Composition and Origin of Ferromanganese Crusts from Equatorial Western Pacific Seamounts

In the equatorial western Pacific, iron-manganese oxyhydroxide crusts(Fe-Mn crusts) and nodules form on basaltic seamounts and on the top of drowned carbonate platform guyots that have been swept free of pelagic sediments. To date, the Fe-Mn crusts have been considered to be almost exclusively of abiotic origin. However, it has recently been suggested that these crusts may be a result of biomineralization. Although the Fe-Mn crust textures in the equatorial western Pacific are similar to those constructed by bacteria and algae, and biomarkers also document the existence of bacteria and algae dispersed within the Fe-Mn crusts, the precipitation, accumulation and distribution of elements, such as Fe, Mn, Ni and Co in Fe-Mn crusts are not controlled by microbial activity. Bacteria and algae are only physically incorporated into the crusts when dead plankton settle on the ocean floor and are trapped on the crust surface. Geochemical evidence suggests a hydrogenous origin of Fe-Mn crusts in the equatorial western Pacific, thus verifying a process for Fe-Mn crusts that involves the precipitation of colloidal phases from seawater followed by extensive scavenging of dissolved trace metals into the mineral phase during crust formation.     

Hydrothermal Dolomite in the Upper Sinian (Upper Proterozoic) Dengying Formation,East Sichuan Basin,China

Hydrothermal Dolomite （HTD） is present in the Upper Sinian （Upper Proterozoic） Dengying Formation, east Sichuan Basin, China. The strata are comprised by primary dolomite. The HTD has various textures, including zebra dolomite, subhorizontal sheet-like cavities filled by saddle dolomite and breccias cemented by saddle dolomites as well occur as a fill of veins and fractures. Also co-occur MVT type lead-zinc ores in the study area. The δ13C and δ18O isotopes of HTD in the Upper Sinian Dengying Formation are lighter than those of the host rocks, while STSr/86Sr is higher. The apparent difference in carbon, oxygen and strontium isotopes, especially the large difference in S7Sr/S6Sr isotopes ratio indicate crystallization from hot basinal and/or hydrothermal fluids. Saddle dolomite was precipitated at temperatures of 270-320℃. The diagenetic parasequences of mineral assemblage deposited in the Dengying Formation are： （1） dolomite host rock →sphalerite-galena-barite-fluorite; （2） dolomite host rock →saddle dolomite →quartz; （3） dolomite host rock →saddle dolomite→bitumen; （4） dolomite host rock →saddle dolomite →barite. The mean chemical composition of the host dolomite matrix and HTD didn＇t change much during hydrothermal process. The fluids forming the HTDs in the Dengying Formation were mixtures of freshwater from the unconformity at the top of Sinian, fluids from diagenetic compaction and hydrocarbon generation ＆ expulsion from the Lower Cambrian Niutitang Formation mudstones or the Doushantuo Formation silty mudstones, and hydrothermal fluids from the basement. The hydrocarbon reservoirs associated with the HTD were mostly controlled by the basement faults and fractures and karsting processes at the unconformity separating Sinian and Cambrian strata. The hydrocarbon storage spaces of HTD included dissolved cavities and intercrystalline pores. Dissolution cavities are extensive at the top of Dengying Formation, up to about 46m below the unconformity between Sinian an     

藏南上白垩统大洋红层: 岩石类型、沉积环境与颜色成因

西藏南部上白垩统大洋红层岩石类型有碳酸盐岩、泥质岩和硅质岩. 碳酸盐岩又细分为红色有孔虫颗粒灰岩、红色生物碎屑泥晶灰岩、红色含微体生物泥晶灰岩、红色泥晶灰岩、红色-杂色内碎屑砾状灰岩等类型; 泥质岩主要为红色页岩; 硅质岩有红色放射虫岩、红色(含)放射虫硅质岩、红色硅质岩. 红色页岩沉积环境为碳酸钙补偿面(CCD)之下、受浊流影响的下斜坡/盆地相; 而红色灰岩为远洋沉积环境下由先成的较浅水上斜坡红色灰岩层通过滑移、滑塌沉积在下斜坡页岩内. 野外观察、显微镜、扫描电子显微镜、X射线衍射和漫反射数据表明, 细小的、分散状出现的赤铁矿是导致藏南上白垩统大洋红层呈现红色的根本原因, 赤铁矿不是碎屑来源的, 而是同沉积期-成岩早期阶段的产物. 无论是红色页岩还是红色灰岩, 都以出现高含量Fe2O3和低含量FeO为特征, 铁主要以三价形式出现, 指示了一种氧化条件. 藏南大洋红层沉积时期, 在东特提斯洋上斜坡-下斜坡-盆地环境下广泛出现高含量溶解氧的氧化条件, 导致该条件出现的主要因素是气候变冷、洋流活动和海洋-大气氧通量改变.     

Characteristics of black shale in the Upper Ordovician Wufeng and lower Silurian Longmaxi formations in the Sichuan Basin and its periphery,China

Geochemical and mineralogical analyses, in addition to isothermal adsorption experiments on field samples, are used to characterise the sedimentary environments, reservoirs and adsorbed gas of the Upper Ordovician Wufeng–lower Silurian Longmaxi formations in the Sichuan Basin and its peripheral areas. The sedimentary environment of the Wufeng and the lower part of Longmaxi formations is a deep-water shelf with five different lithologies identified: siliceous shale, black shale, siltstone, biolithite limestone and bentonite. The black shale in the Wufeng and the lower part of Longmaxi formations is 50 m thick, with an average organic carbon content (TOC) of 3.81 wt% and a maturity (Ro) of 1.62%. Quartz comprises 54.94 vol% of the shale and positively correlates with the TOC. Micropores in the black shale include intergranular pores, intragranular pores, organic matter pores and microfractures. Among these pores, spaces between clay sheets and organic molecules represent a favourable storage space for the accumulation and preservation of oil and gas. The Langmuir volume parameter ranges between 1.52 and 3.01 cm³/g, with an average value of 2.33 cm³/g. The presence of organic matter pores and pores between clay sheets in the black shale is the main and controlling factor for accumulated gas.     

Effects of sonochemical treatment on meteoritic nanodiamonds

A nanodiamond‐rich fraction (NDF) separated from the Orgueil meteorite was subjected to a high‐intensity ultrasonic treatment in a weakly acidic aqueous solution. After sedimentation by centrifugation, two fractions of grains (suspension, designated as OD7C and sediment, designated as OD7D) with different properties have been obtained. The following effects of the sonication were revealed from comparison of the contents and isotope compositions of C, N, and Xe released during stepped pyrolysis and combustion of the fractions OD7C and OD7D, the initial NDF and two grain‐size fractions (OD10 and OD15) produced without sonication (a) surface layer of the sonicated diamond grains is modified to different extent in comparison with nontreated ones, (b) in some grains concentrations of the bulk N and Xe a reduced significantly, and (c) nondiamond nitrogen containing phases (e.g., Si₃N₄) have been destroyed. It is suggested that combined effects of the sonication and centrifugation observed for the fractions OD7C and OD7D are due to differences in surface chemistry of the nanodiamond grains, which statistically influences behavior of nanoparticles during the sonication resulting in their preferential modification in the different reaction zones of the cavitating fluid.     

太平洋西北平顶海山上环礁型碳酸盐建造与白垩纪赤道洋流

深海钻探揭示构成环礁的浅水碳酸盐建隆覆盖沉积在太平洋西北部平顶海山之上。相对于现今珊瑚藻类生物构成的环礁而言,白垩纪和古新世孤立的环礁的四周边缘生物含量甚少,造礁能力下降。这些环礁浅水碳酸盐沉积在火山基座的顶部,在Albian初期、Albian末期、Maastrichtian晚期和始新世中期发生沉没。早期研究认为这些碳酸盐体系经历了地面暴露阶段以及随后的海侵淹没阶段。然而,一个事实是,环礁沉没仅发生在当太平洋板块背负着平顶海山向北漂移过程中,并且是经过南纬7°以后。几个不同的假说用来解释该时期环礁沉没现象,包括环礁暴露、喀斯特化、地面侵蚀、增强赤道上升洋流、缺氧和/或者富营养的浑浊水的出现等。文中在太平洋平顶海山深海钻孔的沉积、生物地层和古纬度数据综合研究基础上,提出一种新模式用于解释晚白垩世—古新世浅水碳酸盐建造的沉没。与以前的模式不同的是,文中提出,这些晚白垩世—古新世“环礁”之所以发生沉没,原因是受到原始环南赤道洋流(pSEC)的影响,导致一种对分泌碳酸盐的生物不利环境的产生。而且,当这些平顶海山漂移到南纬5°时,即赤道古纬度带,许多浅水碳酸盐建造之上,铁锰结核开始沉积。同时,平顶海山下沉到溶解氧极小层(海平面之下400~1 100 m)和原始环南赤道中层洋流( pEI     

Biostratigraphy of a Paleocene–Eocene Foreland Basin boundary in southern Tibet

This study of the Paleocene–Eocene boundary within a foreland basin of southern Tibet, which was dominated by a carbonate ramp depositional environment, documents more complex environmental conditions than can be derived from studies of the deep oceanic environment. Extinction rates for larger foraminiferal species in the Zongpu-1 Section apply to up to 46% of the larger foraminiferal taxa. The extinction rate in southern Tibet is similar to rates elsewhere in the world, but it shows that the Paleocene fauna disappeared stepwise through the Late Paleocene, with Eocene taxa appearing abruptly above the boundary. A foraminifera turnover was identified between Members 3 and 4 of the Zongpu Formation—from the Miscellanea–Daviesina assemblage to an Orbitolites–Alveolina assemblage. The Paleocene and Eocene boundary is between the SBZ 4 and SBZ 5, where it is marked by the extinction of Miscellanea miscella and the first appearance of Alveolina ellipsodalis and a large number of Orbitolites. Chemostratigraphically, the δ13C values from both the Zongpu-1 and Zongpu-2 Sections show three negative excursions in the transitional strata, one in Late Paleocene, one at the boundary, and one in the early Eocene. The second negative excursion of δ13C, which is located at the P–E boundary, coincides with larger foraminifera overturn. These faunal changes and the observed δ13C negative excursions provide new evidence on environmental changes across the Paleocene–Eocene boundary in Tibet.     

Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds: Distribution, Lithostratigraphy and Paleoenvironments

Cretaceous oceanic red beds (CORBs) represented by red shales and marls, were deposited during the Cretaceous and early Paleocene, predominantly in the Tethyan realm, in lower slope and abyssal basin environments. Detailed studies of CORBs are rare; therefore, we compiled CORBs data from deep sea ocean drilling cores and outcrops of Cretaceous rocks subaerially exposed in southern Europe, northwestern Germany, Asia and New Zealand. In the Tethyan realm, CORBs mainly consist of reddish or pink shales, limestones and marlstones. By contrast, marlstones and chalks are rare in deep-ocean drilling cores. Upper Cretaceous marine sediments in cores from the Atlantic Ocean are predominantly various shades of brown, reddish brown, yellowish brown and pale brown in color. A few red, pink, yellow and orange Cretaceous sediments are also present. The commonest age of CORBs is early Campanian to Maastrichtian, with the onset mostly of oxic deposition often after Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAEs), during the early Aptian, late Albian-early Turonian and Campanian. This suggests an indicated and previously not recognized relationship between OAEs, black shales deposition and CORBs. CORBs even though globally distributed, are most common in the North Atlantic and Tethyan realms, in low to mid latitudes of the northern hemisphere; in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean in the mid to high latitudes of the southern hemisphere; and are less frequent in the central Pacific Ocean. Their widespread occurrence during the late Cretaceous might have been the result of establishing a connection for deep oceanic current circulation between the Pacific and the evolving connection between South and North Atlantic and changes in oceanic basins ventilation.