A Late Jurassic fossil assemblage in Gondwana: Biostratigraphy and correlations of the Tacuarembó Formation, Parana Basin, Uruguay

The Tacuarembó Formation has yielded a fossil assemblage that includes the best known body fossils, consisting of isolated scales, teeth, spines, and molds of bones, recovered from thin and patchy bonebeds, from the Botucatu Desert, Parana Basin, South America. The remains are preserved in the sandstones widespread around the city of Tacuarembó. We propose a new formalized nomenclature for the Tacuarembó Formation, naming its “Lower” and “Upper” members as the Batoví (new name) and Rivera (new rank) members, respectively. An assemblage zone is defined for the Batoví Member (fluviolacustrine and aeolian deposits). In this unit, the freshwater hybodontid shark Priohybodus arambourgi D’Erasmo is well represented. This species was previously recorded in Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous units of the Sahara and the southern Arabian Peninsula. Globally considered, the fossil assemblage of this member (P. arambourgi, dipnoan fishes, Ceratosaurus-like theropods, and conchostracans) is indicative of a Kimmeridgian–Tithonian age, which in combination with the stratigraphic relationships of the Tacuarembó Formation with the overlying basalts of the Arapey Formation (132 My average absolute age) implies that the latter was deposited during the Kimmeridgian–Hauterivian interval.     

Submarine fan and slope-apron deposition in a Cretaceous Forearc Basin: The Gürsökü Formation (Kavak–Samsun, N. Turkey)

The Late Cretaceous Gürsökü Formation represents the proximal fill of the Sinop–Samsun Forearc Basin that was probably initiated by extension during the Early Cretaceous. The succession records sedimentation in two contrasting depositional systems: a slope-apron flanking a faulted basin margin and coarse-grained submarine fans. The slope-apron deposits consist of thinly bedded turbiditic sandstones and mudstones, interbedded with non-channelized chaotic boulder beds and intraformational slump sheets representing a spectrum of processes ranging from debris flow to submarine slides. The submarine fan sediments are represented by conglomerates and sandstones interpreted as deposited from high density turbidity currents and non-cohesive debris flows. The occurrence of both slope apron and submarine fan depositional systems in the Gürsökü Formation may indicates that the region was a tectonically active basin margin during the Late Cretaceous.     

The Rössing Uranium Deposit: a product of late-kinematic localization of uraniferous granites in the Central Zone of the Damara Orogen, Namibia

The Rössing granite-hosted uranium deposit in the Central Zone of the Pan-African Damara Orogen, Namibia, is situated in the “SJ area” to the south of the Rössing Dome. The coincidence of a number of features in this area suggests that mineralization is closely linked to late-kinematic evolution of the Rössing Dome. These features include: (1) the rotation of the dome's long axis (trend of 017°), relative to the regional F₃ trend of 042°; (2) southward dome impingement, concomitant with dome rotation, producing a wedge-shaped zone of alkali-leucogranites, within which uranium mineralization is transgressive with respect to granites and their host lithologies; uranium mineralization and a high fluid flux are also confined to this arcuate zone to the south and south-east of the dome core and (3) fault modeling that indicates that the SJ area underwent late-D₃ to D₄ brittle–ductile deformation, producing a dense fault network that was exploited by leucogranites. Dome rotation and southward impingement occurred after a protracted period of transtensional tectonism in the Central Zone, from ca. 542 to 526 Ma, during which I- and S-type granites were initiated in a metamorphic core complex. Late-kinematic deformation involved a rejuvenation of the stresses that acted from ca. 600 to 550 Ma. This deformation overlapped with uranium-enriched granite intrusion in the Central Zone at 510 ± 3 Ma. Such late-kinematic, north–south transpression, which persisted into the post-kinematic cooling phase until at least 478 ± 4 Ma, was synchronous with left-lateral displacement along NNE-trending (“Welwitschia Trend”) shears in the vicinity of Rössing. Late-kinematic deformation, causing block rotation, overlying dome rotation and interaction of the more competent units of the Khan Formation with the Rössing Formation in the dome rim was pivotal in the localization of uranium-enriched granites within a highly fractured, high-strain zone that was also the site of prolonged/high fluid flux.     

贵州糯东井田水文地质条件分析

通过对井田内泉和暗河流量的调查研究,认为永宁镇组一、三段碳酸盐岩裂隙溶洞水为井田的主要含水层,含水层主要接受大气降水及河流的渗透补给;煤层上覆地层飞仙关组为相对隔水层,厚度大于500m,下覆无强含水层,其地下水对煤层的开采影响不大,井田水文地质条件较简单。采用比拟法对井田的涌水量进行了预算,推算该矿井开采设计涌水量为13 238m^3/d。     

New Devonian fossil localities in Bolivia

An examination of Palaeozoic sections west of Cochabamba, and west of Lake Poopó, in western Bolivia, was conducted during a field expedition in 1991. The Río Iglesiani valley, west of Cochabamba, surprisingly yielded a Middle Devonian age to all the visited sites, originally supposed to be Ordovician. This result is based on spores, shelly faunas (brachiopods and bivalves), and trilobites. The Copacabana de Andamarca section, west of Lake Poopó, is also dated as Middle Devonian on account of its rather rich fauna (bryozoans, corals, brachiopods, conulariids, hyolithids, tentaculitids, ostracodes, trilobites, crinoids, vertebrates). Both localities correlate to the Icla and/or Huamampampa Formation of the Tarabuco area and Subandean belt, and to the Belén and/or Sica Sica Formation of the northern Altiplano.     

Westward accretion of the Baltic Shield: implications from the 1.6 GaÅmål-Horred Belt, SW Sweden

Three new U-Pb zircon age determinations are reported from the Horred region, south-southeast of Göteborg, SW Sweden. This is a region of the Southwest Scandinavian Domain, within which a major NS trending shear zone and tectonic boundary, the Mylonite Zone, juxtaposes comparatively weakly migmatised lithologies in the west against more intensely migmatised gneisses in the east.West of the Mylonite Zone, a metavolcanic rock (the Mjösjödacite) yields an age of 1643 ± 29 Ma, whereas a cross-cutting plutonic rock (the Idala tonalite) has an age of 1584 ± 15 Ma. Together with a recent age for a volcanic rock from theÅmål region farther north (1.61 Ga, Lundqvist and Skiöld, 1992), these ages help to establish the existence of a coherent calc-alkaline igneous belt of 1.6 Ga age for which the nameÅmål-Horred Belt is proposed.East of the Mylonite Zone, a presumably metavolcanic rock (the Grimmared gneiss) yields an age of 1.61 Ga. The obtained age and the compositional similarity of rocks on each side of the Mylonite Zone indicate that more deformed and more strongly metamorphosed equivalents of the rocks in theÅmål-Horred Belt may occur also to the east of the Mylonite Zone in what is termed the Eastern Segment of the Southwest Scandinavian Domain.The new results establish theÅmål-Horred Belt as a major geological unit younger than most other crustal components in southern Sweden such as theÖstfold-Marstrand Belt ( 1.76 Ga), the Eastern Segment gneisses (> 1.66 Ga) and the three age groups of the Transscandinavian Igneous Belt ( 1.81 – 1.65 Ga; Larson and Berglund, 1992). The configuration of the crustal units in SW Sweden appears to necessitate more complex Proterozoic models than those with a persistent younging from the present east to the west.The present concept of the “Gothian orogeny” must be revised since at least two different orogenic episodes at 1.7 and 1.6 Ga can now be distinguished.     

Relationship between volcanism and marine sedimentation in northern Austral (Aisén) Basin, central Patagonia: Stratigraphic, U–Pb SHRIMP and paleontologic evidence

The northernmost part of the oil-producing Austral Basin, known as Aisén Basin or Río Mayo Embayment (in central Patagonian Cordillera; 43–46°S), is a special area within the basin where the interplay between volcanism and the initial stages of its development can be established. Stratigraphic, paleontologic and five new U–Pb SHRIMP age determinations presented here indicate that the Aisén Basin was synchronous with the later phases of volcanism of the Ibáñez Formation for at least 11 m.yr. during the Tithonian to early Hauterivian. In this basin marine sedimentary rocks of the basal units of the Coihaique Group accumulated overlying and interfingering with the Ibáñez Formation, which represents the youngest episode of volcanism of a mainly Jurassic acid large igneous province (Chon Aike Province). Five new U–Pb SHRIMP magmatic ages ranging between 140.3 ± 1.0 and 136.1 ± 1.6 Ma (early Valanginian to early Hauterivian) were obtained from the Ibáñez Formation whilst ammonites from the overlying and interfingering Toqui Formation, the basal unit of the Coihaique Group, indicate Tithonian, early Berriasian and late Berriasian ages. The latter was a synvolcanic shallow marine facies accumulated in an intra-arc setting, subsequently developed into a retro-arc basin.     

Identification and origin of bitumen in Neolithic artefacts from Demirköy Höyük (8100 BC): Comparison with oil seeps and crude oils from southeastern Turkey

Two ring-like artefacts from the aceramic Neolithic site of Demirköy Höyük in southeastern Turkey were analysed using geochemical techniques in order to determine whether they were prepared using a bitumen amalgam or not. The artefacts, dated 8100 BC, are early evidence of the innovative use of a petroleum-based material to prepare pieces of ornaments (beads, rings, etc.) for the elite of a Neolithic settlement. In order to trace the source of the presumed bitumen, two oil seeps, Boğazköy and Yeşilli, were sampled. To complete the genetic references, geochemical data on crude oils from the main oil fields from the area were compiled.Basic geochemical data show that bitumen is present in the artefacts. Sterane and terpane patterns, as well as carbon isotopic data on C₁₅₊ saturated and C₁₅₊ aromatic hydrocarbons, allowed us to conclude that the Demirköy Höyük bitumen and the Boğazköy oil seep were generated from a Silurian source rock. The detailed geochemical characteristics show, however, that the Demirköy Höyük bitumen does not correlate perfectly with the Boğazköy oil. This discrepancy suggests several explanations: the real bitumen source may be elsewhere in the vicinity and has not been discovered or was at the Boğazköy oil seep location but with slightly different properties in Neolithic times, or has disappeared. Another possibility is that the slight molecular differences are due to weathering effects, which affected the pristine bitumen within the archaeological sample.     

Coal geology and coal quality of the Miocene Mugla basin, southwestern Anatolia, Turkey

This work focuses on the relationship between the coal geology and coal quality of the Miocene Mugla basin, Southwestern Anatolia, Turkey. To this end, detailed petrographical, mineralogical and geochemical studies were performed on composite profile samples from the nine coal fields in the Mugla basin (Alatepe, Bagyaka, Bayir, Çakiralan, Ekizköy, Eskihisar, Hüsamlar, Sekköy and Tinaz coal fields). The Mugla lignite is a high ash (from 16 to 56%) and sulphur (from 2.1 to 5.7%) lignite which is petrographically characterised by a high huminite content, mainly gelinite macerals. The mineral matter of the studied lignite samples is made up mainly of clay minerals and quartz, with the exception of the Sekköy and Ekizköy lignites, in which calcite is the dominant mineral phase with minor amounts of quartz, clay minerals, pyrite and gypsum and traces of aragonite. Syngenetic opal is also frequently identified in these samples. The differentiation of these two types of lignite with specific mineralogical patterns is attributed to the contemporaneous development of peatlands with a high detrital input, dominated by the quartz and clay mineral setting, and peatlands with low detrital supply and a dominant carbonate-rich lacustrine environment. The higher water table of the latter allowed the precipitation of micritic carbonates and the development of lakes with abundant mollusc fauna. This differentiation is also evidenced by the geochemical data. Thus, the Sekköy, Ekizköy, Hüsamlar, Bayir and Alatepe lignites are characterised by relatively low Al and Fe contents (<1.4%) and high sulphur contents (4.2 to 5.7%). In addition Sekköy and Ekizköy show relatively high contents of Ca (6.3–7.1% compared to 1.6–3.8% in the other lignites). All the lignite samples studied are characterised by relatively high Mo and U contents when compared with the worldwide averages of trace elements in coal. Relatively high alkaline syngenetic conditions of the peat-forming environment of the Mugla coal are deduced from the following mineralogical, petrographical and geochemical evidence: (a) the precipitation of syngenetic opal (dissolution of quartz and re-precipitation as opal) and calcite; (b) minor and very early syngenetic sulphide precipitation (only framboidal and euhedral pyrite); (c) high bacterial activity, typical of high pH conditions, inferred from low preservation of tissue structures; (d) preservation of aragonite gastropod shells; and (e) the anomalous enrichment of U, Mo and W. A key result of the study of Mugla limnic coals (at least of the Sekköy and Ekizköy coal fields) is that a major influence was exerted on the early diagenetic evolution of the coal by the hydrochemistry of the lacustrine waters. This hydrochemistry was largely linked to the lithology of the surrounding source rock areas although the final evolutionary trend of the solute composition in the lake waters, characterized by very high carbonate and sulphate contents, was largely enhanced by the endorheic river drainage system and the arid–semiarid paleoclimatic situation under which organic matter accumulation took place.     

Kaolin deposits in the lower cretaceous Baqueró formation (Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina)

Sedimentary kaolin deposits in the Lote 18 area (Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina) have been mined since 1951. They constitute 30% of the country's production and are mainly used in the ceramic whiteware industry. The deposits belong to the Baqueró Formation (Lower Cretaceous) and unconfomably overlie either the ash-flow tuffs of the Chon-Aike Formation (Middle Jurassic), which are altered to kaolinite and minor illite, or the ash-fall tuffs of Bajo Grande Formation (Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous), which are altered mainly to smectites. The presence of illite or smectite, as well as the kaolinite crystallinity, depends on the stratigraphic position of the kaolin horizons within the Lower Member of the Baqueró Formation and on the lithology of the underlying rocks. Kaolin beds composed of well-crystallized kaolinite at the base of the sequence overlaying Chon-Aike rocks are the purest. Kaolinite becomes less well cystallized with transport. Edge-to-face and swirl SEM textural patterns indicate the compaction of flocculated clays and clay movement during drainage and compaction. Mineralogical, petrological, and physico-structural evidence (i.e., form, extent, thickness) indicates that the kaolin deposits are sedimentary, formed by the transportation and deposition of previously formed kaolinite. Kaolin beds are ovoidal in plan and lenticular in profile, with thickness ranging from centimeters to 11 meters, and the culmination of fining-upward clastic sequences. Sedimentary facies analysis indicates that the kaolin deposits were formed in a fluvial environment from currents with a high suspended-load/bed-load ratio, as would result from deposition in ox-bow lakes.     

鄂尔多斯盆地南缘岐山剖面中奥陶统平凉组沉积环境分析

鄂尔多斯盆地南缘岐山剖面平凉组以碎屑岩和碳酸盐岩混积为特征,根据岩性特征可将平凉组分为七段。其中碎屑岩约占80%,主要分布在平一、三、五、七段;碳酸盐岩约占20%,主要分布在平二、四、六段。研究表明,岐山剖面平凉组属于大陆斜坡环境,是一套多旋回沉积,其中一-二段、三-四段、五-六段分别构成一个海进海退旋回,属于上斜坡-下斜坡交互沉积环境,第七段单独构成一个海进旋回。至唐陵组初期,海水开始退去。     

济阳坳陷中、新生代构造沉降与板块聚敛速率关系探讨

根据回剥模型,将钻井资料与区域地震剖面相结合,对济阳坳陷内东营、沾化和惠民3个次一级凹陷进行沉降史模拟。6121钻井的沉降曲线表明济阳坳陷中、新生代的构造沉降分为6个阶段：（1）中生代残余盆地发展阶段;（2）孔店期初始裂谷阶段;（3）沙四-沙三期断陷一期;（4）沙二-沙-期断陷二期;（5）东营期断陷三期;（6）新近纪热沉降阶段。将以上构造沉降速率同太平洋板块相对欧亚板块的聚敛速率进行比较,两者相吻合,表明太平洋板块的俯冲作用是济阳坳陷从“初始裂谷-快速沉降-裂谷逐渐萎缩-热沉降”构造演化过程的主要控制因素。     

A proscoliine wasp (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Scoliidae) from Shandong peninsula, East Asia

A new species of wasp from the Laiyang Formation in Shandong, China is described and named Cretaproscolia asiatica sp. nov. It is the second record of the genus Cretaproscolia Rasnitsyn and Martínez-Delclòs, 1999, and extends the distribution of the genus from the Lower Cretaceous of South America into the upper Mesozoic of East Asia. The diagnosis of Cretaproscolia is emended based on the new material.     

鱼卡煤田东部含煤地层划分探讨

鱼卡煤田是青海省重要的煤炭资源基地,主要含煤地层为中侏罗统。区内含煤地层角度不整合于奥陶系上统滩间山群之上。根据野外实剖地质剖面岩性特征自下而上划分为侏罗系中统大煤沟组、上统采石岭组、红水沟组。其中大煤沟组分为下含煤段、砂岩段、上含煤段、页岩段;采石岭组分为下部砂岩段、上部砂泥岩段。大煤沟组与以往划分的大煤沟组、石门沟组相当。     

Mossbauer detection of goethite (α-FeOOH) in coal and its potential as an indicator of coal oxidation

Mössbauer spectroscopy of three suites of oxidized coals shows that the transformation of pyrite to FeOOH correlates with other parameters of oxidation. As pyrite is very common in coals and the transformation to FeOOH is sensitive to small degrees of oxidation, the Mössbauer technique shows considerable promise as a means for the detection of coal oxidation.     

松辽盆地中部含油组层序地层格架及介形类特征的响应

综合利用地震、测井、录井、岩心及分析资料,采用层序地层学、古生物学分析方法建立了松辽盆地中部含油组合层序地层格架,查明了介形类演化对层序地层格架的响应。松辽盆地中部含油组合相当于青山口组二三段、姚家组和嫩江组一段地层,由6个三级层序构成,青山口组二三段相当于3个三级层序,姚家组一段、二三段和嫩江组一段分别相当于1个三级层序。不同层序及不同体系域介形类的特征具有明显的响应特征。     

A study of Late Pleistocene loess deposits,South Canterbury,New Zealand: Part II. Paleosols and their stratigraphic implications

Examination of loess columns in coastal South Canterbury, New Zealand, and the recognition of paleosols with comparable morphology to surface soils allowed the division of the loess column into six members. The upper loess members 1–4 are grouped into a proposed Dashing Rocks Formation. This commonly overlies an erosion surface on Timaru Basalt, but in some situations is underlain by loess member 5 and mixed loess and weathered basalt member 6. The paleosol developed on loess member 5, on both morphological and chemical evidence, is indicative of a period of soil formation of longer duration or greater intensity than is indicated by the overlying paleosols or surface soils. Therefore members 5 and 6 are grouped into a separate formation.A radiocarbon chronology for loess members 1 and 2 of the Dashing Rocks Formation, suggests loess accumulation phases from 9900 to 11,800 and prior to 31,000 radiocarbon yr BP, followed by periods of soil formation and contemporary peat development in surface depressions.A hypothesis is presented suggesting that at least loess members 1 and 2 of the Dashing Rocks Formation accumulated during periods of glacial recession which in turn precipitated fluvial and eolian erosion, transport and redeposition of fluvioglacial deposits. The periods of soil development indicated by the paleosols were initiated during warm interstadial conditions and continued throughout the cooling of the following stadial. Such an interpretation has its parallels in the northern hemisphere but is in slight disagreement with previous glacial and fluvioglacial chronologies accepted in New Zealand.     

松辽盆地北部西斜坡姚家组分层特征及其成因分析

根据录井、测井、岩芯等资料确定姚家组划分标志与分布情况,姚家组底界面为区域不整合面,姚一段和姚二、三段地层超覆于青二、三段地层之上,垂向上向西依次尖灭;姚一段分布范围较小,局限于研究区东侧,姚二、三段地层分布范围较大。在构造、湖平面变化、湖岸线位置、古地形和沉积体系物源供应的共同影响下,姚一段和姚二、三段沉积环境不同,所发育的沉积体系发生变化,并最终导致岩性和电性发生变化,形成分区,姚一段地层划分为分区特征明显的3个地层小区,姚二、三段地层划分为分区特征明显的4个地层小区。     

Fluid-pressure controlled soft-bed deformation sequence beneath the surging Breiðamerkurjökull (Iceland, Little Ice Age)

The general subject of this paper is subglacial deformation beneath Breiðamerkurjökull, a surging Icelandic glacier. More specifically it discusses the evolution and the role of fluid pressure on the behaviour of subglacial sediments during deformation. During Little Ice Age maximum, the two outcrops studied, North Jökulsarlon (N-Jk) and Brennhola-Alda (BA), were located at 2550 m and 550 m respectively from the front of the Breiðamerkurjökull. Sedimentological analysis at the forefield of the glacier shows thick, coarse glaciofluvial deposits interbedded with thin, fine-grained shallow lacustrine/swamp deposits, overlain by a deformed till unit at N-Jk. BA outcrop shows fine-grained shallow lacustrine/swamp deposits overlain by a deformed till unit. The sequence of deformation events from one outcrop to the other is similar. First, major thrust planes, which were rooted in shallow lacustrine/swamp deposits developed by glacially induced simple shear. Next, the thrusts were folded, indicating the deformation of hydroplastic sediment assisted by moderate fluid pressure. Then clastic dyke swarms crosscut the sedimentary succession, proving that fluid overpressure caused hydrofracturing associated with fluidisation. Finally, as water escaped from the glacier bed, fluid pressure dropped, and normal faulting occurred in brittle-state subglacial sediments. Fluid-pressure variations are related to glacier dynamics. They control the deformation sequence by modifying subglacial rheological behaviour and the nature of the subglacial tectonism.     

Type-II xenoliths and related metasomatism from the Nógrád-Gömör Volcanic Field, Carpathian-Pannonian region (northern Hungary–southern Slovakia)

Xenoliths from the upper mantle and lower crust are abundant in Plio–Pleistocene alkali basalts of the Nógrád-Gömör Volcanic Field (NGVF; northern Pannonian Basin, northern Hungary/southern Slovakia), representing a valuable ‘probe’ of lithospheric structures and processes. Ultramafic xenoliths have been divided into two groups: (1) Type-I, composed mostly of olivine with subsidiary orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and spinel, and (2) Type-II, containing mostly Al- and Ti-rich clinopyroxene with subordinate olivine, spinel and plagioclase. Both types often contain amphibole and, to a lesser extent, mica. The refractory character of Type-I xenoliths suggests they represent mantle depleted by prior episodes of partial melting. In contrast, Type-II series (wehrlites, olivine clinopyroxenites, clinopyroxenites and plagioclase-bearing ultramafic lithologies), on the basis of their textural features, thermobarometric histories and major and trace element variation, appear to have formed as magmatic cumulates. Petrologic and geochemical studies of Type-II xenoliths from Nógrád-Gömör suggest they crystallized from basaltic melts emplaced within the lithospheric mantle and lower crust, prior to the onset of Plio–Pleistocene volcanic activity. After their consolidation, metasomatic agents reacted with the anhydrous cumulate phases producing amphiboles and micas at the expense of olivine and clinopyroxene. The metasomatic agents appear to have been adakitic rather than basaltic in composition, possibly linked to a retreating arc–forearc system. Large-scale contamination of the lithospheric mantle can therefore be attributed to fluid and melt fractions related to subduction beneath the outer Carpathian arc.