http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114000929

Global sea-level has changed in a cyclic manner through geologic history, but the regularities of these changes are yet to be fully understood. Despite certain (and sometimes significant) differences, ...     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111001150

The Erlangmiao granite intrusion is located in the eastern part of the East Qinling Orogen.The granite contains almost 99 vol.％ felsic minerals with accessory garnet,muscovite,biotite,zircon,and Fe-Ti ...     

A review of the ～1600 Ma sedimentation, volcanism, and tectono-thermal events in the Singhbhum craton, Eastern India

The Palaeoproterozoic–Mesoproterozoic transition (～1600 Ma) is a significant event in the Earth history as a global thermal perturbation affected the pre-1600 Ma landmasses. Like other cratonic blocks of the world, lithospheric thinning, sedimentation, magmatism, metamorphism and crustal melting/anatexis are associated with this significant geological event in the Singhbhum cratonic province of India. This paper is a review of sedimentological, magmatic and tectono-thermal events in the Singhbhum craton at ～1600 Ma. The Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic sedimentation and volcanism in the Singhbhum craton took place in a terrestrial intracontinental rift setting. The available geochronological data are indicative of late Palaeoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic tectono-thermal events in the Chhotanagpur Granite Gneissic Complex (CGGC), an east–west trending arcuate belt of granite gneisses, migmatites and metasedimentary rocks. A detailed multidisciplinary geo-scientific investigation of the Dalma volcanic belt and the area to its north (Chandil Formation) and further north in CGGC will enable us to constrain the extant surface processes and crust-mantle interactions, the collision events between the North and South Indian cratonic blocks, and the position of India in the Columbia supercontinent.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987110000022

<正>The Early Cretaceous Hohhot metamorphic core complex(mcc) of the Daqing Shan(Mtns.) of central Inner Mongolia is among the best exposed and most spectacular of the spatially isolated mcc's that developed within the northern edge of the North China "craton".All of these mcc's were formed within the basement of a Late Paleozoic Andean-style arc and across older Mesozoic fold-and-thrust belts of variable age and tectonic vergence.The master Hohhot detachment fault roots southwards within the southern margin of the Daqing Shan for an along-strike distance of at least 120 km.Its geometry in the range to the north is complicated by interference patterns between(1) primary,large-scale NW-SE-trend-ing convex and concave fault corrugations and(2) secondary ENE-WSW-trending antiforms and synforms that folded the detachment in its late kinematic history.As in the Whipple Mtns.of California, the Hohhot master detachment is not of the Wernicke(1981) simple rooted type:instead,it was spawned from a mid-crustal shear zone,the top of which is preserved as a mylonitic front within Carboniferous metasedimentary rocks in its exhumed lower plate.~(40)Ar—~(39)Ar dating of siliceous volcanic rocks in basal sections of now isolated supradetachment basins suggest that crustal extension began at ca.127 Ma, although lower-plate mylonitic rocks were not exposed to erosion until after ca.119 Ma.Essentially synchronous cooling of hornblende,biotite.and muscovite in footwall mylonitic gneisses indicates very rapid exhumation and at ca.122—120 Ma.Contrary to several recent reports,the master detachment clearly cuts across and dismembers older,north-directed thrust sheets of the Daqing Shan foreland fold-and-thrust belt.Folded and thrust-faulted basalts within its foredeep strata are as young as 132.6±2.4 Ma,thus defining within 5—6 Ma the regional tectonic transition between crustal contraction and profound crustal extension.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111000570

Mid-Cretaceous strata within the Tintina Trench.3 km west of the community of Ross River, contain evidence of deposition in two distinct,alternating,fluvial settings.Coal-bearing,mud-dominated strata are commonly associated with high-constructive sandy channel systems,with extensive overbank. levee and splay deposits.Channels are between 3 and 30 m wide and 0.4-7 m thick.They show repetitive development of side and in-channel bar-forms,as well as up-channel widening of the rivers by selective erosion of associated overbank and levee deposits.Levees extended for several hundred metres away from the channels.In this setting low-angle inclined stratification and epsilon cross stratification may reflect lateral migration of crevasse channels or small streams.The paucity of exposure prevents recognition of the channels as products of multiple channel anastomosed systems or single channel high-constructive systems. Gravel-dominated strata,inter-bedded with,and overlying coal-bearing units,are interpreted as deposits of wandering gravel-bed rivers,with sinuosity approaching 1.4.In most exposures they appear to be dominated by massive and thin planar-bedded granule to small pebble conglomerates,which would traditionally be interpreted as sheet-flood or longitudinal bar deposits of a high-gradient braided stream or alluvial fan.Architectural analysis of exposures in an open-pit shows that the predominance of flat bedding is an artefact of the geometry of the roadside exposures.In the pit the conglomerates are dominated by large scale cross stratification on a scale of 1-5.5 m.These appear to have developed as downstream and lateral accretion elements on side-bars and on in-channel bars in water depths of 2-12 m.Stacking of strata on domed 3rd order surfaces suggests development of longitudinal in-channel bar complexes similar to those observed in parts of the modern Rhone River system.Mudstone preserved in some of the channels reflects intervals of channel abandonment or avulsion.Minimum channel width is from 70 to 450 m.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111000867

By applying the ‘theory of synchronization’ from the science of complexity to studying the regional regularity of ore formation within the Nanling region of South China, a characteristic target-pattern regional ore zonality has been discovered. During the early and late Yanshanian epoch (corresponding respectively to the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods), two centers of ore formation emerged successively in the Nanling region; the former is mainly for rare metals (W, Sn, Mo, Bi, Nb) and one rareearth element (La) and was generated in the Jurassic period; whereas the latter is mainly for base metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Sb, Hg), noble metals (Au, Ag), and one radioactive element (U) and was generated in the Cretaceous period. Centers of ore formation were brought about by interface dynamics respectively at the Qitianling and Jiuyishan districts in southern Hunan Province. The characteristic giant nonlinear targetpattern regional ore zonality was generated respectively from the two centers of ore formation by the spatio-temporal synchronization process of the Nanling complex metallogenic system. It induced the collective dynamics and cooperative behavior of the system and displayed the configuration of the regional ore zonality. Then dynamical clustering transformed the configuration into rudimentary ordered coherent structures. Phase dynamics eventually defined the spatio-temporal structures of the target-pattern regional ore zonality and determined their localization and distribution. The integral successive processes of synchronization-dynamical clustering-phase dynamics accomplished the regional ore zonality by way of “multiple field dynamics” of spatio-temporal superposition of multiple coupled pulsatory solitary wave trains of the zonal sequences of different ores. A new methodology for revealing regional ore zonality is developed, which will encourage further investigation of the formation of deep-seated ore resources and the onset of large-scale mineralization.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112000035

The well SK-I in the Songliao Basin is the first scientific borehole targeting the continental Cretaceous strata in China.Oval concretions,thin laminae and beds of dolostone are found intercalated within mudstone and organic-rich black shale in the Nenjiang Formation of Campanian age.Low ordered ferruginous dolomite is composed of euhedral-subhedral rhombs with cloudy nucleus and light rims formed during the diagenesis.which are typical features of replacement.The heavy carbon isotopes (δ¹³C_PDB-1.16-16.0) are results of both the fermentation of organic matter by microbes and degassing of carbon dioxide during the period of diagenesis,and the presence of light oxygen isotopes(δ¹⁸O_Pdb- 18.53～-5.1) is a characteristic feature of fresh water influence which means the carbonate may have been altered by ground water or rainwater in the late diagenesis.Marine water incursions into the normally lacustrine basin have been proved by both the salinity of Z value and the occurrence of foraminifera in the same strata where dolomite occurs.Pyrite framboids observed by SEM are usually enclosed in the dolomite crystals or in the mudstones,supporting the sulfate reducing bacteria（SRB）.The formation of both dolomite and pyrite are associated with marine water incursions,which not only supply magnesium ion for dolomite,but also result in limited carbonate precipitation in the basin.The presence of pyrite tramboids indicates the development of an anoxic environment associated with salinity stratification in the lake.The dolomite in the Nenjiang Formation is the results of marine water incursions,diagenetic replacement of calcareous carbonate and sulfate reducing bacteria（SRB）.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987113001072

The late Permian Emeishan large igneous province(ELIP) covers ~0.3 x 106 km2 of the western margin of the Yangtze Block and Tibetan Plateau with displaced,correlative units in northern Vietnam(Song Da zone).The ELIP is of particular interest because it contains numerous world-class base metal deposits and is contemporaneous with the late Capitanian(~260 Ma) mass extinction.The flood basalts are the signature feature of the ELIP but there are also ultramafic and silicic volcanic rocks and layered maficultramafic and silicic plutonic rocks exposed.The ELIP is divided into three nearly concentric zones(i.e.inner,middle and outer) which correspond to progressively thicker crust from the inner to the outer zone.The eruptive age of the ELIP is constrained by geological,paleomagnetic and geochronological evidence to an interval of 3 Ma.The presence of picritic rocks and thick piles of flood basalts testifies to high temperature thermal regime however there is uncertainty as to whether these magmas were derived from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle or sub-lithospheric mantle(i.e.asthenosphere or mantle plume) sources or both.The range of Sr(I_(Sr) = 0.7040-0.7132),Nd(ε_(Nd)(t) ≈-14 to +8),Pb(~(206)Pb/~(204)Pb_1≈ 17.9-20.6) and Os(γ_(Os) =-5 to +11) isotope values of the ultramafic and mafic rocks does not permit a conclusive answer to ultimate source origin of the primitive rocks but it is clear that some rocks were affected by crustal contamination and the presence of near-depleted isotope compositions suggests that there is a sub-lithospheric mantle component in the system.The silicic rocks are derived by basaltic magmas/rocks through fractional crystallization or partial melting,crustal melting or by interactions between mafic and crustal melts.The formation of the Fe-Ti-V oxide-ore deposits is probably due to a combination of fractional crystallization of Ti-rich basalt and fluxing of C02-rich fluids whereas the Ni-Cu-(PGE) deposits are related to crystallization and crustal contamination of mafic or ultramafic magmas with subsequent segregation of a sulphide-rich portion.The ELIP is considered to be a mantle plume-derived LIP however the primary evidence for such a model is less convincing(e.g.uplift and geochemistry) and is far more complicated than previously suggested but is likely to be derived from a relatively short-lived,plume-like upwelling of mantle-derived magmas.The emplacement of the ELIP may have adversely affected the short-term environmental conditions and contributed to the decline in biota during the late Capitanian.     

Supercontinent tectonics and biogeochemical cycle： A matter of ‘life and death＇

<正>The formation and disruption of supercontinents have significantly impacted mantle dynamics,solid earth processes,surface environments and the biogeochemical cycle.In the early history of the Earth,the collision of parallel intra-oceanic arcs was an important process in building embryonic continents.Superdownwelling along Y-shaped triple junctions might have been one of the important processes that aided in the rapid assembly of continental fragments into closely packed supercontinents. Various models have been proposed for the fragmentation of supercontinents including thermal blanket and superplume hypotheses.The reassembly of supercontinents after breakup and the ocean closure occurs through "introversion","extroversion" or a combination of both,and is characterized by either Pacific-type or Atlantic-type ocean closure.The breakup of supercontinents and development of hydrothermal system in rifts with granitic basement create anomalous chemical environments enriched in nutrients, which serve as the primary building blocks of the skeleton and bone of early modern life forms. A typical example is the rifting of the Rodinia supercontinent,which opened up an N—S oriented sea way along which nutrient enriched upwelling brought about a habitable geochemical environment.The assembly of supercontinents also had significant impact on life evolution.The role played by the Cambrian Gondwana assembly has been emphasized in many models,including the formation of 'Trans-gondwana Mountains' that might have provided an effective source of rich nutrients to the equatorial waters,thus aiding the rapid increase in biodiversity.The planet has witnessed several mass extinction events during its history,mostly connected with major climatic fluctuations including global cooling and warming events,major glaciations,fluctuations in sea level,global anoxia,volcanic eruptions, asteroid impacts and gamma radiation.Some recent models speculate a relationship between superplumes,supercontinent breakup and mass extinction.Upwelling plumes cause continental rifting and formation of large igneous provinces.Subsequent volcanic emissions and resultant plume-induced "winter" have catastrophic effect on the atmosphere that lead to mass extinctions and long term oceanic anoxia.The assembly and dispersal of continents appear to have influenced the biogeochemical cycle,but whether the individual stages of organic evolution and extinction on the planet are closely linked to Solid Earth processes remains to be investigated.