Wahlenbergfjord,eastern Svalbard: a glacier‐surrounded fjord reflecting regional hydrographic variability during the Holocene?

Exceptionally high sedimentation rates in Arctic fjords provide the possibility to reconstruct environmental conditions in high temporal resolution during the (pre‐)Holocene. The unique geographical location of Svalbard at the intersection of Arctic and Atlantic waters offers the opportunity to estimate local (mainly glacier‐related) vs. regional (hydrographic) variabilities. Sedimentological, micropalaeontological and geochemical data from the very remote, glacier‐surrounded Wahlenbergfjord in eastern Svalbard provides information on glacier dynamics, palaeoceanographic and sea‐ice conditions during the Holocene. The present study illustrates a high meltwater discharge during the summer insolation maximum (c. 11.3–7.7 ka) when the intrusion of upwelled relatively warm Atlantic‐derived waters led to an almost open fjord situation with reduced sea ice in summer. Around 7.7 ka, a rapid hydrographic shift occurred: the dominance of inflowing Atlantic‐derived waters was replaced by a stronger influence of Arctic Water reflecting regional palaeoceanographic conditions evident in the benthic foraminiferal fauna also at Svalbard's margins. Neoglacial conditions characterized the late Holocene (c. 3.1–0.2 ka), when glaciers probably advanced as cold atmospheric temperatures were decoupled from the advection of relatively warm intermediate waters probably caused by an extending sea‐ice coverage. Accordingly, our data show that even a remote, glacier‐proximal study site reflects rapid as well as longer‐term regional changes.     

REE and trace element patterns from organic-rich rocks of the Ediacaran–Cambrian transitional interval

It has been established that important changes in the marine environment and the biosphere occurred during the Cambrian. However, the relationships between the so-called “Cambrian Explosion” and the concomitant environmental changes are not yet fully understood. This study presents new geochemical data from the black shale successions from different facies belts of the Yangtze Platform in South China. Variations in the concentrations of REE and trace elements (varying Ce/Ce*, Th/U, V/Sc, and V/Cr ratios) in kerogen as well as in bulk rocks from different depositional environments along a transect from platform to basin indicate two oxidation events, which led to the oxygenation of the water column in shallow-marine environments and euxinic conditions (weak correlation between TOC, V, U, and Mo) in the deeper sea. During the first oxidation event in the late Terreneuvian, anoxic conditions in bottom waters rapidly changed to euxinic conditions. Subsequently, the second oxidation event during the early Epoch 2 of the Cambrian led to oxic–suboxic conditions in deeper seawater.     

Landward Propagation of Saline Waters Following Closure of a Bar-Built Estuary: Russian River (California,USA)

We investigate the evolution of the salt field in a bar-built estuary after the tidal inlet is closed by sediment, isolating the estuary from the ocean. We show that seawater trapped by inlet closure in the Russian River Estuary, CA, undergoes a two-stage landward intrusion process that leads to widespread salt stratification throughout the estuary. This salinity intrusion extends to distances of several kilometers from the beach—into the “inner estuary” that is separated from the “outer estuary” by shallow sills and typically devoid of saline waters during tidal conditions when the mouth is open. We describe landward movement of saline waters during six closure events in 2009 and 2010, based on repeat boat-based conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) surveys and bottom-mounted acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs). While sills block the initial landward motion of dense saline waters due to gravitational adjustment (first stage of intrusion), these same sills facilitate a wind-induced, one-direction valve mechanism through which saline waters are pumped into the inner estuary. Saline waters that crest the shallow sill can drain into deeper pools in the inner estuary as a pulsed gravity current (second stage of intrusion). We use empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis to identify an internal seiche in the outer estuary that results in uplift of pycnocline waters during the night at the boundary to the inner estuary. EOF analysis of inner estuary currents and a horizontal Richardson number are used to suggest that nocturnal gravity current events in the inner estuary (beyond the blocking sill) occur as pulses initiated by the internal seiche in the outer estuary.     

Repeated anoxia–extinction episodes progressing from slope to shelf during the latest Cenomanian

Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE 2) during the Cenomanian–Turonian (C/T) transition caused stepwise marine extinctions. Using organic compounds, stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, and foraminifera from three depth-transect sections in northern Spain, this study revealed repeated anoxic/euxinic events coinciding with warming and stepwise extinctions of planktonic and/or benthic foraminifera within intermediate to surface waters in the proto-North Atlantic during the C/T transition. Those short-duration euxinic events occurred four times: at 93.95 Ma, marked by the extinction of Rotalipora greenhornensis; at 93.90 Ma, marked by the extinction of Rotalipora cushmani; at the mid-time maximum of the plateau of the δ¹³C of carbonates (93.70 Ma); and at the time of the C/T boundary (93.55 Ma). Furthermore, the main benthic foraminiferal extinctions occurred during the first and second euxinic events in the upper slope, during the second and third euxinic events in the outer to middle shelf, and during the third and fourth events in the middle shelf. The main euxinic events in each section also showed a progression to the shallow shelf. The main anoxia–extinction events occurred in the upper slope and outer shelf then moved to the middle shelf. The shallowest section had relatively weak anoxia and a proportionally low extinction rate. These new findings indicate that foraminiferal extinctions started from the intermediate water and the continental slope and then moved to the continental shelf. This was the result of the repeated progression of euxinic–anoxic water from the upper slope to the middle shelf on the eastern continental margin of the proto-North Atlantic four times during a 400 kyr period, to the end of the Cenomanian.     

Iron-Molybdenum Isotopes and the Chemical Evolution of Ancient-Oceans

Iron(Fe) is abundant in nature while molybdenum(Mo) is the most abundant transition metal in seawater. Due to their high sensitivity to the redox state of the environment, the isotopic compositions of Fe and Mo as well as variations have been widely used to probe the redox conditions and the evolution of ancient ocean chemistry in favor of improved analytical techniques. Here, we summarized isotopic fractionation mechanisms and natural distribution of both iron and molybdenum isotopes, and further we summarized and partially reinterpreted the redox evolution of ancient oceans through time based on available Fe-Mo data compiled in this study. The process that causes the largest iron isotope fractionation is redox reaction and the iron in oxidation state is generally enriched in ⁵⁶Fe. Biotic and abiotic pyrite formations also produce a large Fe isotope fractionations. Isotopic fractionation of molybdenum in seawater is mainly caused by the adsorption process of dissolved Mo onto ferromanganese oxides or hydroxides in sediments. Fe-Mn (hydro)oxides tend to adsorb isotopically light molybdenum resulting in the isotopic composition of Mo in seawater heavier. However, the Mo sinks in euxinic settings cause almost no molybdenum isotope fractionation. The Fe Mo isotope isotopic records through geological timegenerally suggest similar ocean redox evolution: Oceans older than 2.3 Ga was mainly dominated by ferruginous condition, and there was a slight increase in oxygen content between 2.6 and 2.5 Ga. Earth’s surface was initially oxidized during 2.3 to 1.8 Ga, during which euxinic deposition of sulfide was elevated. Euxinic waters may have expanded greatly between 1.8 and 0.8 Ga, and after that, Earth’s surface had being gradually oxidized and the euxinic waters shrank substantially.Finally, suggestions are proposed for further work on the Fe-Mo isotope research in the context of ancient ocean chemistry.     

Deglacial seasonal and sub‐seasonal diatom record from Palmer Deep,Antarctica

The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most sensitive regions of Antarctica to climate change. Here, ecological and cryospheric systems respond rapidly to climate fluctuations. A 4.4 m thick laminated diatom ooze deposited during the last deglaciation is examined from a marine sediment core (ODP Site 1098) recovered from Basin I, Palmer Deep, western Antarctic Peninsula. This deglacial laminated interval was deposited directly over a glaciomarine diamict, hence during a globally recognised period of rapid climate change. The ultra‐high‐resolution deglacial record is analysed using SEM backscattered electron imagery and secondary electron imagery. Laminated to thinly bedded orange‐brown diatom ooze (near monogeneric Hyalochaete Chaetoceros spp. resting spores) alternates with blue‐grey terrigenous sediments (open water diatom species). These discrete laminae are interpreted as austral spring and summer signals respectively, with negligible winter deposition. Sub‐seasonal sub‐laminae are observed repeatedly through the summer laminae, suggesting variations in shelf waters throughout the summer. Tidal cycles, high storm intensities and/or intrusion of Circumpolar Deep Water onto the continental shelf introduced conditions which enhanced specific species productivity through the season. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A critical look at iron paleoredox proxies: New insights from modern euxinic marine basins

Enrichments in reactive iron occur under euxinic marine conditions, that is, where dissolved sulfide is present in the water column. These enrichments result primarily from the export of remobilized iron from the oxic shelf, which is scavenged from the euxinic water column during syngenetic pyrite formation and deposited in the underlying sediments. Strongly elevated ratios of highly reactive iron to total iron (Fe_HR/Fe_T) and total iron to aluminum (Fe_T/Al) and high degrees of pyritization (DOP) are each products of this enrichment process. These paleoredox proxies are among the most faithful recorders of ancient euxinia.Contrary to previous arguments, iron enrichment is decoupled from biogenic sediment inputs, but it does appear to be a uniquely euxinic phenomenon. In other words, we can rule out a major contribution from preferential physical transport of Fe_HR-rich detrital sediment to the deep basin, which could also operate under oxic conditions. Furthermore, enrichment via the shuttling of iron remobilized from oxic shelves appears to be limited by inefficient transport and trapping processes in deep oxic basins. Elevated Fe_T/Al ratios in the euxinic sediments also cannot be a product of internal enhancement of the reactivity of the detrital iron pool without net Fe_HR addition. These conclusions are supported by observations in the modern Black Sea, Orca Basin, and Effingham Inlet.Fe_T/Al ratios are unambiguous recorders of paleoredox even in sediments that have experienced high degrees of metamorphic alteration. However, this study suggests that high siliciclastic accumulation rates can swamp the enrichment mechanism, resulting in only intermediate DOP values for euxinic sediments and Fe_T/Al ratios that mimic the oxic shelf. Such dilution effects are well expressed in Black Sea basinal turbidites and rapidly accumulating muds on euxinic basin margins. Under conditions of persistent euxinia, varying extents of Fe_HR enrichment can illuminate spatial and temporal gradients in siliciclastic sedimentation. The magnitude of enrichment is a function of the source (shelf) to sink (ocean basin) areal ratio, suggesting that iron proxies can also record ocean-scale paleoenvironmental properties through muted enrichments at times of very widespread euxinia. For the first time, manganese data are interpreted in light of the redox shuttle model. As for the iron data, the Black Sea, Orca Basin, and Effingham Inlet show enrichments in total manganese in the deep euxinic basin, suggesting export from the suboxic porewaters of the oxic shelf and scavenging and burial in the basin. The Black Sea data reveal iron and manganese enrichment across the broad, deep euxinic basin, suggesting efficient lateral transport and deep-water mixing tied to the physical properties of the water column.     

Messinian events in the Sorbas Basin in southeastern Spain and their implications in the recent history of the Mediterranean

The Messinian (Late Miocene) marine stratigraphic record of the Sorbas Basin (S.E. Spain) is well preserved and can be considered as being representative of the entire western Mediterranean. It exhibits a series of features relating to: (1) the composition, characteristics and evolution of coral reefs; (2) changes between temperate and subtropical climates; and (3) the extensive development of microbial carbonates (stromatolites and thrombolites) at the end of the Messinian. Each of these features has global significance.

Porites, which is the major and almost only coral component in reefs, is heavily encrusted with stromatolites. These reefs grew at the edge of the subtropical belt and were totally eliminated at the end of the Messinian because of global cooling.

Lowermost-Messinian carbonate sediments in the Sorbas Basin reflect a temperate climate, whereas those immediately above, which contain bioherms and coastal reefs, are subtropical. The shift from temperate to subtropical conditions during the early Messinian was accompanied by an important change in water circulation within the western Mediterranean. Temperate times were marked by cold surface Atlantic waters entering the Mediterranean, whereas subtropical times coincided with warm surface waters entering the western Mediterranean from the east. The subtropical waters were thermally stratified, which favoured the deposition of euxinic marls and diatomites at the centre of the basin. The upwelling of nutrient-rich water promoted stromatolite development within reefs and Halimeda growth on adjacent slopes.

Lastly, microbial carbonates (stromatolites and thrombolites) attained giant dimensions during the late Messinian, which can be regarded as a measure of their success in occupying a variety of ecological niches. This abundance of available habitats is believed to have resulted from the Messinian “salinity crisis”, which was followed by a re-colonization of the western Mediterranean. In this context stromatolite proliferation was due to opportunism of microbial communities in colonizing the new environments, rather than to a complete absence of other competitive biota. We do not believe that hypersaline conditions were a causal factor in stromatolite development because of the normal-marine biota associated with them.     

Chloride contamination in construction aggregates due to periodic saline water intrusion: a case study in the Kaluganga River Estuary, Sri Lanka

The Kaluganga River Estuary is one of the main sources of construction sand in Sri Lanka. Salt water intrusion along this estuary due to extensive sand mining has increased over the years. Thus, the focus of the current research is to understand the relationship between river sand mining, salt water intrusion, and the resultant effects on construction sand. Two surveys were conducted along the Kaluganga Estuary along an 11 km stretch from the river mouth at predetermined intervals to measure depth water quality profiles, and to collect sediment samples. These surveys were carried out during maximum spring tide; first in a dry period and then in a wet period, to understand hydrographic effects on the quality of river sands. Sand samples were analysed for absolute chloride content and grain size distribution. Results showed significant salt water intrusion during the dry period, averaging 2,307 μS cm^?1 in surface waters throughout the surveyed 11 km stretch along with 3,818 μS cm^?1 (average) in bottom waters up to 5.6 km upstream from the river mouth causing above normal chloride content in the bottom sandy sediments. The high chloride content in bottom sands was recorded up to 5.5 km from the river mouth making them unsuitable for construction purposes. However, during wet period, salt water intrusion levels in the bottom waters were insignificant (average 61 μS cm^?1) and the chloride content in bottom sediments was very low. This study highlighted the requirement for regulations on river estuary sandmining for construction purposes.     

钱塘江河口段盐水入侵的时空变化及预测模型

杭州城市供水85%取自钱塘江河口段,取水水质在枯水大潮期都不同程度地受到盐水入侵的威胁,分析钱塘江河口盐水入侵时空变化及研制二维数值预测模型对保障城市供水安全十分必要。根据钱塘江河口段实测水文氯度资料,分析了强潮作用下盐水入侵的时空变化特征;据此构建考虑斜压作用的二维水流、盐度输移的耦合数学模型,计算格式采用守恒性较好的有限体积法;在模型验证的基础上,数值分析了径流和潮汐对钱塘江河口段盐水入侵的影响,结果表明河口段的盐水入侵明显地受径流和潮汐的影响,据此可通过增大上游新安江水库的下泄流量抑制盐水入侵上溯以减小取水口氯度及超标时间,确保用水安全。     

Organic Geochemistry of Black Sea cores

Six Black Sea bottom sediments samples were analyzed for their organic content (chloroform extract and humic compounds) by elemental analysis, liquid and gas chromatography, various chemical methods and especially infra-red spectroscopy. Four of these samples came from an euxinic facies (“unit 2”) and two from a normally oxygenated facies below (“unit 3”).Even though important differences exist between the two sets of samples, the origin of the organic matter was found to be the same for both facies; this origin is mixed, with the marine contribution slightly predominant over the terrestrial one.Consequently, the compositional differences originate in the different environmental conditions in the sedimentary basin. More precisely, the euxinic facies appears to “preserve” the organic matter, on both quantitative and qualitative grounds. This effect is due more to the anoxic and toxic nature of the environment than to the reducing conditions.The sulfur incorporation in relatively small molecules does not proceed by a rapid biochemical pathway, but by slow and abiotic reactions.     

Multiproxy reconstruction of oceanographic conditions in the southern epeiric Kupferschiefer Sea (Late Permian) based on redox-sensitive trace elements,molybdenum isotopes and biomarkers

The key drivers controlling the redox state of seawater and sediment pore waters in low energy environments can be inferred from redox-sensitive trace elements (RSTE), molecular biomarkers and trace metal isotopes. Here, we apply a combination of these tools to the Upper Permian Kupferschiefer (T1) from the Thuringian Basin, deposited in the southern part of the semi-enclosed Kupferschiefer Sea. Enrichment patterns of the RSTEs molybdenum (Mo) and uranium (U) as well as biomarker data attest to the rapid development of euxinic conditions in basin settings during early T1 times, which became progressively less extreme during T1 deposition. The evolution of redox conditions in basinal settings, and the associated delay in the onset of euxinia at more shallow marginal sites, can be attributed to the interaction of sea-level change with basin paleogeography. Euxinia in the southern Kupferschiefer Sea did not lead to near-quantitative depletion of aqueous Mo, possibly due to short deepwater renewal times in the Thuringian Basin, low aqueous H₂S concentrations, the continuous resupply of RSTE during transgression and declining burial rates of RSTEs throughout T1 times. Drawdown of RSTE is, however, indicated for euxinic lagoon environments. Moreover, admixture of freshwater supplied to these lagoons by rivers strongly impacted local seawater chemistry. The highest Mo-isotope compositions of ~ 1.70‰ in basin sediments allow a minimum Kupferschiefer Sea seawater composition of ~ 2.40‰ to be estimated. This composition is similar to the ~ 2.30‰ estimate for the Late Permian open ocean, and confirms a strong hydrographic connection between the epeiric Kupferschiefer Sea and the global ocean. The substantial variation in Mo-isotope signatures is paralleled by diagnostic shifts in biomarkers responding to oxygenation in different parts of the water column. Water column chemistry has been affected by variation in sea level, hydrodynamic restriction, riverine freshwater influx and evaporitic conditions in shallow lagoons. Elucidation of the relative role of each driving factor by a single geochemical proxy is not feasible but the complex scenario can be disentangled by a multiproxy approach.     

Prograde, peak, and retrograde P–T paths from aluminium in orthopyroxene: High-temperature contact metamorphism in the aureole of the Makhavinekh Lake Pluton, Nain Plutonic Suite, Labrador

Static heating during intrusion of the Makhavinekh Lake Pluton (MLP) caused replacement of garnet in the adjacent country rocks (Tasiuyak Gneiss) by coronal assemblages of orthopyroxene + cordierite. Thermometry based on Al solubility in orthopyroxene, applied to relict garnet and neighbouring orthopyroxene, preserves a temperature gradient from 700 to 900 °C at distances between 5750 and 20 m from the intrusion, reaffirming the robustness of this thermometry technique. Intracrystalline and intergranular variations of Al zoning in orthopyroxene are well‐preserved, suggesting that little diffusional modification of Al growth zoning occurred. Maximum Al₂O₃ in orthopyroxene ranges from c. 2.0 wt% at 5750 m from the intrusion to a maximum of 4.3 wt% at the contact. Individual orthopyroxene grains show decreasing Al from core to rim in samples < 500 m from the intrusion, while those at greater distances show an increase from core to rim. These features are interpreted with the aid of numerical models for conductive heat flow in the aureole. Coronas in samples close to the intrusion grew at high temperatures and along T‐t paths dominated by cooling, so maximum Al content in orthopyroxene in these samples occurs in the cores of grains that grew during the earliest stages of garnet consumption. In contrast, the corona‐forming reactions in rocks further from the contact proceeded along prograde heating paths, so maximum Al content in orthopyroxene occurs in the rims of grains that grew during the final stages of garnet consumption. These results document the ability of Al‐in‐orthopyroxene thermometry to preserve a detailed record of thermal histories in contact‐metamorphic granulites; they suggest that similar intracrystalline and intergranular variations of Al zoning in orthopyroxene in regional granulites may also preserve portions of both the prograde and peak‐T evolution.     

寒武纪早期海洋阶段性氧化驱动早期后生动物多样化进程

伊迪卡拉-寒武纪过渡期是地球历史上海洋环境与生命演化变革的关键时期之一.有研究认为海洋氧化可能是驱动早寒武世动物快速多样化的主要原因,但有关海洋氧化及硫化水体演变过程和发生时间的认识仍有分歧.运用ICP-MS、FESEM、EDS和XRD技术对位于古陆架边缘-斜坡背景的湘西四都坪、黔东松江大桥等剖面牛蹄塘组黑色页岩进行氧化还原敏感元素、黄铁矿形态学、总有机碳及N、P等营养元素丰度变化进行高分辨研究.结果显示,研究区牛蹄塘沉积期底层海水条件经历了复杂的发展过程,表现为3个铁化与3个硫化时段的动态交互,在第3阶晚期转为亚氧化-氧化条件.不同相区的对比表明,海水氧化随时间由浅水向深水区扩展:台地相区发生在第2阶晚期,陆架边缘出现在第3阶晚期,而深水盆地以持续铁化为主,晚期出现硫化,表明海洋氧化界面逐步加深下移.沉积物Mo/TOC,U/TOC值自下而上持续增加,与Cr、Mn、P、N丰度变化趋势一致,表明海水氧化程度逐步增强.主要化石类群的时空分布与海水氧化过程对应良好,表明海洋阶段性氧化与硫化水体消失对后生动物多样化进程有明显的控制作用.      

Kinetic and thermodynamic factors controlling manganese concentrations in oceanic waters

Data are presented describing the changes in the distribution of dissolved and particulate Mn observed over a 16-month period in the periodically anoxic waters of Saanich Inlet, a fjord located on the coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. During the spring and summer when the bottom waters were anoxic, a dense cloud of particulate Mn was found at mid-depths where Mn²⁺ enriched anoxic bottom waters were mixing with oxygenated waters; then, during the autumn aand winter following an intrusion which reoxygenated the bottom water, an intense precipitation of Mn was observed throughout the entire water column. During this latter period, dissolved Mn concentrations in the bottom water, which exceeded 1000 nmol/l under anoxic conditions, decreased towards a lower limit of 1.6 nmole/l, a value comparable to that observed in Pacific Ocean waters of similar pH and dissolved oxygen content. Mn in the particulate matter collected just above the oxic-anoxic interface was found to have an average oxidation number of +3.05; and, on this basis, it is proposed that dissolved Mn concentrations in oceanic waters are controlled by the precipitation of the metastable oxide mineral manganite (γ-MnOOH), a hypothesis consistent with the fact that dissolved Mn values in subsurface Pacific Ocean waters closely approach the equilibrium solubility of this phase. Temporal and spatial gradients in the particulate Mn distribution were used to calculate the in situ rate of Mn precipitation, and the results of these calculations then were fitted to theoretical rate equations which suggest that the precipitation of Mn is controlled by 2 parallel processes: bacterial oxidation and an inorganic autocatalytic oxidation reaction.     

安徽巢湖地区二叠系瓜德鲁普统孤峰组古环境演化

二叠纪瓜德鲁普世是古海洋条件发生重大变化的转折期。瓜德鲁普世古海洋、古环境的演化对古生代底栖无脊椎动物灭绝的影响仍然是个谜。利用元素地球化学,分析瓜德鲁普统孤峰组的陆源碎屑供应、海洋表层水体的初级生产力以及底部水体的氧化还原条件。结果表明:瓜德鲁普世早期和晚期分别发生了一次陆源碎屑输入的高峰期。瓜德鲁普世早期海洋初级生产力最高,中期海水初级生产力较低,而晚期稍有升高。瓜德鲁普世古海水主要为缺氧至硫化环境。瓜德鲁普世早期以贫氧至缺氧环境为主,间歇性出现硫化环境;中晚期则以硫化环境为主,间歇性出现缺氧环境。这些氧化还原环境的演化主要受到水动力条件的影响。瓜德鲁普世深水环境水体的持续缺氧硫化引发浅水台地底部水体的持续贫氧甚至缺氧,造成海洋生态系统变得脆弱,引发生物危机事件。     

白果园黑色岩系型银（钒）矿床沉积古环境与银（钒）初始富集

白果园银（钒）矿产于震旦系陡山沱组黑色色岩系中。矿床的地球化学和有机地球化学研究表明，黑色页岩含丰富以低等海生生物为主的腐泥型有机质，黑色页岩形成于局限的滞留海盆。     

Diagenesis of early Permian high‐latitude limestones,Lower Parmeener Supergroup,Tasmania

The Darlington (Sakmarian) and Berriedale (Artinskian) Limestones are neritic deposits that accumulated in high‐latitude environments along the south‐eastern margin of Pangea in what is now Tasmania. These rocks underwent a series of diagenetic processes that began in the marine palaeoenvironment, continued during rapid burial and were profoundly modified by alteration associated with the intrusion of Mesozoic igneous rocks. Marine diagenesis was important but contradictory; although dissolution took place, there was also coeval precipitation of fibrous calcite cement, phosphate and glauconite, as well as calcitization of aragonite shells. These processes are interpreted as having been promoted by mixing of shelf and upwelling deep ocean waters and enabled by microbial degradation of organic matter. In contrast to warm‐water carbonates where meteoric diagenesis is important, the Darlington and Berriedale Limestones were largely unaffected by meteoric diagenesis. Only minor dissolution and local cementation took place in this diagenetic environment, although mechanical compaction was ubiquitous. Correlation with burial history curves indicates that chemical compaction became important as burial depths exceeded 150 m, promoting precipitation of extensive ferroan calcite. This effect resulted from burial by rapidly deposited, overlying, thick, late Permian and Triassic terrestrial sediments. This diagenetic pathway was, however, complicated by the subsequent intrusion of massive Mesozoic diabases and associated silicifying diagenetic fluids. Finally, fractures most probably connected with Cretaceous uplift were filled with late‐stage non‐ferroan calcite cement. This study suggests that both carbonate dissolution and precipitation occur in high‐latitude marine palaeoenvironments and, therefore, the cold‐water diagenetic realm is not always destructive in terms of diagenesis. Furthermore, it appears that for the early Permian of southern Pangea at least, there was no real difference in the diagenetic pathways taken by cool‐water and cold‐water carbonates.     

Geochemical Record of the Cenomanian–Turonian Anoxic Event in Tunisia: Is it Correlative and Isochronous to the Biotic Signal?

In Tunisia, five Bahloul spaced sections, Bargou, Jerisa, Guern Halfaya, Kherij and Gafsa were analyzed for biostratigraphy (foraminifera and radiolarians) and major and trace elements. This high-resolution biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic integrated analyses for the Late Cenomanian–Early Turonian Bahloul Formation provide new insight into the palaeoceanographic evolution of the southern Tethyan margin. Relative low abundance of related terrigenous Ti/Al and K/Al ratios and enrichment of some productivity proxies such as Ba, Cu, and Ni (organic matter related trace elements) suggests that the Bahloul, deposited during a relatively short period (0.5 Ma), was of relatively elevated primary productivity and minimal detrital input. While higher D* values concurrent with lower Ti/Al ratios are interpreted as caused by enhanced fluvial material contribution, due to more humid climate during the OAE-2. Enhanced humidity triggered probably fluvial influxes, resulted in a sluggish water circulation and consequent anoxic/euxinic conditions favoring the preservation of organic matter at the bottom. Enrichments in redox-sensitive trace metals U, V, and Mo in the Bahloul Formation deposits and redox indices, such as V/(V+Ni), U/Th, V/Cr, and Ni/Co, indicate that oxygen-restricted conditions prevailed during the Late Cenomanian to earliest Turonian times and correlate well with relative abundances of some foraminiferal and radiolarian paleo-environmental relevant indicators. High Baxs values and Uauth may indicate anoxic conditions at least at the water–sediment interface during the Bahloul Formation deposition and provide information about low to moderate sulfate-reduction reactions.     

Organic Matter Accumulation in the Upper Permian Dalong Formation from the Lower Yangtze Region, South China

The Late Permian was marked by a series of important geological events and widespread organic-rich black shale depositions, acting as important unconventional hydrocarbon source rocks. However, the mechanism of organic matter (OM) enrichment throughout this period is still controversial. Based on geochemical data, the marine redox conditions, paleogeographic and hydrographic environment, primary productivity, volcanism, and terrigenous input during the Late Permian in the Lower Yangtze region have been studied from the Putaoling section, Chaohu, to provide new insights into OM accumulation. Five Phases are distinguished based on the TOC and environmental variations. In Phase I, anoxic conditions driven by water restriction enhanced OM preservation. In Phase II, euxinic and cycling hydrological environments were the two most substantial controlling factors for the massive OM deposition. During Phase III, intensified terrestrial input potentially diluted the OM in sediment and the presence of oxygen in bottom water weakened the preservation condition. Phase IV was characterized by a relatively higher abundance of mercury (Hg) and TOC (peak at 16.98 wt%), indicating that enhanced volcanism potentially stimulated higher productivity and a euxinic environment. In Phase V, extremely lean OM was preserved as a result of terrestrial dilutions and decreasing primary productivity. Phases I, II and IV are characterized as the most prominent OM-rich zones due to the effective interactions of the controlling factors, namely paleogeographic, hydrographic environment, volcanism, and redox conditions.