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  1. The Late Triassic was a time of major evolutionary transition for marine vertebrates, with the emergence of important new clades and the expansion of durophagy. The diversity record of shallow marine vertebrates has been limited by poor preservation, and palaeogeographic ranges of common marine vertebrates is poorly constrained. Isolated ichthyoliths are an important resource for documenting taxonomic and ecological diversity in shallow marine environments and have a relatively high preservation potential. Here, we report the first Upper Triassic elasmobranchs, neopterygians and chondrosteans from Nevada, and contribute 14 new generic occurrences. The vertebrates represented in this survey include teeth of specialised durophages and piscivores, and a tentative reconstruction of the shallow marine ecosystem trophic niches based on dietary interpretations and known shelly macrofossils from this locality. The ichthyolith assemblage exhibited greater similarity to low-latitude Europe than high-latitude Canada localities, and the results of this study suggest that several taxa previously considered to be endemic to Europe may be cosmopolitan. The present study highlights the need for additional research in early Mesozoic ichthyoliths in order to establish diversity patterns, paleobiogeographic ranges, and timing of adaptive radiations among key groups of marine vertebrates in the Triassic Period in suboptimal preservation conditions. 
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  2. turnovers culminating in the so-called End-Triassic Extinction. We attribute onset of this interval of declining diversity to unusually high volcanic activity at the Norian/Rhaetian boundary (NRB) that may have initiated the stepwise extinctions of the Late Triassic [1]. We correlate the initiation of a rapid decline in 87Sr/86Sr and 187Os/188Os seawater values [2, 3] to a negative organic carbon isotope shift, which we attribute to volcanogenic CO2 outgassing to the ocean-atmosphere system by the Angayucham large igneous province (LIP). By studying the geochemical and isotope composition of bulk rocks from different sections located at different latitudes, sides of the Pangea continent and Hemispheres, we documented an accelerated chemical weathering due to global warming by elevated CO2, which enhanced nutrient discharge to the oceans and thus greatly increased biological productivity; higher export production and oxidation of organic matter led to oceanic dysoxia to anoxia at the NRB. Biotic consequences of these climatic and environmental changes include severe extinctions of several fossil groups, such as ammonoids, bivalves and radiolarians, as has been documented worldwide [1]. 
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  3. Recent studies have found that for students entering college, altruism is a desired aspect of a future career. Problematically, few students perceived geoscience careers as altruistic or even expressed an understanding of the potential career paths in geoscience. This dissonance in incoming student perceptions of geoscience may be linked to declining major enrollment. Classically, geoscientists have often cited job benefits such as high income, working outdoors, and travel as reasons to pursue a career in geoscience, but these may not be as appealing to the next generation of scientists. This research seeks to test if alternative forms of outreach and recruitment that highlight geoscientists’ roles in renewable energy, remediation and environmental fields, and studying climate change alter students’ perceptions of geoscientists. To accomplish this, a co-operative game was developed, originally based on SERC activity 49774, a carbon cycle dice game by Callan Bentley. The activity was first modified by Ryan Hollister for the 2018 Earth Educators’ Rendezvous, where card sheets for reservoirs were introduced and edited to have students more explicitly calculate relative reservoir sizes, fluxes between reservoirs, and the duration carbon may spend in each reservoir. The game was further altered at North Dakota State University to make carbon reservoir cards more specific to the North Dakota-Minnesota region. The most recent iteration adds co-operative gameplay where students actively intervene in the carbon cycle through roles, including geoscientist, that can actively impact the climate. Our goal is to demonstrate the influence geoscience careers can have on modern challenges, such as climate change, in an engaging format. This most recent version of the game will be used as an alternative outreach tool. This research is currently underway, and data will be collected at middle school, high school, early college, and community events through 2022. 
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  4. The Norian Stage is the longest stage in the Phanerozoic, and some members of the boundary working group have been evaluating suitable Carnian-Norian boundary sections for roughly two decades. This has identified two possible candidate boundary sections, at Black Bear Ridge (British Columbia, Canada) and Pizzo Mondello (Sicily, Italy). After a formal voting procedure within the working group, ending on the 26th July, 2021, the Pizzo Mondello section was selected as the global stratotype section and point for the base of the Norian. We evaluated the global correlation potential of the two proposed primary markers, the conodont Metapolygnathus parvus and the ‘flat-clam’ Halobia austriaca. Secondary markers were also evaluated around these boundary datums for correlation potential, and the veracity of the proposed sections for GSSP status. Data and arguments for the proposed sections and datums are presented here. Through a two-stage process of option elimination in voting, conforming with ICS guidelines, the working group decided by 60% majority to propose that the first occurrence datum of Halobia austriaca in the Pizzo Mondello section at the base of bed FNP135A should become the ‘golden spike’ for the base of the Norian. A secondary biotic marker for this boundary is the first occurrence of Primatella (Carnepigondolella) gulloae, in sample NA43, ca. 0 m below FNP135A, and the FA of Dimorphites noricus (sample NA42.1) ca. 3.5 m above bed FNP135 (indicating the first subzone of the Jandianus Zone). The best physical secondary marker is the magnetozone PM5n with the proposed boundary ca.40% through the thickness of PM5n. Strengths of the chosen datum are: 1) it also maintains historical priority for ammonoid zonations, which had placed the base Norian near to this level in Europe, North America and probably NE Asia; 2) Halobia austriaca is widely distributed in all paleolatitudes and is a long-established taxon. 
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