Evidence of climatic warming in the southern Urals region derived from borehole temperatures and meteorological data

Thirty borehole temperature–depth profiles in the central and southern Urals, Russia were scrutinized for evidence of ground surface temperature histories. We explored two inversion schemes: a simple ramp inversion in which solutions are parameterized in terms of an onset time and magnitude of change and a more sophisticated functional space inverse algorithm in which the functional form of the solution is left unspecified. To enhance and potentially identify latitudinal differences in the ground surface temperature signal, we subdivided the data into three groups based on geographic proximity and simultaneously inverted the borehole temperature–depth logs. The simultaneous inversions highlighted 13 temperature–depth logs that could not both fit a common ground surface temperature history and a priori models within reasonable bounds. Our results confirm that this is an effective way to reduce site-specific noise from an ensemble of boreholes. Each inversion scheme gives comparable results indicating locally variable warming on the order of 1°C starting between 1800 and 1900 AD. Similarly surface air temperature records from 12 nearby meteorological stations exhibit locally variable warming also on the order of 1°C of warming during the 20th century. To explore the degree to which borehole temperatures and surface air temperature (SAT) time series are responding to the same signal, we average the SAT data into the same three groups and used these averages as a forcing function at the Earth's surface to generate synthetic transient temperature profiles. Root mean square (RMS) misfits between these synthetic temperature profiles and averaged temperature–depth profiles are low, suggesting that first-order curvature in borehole temperatures and variations in SAT records are correlated.     

The palaeoenvironment associated with a partial Iguanodon skeleton from the Upper Weald Clay (Barremian, Early Cretaceous) at Smokejacks Brickworks (Ockley, Surrey, UK), based on palynomorphs and ostracods

In 2001 a partial skeleton of an Iguanodon was discovered in the Upper Weald Clay (Barremian, Early Cretaceous) at Smokejacks Brickworks near Ockley, Surrey, UK. When the dinosaur was excavated, a detailed stratigraphic section was logged and 25 samples taken for palynological and micropalaeontological (ostracod and megaspore) analysis, including a detailed sample set of the dinosaur bed itself. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the palynoflora revealed rich and well-preserved non-marine assemblages of pollen and spores, including early angiosperms, and freshwater green algae. Four types of angiosperm pollen are described and assigned to the genus Retimonocolpites Pierce, 1961, but left in open nomenclature. Some marine elements such as dinoflagellate cysts are identified as the result of reworking of Middle and Upper Jurassic sediments. The pollen/spore assemblages depict a vegetational change from principally gymnosperm-dominated assemblages at the base to principally pteridophyte-dominated assemblages at the top of the section. The dinosaur bed shows a pteridophyte-dominated assemblage, with a significantly high amount of the freshwater green alga Scenedesmus novilunaris He Cheng-quan et al., 1992. Samples close to the dinosaur bed yielded the first useful ostracod finds from Smokejacks Brickworks: well-preserved assemblages containing Cypridea clavata (Anderson, 1939), Damonella cf. pygmaea (Anderson, 1941), Stenestroemia cf. cressida Anderson, 1971 and Stenestroemia sp. A, and fragments and damaged valves of a thin-shelled ostracod, possibly belonging to Mantelliana Anderson, 1966. Those identified as Cypridea clavata show a wide range of morphological variety and in opposition to Anderson's (1967, 1985) taxonomic scheme, which would assign them to up to five different taxa, they are considered to be intraspecific variants of a single species. The possibilities and limitations of age determination of the Wealden sediments using palynomorphs and ostracods are discussed; distinct forms of early angiosperm pollen, together with the ostracod fauna, are consistent with an early Barremian age. Pollen and spores are discussed in terms of their parent plants and the reconstruction of vegetation and palaeoclimate. Palynology and ostracods give evidence for temporary freshwater conditions at the time when the Iguanodon died and the carcase was buried.     

中国甘肃省酒泉地区公婆泉盆地早白垩世恐龙化石

中国甘肃省酒泉地区公婆泉盆地下白垩统新民堡群的恐龙化石主要由1992年中日丝绸之路恐龙考察计划和1997~2000年中美马鬃山恐龙考察计划发掘和研究。先后发现的恐龙包括兽脚类、蜥脚类、禽龙类和新角龙类等。这一新的公婆泉恐龙组合的主要特征是同时包含了在晚白垩世占主导地位的几类恐龙的基干分子,如戈壁巨龙(Gobititan)是巨龙型类的基干分子,马鬃龙(Equijubus)是鸭嘴龙型类的基干分子,而古角龙(Archaeoceratops)和黎明角龙(Auroraceratops)是新角龙类的基干分子。公婆泉恐龙组合的另一特征是其某些成员的体型较大,如似鸟龙类和镰刀龙类恐龙是同期同类中最大的。比较研究发现,公婆泉盆地新民堡群的恐龙和辽西热河群的恐龙关系密切,但前者的整体来说要比后者进步。考虑到公婆泉盆地新民堡群的时代(Albian)较辽西热河群(Hauterivian晚期-Aptian早期)晚,公婆泉恐龙组合似应代表中国北方早白垩纪鹦鹉嘴龙恐龙动物群进化过程中较进步的一个阶段。     

扬子及周缘地区上奥陶统-下志留统烃源岩发育环境及其控制因素

扬子地区下古生界发育了上奥陶统五峰组和下志留统龙马溪组两套有效烃源岩,查清其发育环境及其控制因素具有重要的科学理论和油气勘探意义.晚奥陶世开始,扬子地区进入碎屑岩陆棚演化阶段;五峰期-龙马溪期,扬子地区主体为局限的深水陆棚环境,总体呈现出浅水陆棚、深水陆棚、次深海共存的古地理格局.沉积体系展布和沉积演化主要受扬子陆块与华夏陆块的汇聚作用控制.扬子地区上奥陶统-下志留统烃源岩的形成与生烃母质生物的高生产力和高埋藏率、冰期-冰后期之交的气温快速转暖、海平面快速上升以及粘土矿物在有机质富集保存过程中的赋存驻留作用等密切相关.     

Pb-Pb age of sedimentary phosphorite reworking in Lower Riphean carbonate sediments,the Satka Formation of Southern Urals

The mineral composition and U-Pb and Rb-Sr systematics of phosphorites from the Satka Formation of Lower Riphean carbonates, the Burzyan Group of Southern Urals, are studied. Phosphorites occurring as small lenses between stromatolite layers are composed largely of fluorapatite with admixture of detrital quartz, feldspars, illite, and chlorite. Phosphorite samples have been subjected to stepwise dissolution in 1 N (fraction L-1) and 2 N (fraction L-2) HCl. As is established, the maximum apatite content is characteristic of fraction L-1, while fraction L-2 is enriched in products of dolomite and sulfide dissolution and in elements leached from siliciclastic components. The Sr content in the Satka apatites (280–560 ppm) is substantially lower as compared with that in unaltered marine apatite. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr “initial ratio in the phosphorites studied (0.71705–0.72484) and host dolomites from the lower part of the Satka Formation is significantly higher than in the Early Riphean seawater that indicates a reset of the Rb-Sr original systems in sediments. The Pb-Pb age of 1340 ± 30 Ma (MSWD = 6.4) estimated based on 7 data points characterizing fractions L-1 and L-2 is younger than the formation time of overlying Burzyan sediments, being consistent, within the error range, with date of the Mashak rifting event recorded at the Early-Middle Riphean boundary. The comparative U-Pb characteristics of two soluble fractions (L-1 and L-2) and silicate residue of phosphorites show that epigenetic redistribution of Pb and U was characteristic of the phosphorite horizon only. The initial Pb isotope composition and μ (²³⁸U/²⁰⁴Pb) estimated according to model by Stacey and Kramers for the early diagenetic fluids in carbonate and phosphate sediments of the Satka Formation suggest that they were in isotopic equilibrium with erosion products of the Taratash crystalline complex.     

First U–Pb SHRIMP age of the Hauterivian stage, Neuquén Basin, Argentina

A high-resolution ion-microprobe (SHRIMP) U–Pb zircon age from a tuff layer intercalated in the ammonoid bearing sedimentary succession of the Neuquén Basin in Argentina provides a robust geochronologic date to add to the absolute ages and to improve the relative chronology of the Early Cretaceous Hauterivian stage. The tuff layer appears interbedded between shales of the upper member (Agua de la Mula) of the Agrio Formation within the Spitidiscus riccardii ammonoid zone (base of the Late Hauterivian) yielding a date of 132.5 ± 1.3 Ma. This date confirms and supports an accurate correlation between the ammonoid biostratigraphy of the Neuquén Basin with the Western Mediterranean Province of the Tethys during the Early Cretaceous and matches with the most recently published time scale. It also casts doubts on the validity of K–Ar ages on glauconite-grains recently reported from the Lower Cretaceous of the Vocontian Basin of France.     

湖南石门杨家坪下寒武统杷榔组三段混合沉积研究

湖南石门杨家坪下寒武统杷榔组三段发育陆源碎屑与海相碳酸盐的混合沉积。综合前人研究成果,通过对研究区野外露头资料的详细观测和室内样品分析及数据统计等工作,对研究区杷榔组三段混合沉积进行了详细的研究。研究区混合沉积特征宏观上表现为由陆源碎屑与混积物交互沉积、碳酸盐与混积物交互沉积和不同类型混积物本身的交互沉积构成的混积层系,微观上表现为陆源碎屑组分与碳酸盐组分混合沉积所形成混积岩;混合沉积类型主要为内潮汐沉积作用和浊流沉积作用形成的复合式混合沉积Ⅱ,次为深水原地沉积作用形成的渐变式混合沉积,但是不同成因的沉积作用形成的混合沉积类型往往叠加在一起,形成复合式混合沉积Ⅱ+渐变式混合沉积的混合沉积复合体;混合沉积环境为深水斜坡,发育内波、内潮汐混合沉积微相、深水原地混合沉积微相和远源浊流混合沉积微相等类型;在沉积环境分析的基础上,根据内波、内潮汐沉积特征,剖析了混合沉积的沉积机理;结合混合沉积的成因、沉积机理、产出部位及沉积环境等因素,以沉积学原理为指导,建立了研究区杷榔组三段的混合沉积模式。     

辽东湾凝析气田超压成因及侧向传递机制初探

位于辽东湾西部低凸起北端的JZ20-2超压凝析气田,离供烃中心较远,压力系数却达到1.56~1.7,这在我国东部裂谷盆地比较少见。经过综合分析,作者认为JZ20-2凝析气田异常高压的形成与其所处的特殊地质背景紧密相关,辽中凹陷沙河街组三段超压凝析油气沿不整合面、砂体输导通道向辽东湾西部低凸起的运移、充注和能量的侧向传递是JZ20-2凝析气田异常高压形成的根本原因,而上覆东营组二段下亚段-东营组三段巨厚的强超压泥岩封盖和辽西3号边界断层侧向遮挡共同构成的优越封闭环境是超压保存的必要条件。本文分析了该气田超压特征及其远距离超压侧向传递的成因机制,不仅有助于揭示辽东湾西部低凸起超压流体运移聚集的规律和成藏作用,而且可能提供了一个超压远距离侧向传递的典型实例。     

库车坳陷大北地区下白垩统巴什基奇克组储层成因地质分挝

塔里木盆地库车坳陷大北地区白垩系巴什基奇克组储层以细一中粒岩屑砂岩为主夹少量长石岩屑砂岩,杂基为铁泥质和泥质(2%～10%).胶结物以方解石(3%～15%)为主.粘土矿物以伊利石、绿泥石和伊/蒙混层为主,不含高岭石,伊/蒙混层中的蒙皂石含量一般为(15～20)%;主要孔隙组合为残余原生粒问孔-溶蚀孔-微孔隙,占储集空间总量的(50～90)%,其次为构造缝-溶蚀孔,主要的孔隙类型为溶蚀孔和裂缝,总体属于低孔低渗-特低孔特低渗储层.综合分析认为:阶段性的前陆构造逆冲推覆作用对沉积旋回性、水体盐度变化及物源区距离变化的控制至关重要;构造活跃期扇三角洲前缘环境中形成的差分选中-粗砂岩、近源快速堆积造成的高岩屑含量、干旱成湖导致的高碳酸盐胶结和早成岩期相对深埋-后期持续快速深埋压实作用,是特低孔特低渗储层的主要成因;而较优质储层足构造平缓期辫状河三角洲前缘环境中形成的分选好的中-细砂岩、早期表生溶蚀及弱碳酸盐胶结作用、早期构造破裂的复合作用及其叠加效应的结果.     

安徽月山岩体的锆石SHRIMP U-Pb定年及其意义

月山岩体是长江中下游成矿带中安庆-贵池矿集区内月山矿田中最重要的中酸性侵入岩体.本文对月山岩体主要岩石--闪长岩进行了锆石SHRIMP U-Pb定年,得到年龄值为138.7±0.5Ma,表明岩体形成于早白垩世.该结果与铜陵等地的高钾钙碱性中酸性侵入岩的形成时代类似,但早于月山矿田内的花岗质岩体和庐枞盆地、宁芜盆地中的岩浆岩.在综合区内已有的岩石学、地球化学和成矿年代学资料的基础上,认为月山矿田内的铜金铁成矿作用与月山岩体的形成有着密切的成因联系,二者在时间上是一个连续的过程,皆发生于燕山期,成岩成矿作用过程发生于区域挤压-拉张过渡的构造背景.