconstructions and to accurate palaeobiogeographic affinities.

3. To accurate the stratigraphical boundaries of the most relevant episodes characterizing the geological history of the Lusitanian Basin during Early-Middle Jurassic, especially the implementation of high-resolution studies based on Ammonoidea providing integrated biostratigraphy across the Aalenian-Bajocian and Bajocian-Bathonian boundaries. Palaeontological studies on Brachiopoda and Foraminifera fossil record were also developed.

4. The conception and implementation of a palaeontological database concerning reference collections of Ammonoidea from Lower to Middle Jurassic of the Lusitanian Basin - now mainly deposited in the Laboratory - which includes about 2,000 specimens of Lower-Middle Jurassic Ammonoidea fossils from the Lusitanian Basin.

5. To understand the history of the Lusitanian Basin and the geometry and provenance of its sedimentary infill. It was intended to promote an integrated approach of the most important variables, together with the most significant external controls, that may be identified through the study of the sedimentary record.

6. To develop a stratigraphic approach on the hydrocarbon potential of the Lusitanian Basin through the coordination of collaborative activities with external research groups from the University of Salamanca and the University of Zaragoza (Spain), the Portuguese Nucleus for Hydrocarbon Exploration of the Geological Survey of Portugal and the University of Sergipe (Brazil).

7. To develop academic research on geoconservation. Special actions were focused on Science-Technology-Society educational approaches and on the Public Understanding of Science strategies in connection with both geosciences´educators and media agents.

Key Words

Basin Analysis; Palaeobiology; Biostratigraphy; Sedimentary Resources; Geoconservation