Geochemistry and Tectonic Significance of Alkali Granites along the Ulungur River,Xinjiang

In North Xinjiang there is an alkali granite belt extending in the NW-SE direction along the southern band of the Ulungur River and running parallel to the suture zone,i.e.,Aermantai-Zhaheba Ophiolitic Melange Zone ,between the Junggar Plate and the Altay Orogenic Belt.Whole -rock Rb-Sr isochron ages of the Ulungur alkali granites are within the range of 292-309Ma, showing that they were genetically connected with the latest episode of Hercynian magmatism subsequent to the syncollision S-type and post-collision uplifting I-type granitoids in the Altay region .The alkali granites are miner-alogically characterized by the occurrence of aegirine and arfvedsonite and chemically by high silicon and alkali,low calcium and magnesium and abundant high-field elements, being typical A-type granites .The alkali granites were formed in the final stage of the Hercynian calc-alkaline magmatic cycle in a very short period of time .They are in line with the post-orogenic A-type(PA-type)granites, implying that the tectonic regime was changed from compression to extension.     

A New Family of Galeaspids (Jawless Stem-Gnathostomata) from the Early Silurian of Chongqing, Southwestern China

A new genus and species of agnathan Eugaleaspidiformes (Galeaspida), Yongdongaspis littoralis gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Llandovery (lower Silurian) Huixingshao Formation at Yongdong Town, Xiushan County, Chongqing, southwestern China. This new Telychian taxon morphologically exhibits some transitional states between Sinogaleaspidae and a cluster of higher eugaleaspidiforms containing Tridensaspidae, Eugaleaspidae, Yunnanogaleaspis, and Nochelaspis, which we term here as the ‘eugaleaspid cluster’. Phylogenetic analysis of an extended character matrix of Galeaspida reveals Yongdongaspis, on which Yongdongaspidae fam. nov. is erected, as the sister taxon of this ‘eugaleaspid cluster’, supported by two synapomorphies, the presence of one median transverse canal, and two lateral transverse canals leaving from the infraorbital canal. As the first fish described from the Llandovery Huixingshao Formation in Chongqing, Yongdongaspis provides new fossil evidence for the subdivision and correlation of the Upper Red Beds in South China.     

Paliurus (Paliureae,Rhamnaceae) from the Miocene of East China and its Macrofossil-based Phylogenetic and Phytogeographical History

The extant genus Paliurus Miller is divided into P. ramosissimus and P. spina-christi groups and is diagnostically characterized by distinctive orbicular-winged fruits with a trilocular （or often bilocular） ovary and basally triveined leaves with a subentire to serrate margin. Here, structurally preserved winged fruits and associated compressed leaves of Paliurus （Paliureae, Rhamnaceae） are reported from the Middle-Upper Miocene Shengxian Formation of Tiantai, Zhejiang, eastern China. The fruits can be identified as Paliurus microcarpa Xiang-Chuan Lisp. nov., the diagnostic characters of external morphology and anatomy of which differ from those of both extant and fossil generic members; the leaves can be designated as Paliurus sp. The species based on winged fruits, P. microcarpa, might represent an ancient intermediate link exclusively known across the P. ramosissimus and P. spina-christi groups, showing a closer affinity to the P. ramosissimus group based on the resemblant smaller fruits with a narrower wing, and to the P. spina-christi group based on the similar wing structure and texture, respectively. Morphological analyses of the present and previous fossil fruit records around the world indicate that diversification of Paliurus had begun in northern transpacific regions by the Late Eocene. The macrofossil records, i.e., fruits and leaves of Paliurus globally when projected on paleoenvironmental maps in view of changing continental positions through time （from Eocene to Miocene） display that the past distribution of the genus was much wider than the present and belongs to a tropical and warm temperate realm of the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, the modern restricted disjunction in tropical and warm temperate regions of East Asia and South Europe （even eastwards West Asia） might represent glacial refugia for some of the generic ancient lineages to survive severe cold at least since the terminal Pliocene.     

Tooth Plates of Ceratodus (Dipnoi, Ceratodontidae) from the Upper Jurassic Shaximiao Formation of Guang’an, Sichuan Province, China

Ceratodus is a form genus of ceratodontid lungfishes. Until now, only 14 specimens have been reported from the Mesozoic of China. Detailed measurements and characteristic comparisons based on 15 well-preserved lungfish tooth plates of Ceratodus type, uncovered from the upper member of the Upper Jurassic Shaximiao Formation at Luojiashan, Qianfeng District, Guang''an, Sichuan Province in 2019, allow us to establish a new species, Ceratodus guanganensis sp. nov., on the basis of its small swollen irregular triangular tooth plate with four low and swollen radial crests on the occlusal surface without denticles. Other specimens from the same locality can be referred to C. szechuanensis and C. youngi. This is the first discovery of Ceratodus in the Guang''an region and represents the fifth Ceratodus fossil site in the Sichuan Basin. The discovery indicates that the climate was hot and arid in the Sichuan Basin during the Late Jurassic, and reveals a tectonic paleogeographic relationship between the Yangtze block in southwestern China and the Kola Basin in northern Thailand.     

西北气候环境转型信号在新疆河川径流变化中的反映

对新疆不同区域、不同补给类型的26条河流年平均径流量变化趋势分析研究,结果显示:大多数河流年径流量从1987年起出现增加趋势,天山山区增加尤其明显,其它地区有不同程度的增加,昆仑山北坡略微有减少.从径流变化来分析,天山山区的气候变化已出现由暖干向暖湿转型的信号,其它地区也正处在转型过程中.     

The First Stegosaur （Dinosauria, Ornithischia） from the Upper Jurassic Shishugou Formation of Xinjiang, China

A new stegosaur species, Jiangjunosaurus junggarensis, gen. et sp. nov., is erected based on a specimen collected from the Upper Jurassic upper section of the Shishugou Formation in the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China. It represents the first stegosaur from the Jurassic of Xinjiang and increases the diversity of the dinosaur fauna in the Shishugou Formation. The new genus is characterized by symmetrical and proportionally wide tooth crowns, a sub-rectangular axial neural spine seen in lateral view, and large openings on the lateral surfaces of the cervical centra. A preliminary character analysis suggests that this new taxon is more derived than the Middle Jurassic stegosaur Huayangosaurus but more primitive than most other known stegosaur species.     

New Discovery of Hipparion theobaldi Skull from the Late Miocene of Padhri, District Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan and Associated Mammalian Fossil Assemblage

A fossil-bearing locality near Padhri village, Dhok Pathan, 55 km away from the tehsil Dina, Jhelum District, in the Potwar Plateau, Middle Siwaliks, Punjab, northern Pakistan, is significantly rich in mammalian fossils. This site has provided an abundant mammalian fossil fauna of Late Miocene age from the Dhok Pathan Formation (Fm.). The recovered material belongs to four families: Equidae (horses), Rhinocerotidae (rhinos), Bovidae (cows), and Suidae (pigs). We discovered a new skull of hipparionine Hipparion theobaldi from this locality along with 22 specimens from the associated assemblage of fossil mammals. The recovered material includes seven other species: the aceratheriine Chilotherium intermedium, boselaphines Tragoportax punjabicus, Selenoportax vexillarius, Pachyportax latidens, the antelope Gazella lydekkeri and suinine Propotamochoerus hysudricus. The specimens are isolated teeth, fragments of maxilla, mandibles and horn cores. The Dhok Pathan Fm. is generally composed of claystone, siltstone and sandstone beds and, based on the mammalian fauna, the Padhri fossil locality is dated as Late Miocene. Thi99s formation was deposited in a subtropical paleoenvironment and the predominance of fossil bovids indicates extremely moist conditions with small but frequent standing water bodies.     

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of placer nephrite from Hetian, Xinjiang, Northwest China

The Yurungkash and Karakash rivers, also known respectively as the White Jade and Black Jade rivers, located in Hetian, Xinjiang Province, Northwest China, are the two main sources in China of white, green, and black placer nephrite, with a long history (~ 5000 years) of exploration and mining. The twenty-nine placer nephrite samples collected from both rivers and analyzed in the present study possess fine-grained and compact microstructures. The mineral assemblages in the samples provide clues to the metamorphic/metasomatic processes that formed the nephrite, which was the result of one of the following reactions: dolomitic marble → tremolite, or dolomitic marble → diopside → tremolite. White nephrite from the Yurungkash River and green nephrite from the Karakash River are predominantly tremolite. Based on electron probe microanalytical data, backscattered electron images, and Raman spectra, two kinds of black nephrite from the Karakash River are identified: one dominated by actinolite aggregates, and another consisting of tremolite aggregates with graphite crystals up to 2 mm in length. Compared with black nephrite, white and green nephrites contain fewer mineral inclusions and have lower FeO and MnO contents. All the amphiboles in the nephrites have very low contents of Cr₂O₃ (0.00–0.07 wt.%) and NiO (0.00–0.05 wt.%) relative to serpentinite-related nephrite (0.07–0.43 wt.% Cr₂O₃, 0.08–0.36 wt.% NiO). Most of the nephrite samples have low total rare earth element (ΣREE) contents, ranging from 12.22 to 49.40 ppm. In two nephrite samples, relatively high ΣREE concentrations (161 and 190 ppm) are related to the presence of REE-bearing minerals. Whole-rock REE chondrite-normalized patterns of all samples are characterized by strong negative Eu anomalies (0.16–0.48), moderate light-REE enrichment (La/Nd_N = 1.8–5.0), and nearly flat heavy-REE distributions (Gd/Yb_N = 0.3–1.7). Nephrite samples from both river locations have δ¹⁸O and δD isotope compositions ranging from 1.1‰ to 5.6‰ and − 55.7‰ to − 72.4‰, respectively. These values are closer to those recorded in dolomite-related nephrites than those in serpentinite-related deposits. Importantly, δ¹⁸O and δD values correspond to fluid isotope compositions of δ¹⁸O = 1.6‰ to 6.1‰ (330 °C), 1.8‰ to 6.3‰ (350 °C), and 2.5‰ to 7.0‰ (430 °C), and δD = − 34.9‰ to − 52.5‰ (350 °C to 650 °C). These values are close to or within the field of magmatic water. Geochemical and petrographic characteristics point to a dolomite-related metamorphic/metasomatic origin for nephrite at both locations. The placer nephrite is likely to have been derived from primary nephrite deposits in the Kunlun Mountains around Hetian, based on the geological occurrence of the deposits.     

The First Find of Seals of the Genus Pachyphoca (Carnivora,Phocidae) in Miocene Rocks of Rostov Region

Doklady Earth Sciences - The fossil remains of a seal of the genus Pachyphoca from the Upper Miocene Sarmatian stratum of the Morskaya-3 site (Neklinovskii district, Rostov region) were described....     

Geology and Genesis of the Mafic—Ultramafic Complexes in the Huangshan—Jingerquan（HJ） Belt,East Xinjiang

More than twenty mafic-ultramafic complexes, which host several mediumor large-sized Cu−Ni deposits, occur along the Huangshan-Jingerquan (HJ) belt in East Xinjiang. Rock types in these complexes are predominated by peridotite, pyroxene peridotite, olivine pyroxenite, gabbronorite, orthopyroxene gabbro, troctolite, gabbro and diorite. The ultramafic rocks are relatively Fe-enriched and are characterized by an assemblage of olivine+orthopyroxene+clinopyroxene+hornblende±plagioclase without obvious metamorphic textures. Chemically, these complexes are relatively Fe-enriched and show a tholeiitic trend of evolution. The complexes in this belt are intruded under the extensional environment in a Mid-Carboniferous back-arc basin. They can be considered as a new type of mafic-ultramafic complexes in orogenic belts, as designated by the name of the East-Xinjiang-type complexes. This project was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

新疆富蕴可可托海—二台断裂带中假玄武玻璃及其围岩的年代学研究

发育在新疆富蕴可可托海—二台断裂带中的假玄武玻璃是古地震断裂快速滑移形成的构造岩。地质产状、显微构造研究表明,这些假玄武玻璃主要由发生重结晶的玻璃质熔融体形成。假玄武玻璃基质的全岩40Ar/39Ar阶段升温方法主阶段和KAr年龄分别为282.8±3.8 Ma和276.4±7.4 Ma。假玄武玻璃所在母岩（黑云母花岗岩和钾长花岗岩）的锆石U-Pb年龄分别为390.4±1.0 Ma和396.3±0.1 Ma,表明二台断裂带中的假玄武玻璃是在二叠世早期形成的,也说明二台断裂带古地震活动至少可以追溯到晚古生代（早二叠世早期）。尽管二台断裂带是现今仍然活动的地震构造带,但目前所见到的假玄武玻璃是早二叠世时期古地震活动的产物。1931年的富蕴80级地震仅仅是沿着二台断裂带发生的多次构造活动的一次活动,与假玄武玻璃之间没有成因上的联系。     

Drowning history of a Miocene carbonate platform (Zhujiang Formation, South China Sea)

The identification and interpretation of drowning events in the geologic record can aid significantly to the reconstruction of the depositional, tectonic and eustatic history of a study area and often improve reservoir and seal prediction in carbonate rocks. The differentiation between drowned platforms showing a record of continuous deepening and those with a record of exposure followed by rapid deepening remains, however, problematic. The Zhujiang carbonate platform (Liuhua 11-1 field, South China Sea) study shown here provides an example of an integrated approach combining high-resolution geochemistry, microfacies analyses and foraminiferal biostratigraphy in order to improve the reconstruction of environmental conditions prior, during and after platform demise and drowning. The Zhujiang carbonate platform displays the following vertical succession of four facies types i) skeletal grain facies with a miogypsinid/lepidocyclinid-dominated fauna deposited in a moderately deep (< 50 m), oligotrophic back-reef setting; ii) in situ corals in patch-reef facies in an oligotrophic lagoon (< 10 m); iii) rhodoid facies with in situ red algal crusts, dominated by Heterostegina sp. and spiroclypeids, possibly capped by a subaerial exposure surface. Well-rounded rhodoids representing a mesotrophic lagoon dominate the upper portions of the rhodoid facies; iv) pelagic marine shales of the Hanjiang Formation burying the carbonate platform after drowning. This facies succession, in combination with geochemical evidence suggests a deepening-upward trend. This trend might have been interrupted by transient subaerial exposure but no evidence for meteoric diagenesis was found at the drowning unconformity topping the carbonate platform. Instead, microfacies analyses suggest that platform demise may be related to progressive changes in environmental conditions, including increasing nutrient-levels and/or decreasing temperature up-core towards the drowning unconformity. These findings are of significance for those concerned with Miocene carbonate factories and, more specifically, the demise of carbonate platforms in general.     

东天山沙泉子地区石炭纪火山岩的铂族元素地球化学特征

本文报道了东天山沙泉子地区石炭纪火山岩的主量、微量及铂族元素(PGE)地球化学特征,初步探讨了岩浆源区特征和岩浆演化过程。采用改进的溶样方法,即Teflon密闭溶样-Te共沉淀富集PGE,阳离子交换树脂结合P507萃淋树脂分离干扰元素方法,测定了玄武岩及玄武安山岩中的PGE含量。结果表明,沙泉子火山岩具有较低的MgO含量,且整体表现为强烈的PGE亏损,暗示其可能形成于较低的部分熔融程度(<10%),可能有少量硫化物(～0.001%)残留于地幔。火山岩较低的Cu/Zr值表明原始岩浆有了亲铜元素的亏损。玄武岩较稳定的Pd/Ir和Pt/Pd值,较高且变化较大的Cu/Pd值,表明岩浆上升或侵位过程达到过S饱和而发生硫化物熔离。IPGE与Cr、Ni的相关性表明,原始岩浆可能发生了橄榄石和铬铁矿的分离结晶作用。     

Geochemistry of Miocene lacustrine sediments from the Sokolov Coal Basin (Czech Republic)

Sediments of the upper part of the Sokolov Formation of the Sokolov Brown Coal Basin consist mostly of brown lacustrine clays and claystones enriched in organic matter (2–18% TOC). The lower portion of the stratigraphic profile is formed mostly by kaolinite–illite clays and claystones, while the montmorillonite content increases in the upper portion. The change in the lithology of sediments is caused by the gradual erosion of the weathering crust in the source areas of the clastic material. Inversion of the weathering profile during erosion is manifested geochemically in a decrease in the Al₂O₃/Na₂O ratio and an increase in the SiO₂/Al₂O₃, Na₂O/K₂O and K₂O/TiO₂ ratios from the base to the top of the studied part of the Sokolov Formation. The amounts of trace elements (La, Ce, Nb, Zr, Cr, V, Sn) also decrease in the same direction. On the other hand, the amounts of Rb and Sr increase. The organic matter of the upper part of the Sokolov Formation consists primarily of Types I and II kerogen. Only near the base of the studied part of the formation, i.e., in the coal stringer, kerogen of Type III prevails. The extremely low degree of thermal maturity permits determination of the source of the organic matter and characterization of its accumulation environment. The organic material in the sediments is predominantly of algae origin. Relatively high amount of pentacyclic triterpanes of the hopane series indicates either the occurrence of cyanobacteria as primary producers or bacterial reworking during sedimentation and diagenesis. Organic matter accumulated under the conditions of a fresh-water lake or lake with slightly elevated salinity, in a dysoxic aqueous environment. The alternation of organic carbon-rich layers with layers low in organic matter is explained in terms of changes in the degree of dysoxia of the aqueous environment and a variation in the intensity of oxidation and mineralization of the organic material.     

Record of climatic change in neritic carbonates: turnover in biogenic associations and depositional modes (Late Miocene,southern Spain)

In order to evaluate the geological record of climatic change in neritic carbonates, we studied Late Miocene rock outcrops in southern Spain. Six episodes of reef growth are documented (Burdigalian to Messinian) in Neogene basins of the Betic Cordillera, which were located close to the margin of the global reef belt. The reefs are characterized by various zooxanthellate corals which decrease in diversity with time, andHalimeda; the youngest reefs of the latest Messinian are characterized by the dominance of the genusPorites. Late Miocene coral reefs and reef-rimmed platforms alternate over time with non-reefal carbonate ramps characterized by skeletal calcirudites or with gypsum such as that formed during the Messinian salinity crisis. The calcirudites lack reef corals, calcified green algae and extensive marine cement, but exhibit skeletal components described from both modern and fossil nontropical carbonates. These include bryozoans, mollusks, foraminifers, echinoderms and minor balanids, as well as coralline algae of a bryomol association. The presence of some larger foraminifers indicates high temperatures, close to the lower temperature threshold of the reef assemblage. Sea level lowstands and highstands are documented by wedges of bryomol carbonate and chlorozoan patch reefs or prograding platforms. Thus, temperate climate depositional modes correspond to relatively low sea levels, and warm-water modes to high sea levels. The Neogene infill of the Agua Amarga and Sorbas basins documents two of these cycles. Other climate/sea-level cycles (including Messinian gypsum in the cool water depositional mode) are well established in adjacent Neogene basins in southern Spain. This type of composite sequence seems to occur only along the margin of the global reef belt and indicates an oscillatory latitudinal movement of the margin, which is associated with global climatic change. The analysis of turnover in neritic depositional carbonate systems may therefore be considered a sensitive tool for reconstructing climatic change from the fossil record. However, warm-water modes and temperate-water modes of carbonate sedimentation and diagenesis differ significantly. For this reason the interpretation of composite system sequences by sequence stratigraphy requires an extended concept. The particular type of mixed bryomolchlorozoan depositional sequence also bears some potential for drowning, because sea level rise may be faster than the net production rate of temperate carbonate systems.     

Temporo-Spatial Distribution of Rare Metal and REE Deposits in Xinjiang, Northwest China

Many rare metal and REE deposits have been found in the Altay orogenic belt, on the northern margin of the Tarim massif and in the Kunlun-Altun orogenic belt, constituting three very important rare metal-REE mineralization belts in western China. These deposits belong to various genetic types with complex ore-forming mechanism, and were formed in certain mineralization epochs. On the basis of a systematic sum-up of geologic and geochemical achievements and 40Ar-39Ar ages of potassium-rich minerals as well as whole-rock Rb-Sr dating results, the authors systematically analyzed the spatial distribution and mineralization epochs of rare metal-REE deposits in Xinjiang, northwestern China, and concluded that although the Hercynian rare metal-REE mineralizations in this area are very important, pre- and post-Hercynian (especially Indosinian and early Yanshanian) rare metal-REE mineralizations also have important theoretical and economic significance.     

Holocene climate reconstructions of Ulungur Lake (Xinjiang,China) inferred from ostracod species assemblages and stable isotopes

In this paper, the data on the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental changes during the Holocene are presented and a discussion is made on a 225-cm-long sediment core from Ulungur Lake, located in Northwest China. The chronology is constructed from six AMS radiocarbon dates on the bulk organic matter. On the basis of the analysis of ostracod assemblages and the shell stable isotopes, the core is divided into three paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental evolution stages: 9 985–5 250 cal.aB.P. stage is the wettest phase of the core section. The climate changed from moderate-dry to cool-wet, and then to warm-wet in turn, and the lake level rose accordingly, showing the characteristic of a high lake level. 5 250–1 255 cal.aB.P. stage was the driest phase of the core sediment. The climate turned from the early warm-dry to the late warm-wet and the lake level fell and rose again. Finally, the 1 255 cal.aB.P. stage was the medium stage of the section. The temperature was low and then increased after the 1920s and the climate was dry. The whole climatic and environmental evolution records of Lake Ulungur were not only in agreement with the sporopollen record of the same core but also in agreement with the record of environmental changes of adjacent areas. It responded to regional environmental changes and global abrupt climate events, following the westerly climate change mode on 100-year-scale, primarily with cold-wet and warmdry characteristics. __________ Translated from Quaternary Sciences, 2007, 27(3):382–391 [译自:第四纪研究]     

A New Species of Tsuga (Pinaceae) based on Lignified Wood from the Late Miocene of Central Yunnan, China, and Its Paleoenvironmental Implications

A new species, Tsuga nanfengensis sp. nov. (Pinaceae), is described on the basis of lignified fossil wood from the late Miocene of the Xianfeng Basin, central Yunnan, southwestern China. Detailed observation of the fossil wood specimens show the following characteristics: distinct growth rings, absence of resin canals, uniseriate bordered pits in the radial wall of tracheids, ray tracheids and piceoid and cupressoid cross-field pits. These features indicate similarities to the wood of extant Tsuga canadensis, T. chinensis, and T. dumosa. According to the fossil record, Tsuga was present in Xundian County during the Miocene. Today Tsuga is drought intolerant, preferring wet conditions with no extant species growing naturally in Xundian County. The presence of Tsuga in the Miocene of Xundian County indicates a humid climate consistent with previous palaeoclimatic reconstructions showing a wetter and probably shorter dry season in the Miocene, relative to the present day. Therefore, the change in the local climate such as increasing aridity through the Miocene might explain the local extinction of Tsuga from central Yunnan.