Stratigraphy and sedimentation rates of Upper Cretaceous deep-water systems of the Rhenodanubian Group (Eastern Alps, Germany)

In the Bavarian Alps (Germany), west of the Isar River, the abyssal deposits of the Lower Barremian to Upper Campanian Rhenodanubian Group consist of siliciclastic and calcareous turbidites alternating with hemipelagic non-calcareous mudstones. The up to 1500-m-thick succession, deposited in the Penninic Basin to the south of the European Plate, is characterized by a low mean sedimentation rate (c. 25 mm kyr⁻¹) over 60 million years. Palaeocurrents and turbidite facies distribution patterns suggest that sedimentation occurred on a weakly inclined abyssal plain. The highest sedimentation rates (up to 240 mm kyr⁻¹) were associated with the calcareous mud turbidites of the newly defined Röthenbach Subgroup, which includes the Piesenkopf, Kalkgraben and Hällritz formations (Middle Coniacian to Middle Campanian). These calcareous turbidites prograded from the west, and interfinger towards the east with red hemipelagic claystone. A high sea level presumably favoured pelagic carbonate production and accumulation on the shelves and on internal platforms in the western part of the basin, whereas siliciclastic shelves with steep slope angles have bordered the eastern part of the basin, where a dearth of turbidite sedimentation and increased Cretaceous oceanic red beds deposition occurred. In contrast to the eustatically-induced Middle Coniacian to Lower Campanian Cretaceous oceanic red beds (calcareous nannoplankton zones CC14 to CC18), red hemipelagites of Early Cenomanian age (upper part of calcareous nannoplankton zone CC9) and early Late Campanian age (upper part of zone CC21 and zone CC22) are interpreted as the result of regional tectonic activity.     

福州市马尾地区第四纪地层划分及海相层分析

通过对该区钻孔剖面贡料,结合~(14)C、古地磁、孢粉及微体古生物等资料综合分析研究,对该区第四纪地层提出划分意见和自第四纪晚期以来,地层中存在着典型两期海侵所形成的海相层。     

泥河湾与黄土高原地层对比及其旧石器文化序列

泥河湾盆地和黄土高原堆积着我国第四纪划分和对比的标准地层，同时也是古人类活动的重要场所。两者沉积环境不同，但都较为连续地记录了中国北方第四纪气候环境演化历史和古人类活动的信息。在综合前人研究成果的基础上，对这两个重要地区的地层进行了对比，并列出了两个地区的旧石器文化地层序列。     

Eocene-Pliocene time scale and stratigraphy of the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) and the Swiss Molasse Basin (SMB)

We present a general stratigraphic synthesis for the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) and the Swiss Molasse Basin (SMB) from Eocene to Pliocene times. The stratigraphic data were compiled both from literature and from research carried out by the authors during the past 6 years ; an index of the stratigraphically most important localitites is provided. We distinguish 14 geographical areas from the Helvetic domain in the South to the Hanau Basin in the North. For each geographical area, we give a synthesis of the biostratigraphy, lithofacies, and chronostratigraphic ranges. The relationships between this stratigraphic record and the global sea-level changes are generally disturbed by the geodynamic (e.g., subsidence) evolution of the basins. However, global sea-level changes probably affected the dynamic of transgression–regression in the URG (e.g., Middle Pechelbronn Beds and Serie Grise corresponding with sea-level rise between Ru1/Ru2 and Ru2/Ru3 sequences, respectively) as well as in the Molasse basin (regression of the UMM corresponding with the sea-level drop at the Ch1 sequence). The URGENT-project (Upper Rhine Graben evolution and neotectonics) provided an unique opportunity to carry out and present this synthesis. Discussions with scientists addressing sedimentology, tectonics, geophysics and geochemistry permitted the comparison of the sedimentary history and stratigraphy of the basin with processes controlling its geodynamic evolution. Data presented here back up the palaeogeographic reconstructions presented in a companion paper by the same authors (see Berger et al. in Int J Earth Sci 2005).     

Late Cenomanian environmental conditions at the submerged Tatric Ridge,Central Western Carpathians during the period preceding Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 – A palaeontological and isotopic approach

Micropalaeontological and isotopic studies of the upper Cenomanian turbiditic/hemipelagic sediments from the High-Tatric unit (Central Western Carpathians; Polish part of the Tatra Mountains) has been undertaken to characterize the sedimentary conditions in the Tatric basin, a part of the Western Tethys, related to the interval preceding the late Cenomanian oceanic anoxic event (OAE2). The deposition of these sediments, including organic-rich layers (TOC up to 0.7%), corresponds to the Rotalipora cushmani foraminiferal Zone. Microfacial, foraminiferal and palynological analyses show that the sea floor was located at upper bathyal depths and the water column was poorly oxygenated. The intrabasinal carbonate material indicates moderate primary productivity with rare periods of upwellings. The scarcity of marine fossils in redeposited material and features of carbonate lithoclasts suggest very low productivity in the nearshore surface water, most probably due to a low-density hyposaline cap as surface runoff from the southern margin of the basin. The carbon isotopic study documents the negative values of δ¹³C_carb in the whole section as an effect of transfer of isotopically light carbon sourced from various sources. Such negative values of δ¹³C_carb are characteristic of the upper Cenomanian sediments, deposited in relatively shallow water basins, characterized by input of terrestrial organic matter and/or carbonate particles known from the Western Interior sections, the Atlantic coastal plain, the northwestern African margin, the eastern margin of the Apulian Platform and shelf sediments in the NW Europe and Tethyan Himalayas. Most probably, all of these events could be related to the global sea level fluctuations that occurred ca. 95.5–94.5 Ma comparing with the Haq (2014) eustatic curve.     

Status of Stratigraphy Research in China

Scientific research and productive practice for earth history are inseparable from the accurate stratigraphic framework and time framework. Establishing the globally unified, precise and reliable chronostratigraphic series and geological time series is the major goal of the International Commission on Stratigraphy(ICS). Under the leadership of the ICS, the countries around the world have carried out research on the Global Standard Stratotype-section and Points(GSSPs) for the boundaries of chronostratigraphic systems. In the current International Chronostratigraphic Chart(ICC), 65 GSSPs have been erected in the Phanerozoic Eonothem, and one has yet been erected in the Precambrian Eonothem. Based on the progress of research on stratigraphy especially that from its subcommissions, the ICS is constantly revising the ICC, and will publish a new International Stratigraphic Guide in 2020. After continual efforts and broad international cooperation of Chinese stratigraphers, 10 GSSPs within the Phanerozoic Eonothem have been approved and ratified to erect in China by the ICS and IUGS. To establish the standards for stratigraphic division and correlation of China, with the support from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the China Geological Survey, Chinese stratigraphers have carried out research on the establishment of Stages in China. A total of 102 stages have been defined in the "Regional Chronostratigraphic Chart of China(geologic time)", in which 59 stages were studied in depth. In 2014, the "Stratigraphic Chart of China" was compiled, with the essential contents as follows: the correlation between international chronostratigraphy and regional chronostratigraphy of China(geologic time), the distributive status of lithostratigraphy, the characteristics of geological ages, the biostratigraphic sequence, the magnetostratigraphy, the geological events and eustatic sea-level change during every geological stage. The "Stratigraphical Guide of China and its Explanation(2014)" was also published. Chinese stratigraphers have paid much attention to stratigraphic research in south China, northeast China, north China and northwest China and they have made great achievements in special research on stratigraphy, based on the 1:1000000, 1:250000, 1:200000 and 1:50000 regional geological survey projects. Manifold new stratigraphic units were discovered and established by the regional geological surveys, which are helpful to improve the regional chronostratigraphic series of China. On the strength of the investigation in coastal and offshore areas, the status of marine strata in China has been expounded. According to the developing situation of international stratigraphy and the characteristics of Chinese stratigraphic work, the contrast relation between regional stratigraphic units of China and GSSPs will be established in the future, which will improve the application value of GSSPs and the standard of regional stratigraphic division and correlation. In addition, the study of stratigraphy of the Precambrian, terrestrial basins and orogenic belts will be strengthened, the Stratigraphic Chart of China will be improved, the typical stratigraphic sections in China will be protected and the applied study of stratigraphy in the fields of oil and gas, solid minerals, etc. will be promoted. On the ground of these actions, stratigraphic research will continue to play a great role in the social and economic development of China.     

贺兰山及周边地区加里东运动研究

基于对贺兰山及周边地区下古生界详细的野外地质调查,通过碎屑锆石年龄谱的物源分析、地层接触关系追踪、岩性岩相突变特征分析、残留地层分布、古生物组合及亲缘性分析,讨论了阿拉善地块与华北地块和中祁连地块的亲缘关系,探讨了研究区加里东运动的幕次,认为早古生代阿拉善地块和华北地块相互独立,俯冲造山特征建造不清晰,两者之间可能为转换型陆缘。阿拉善地块和中祁连地块之间的加里东运动幕次清晰。加里东运动一幕发生在中-晚寒武世,香山群深水复理石沉积和张夏组浅水碳酸盐台地相沉积呈拼合式接触,生物组合为亲华北-亲祁连混合型,彼时中祁连地块从Rodinia大陆裂离,逐步靠近阿拉善地块;加里东运动二幕发生在早-中奥陶世,下奥陶统碳酸盐岩在全区稳定分布,与下伏香山群不整合接触,与阿不且亥组整合接触,生物相统一,生物组合为华北型,中祁连地块-阿拉善地块-华北地块平和成为一个统一的块体,整体为浅水台地沉积环境;加里东运动三幕发生在奥陶纪末,中-上奥陶统与泥盆系角度不整合接触,商丹洋闭合,扬子地块与阿拉善地块和华北地块靠近,商丹缝合带南部的宽坪洋打开,导致研究区中、晚奥陶世亲华北-亲扬子混合型生物组合类型。     

The stratigraphical signature of the Anthropocene in England and its wider context

The Anthropocene deposits of England, here regarded as those formed after ～1950 CE, are now extensive, take various forms, and may be characterized and recognized by a number of stratigraphic signals, such as artificial radionuclides, pesticide residues, microplastics, enhanced fly ash levels, concrete fragments and a novel variety of ‘technofossils’ and neobiotic species. They include the uppermost parts of both ‘natural’ deposits such as the sediment layers formed in lakes and estuaries, and more directly human-made or human-influenced ones such as landfill deposits and the ‘artificial ground’ beneath urban areas and around major constructions. ‘Negative deposits’ include the worked areas of quarries and regions such as the English Fenland, where thick peat deposits have ablated to leave a strongly modified underlying landscape, and extend beneath into the subterranean realm as mine workings, metro systems and boreholes. The production of these is still rapidly increasing and evolving in character, while the early signs of global change, such as warming, sea level rise, and modifications to biotic assemblages, are beginning to further modify the emerging geology of this new phase of Earth history.     

Stratigraphy,geochemistry, and thermoluminescence ages of lower Mississippi Valley loess

Four periods of loess deposition in the Lower Mississippi Valley can be identified on the basis of geochemical and mineralogical criteria, radiocarbon dating, and thermoluminescence dating. These are designated Loess Units 1,2,3, and 4 in order of increasing age. Carbonate-rich Unit 1 loess comprises more than 70 per cent of the thickness of the loess profiles. ¹⁴C and TL dates indicate this loess was deposited between 9 000 and 20 000 years ago. A maximum sedimentation rate of 2.17 mm yr^?1 has been recorded near Vicksburg just after the last Laurentide glacial maximum, between 17 190 and 15 580 years ago. The Unit 2 loess, which is thin and partly decalcified, was deposited slowly between about 25 000 and 20 000 years ago. The Unit 3 and Unit 4 loess formations, which are both highly weathered, have yielded TL ages of 76 000–85 000 years and 119 000- > 132 000 years, suggesting they were deposited during the Altonian Substage of the early Wisconsinan and the Illinoian glacial stage respectively. The four loess units are stratigraphically equivalent to the Peoria, Farmdale, Roxana, and Loveland loess formations previously recognized in Illinois. The source of dust in both areas was glacial outwash in the Mississippi Valley. During interglacials and interstadials, when the supply of glacial debris was reduced and the Mississippi River changed from a braided to a meandering regime, dust sedimentation in southern Mississippi virtually ceased, allowing weathering and pedogenesis to proceed.     

滇西昌宁─孟连带南部地层地质问题

滇西孟连以南，整合于南段组浊积岩之上的拉巴群硅质岩含晚二叠世早期放射虫化石，南段组时代不仅限于石炭纪，可能延入二叠纪。二者为晚古生代思茅地块的外陆坡沉积。其西面的南基河杂岩（新名）由层序混乱的晚古生代硅质岩、泥岩和少量砂岩、玄武岩构成。放射虫化石证据表明，硅质岩时代不仅限于晚泥盆世－早二叠世，还延入晚二叠世，而有的砂岩时代为早石炭世，它们是经过强烈构造变动的古特提斯洋的沉积记录。昌宁－孟连带向南可能延至泰国北部的清迈带，而非东北部的难河带。