Sand veins and MISS from the Mesoproterozoic black shale (ca. 1.7 Ga) in North China: Implication for methane degassing from microbial mats

The Mesoproterozoic Chuanlinggou Formation (ca. 1.7 Ga) consists mainly of dark-gray to black shales that are widespread in the North China Platform. Abundant centimeter-scale sand veins are present within the shale layers of this unit, particularly in the middle part. Sand veins display ptygmatic shapes, perpendicular or with a high angle to bedding planes. They penetrate the black shale layers but are often terminated by thin, lenticular sandstone beds, forming small-scale ‘tepee-like’ structures. On bedding planes, sand veins are expressed as small ridges with 1–3 mm positive relief. Lack of polygonal shapes and their occurrence in thinly laminated, relatively deep-water shales preclude an origin from sand-filled desiccation cracks. Instead, their close association with microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS) such as micro-wrinkles and gas blisters, putative bacterial fossils (possibly coccoidal cyanobacteria) and framboidal pyrites, suggests that they were formed by degassing of methane from microbial mat decay. Methane gas disrupted overlying sedimentary layers, creating fractures open to seawater. Fine-grained quartz sands, which were transported into the depositional environment by strong winds, filled the fractures. Sand-filled fractures were shortened and folded during burial compaction, forming ptygmatic shapes. The presence of dispersed dolomite and siderite in these sand veins suggests authigenic carbonate precipitation from anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). Sand veins are intensely distributed within the Chuanlinggou Formation and are spatially widespread in the North China Platform. If their methane origin is confirmed, they may have important implications for the Mesoproterozoic paleoclimate. With anoxic oceans and low seawater sulfate concentration during the Mesoproterozoic, methane release from microbial mat decay and/or microbial methanogenesis during shallow burial may have been proportionally higher than that of the modern marine environments, with resultant increase in the relative importance of methane in maintaining the Mesoproterozoic greenhouse climate.     

Re-Os and Nd isotopes of black shales at the bottom of the Lower Cambrian from the northern Tarim Platform and their comparison with those from the Yangtze Platform

This paper reports Re-Os and Nd isotopes of black shales at the bottom of Lower Cambrian from the northern Tarim Basin and traces source materials of the black shales through isotopes. The average Re/Os, 187Re/188Os, and 187Os/188Os ratios of the black shales at the bottom of Lower Cambrian from the Tarim Basin are 7.18, 5.6438, and 1.9616, respectively. These isotopic ratios suggest the crustal sources of the black shales. The εNd(0) value is -13.17, the εNd(540 Ma) value is -7.32 and the Nd model ages are 1.535 Ga. These parameters in the black shales are quite consistent with those from the basement rocks. Based on the Re-Os and Nd isotopic characteristics of the black shales, we conclude that the continental crust mainly composed of basement rocks is the source material of the black shales. Through comparison of these isotopic parameters with those from the Yangtze Platform, it is clear that the Re-Os isotopic characteristics in the black shales from the Tarim and Yangtze platforms are quite different, which maybe indicates the differences in depositional settings between two platforms. These Re-Os isotopic data provide us with constraints to analyze the genetic relation between the two platforms.     

Hydrocarbon generation characteristics and exploration prospects of Proterozoic source rocks in China

A large number of primary oil and gas reservoirs have been discovered in Proterozoic strata all over the globe.Proterozoic sequences are widely distributed in China, and the discovery of large Sinian-aged gas reservoirs in the Sichuan Basin and Mesoproterozoic liquid oil seepages in North China shows that attention should be paid to the exploration potential of Proterozoic strata. In this paper, the main controlling factors of Proterozoic source rocks are discussed. Principally, active atmospheric circulation and astronomical cycles may have driven intense upwelling and runoff to provide nutrients; oxygenated oceanic surface waters could have provided suitable environments for the organisms to thrive; volcanic activity and terrestrial weathering caused by continental break-up would have injected large amounts of nutrients into the ocean, leading to persistent blooms of marine organisms; and extensive anoxic deep waters may have created ideal conditions for the preservation of organic matter. Additionally, the appearance of eukaryotes resulted in diversified hydrocarbon parent material, which effectively improved the generation potential for oil and gas. Through the comparison of Formations across different cratons, seven sets of Proterozoic organic-rich source rocks have been recognized in China, which mainly developed during interglacial periods and are also comparable worldwide. The Hongshuizhuang and Xiamaling Formations in North China have already been identified previously as Mesoproterozoic source rocks. The early Proterozoic Changchengian System is highly promising as a potential source rock in the Ordos Basin. In the Upper Yangtze area, the Neoproterozoic Datangpo and Doushantuo Formations are extensively distributed, and represent the major source rocks for Sinian gas reservoirs in the Sichuan Basin. Moreover, the Nanhuan System may contain abundant shales with high organic matter contents in the Tarim Basin, although this possibility still needs to be verified. Indeed, all three cratons may contain source rocks of Proterozoic strata; thus, these strata represent major exploration targets worthy of great attention.     

Upper Ordovician continuous lithological succession in outer‐shelf facies,Yangtze Platform,South China: Facies changes and oceanographic reconstruction up to the Late Ordovician Hirnantian glaciation

Ordovician sequences at Huanghuachang, northern Yichang City of Hubei Province, Central China, are representative of an outer‐shelf setting of the Yangtze epicontinental sea, South China Block. Continuous drill cores of the Well Yihuang 1 penetrated the Upper Ordovician units of the Miaopo, Pagoda, Linhsiang, Wufeng, and Kuanyinchiao Formations in ascending order. Such a continuous succession gives valuable insights into environmental changes and an extinction event through Late Ordovician time. Results suggest that sluggish circulation and oligotrophic conditions were characteristic of the region from Sandbian to early Hirnantian Epochs of the Late Ordovician. Thin‐bedded limestones within the Miaopo Formation shales and nodular limestones of the Pagoda and Linhsiang Formations are mainly wackestones and mudstones with sparse and fine‐grained trilobite, cephalopod, gastropod, ostracod, and crinoid bioclasts with rare brachiopod and bivalve bioclasts, further showing gradual decreasing in abundance and grain size upwards through the succession. Such biological and lithological changes are interpreted as a trend towards a deeper and calmer seafloor below storm wave‐base. The Kwangsian Orogeny of the late Katian Epoch altered the geography of the region, creating a large embayment in the area of the Well Yihuang 1 core. Thus the sequence developed upwards to the Wufeng Formation graptolitic black shales consistent with formation in a dysoxic and stagnant embayment that excluded carbonate production and benthic biota, but ideal for preservation of planktic graptolite fossils. Bioclastic packstone and quartz grain lenses interlayered with the black shales are occasionally sourced from southeastward shallow submarine highs closed to the Cathaysian Land. Change from this interpreted sluggish ocean circulation affecting the ocean floor was delayed to the early Hirnantian Epoch, when active circulation is related to the onset of the latest Ordovician glaciation which resulted in an oxygenated ocean floor during regression, favorable for the thriving shelly Hirnantia Fauna.     

On the applicability of oil shale to palaeomagnetic investigations

Samples of oil shales of Autunian age from the Krkono e (Riesengebirge) Piedmont basin, northern Bohemia, which represent rocks with fossil micro-organic matter in the initial stage of carbonification, were subjected to palaeomagnetic investigations. The palaeomagnetic data obtained from these rocks are fully in accordance with those derived previously on rocks of the red-bed facies in the same area. Preliminary results obtained on Lower Carboniferous coal-bearing shales collected from the Upper Silesian basin, Ostrava-Karviná region, indicate also that these rocks, characterized by a higher degree of carbonification, are suitable for palaeomagnetic investigations. These results with those of laboratory carbonification indicate that such rocks as bituminous rocks, black shales, oil shales, coal-bearing shales or generally rocks containing micro-organic matter at different stages of natural carbonification are worthy of being studied palaeomagnetically.     

Organic carbon isotopes of the Sinian and Early Cambrian black shales on Yangtze Platform, China

Organic matter of the Sinian and early Cambrian black shales on the Yangtze Platform belongs to the light carhon group of isotopes with the δ¹³C values from - 27% to - 35 %, which are lower than those of the contempomneously deposited carbonates and phosphorites. A carbon isotope-stratified paleooceanographic model caused by upwelling is proposed, which can be used not only to interpret the characteristies of organic carbon isotopic compositions of the black shales, but also to interpret the paleogeographic difference in the organic carbon isotope compositions of various types of sedimentary rocks. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 49472114) and the Open Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences.     

Geochemical characteristics of the metapelites from the Xingxingxia group in the Eastern Segment of the Central Tianshan: Implications for the provenance and paleoweathering

Clastic sedimentary rocks record a number of in-formation about the compositions and paleoweathering conditions of the source areas, and the tectonic setting of the depositional basin[1―6]. The traditionallypetrological study commonly utilizes the major com-ponents (Quartz, Feldspar and Lithics) of the silici-clastic sedimentary rocks to investigate the source rock composition and tectonic setting[7]. However, thepetrological method is somewhat limited, because many of the mafic components f…     

Elastic constants and velocity surfaces of indurated anisotropic shales

The velocities of two Devonian-Mississippian shales have been measured to confining pressures of 200 MPa in a laboratory study of anisotropy and wave propagation. Both samples were found to be transversely isotropic at elevated pressures with the main symmetry axis perpendicular to bedding. The elastic constants of the shales were used to calculate phase and group velocity surfaces as a function of angle to the bedding normal. Multiple velocity measurements in non-symmetry directions, not undertaken in previously published studies of shales, have been used to confirm features observed on calculated velocity surfaces. It is demonstrated that velocities measured in non-symmetry directions are phase velocities. Group velocities were found to be significantly lower than the corresponding phase velocities of the shales due to their high anisotropies. Shear wave splitting was found to be negligible for propagation directions within approximately 30° of the bedding normals.     

Diagenesis of Neogene diatoms and their importance as a source of petroleum in Japan

Abstract Various siliceous rocks are found in the Ohdoji, Akaishi and Maido Formations from the western Aomori basin, and the Yotsuzawa and Wadagawa Formations from the eastern Aomori basin of northern Honshu, Japan. These rocks are classified into diatomite, siliceous shale and chert.
Diatomite is composed of abundant amorphous silica and has porosity between 50 and 65%. Siliceous shale is composed of a large amount of quartz, and has porosity ranging from 25 to 35%. Chert is chiefly composed of cristobalite or quartz, and has porosity between 20 to 30%.
Average contents of total organic carbon, S₁ and S₂ generally increase from argillaceous rocks → diatomites → siliceous shales → cherts. Maturation of organic matter in these rocks is generally lower than that in average source rocks. Diatoms, which appeared in the late Cretaceous and became increasingly important in the Miocene, are the principal primary producers of organic matter in the marine environment during the Cenozoic. Excellent organic components and higher biological productivity show that diatoms might be the most important source of petroleum during the Neogene in Japan.
Proteins, carbohydrates and lipids in diatoms have been transformed into fulvic acids, humic acids and humin by polycondensation and polymerization. Later, these humin materials could be changed into insoluble kerogen under the effect of mild temperature and pressure. A part of the lipids would transform to geochemical fossils (biomarkers). Amorphous silica in cells of diatoms would change to low-cristobalite and low-quartz by the increase of geothermal temperature.     

Constraints on Upward Migration of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid and Brine

Recent increases in the use of hydraulic fracturing (HF) to aid extraction of oil and gas from black shales have raised concerns regarding potential environmental effects associated with predictions of upward migration of HF fluid and brine. Some recent studies have suggested that such upward migration can be large and that timescales for migration can be as short as a few years. In this article, we discuss the physical constraints on upward fluid migration from black shales (e.g., the Marcellus, Bakken, and Eagle Ford) to shallow aquifers, taking into account the potential changes to the subsurface brought about by HF. Our review of the literature indicates that HF affects a very limited portion of the entire thickness of the overlying bedrock and therefore, is unable to create direct hydraulic communication between black shales and shallow aquifers via induced fractures. As a result, upward migration of HF fluid and brine is controlled by preexisting hydraulic gradients and bedrock permeability. We show that in cases where there is an upward gradient, permeability is low, upward flow rates are low, and mean travel times are long (often >10⁶ years). Consequently, the recently proposed rapid upward migration of brine and HF fluid, predicted to occur as a result of increased HF activity, does not appear to be physically plausible. Unrealistically high estimates of upward flow are the result of invalid assumptions about HF and the hydrogeology of sedimentary basins.     

Paleomagnetic age and palaeobiological significance of hominoid fossil strata of Yuanmou Basin in Yunnan

The Yuanmou area in Yunnan Province is a fa-mous place for origin of mankind. Qian Fang et al. found tooth fossils of Yuanmou man in Shangnabang Village of Yuanmou in 1965. Jiang Nengren et al. identified the hominoid teeth from animal fossils un-earthed near Zhupeng Village in the Xiaohe Basin which were delivered by the local peasants. Hominoid fossils were also found in Leilao Village of Yuanmou afterward. These great discoveries have aroused ex-tensive concern in academic circle[1,2…     

The growth of the continent through geological time studied by Nd isotope analysis of shales

We determined the Nd isotopic composition and the Sm/Nd ratios in a series of Australian shales ranging from 0.2 Gy to 3.3 Gy. The first result of this study is the constancy of the Sm/Nd ratio in these shales, as in granitoids. Secondly, the initial (¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd) ratio gives a regular curve decreasing through geological time. Both results confirm that shales are representative samples of the continental crust, when insoluble elements, like REE, are studied.We calculated their Nd model ages of crustal differentiation. The model ages regularly decrease with the stratigraphic ages and after 2 Gy, the curve flattens and tends to an asymptotic value at around 1.8 Gy. The significance of the shales is that they represent a mixture of continental materials and we consider the model age of such a mixture directly linked with the mean age of the continental portion feeding the sedimentary basin.From these results, we deduce a quantitative model of the growth curve of the continental source of the shales taking into account the effects of erosion which selectively sample recent mountains relative to shield areas. We propose that the results obtained here are representative of the whole Gondwana continent.Having studied the case of the Australian shales, we try to extend our study. First we applied our quantitative approach to the recent results obtained by O'Nions et al. on North Atlantic provinces. The continental growth curves obtained by our inversion procedure are quite distinct from the Australian shales showing the regional character of shales.With these two cases studied we try to compare our results with the already developed model for continental growth. The consideration of the surface conservative versus surface non-conservative models clearly show the non-uniqueness of the geological interpretation of the growth curve. On the other hand, we have calculated for each case the recycling rate versus geological time by comparing the growth curve with the Hurley-Rand province age curve. Such recycling increases with time in agreement with the data obtained on Nd and Sr initial ratios on granitoids.     

Genetic interpretation of fish swimming trails and calculation of fish-body length in Late Triassic Hengshan, Shannxi Province, China

The fish swimming trail fossils are rare and, therefore, precious. The specimen described abroad are generally smaller or more poorly preserved. The specimens used in the present study and derived from the Mesozoic strata in Hengshan County, Shaanxi Province, China, are rare because of their completeness (with the length of the specimen reaching 4 m), exquisiteness and largeness in trace body. These specimens, classified as four ichnospecies, including two new ones, show the morphological pattern of the fish swimming trails. The trace fish bodies are calculated to be 32-92 cm long.     

基于时频电磁法的富有机质页岩层系勘探研究

我国地质条件复杂、多样,能否充分发挥出非地震勘探技术成本低、效率高的技术优势,检验电法勘探技术在页岩气勘探中的有效性,是当前在页岩气勘探起步阶段亟待解决的重要问题之一.本文介绍了在研究和总结含气页岩密度、极化率、电阻率等岩石物理特征基础上,在四川盆地南部筠连地区开展的物性调查、时频电磁法勘探试验工作.勘探研究结果表明,本地区分布的富有机质页岩层系-志留系龙马溪组(S1l)具备开展电法勘探工作的物性条件,时频电磁法具有勘探富有机质页岩层系的能力.     

Earthquake event deposits in Mesoproterozoic Kunyang Group in central Yunnan Province and its geological implications

Earthquake and its resultant tsunami, as a kind of disaster events in geological history, may be recorded as event deposits of seismite and tsunamite. Typical characteristics of seismite and tsunamite, including seismo-fracture bed, synsedimentary microfracture, micro-corrugated lamination, molar tooth structure, hummocky bedding, occurs in Mesoproterozoic Dalongkou Formation of Kunyang Group in central Yunnan Province. Three types of sedimentary units have been recognized: seismite (unit-A, including limestone with molar tooth structure, seismic shattering rock, seismic corrugated rock, autoclastic breccia and intraclastic parabreccia), tsunamite (unit-B, intraclastic limestone with hummocky or parallel beddings) and background deposits (unit-C). Various stackings of these units construct three distinct sedimentary sequences: A-B-C, A-C and B-C. A-B-C represents an event sedimentary sequence of earthquake-tsunami-background deposits, A-C represents the sequence of earthquake and background deposits (no tsunami occurring), and B-C represents the sequence of tsunami and background deposits (far from the center of earthquake). As the central Yunnan Province was located in a tectonic setting of rift basin in Mesoproterozoic Era, the earthquake event deposits of the Dalongkou Formation are sedimentary response to tectonic activity of the rift basin.     

Stage-progressive distribution pattern of the Lungmachi black graptolitic shales from Guizhou to Chongqing,Central China

The Lungmachi Formation is widely distributed in Guizhou, Chongqing and the adjacent area. It is important for the study of Silurian biostratigraphy and shale-gas investigation. Based on those biostratigraphically well-studied sections from Guiyang to Huayingshan, we reveal the stage-progressive distribution pattern of the Lungmachi black shales. The distribution of the Lungmachi black shales in the studying area can be subdivided into four geographic belts from the south to the north,reflecting the joint effect of regional and global environmental changes. The graptolite depth zonation model was adopted herein to infer the water depth of major graptolite assemblages from the black shales. The changes in the water depth indicate two major stages. The first stage is named the transgressive distribution stage which ranged from the Persculptograptus persculptus Biozone(LM1, upper Hirnantian) to the Coronograptus cyphus Biozone(LM5, upper Rhuddanian), an interval mostly controlled by global sea-level rise. The second stage, ranging from the Demirastrites triangulatus Biozone(LM6, lower Aeronian) to the Spirograptus guerichi Biozone(LM9, lower Telychian), is named the regressive shrinking stage, during which the black shales were gradually replaced by mixed-facies or carbonate sediments from the south to the north, representing the effects of the persistent uplifting of the Central Guizhou Oldland.     

Zircon U-Pb geochronology of tuffite beds in the Baishugou Formation: Constraints on the revision of Ectasian System at the southern margin of the North China Craton

Science China Earth Sciences - The Xiamaling Formation of 1.4–1.35 Ga in Jixian Section and adjoining areas represents a unique Ectasian Period (Mesoproterozoic) sedimentary sequence in the...     

Geological age of the Yokawa Formation of the Kobe Group (Japan) on the basis of terrestrial mammalian fossils

Abstract   The age of the Yokawa Formation of the Cenozoic Kobe Group distributed in Hyogo Prefecture of western Japan based on mammalian fossils is discussed. Two fossil dental specimens of terrestrial mammals discovered from the lowest part of the Yokawa Formation in the Sanda area are described. These two fossils described here are: (i) a right mandibular fragment with p2–m3 of Bothriodon sandaensis sp. nov. (selenodont anthracotheriid artiodactyl), which appears to be the most primitive among the species of the genus; and (ii) right m1–m3 of cf. Hyrachyus sp. (primitive rhinocerotoid perissodactyl). In the lower part of the Yokawa Formation, Zaisanamynodon (amynodontid perissodactyl) was previously reported. The morphology ('evolutionary stage') of B. sandaensis is indicative of the latest Middle to Late Eocene, that of cf. Hyrachyus sp. is indicative of the Early to Middle Eocene, and Zaisanamynodon is indicative of the Late Middle to Late Eocene. Therefore, the fossil mammals of the Yokawa Formation indicate an latest Middle Eocene ( ca . 38 Ma) correlation for the lower part of the formation, as a working hypothesis. Although the resolution of the geological age based on these mammalian fossils is relatively low compared to that based on marine index fossils, this result is concordant with the recent radiometric correlation of the lower part of the Yokawa Formation in the Sanda area.     

Subdivision and age of the Yanchang Formation and the Middle/Upper Triassic boundary in Ordos Basin,North China

The Yanchang Formation is extensively developed in the Ordos Basin and its surrounding regions. As one of the best terrestrial Triassic sequences in China and the major oil-gas bearing formations in the Ordos Basin, its age determination and stratigraphic assignment are important in geological survey and oil-gas exploration. It had been attributed to the Late Triassic and regarded as the typical representative of the Upper Triassic in northern China for a long time, although some scholars had already proposed that the lower part of this formation should be of the Middle Triassic age in the mid-late 20th century. In this paper, we suggest that the lower and middle parts of the Yanchang Formation should be of the Ladinian and the bottom possibly belongs to the late Anisian of the Middle Triassic, mainly based on new fossils found in it and high resolution radiometric dating results. The main source rocks, namely the oil shales and mudstones of the Chang-7, are of the Ladinian Age. The upper part of the Yanchang Formation, namely the Chang-6 and the above parts, belongs to the Late Triassic. The uppermost of the Triassic is missed in most parts of the Ordos Basin. The Middle-Upper Triassic Series boundary lies in the Yanchang Formation, equivalent to the boundary between Chang-7 and Chang-6. The Ladinian is an important palaeoenvironmental turning point in the Ordos Basin. Palaeoenvironmental changes in the basin are coincidence with that of the Sichuan Basin and the main tectonic movement of the Qinling Mountains. It indicates that tectonic activities of the Qinling Mountains are related to the big palaeoenvironmental changes in both the Ordos and Sichuan Basins, which are caused by the same structural dynamic system during the Ladinian.