Spherules from the Late Cretaceous Phosphorite of the Fatehgarh Formation, Barmer Basin, India

A first report of discovery of spherules, glassy balls, highly magnetic fine dust and microbracciated matrix in the Fatehgarh Formation of Barmer Basin, Rajasthan, India is being presented in this paper. The Fatehgarh Formation is a mixed siliciclastic, carbonate and phosphorite formation of Cretaceous age in the Barmer Basin that comprises sediments of Middle Jurassic to Lower Eocene age. The phosphorite zone in the Fatehgarh Formation is 8 metre-thick zone that comprises phosphatic sandstone, bone bed, bedded phosphorite and phosphatic and non phosphatic gastropod beds. The spherules occur in a thin phosphatic-clay mud and silt band of bone bed, which also yielded a very rich and diverse microvertebrate assemblage with a dominant Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) form of Igdabatis along with forms comprising of Semionodontid, Lapisosteum and Enchodontid. The end Cretaceous is marked for a mass extinction of numerous species including dinosaurs. An extraterrestrial impact is interpreted as the reason for this mass extinction. Whether these spherules are related to the volcanic source or K/T Boundary impact ejecta found at Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico region needs detailed chemical and age characterization for which study is in progress.     

Age Assignment of the Lycoptera- bearing Bed

In the Yanliao area, the occurrence of the Nestoria-Keratestheria fauna and the Eoparacypris- Luanpingella-Darwinula assemblage in the Dabeigou Formation s.s., a Rb-Sr isochron age of 145.2 Ma for the Baiqi Formation and a complete stratigraphic sequence-all this proves that the Lycoptera-bearing bed overlies the Upper Jurassic. The Jehol fauna comprises the primitive Trigonioidids fauna, Eosestheria fauna, Lycoptera fauna et al., and their own laws of evolution expound that they belong to Cretaceous faunas. The associations of Eosestheria with Yanjiestheria, Lycoptera with Eosestheria, and Kuntulunia with Yanjiestheria as well as the occurrence of early angiosperms and sporo - pollen in the Fuxin Formation and its equivalents also demonstrate that the Lycoptera-bearing, bed should be assigned to the Cretaceous. The confirmation of the existence of Aucellina in the Jixi Group and the correlation of Trigonioidids and Cypridids with those in the equivalent strata of Japan and Western Europe have also been     

新疆塔西南区海相白垩系—第三系界线的地球化学异常

新疆塔里木盆地西南地区海相白垩系—第三系的界线粘土层发现于依格孜牙组和吐依洛克组之间。这一层具有相当复杂的元素组合 ,存在诸多元素异常。它不仅是一条生物界线 ,而且是一条地球化学界线。这一异常事件层代表了白垩纪与第三纪之交的突变事件 ,具有全球的一致性和等时性 ,因而具有自然界线性质。     

Forms of Iron in the Phosphorites of Abu—Tartur Area,Egypt

The Campanian-Maastrichtian phosphatic deposits in Egypt,called the Duwi Forma-tion,comprise a part of the extensive Middle East to North African phosphogenic province of Late Cretaceous to Paleogene age.The province holds the greatest accumulation of phosphorites in the geological history,possibly in excess of 70 billion metric tons.The phosphate resources in Egypt alone exceed 3 billion metric tons.Two-third of these three billions occur only in the Abu-Tartur area.Among the phosphorite deposits in Egypt,the phosphorites of the Abu-Tartur area are characterized by high contents of iron ranging from 3% to 7% with an average of 5%.The detailed mineralogical and geochemical studies on the Abu-Tartur phosphorites revealed that iron is found in the form of pyrite,ankerite,clay minerals,microinclusions,and iron oxide.Pyrite,which is the major fraction,occurs as filling cement and partial to complete teplacement of phosphatic grains and confined to the fresh phosphorites while iron oxide occurs as cryp-tocrystalline aggregates of red to brown particles and is confined to the weathered outcrops.Ex-clusive relations between pyrite in the fresh phosphorite samples inside the Abu-Tartur mine and iron oxide in the equivalent horizon of the weathered exposure indicated that iron oxide was formed by the oxidation of pyrite as a result of weathering.All of these forms harm the quality of ore,manufacturing processes,and the produced phosphoric acid and fertilizers.     

Depositional and palaeoenvironmental variation of lower Turonian nearshore facies in the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin,Czech Republic

Dark grey strata belonging to the basal horizons of the Bílá Hora Formation (lower Turonian) were exposed during quarrying at the locality of Plaňany (Bohemian Cretaceous Basin). Based mainly on quarry maps, the early Turonian rocky bottom was reconstructed in the area of about 14,800 m². Two sedimentologic and palaeoecological settings were recognized in the area. Dark grey deposits form part of the first setting, representing a fill of large and deep depressions on the northern foot of the Plaňany elevation. The second setting with a phosphatic lag is located on the elevated part of the area. Dark grey sedimentation belongs to the UC6a and particularly to the UC6b nannoplankton zones. During the latter zone the dark sedimentation passed upwards into light siltstones. The enrichment of C_org and S, clay minerals with an important kaolinite peak, formation of framboidal pyrite and the enrichment of macrofauna and phosphatic particles are characteristic of the basal portions of the dark deposits. The sulphate reduction zone is suggested for this sedimentary environment. In the associations of phosphatic particles, shark coprolites, faecal pellets and sponge fragments prevail. No phosphatic lag is developed. On the other hand, the phosphatic lag directly overlying the Cenomanian relics is most characteristic of the second setting. This lag is a product of sedimentary condensation, characterized by a long-lasting concentration of phosphatic particles and phosphogenesis, accompanied by encrustation of closely adjacent free rock surfaces by a faunal community with Terebella. Additional biostratigraphic data presently contributed to a proposed correlation of both settings. Micropalaeontological data (foraminifera, palynomorphs, nannoplankton) indicate that the phosphatic lag and basal dark grey deposits may be approximately coeval. The stagnant depositional conditions with only very slow sea-level rise are thought to have lasted for a relatively long period that includes a significant part of the Whiteinella archaeocretacea Zone (lowermost Turonian). In elevated parts, condensation could proceed under conditions of prevailingly weak currents and strong oxidation of organic matter, while decomposition of organic matter was probably very slow and incomplete in depressions below the elevation. The sedimentary condensation in both settings is highlighted by the remarkable formation of abundant glauconite in local deposits.     

Sedimentology,stratigraphy and palynological occurrences of the late Cretaceous Erlian Formation,Erlian Basin,Inner Mongolia,People's Republic of China

The Erlian Basin is one of the non-marine Cretaceous basins of north-east China that developed during the late Mesozoic continental extension in eastern Asia. This basin experienced two major tectonic events: (i) a syn-rift stage that was dominated by a fluvial–lacustrine depositional environment and (ii) a post-rift stage that was dominated by a fluvial environment. A new sedimentological study performed on Erlian Formation drill cores has led to the determination of an architectural model and to the subsequent characterisation of the stratigraphic evolution of this sedimentary unit during the late Cretaceous. The palynological occurrences that were identified in samples provided a possible stratigraphical age for the Erlian Formation.Sediments of the Erlian Formation occur at the top of the Cretaceous stratigraphic column of the Erlian Basin and were deposited during the post-rift stage. Facies architecture and the ideal succession of facies that were identified for this formation exhibit two different members, both dominated by a fluvial depositional environment: (i) the lower member, which is dominated by channels of a braided river system and (ii) the upper member, which is dominated by overbank deposits. The lower member expresses a tectonically induced uplift as indicated by channels clustering under negative accommodation, whereas a period of stratigraphic base-level rise that is associated with an increase of accommodation is identified in the upper member. Therefore the Erlian Formation highlights an alternation of short uplifts that were dominated by braided fluvial channel deposits with periods of stratigraphic base-level rise that were dominated by overbank deposits. This sedimentological architecture has significant metallogenic implications for the origin of confined permeable sandstone layers, which represent adequate host-rocks for roll front-type uranium deposits.The palynological assemblage Exesipollenites, Ulmipollenites/Ulmoideipites, Buttinia and Momipites that were recognised in two samples of the Erlian Formation has revealed a post-late Campanian age therefore more likely indicating a late Cretaceous age of deposition for the sediments of the Erlian Formation.     

Lithostratigraphy,sedimentology, and cyclicity of the Duwi Formation (late Cretaceous) at Abu Tartur plateau,Western Desert of Egypt: evidences for reworking and redeposition

The Duwi Formation (late Cretaceous) represents the first onset of fully marine conditions and comprises sediments that were confined by a preexisting depression enclosed by the Dakhla uplift in the west and Kharga uplift in the east. The Duwi Formation overlies unconformably the Qusseir Formation and underlies conformably the Dakhla Formation. The Duwi Formation could be subdivided vertically into three remarkable informal lithostratigraphic units. The Duwi Formation comprises a heterogeneous suite of shallow marine rocks (phosphorite, shale, mudstone, marlstone, glauconite, and dolomite). A model has been presented for the mode of phosphorite accumulation. This model includes aspects from both the traditional upwelling phosphogenic model and key elements from the non-upwelling model. The role played by high-energy events (e.g., internal waves) in phosphorite accumulation was achieved by the interplay between the physicochemical and hydrodynamical processes. Internal waves are thought to be the triggering mechanism for the density flows. Internal waves and induced bottom currents are sporadic but strong enough to bring sediments into suspension. Accumulation of phosphorites by high-energy waves is evidenced by the predominance of many types of bedform sequences. Such type of bedforms are represented by fining upward, firm grounds, erosive pockets and pot holes, planar lags, imbrication, sorting, and fragmentation. The Duwi Formation has been divided into several meter-scale cycles of three types (gradual, non-gradual, and truncated). This represents the higher frequency sea-level fluctuations forming shallowing–upward cycles that were arranged into the larger regressive megasequence during a third-order sea level change.     

富磷矿三阶段动态成矿模式:黔中开阳式高品位磷矿成矿机制

震旦系陡山沱组沉积期形成的黔中开阳、瓮安富磷矿沉积区,矿石产量大、品位高,是国内外重要的磷矿资源产区。黔中磷矿主要分布于黔中古陆周缘的滨浅海环境中,矿石类型以碎屑状磷块岩为主,间夹原生泥晶磷块岩、生物结构磷块岩和次生土状结构磷块岩。开阳式高品位磷块岩的动态沉积成矿过程通常为“三阶段成矿”: 第一阶段为初始成磷作用阶段,在新元古代大规模成磷背景下,上升洋流携带深部富磷海水进入滨浅海地区,并通过生物化学作用使磷质聚集并形成原生磷块岩沉积;第二阶段为簸选成矿作用阶段,高能波浪、风暴水流对原生磷块岩持续的破碎、磨蚀、搬运和再沉积过程中,簸选去除了原生沉积物中的陆源细碎屑、砂泥质成分,保留并聚集磷质碎屑颗粒,形成品位较高的碎屑状矿石;第三阶段为淋滤作用阶段,海平面升降变化使之前形成矿石受暴露事件影响,遭受强烈的风化淋滤作用,碎屑状磷矿石内的碳酸盐岩胶结物和白云石条带被淋滤运移,导致矿层发育大量溶蚀孔洞,甚至形成土状磷块岩,矿石品位再次得到大幅度提升。三阶段成矿作用随古地理条件和海平面变化在沉积成岩过程中多期次、动态进行,最终形成工业价值极高的磷矿石。     

Sedimentary and microbial record of the Middle/Late Ordovician phosphogenetic episode in the northern Holy Cross Mountains,Poland

Numerous phosphorite beds and phosphatic nodules occur in the upper Middle and lower Upper Ordovician carbonate-shale succession of the Bukowiany Formation outcropping in the northern Holy Cross Mountains, central Poland. The vertical stacking pattern of this succession indicates that phosphatic and accompanying strata reflect a conformable sedimentary succession accumulated during a rise of relative sea level. The base of the Bukowiany Formation is marked by a conspicuous phosphorite horizon revealing a low net sediment accumulation rate reflecting a switch into a mesotrophic ecological system. This horizon was produced by reworking and redeposition of pristine phosphate sediment (e.g. by currents activity) during the late Darriwilian transgression. The overlying sedimentary record appears to reflect nucleation of the phosphate phase in the sediment–water interface and its subsequent burial by the accompanying sediment. The phosphatized tiny stromatolites and nodules preserved within the Bukowiany Formation indicate that benthic microbial communities played an important role in redistribution and concentration of phosphate during deposition of this succession.     

湖北黄石、浙江长兴煤山二叠-三叠系界线处火山物质及粘土岩成因探讨

本文对湖北黄石、浙江长兴煤山剖面二叠-三叠系界线附近粘土岩层作了碎屑物的分析和测试,并计算了它们的百分含量。与火山活动有关的碎屑主要有石英(其中含六方双锥状的β石英)、锆石、磷灰石、玻璃圆球、铁质圆球及火山灰等。有些样品中还有电气石、石榴石及锐钛矿等。笔者认为粘土岩层的成因是火山物质在海水中沉积蚀变而成。火山喷出口不在工作区内,生物绝灭的主要原因不是火山活动引起的。     

贵州织金寒武系磷矿沉积特征及灯影组古喀斯特面控矿特征研究

在上扬子地台早寒武纪梅树村期,沉积了许多大型磷块岩矿床。贵州寒武系底部磷块岩发育,是我国重要含磷层位。贵州寒武系底部磷矿的研究历史比较悠久,研究方向主要还是集中于含磷物质来源以及磷块岩成因方面的研究。前者主要解决的是磷质来源与磷质赋存问题,但对于磷矿的就位问题研究较少。因此,对于磷矿控矿规律及含磷岩系沉积微相等有待深入。在总结前人研究的的基础上,对贵州织金-清镇一带寒武系底部含磷岩系进行大量的野外调查、剖面测试以及地质资料总结分析。认为清镇地区处于潮下低能泻湖环境,以条带状磷块岩和条带状磷质硅质岩为特征;织金戈仲伍一线,属于潮间-潮下高能沉积环境,沉积碎屑状磷块岩为主,局部沉积小壳生物磷块岩;织金熊家场浅滩和生物滩发育,属于潮上沉积环境。另外通过钻孔资料分析,发现织金地区寒武系底部磷块岩厚度变化很大,主要受灯影组顶部古喀斯特不整合面控制,滨岸磷质碎屑受沿岸海流的改造,搬运至古喀斯特洼地地区堆积,形成较厚度的碎屑状磷块岩。古喀斯特高地地区,受滨岸海流影响,沉积的磷块岩较薄,因此,建立织金寒武系磷块岩成矿控矿模式。该研究对贵州寒武系底部磷矿找矿预测工作有一定的理论和实际意义。     

鲕粒,豆粒磷块岩的显微结构和生成特点

晚震旦世陡山沱组和早寒武世渔户村组、辛集组磷矿中有各种鮞粒、豆粒磷块岩。豆粒、鮞粒内核的成分和结构复杂,有来自陆地的各种岩石砂屑、细砾,也有盆内沉积物破碎成的各种内碎屑。鮞粒、豆粒的壳层是同心纹层状磷灰石,它是内核在富磷海水扰动中逐层淀积而成。大部分豆粒、鮞粒在滨海高能浅水中与陆源砂、砾和岔内碎屑沉积在一起,少量鮞粒则沉积在滨外深水低能环境巾。豆粒、鮞粒和碎屑等沉积后又被不同物质胶结。     

Geochemistry and microprobe investigations of Abu Tartur REE-bearing phosphorite,Western Desert,Egypt

Phosphorites in Egypt occur in the Eastern Desert, the Nile Valley and the Western Desert at Abu Tartur area and present in Duwi Formation as a part of the Middle Eastern to North African phosphogenic province of Late Cretaceous to Paleogene age (Campanian–Maastrichtian). The Maghrabi-Liffiya phosphorite sector is considered as the most important phosphorite deposits in the Abu Tartur area due to its large reserve thickness and high-grade of lower phosphorite bed beside high content of REE. Back scattered electron (BSE) images show framboidal pyrite filling the pores of the phosphatic grains, suggesting diagenetic reducing conditions during phosphorites formation.Electron Probe Micro Analyzer (EPMA) chemical mapping was conducted to examine the variation and distributions of selected elements (P, F, La, Fe, Yb, Si, Ce, W, Eu, S, Ca, Y and Er) within the shark teeth, coprolites and bone fragments. In the teeth W, S, Fe are concentrated along the axis of the teeth, the bone fragments show high concentration of W, Yb, Er and Eu, whereas coprolites are nearly homogenous in composition contains S, Er with some Si as micro-inclusions. Fluorapatite is considered as main phosphate mineral whereas pyrite occurs as pore-filling within the phosphatic grains and cement materials. Maghrabi-Liffiya samples show a wide range in the P₂O₅ content, between 19.8 wt.% and 29.8 wt.% with an average of 24.6 wt.% and shows low U content ranging from 15 ppm to 34 ppm with an average of 22 ppm. The total REE content in nine samples representing the Maghrabi-Liffiya ranges from 519 to 1139 ppm with an average of about 879 ppm. The calculation of LREE (La–Gd) show indeed a marked enrichment relative to the HREE (Tb–Lu) where LREE/HREE ratio attains 8.4 indicating a strong fractionation between the LREE and HREE. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns of the studied phosphorite samples show a negative Eu anomaly.     

中国南方晚震旦世沉积相及磷块岩的时空分布

本文扼要阐述扬子地台及邻区晚震旦世地层的研究现状,沉积相带(台地相、斜坡相及盆地相)及古地理轮廓、磷块岩的时空分布(包括地理、地层及沉积相的分布)。同时还着重指出了台地边缘及斜坡相带的上部是寻找磷块岩的有利地区。     

Broeckina gassoensis sp. nov., a larger foraminiferal index fossil for the middle Coniacian shallow-water deposits of the Pyrenean Basin (NE Spain)

The Upper Cretaceous shallow-water carbonates of the Pyrenean Basin (NE Spain) host rich and diverse larger foraminiferal associations which witness the recovery of this group of protozoans after the dramatic extinction of the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary interval. In this paper a new, large discoidal porcelaneous foraminifer, Broeckina gassoensis sp. nov., is described from the middle Coniacian shallow-water deposits of the Collada Gassó Formation, in the Bóixols Thrust Sheet. This is the first complex porcelaneous larger foraminifer of the Late Cretaceous global community maturation cycle recorded in the Pyrenean bioprovince. It differs from the late Santonian–early Campanian B. dufrenoyi for its smaller size in A and B generations and the less developed endoskeleton, which shows short septula. Broeckina gassoensis sp. nov. has been widely employed as a stratigraphic marker in the regional geological literature, under the name of “Broeckina”, but its age was so far controversial. Its middle Coniacian age (lowermost part of the Peroniceras tridorsatum ammonite zone), established in this paper by strontium isotope stratigraphy, indicates that it took about 5 My after the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary crisis to re-evolve the complex test architecture of larger foraminifera, which is functional to their relation with photosymbiotic algae and K-strategy.     

Violent volcanism,stagnant oceans and some inferences regarding petroleum,strata-bound ores and mass extinctions

Past changes from a well-mixed aerated ocean to a stratified stagnant ocean are indicated by decreasing δ¹³C of limestone (opposite to prior conclusions) as well as by increasing δ³⁴S of marine sulfates. The proposed stagnant ocean model includes a warm CO₂-enriched atmosphere and a bathyal to abyssal marine system dominated by bacterial components in the food web and by consequent ‘light’ carbon in organic material and biogenic carbonates. Culminations of prolonged stagnant episodes correspond with marine faunal extinctions of Late Permian and Late Cretaceous time, and the protracted changes and correlations provide evidence against any hypothesis of mass extinction by sudden worldwide catastrophe, including the asteroid impact hypothesis. The Cretaceous stagnant ocean, taken as the prime example, is attributed to climatic warming triggered by volcanic CO₂ (greenhouse effect) and several feedbacks, including decreased Earth albedo and increased sinking of warm evaporite brines instead of aerated polar waters. Marine extinctions are attributed to upward expansion of the oxygen minimum zone and to catastrophic mixing of surface waters with poisonous sulfidic waters of the deeps. The stagnant ocean provided a counterbalance between deep reduction and shallow oxidation, conditions that favored maximal formation of black sulfidic shales, protopetroleum and sedimentary sulfide ores and shallow to mid-depth barite, phosphorite, iron ore, cherty iron formation, and sulfate-bearing red-beds. Trace elements concentrated in stagnant ocean sediments include chalcophile and Pt-group metals, negating claims that Ir provides a unique ‘fingerprint’ of meteorite impact and cosmic accretion.     

Lower Cretaceous deposit reveals first evidence of a post-wildfire debris flow in the Kirkwood Formation,Algoa Basin,Eastern Cape,South Africa

The Algoa Basin is an onshore rift basin filled by an Upper Mesozoic non-marine and shallow marine sedimentary sequence. The middle unit of this clastic succession is assigned to the Lower Cretaceous Kirkwood Formation, known to host a wealth of plant and animal fossils together with poorly documented lignites, amber and charcoal clasts. This study is motivated by the growing interest in the impact of wildfires on the palaeoenvironment during the high-oxygen, Cretaceous world. It has been hypothesised that frequent and severe Cretaceous wildfires triggered large-scale non-marine denudation events, altering the sedimentation dynamics and influencing the evolution of ecosystems. In order to investigate this phenomenon, charcoal-bearing sedimentary rocks and plant fossil assemblages of the Kirkwood Formation have been studied at the Bezuidenhouts River locality, ∼50 km north of Port Elizabeth (Eastern Cape, South Africa).Detailed field observations of the sedimentary facies suggest that deposition occurred in a meandering fluvial environment with mature, vegetated floodplains. Depositional trends within a charcoal-rich bed (i.e., stratification, flattening and decrease in charcoal clast size down-current) indicate that a charcoal-rich debris flow, linked to a post-wildfire flood event, became diluted by fluvial flow. Palaeocurrent indicators (e.g., orientation of fossil logs) suggest unidirectional currents from SW to NE, which are somewhat inconsistent with the previously reported regional palaeocurrent directions in the Kirkwood Formation.To gain insights into the fire-influenced dynamics of the Early Cretaceous ecosystems, the macro-plant fossil assemblages of the Kirkwood Formation were considered, with reference to the responses of modern plant analogues to wildfire. Of the plant orders reported from macrofossils of the Kirkwood Formation, the Cycadales, Pinales and Filicales, are known to have produced large woody or fibrous trunks and stems, or in the case of the Bennettitales more densely branched, divaricate architectures, and are likely to have provided the bulk of fuel for wildfires, with fern elements dominating groundcover niches. The particular role of these plants in the Early Cretaceous wildfire palaeoecology of the Algoa Basin is a topic for an ongoing study, but the Bezuidenhouts River locality appears to record the aftermath of a severe crownfire that led to mass tree mortality.     

西藏羌塘盆地白垩纪中期构造事件的磷灰石裂变径迹证据

拉萨与羌塘地块于白垩纪中期的碰撞造山对羌塘原型盆地的热体制和构造演化有着重要影响.运用磷灰石裂变径迹方法,对羌塘盆地隆鄂尼夏里组和托纳木雪山组砂岩分析表明,裂变径迹年龄集中在120～ 80Ma之间,表明在白垩纪中期,羌塘盆地普遍发生了一次构造抬升事件,该期构造事件的年龄与盆地内早白垩世的岩浆热事件、主要构造变形作用发生在晚白垩世以及雪山组和阿布山组角度不整合的时代(125～75Ma)较一致,是拉萨与羌塘地块碰撞造山事件的记录.热历史模拟表明,白垩纪中期构造事件对羌塘盆地南部和北部的热演化历史有着差异影响,羌塘盆地南部降温速率相对不大,抬升剥蚀厚度约1500m,而北部古地温迅速降温到近地表温度,抬升剥蚀厚度近4000m.这种差异抬升剥蚀可能与班公湖-怒江洋壳向南俯冲使得因拉萨地块构造负载而导致羌塘地块的挠曲有关.     

Palynochronology of Lower Cretaceous volcano-sedimentary succession of the Rajmahal Formation in the Rajmahal Basin, India

In the Rajmahal Basin Lower Cretaceous rocks are classified under the Rajmahal Formation. It includes a series of volcanic basalt flows and associated sedimentary intertrappean beds. Up to 15 basalt flows have been recorded in this basin. The intertrappean beds comprise sandstone, shale, siltstone, and clay deposits which are rich in spores and pollen. The palynoflora recovered from intertrappean beds shows definite pattern of evolution and diversification. On the basis of its overall composition, distribution pattern of age marker taxa and the First Appearance Datum of key taxa, four palynological assemblages have been identified. The chronology of these assemblages in ascending order is (1) Ruffordiaspora australiensis, (2) Foraminisporis wonthaggiensis, (3) Foraminisporis asymmetricus, and (4) Coptospora verrucosa. These assemblages ascertain the age of the volcano-sedimentary sequence of the Rajmahal Formation in the Rajmahal Basin as Berriasian to Aptian. The palynochronology of the intertrappean beds enables their correlation in the Rajmahal Basin. In different areas of the basin, the palynological dating of the lowermost intertrappean bed within the Rajmahal Formation which overlies the Dubrajpur Formation, has provided a Berriasian to Aptian age. The palynological assemblage indicating the Berriasian age is inferred as the time of the initiation of volcanic activity which continued up to the Aptian in the Rajmahal Basin.     

华北地块东北缘红庙子盆地鹰嘴砬子组孢粉化石

报道华北地块东北缘地区红庙子盆地鹰嘴砬子组的孢粉化石,建立了Cicatricosisporites-Abietineaepollenites-Piceites组合,该组合的主要特征为:以裸子类双气囊花粉和海金沙科孢子为主,含一定量裸子类无气囊花粉,未见被子类花粉,孢粉组合特征可与松辽盆地沙河子组对比。一些具有早白垩世时代意义的孢粉化石,如Cicatricosisporites sp.,Cicatricosisporites undulates和Cicatricosisporites implexus的出现,表明鹰嘴砬子组的地质时代为早白垩世。根据孢粉化石资料,推测华北地块东北缘地区在鹰嘴砬子组沉积时期古植被面貌以松科和杉科组成的松柏类针叶林为主,林下生长着真蕨类。古气候相当于湿润-半湿润的亚热带气候。