Lithostratigraphy of the Windermere Supergroup,Northern England

A formal lithostratigraphy is erected for the Late Ordovician and Silurian rocks of northern England. The scheme presented herein emphasizes natural depositional sequences within the supergroup and defines new type sections or cites existing definitions where appropriate. It is intended to be sufficiently flexible and comprehensive to apply to all the inliers, and to bear some rational relationship to lithostratigraphical usage in other British Lower Palaeozoic inliers.     

Provenance ages of the Neoproterozoic Katanga Supergroup (Central African Copperbelt), with implications for basin evolution

New age data on detrital zircons and micas are presented from key units within the Neoproterozoic Katanga Supergroup, which hosts the major stratiform Cu–Co deposits of the Central African Copperbelt. Detrital zircon ages indicate a mainly Palaeoproterozoic (between 2081 ± 28 and 1836 ± 26 Ma) provenance for the Katanga basin, derived from the Lufubu Metamorphic Complex of the Kafue Anticline and the Bangweulu Block to the north of the outcrop belt. Detrital zircons and clasts from the Grand Conglomerat glacial diamictite indicate a source from the Palaeoproterozoic metavolcanic porphyries and granitoids of Luina Dome region, which was a basement high during Nguba Group deposition. Minor zircons of Mesoproterozoic age may have been derived from the Kibaran belt. Finally, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age data from detrital muscovites from Biano Group siltstones give a maximum age of sedimentation of 573 Ma, strongly supporting previous models that the Biano Group was deposited in a foreland basin of the Lufilian Orogen.     

Integrated inoceramid-foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous of northwestern Hokkaido,Japan

The Upper Cretaceous succession exposed in the Haboro and adjacent areas in northwestern Hokkaido comprises the Middle and Upper Yezo Groups. This succession yields abundant mega- and micro-fossils at many levels and can be divided into 6 inoceramid zones; Mytiloides mytiloides Zone, Inoceramus hobetsensis Zone, I. teshiosensis Zone, I. uwajimensis-I. mihoensis Zone, I. amakusensis Zone and I. japonicus Zone. Likewise the following foraminiferal zones are recognized; Praeglobotruncana helvetica Range-Zone and Maginotruncana canaliculata-M. marginata Acme-Zone by means of planktonic Foraminifera, Silicosigmoilina ezoensis-Rzehakina epigona Concurrent-Range-Zone and S. futabaensis-S. ezoensis Concurrent-Range-Zone by benthonic Foraminifera.Comparison between the mega- and micro-fossil zonations indicates that the Praeglobotruncana helvetica Range-Zone can be assigned to the Mytiloides mytiloides Zone and Inoceramus hobetsensis Zone (Early to Middle Turonian in the Japanese scale), both of the planktonic Marginotruncana canaliculata-M. marginata Acme-Zone and benthonic Silicosigmoilina ezosensis-Rzehakina epigona Concurrent-Range-Zone to the I. teshioensis Zone and I. uwajimensis-I. mihoensis Zone (Late Turonian to Coniacian), and the S. futabaensis-S. ezoensis Concurrent-Range-Zone to the I. amakusensis Zone and I. japonicus Zone (Santonian). The Turonian planktonic foraminiferal assemblage of this area is very similar to that of the European Tethys and Boreal Realms. This fact is significant for inter-regional correlation.     

Stratal composition and stratigraphic organization of stratal elements in an ancient deep‐marine basin‐floor succession,Neoproterozoic Windermere Supergroup,British Columbia,Canada

Despite a globally growing seismic and outcrop analogue data set, the detailed (centimetre to decametre) internal stratal make up of deep‐marine basin‐floor ‘channelized‐lobe’ strata remain poorly known. An ancient analogue for modern, mixed‐sediment, passive margin, deep‐marine basin‐floor fans is the well‐preserved Neoproterozoic Upper and Middle Kaza groups in the southern Canadian Cordillera. This succession is a few kilometres thick and comprises six sedimentary facies representing deposition from different kinds of sediment‐gravity flows. Representative lateral and vertical assemblages of one or more of these facies comprise six stratal elements, including: isolated scours, avulsion splays, feeder channels, distributary channels, terminal splays, and distal and off‐axis fine‐grained turbidite units. The internal characteristics of the various stratal elements do not differ from more distal to more proximal settings, but the relative abundance of the various stratal elements does. The difference in relative abundance of stratal elements in the kilometre‐scale stratigraphy of the Kaza Group results in a systematic upward change in architecture. The systematic arrangement of the stratal elements within the interpreted larger bodies, or lobes, and then lobes within the basin‐floor fan, suggests a hierarchical organization. In this article a hierarchy is proposed that is based on avulsion but, also importantly, the location of avulsion. The proposed avulsion‐based hierarchical scheme will be a useful tool to bridge the scalar gap between outcrop and seismic studies by providing a single stratigraphic framework and terminology for basin‐floor stratal elements.     

Integrated biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of the upper Cenomanian and lower Turonian succession in Puentedey, Iberian Trough, Spain

In this paper, we present an integrated study of the macrofauna (Cephalopoda), microfauna (Ostracoda and Foraminifera), microflora (Pithonella, Dinoflagellata, Acritarcha and Prasinophyta) and geochemical signals (carbon δ¹³C and oxygen δ¹⁸O stable isotopes) of the upper Cenomanian and lower Turonian succession in Puentedey, Iberian Trough, Spain. This palaeontological and geochemical study has enabled us to identify numerous species of cephalopods (29), ostracods (19), benthic foraminifers (31), planktonic foraminifers (15), dinoflagellates (63), and acritarchs and prasinophytes (11), and to recognise two positive excursions of the δ¹³C signal related to the OAE2 (in the Metoicoceras geslinianum and the Spathites (Jeanrogericeras) subconciliatus zones, respectively). Variations of these macrofaunal, microfaunal, microfloral and geochemical signals have been interpreted to identify important events of the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the inner platform of the Iberian Trough during the studied interval of the Late Cretaceous. Benthic ecosystems were severely affected by the establishment of the Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2) at the end of the late Cenomanian. This event is evidenced by the depletion of calcareous microfauna (benthic calcareous free intervals, BCFI) and the survival of opportunistic microfauna (platycopic ostracods and textulariid foraminifers). The response was different for microflora (dinoflagellates and acritarchs), which were less affected by the anoxic event.     

The Neoproterozoic Malani magmatism of the northwestern Indian shield: implications for crust-building processes

Malani is the largest event of anorogenic felsic magmatism (covering ∼50, 000 km²) in India. This magmatic activity took place at ∼750 Ma post-dating the Erinpura granite (850 Ma) and ended prior to Marwar Supergroup (680 Ma) sedimentation. Malani eruptions occurred mostly on land, but locally sub-aqueous conditions are shown by the presence of conglomerate, grits and pillow lava. The Malani rocks do not show any type of regional deformation effects. The Malanis are characterised by bimodal volcanism with a dominant felsic component, followed by granitic plutonism and a terminal dyke phase. An angular unconformity between Malani lavas and basement is observed, with the presence of conglomerate at Sindreth, Diri, and Kankani. This indicates that the crust was quite stable and peneplained prior to the Malani activity. Similarly, the absence of any thrust zone, tectonic mélange and tectonised contact of the Malanis with the basement goes against a plate subduction setting for their genesis. After the closure of orogenic cycles in the Aravalli craton of the northwestern shield, this anorogenic intraplate magmatic activity took place in a cratonic rift setting under an extensional tectonic regime.     

Rhyacian and Neoproterozoic magmatic associations of the Gurupi Belt,Brazil: Implications for the tectonic evolution,and regional correlations

The Gurupi Belt, in north-northeastern Brazil, is a mobile belt developed in the south-southwestern margin of the São Luís cratonic fragment and crops out as a tectonic and erosional window within the Phanerozoic cover. Field, petrographic, geochemical, geochronological, and Nd isotopic information (new and published) constrain the timing and types of magmatic associations present in the belt and the tectonic settings in which they formed. The Rhyacian was the main period of magmatic activity, which can be grouped into two main stages. (1) ~2185–2130 ​Ma: pre-collisional, juvenile, calc-alkaline magnesian and calcic ferroan granitoid suites, and minor calc-alkaline and tholeiitic mafic plutonism (now amphibolites), formed in intra-oceanic to transitional/continental arcs; and intra- or back-arc volcano-sedimentary basin. (2) ~2125–2070 ​Ma: syn- (two-mica granites) to late-collisional (potassic to shoshonitic granites and quartz-syenite) plutonic suites produced after crustal thickening and melting, with localized migmatization, that intruded during the compressive D₁ deformational phase and concomitantly with greenschist to amphibolite metamorphism. There is a zonation of the Rhyacian episodes, with intra-oceanic stages occurring to the northeast, and the continental arc and collisional phases occurring to the southwest, indicating the presence of an active continental margin to the southwest, and subduction from NE to SW (present-day configuration). This magmatic framework is a continuation to the south of what is described for the São Luís cratonic fragment to the north, and the orogenic scenario is identical to what is observed for the same period in the West African Craton (Eburnean/Birrimian orogen), which additionally supports previous geological correlations. In the Neoproterozoic, a few magmatic occurrences are recognized. An extensional event allowed the intrusion of an anorogenic, nepheline syenite at ca. 730 Ma, which was followed by the intrusion of a crustal, calc-alkaline microtonalite, of uncertain tectonic setting, at 624 ​Ma. Both intrusions underwent greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphism between 580 Ma and 529 ​Ma. This metamorphic event is probably related to crustal thickening, which produced crustal melting and intrusion of two-mica granites between 595 Ma and 549 ​Ma. The absence of oceanic and arc-related assemblages, along with geophysical information about the basement of the Phanerozoic cover indicates an intracontinental setting for the Neoproterozoic–Early Cambrian evolution of the Gurupi Belt, with rifting and posterior closure of the basin, without oceanization. Rifting and closure correlate in time with the onset of Rodinia breakup and West Gondwana assembly, respectively, but we interpret the events in the Gurupi Belt as having no direct role in these two global supercontinent-related events, but, instead, as being related to orogenic events occurring in the periphery of the West African and Amazonian cratons at that time.     

Application of carbon isotope chemostratigraphy to the Renison dolomites,Tasmania: A Neoproterozoic age

This study uses carbon isotope chemostratigraphy to propose an age for the Success Creek Group and Crimson Creek Formation in the absence of any direct radiometric dates, palaeomagnetic or reliable palaeontological data. The δ¹³C values were determined for the least‐altered dolomite samples. Suitable samples were selected on the basis of grainsize, cathodoluminescence petrography, most enriched δ¹⁸O values (> ‐2%o) low Mn/Sr ratios and low Fe and Mn concentrations. The average least‐altered, most ¹³C‐enriched dolomicrite samples in the youngest (No. 1) dolomite horizon are + 4.6%o. This is typical of Neoproterozoic (but not Cambrian) carbonates. The δ¹³C values of all dolomite samples in the succession are significantly positive (up to + 7.5%o) and the excursion characteristic of the Proterozoic/Cambrian boundary has not been observed. The lack of negative δ¹³C values in all dolomite samples studied also suggests an absence of correlatives of Sturtian and Varanger tillites in the dolomite successions. The δ¹³C values in all three dolomite horizons suggest a Neoproterozoic age between about 820 to 570 Ma (Cryogenian to Neoproterozoic III) on the current global compilation carbon isotope curves. This age for the Success Creek Group and Crimson Creek Formation, inferred from carbon isotope chemostratigraphy, can be substantiated by other evidence. The age of the Renison dolomites is constrained by K‐Ar dates of 708 ± 6 Ma from detrital muscovite in the underlying Oonah Formation and 588 ± 8 and 600 ± 8 Ma from doleritic rock in a lithostratigraphic equivalent of the Crimson Creek Formation from the Smithton Basin. Furthermore, acritarchs and the stromatolite Baicalia cf. B. burra also suggest a Neoproterozoic rather than Cambrian age.     

C-, Sr-isotope and Hg chemostratigraphy of Neoproterozoic cap carbonates of the Sergipano Belt,Northeastern Brazil

Two cap carbonates overlying glaciogenic diamictites crop out extensively in the eastern Vaza Barris Domain of the Sergipano Belt, northeastern Brazil. They are represented by carbonates of the Jacoca Formation, resting on top of diamictite of the Ribeiropolis Formation, and by the Olhos D’Agua Formation (carbonates, organic-rich towards the top), which overlies diamictite of the Palestina Formation. These two sequences were deformed and metamorphosed at sub-greenschist facies-conditions during the Brasiliano cycle (650–600 Ma).     

扬子陆块西北缘早新元古代俯冲增生过程的岩浆记录

华南早新元古代俯冲相关岩浆作用记录为揭示罗迪尼亚超大陆边缘陆块的聚合及增生过程提供了重要制约。本文聚焦华南扬子陆块西北缘出露的早新元古代岩浆作用记录,总结梳理了其年代学框架、地球化学特征以及同位素特征,查明了其源区性质和岩石学成因、并探讨了不同阶段岩浆记录所对应的构造环境。结果表明,扬子陆块西北缘约1.0~0.9 Ga岩石具有与新生岛弧岩浆类似的微量元素特征,强不相容元素的含量略低于大陆弧,并且具有亏损的Sr-Nd-Hf同位素组成和略低于地幔值的锆石δ18O值,这些特征指示约1.0~0.9 Ga岩浆岩最有可能形成于洋内弧环境。相比之下,约0.9~0.83 Ga岩浆岩具有与平均上地壳类似的微量元素特征,富集强不相容元素和轻稀土元素,亏损高场强元素,并且具有富集的Sr-Nd-Hf同位素组成,锆石δ18O值与地幔值相当或略高,指示其可能形成于大陆弧环境。此外,镁铁质岩石全岩Nd和锆石Hf同位素随年龄的长期变化趋势揭示了地幔源区性质周期性地富集和亏损,这可能是由于俯冲带间歇性地前进和后撤引起的挤压–伸展构造体制的不断交替所致。本文结果为扬子陆块西北缘新元古代早期的构造演化历史和俯冲增生动力学机制提供了制约。     

A Vendian-Cambrian boundary succession from the northwestern margin of the Siberian Platform: stratigraphy, palaeontology, chemostratigraphy and correlation

Siberia contains several key reference sections for studies of biological and environmental evolution across the Proterozoic-Phanerozoic transition. The Platonovskaya Formation, exposed in the Turukhansk region of western Siberia, is an uppermost Proterozoic to Cambrian succession whose trace and body fossils place broad limits on the age of deposition, but do not permit detailed correlation with boundary successions elsewhere. In contrast, a striking negative carbon isotopic excursion in the lower part of the Platonovskaya Formation permits precise chemostratigraphic correlation with upper-most Yudomian successions in Siberia, and possibly worldwide. In addition to providing a tool for correlation, the isotopic excursion preserved in the Platonovskaya and contemporaneous successions documents a major biogeochemical event, likely involving the world ocean. The excursion coincides with the palaeontological breakpoint between Ediacaran- and Cambrian-style assemblages, suggesting a role for biogeochemical change in evolutionary events near the Proterozoic Cambrian boundary.     

The Paleoproterozoic Wernecke Supergroup of Yukon,Canada: Relationships to orogeny in northwestern Laurentia and basins in North America,East Australia,and China

The Paleoproterozoic Wernecke Supergroup of Yukon was deposited when the northwestern margin of Laurentia was undergoing major adjustments related to the assembly of the supercontinent Columbia (Nuna) from 1.75 to 1.60 Ga. U–Pb detrital zircon geochronology coupled with Nd isotope geochemistry and major and trace element geochemistry are used to characterize the evolution of the Wernecke basin. The maximum depositional age of the Wernecke Supergroup is reevaluated and is estimated at 1649 ± 14 Ma. Detrital zircon age spectra show a bimodal age distribution that reflects derivation from cratonic Laurentia, with a prominent peak at 1900 Ma. Going upsection, the late Paleoproterozoic peak shifts from 1900 Ma to 1850–1800 Ma, and the proportion of Archean and early Paleoproterozoic zircon decreases. These modifications are a consequence of a change in the drainage system in western Laurentia caused by early phase of the Forward orogeny, several hundred km to the east. The exposed lower and middle parts of the Wernecke Supergroup are correlated with the Hornby Bay Group. Zircon younger than 1.75 Ga appear throughout the sedimentary succession and may have originated from small igneous suites in northern Laurentia, larger source regions such as magmatic arc terranes of the Yavapai and early Mazatzal orogenies in southern Laurentia, and possible arc complexes such as Bonnetia that may have flanked the eastern margin of East Australia. Basins with similar age and character include the Tarcoola Formation (Gawler Craton) and the Willyama Supergroup (Curnamona Province) of South Australia, the Isan Supergroup of North Australia, and the Dongchuan–Dahongshan–Hondo successions of southeast Yangtze Craton (South China). Nd isotope ratios of the Wernecke Supergroup are comparable with values from Proterozoic Laurentia, the Isan and Curnamona assemblages of east Australia, the Gawler Craton, and the Dahongshan–Dongchuan–Hondo successions of the Yangtze Craton of South China. These similarities are compelling evidence for a shared depositional system among these successions. Western Columbia in the Late Paleoproterozoic may have had a dynamic SWEAT-like configuration involving Australia, East Antarctica and South China moving along western Laurentia.     

Deconstructing the Transvaal Supergroup, South Africa: implications for Palaeoproterozoic palaeoclimate models

Current correlations between the Pretoria and Postmasburg Groups of the Transvaal Supergroup are shown to be invalid. The Postmasburg Group is also demonstrated to be broadly conformable with the underlying Ghaap Group and therefore considerably older (2.4 Ga) than previously supposed. The new stratigraphy documents an extensive (100 Ma) and continuous cold-climate episode with a glacial maximum at the Makganyene Formation diamictite. Iron formations of the underlying Asbesheuwels and Koegas Subgroups and overlying Hotazel Formation have similar origins, related, respectively, to the onset and cessation of the glacial event. This interpretation of the Transvaal Supergroup stratigraphy has significant implications for various Palaeoproterozoic environmental models and for the timing of the development of an oxygenated atmosphere.     

Paleomagnetic analysis of the Marwar Supergroup,Rajasthan, India and proposed interbasinal correlations

The Marwar Supergroup refers to a 1000–2000 m thick marine and coastal sequence that covers a vast area of Rajasthan in NW–India. The Marwar Basin uncomformably overlies the ∼750–770 Ma rocks of the Malani Igneous Suite and is therefore considered Late Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian in age. Upper Vindhyan basinal sediments (Bhander and Rewa Groups), exposed in the east and separated by the Aravalli–Delhi Fold Belt, have long been assumed to coeval with the Marwar Supergroup. Recent studies based on detrital zircon populations of the Marwar and Upper Vindhyan sequences show some similarity in the older populations, but the Vindhyan sequence shows no zircons younger than 1000 Ma whereas samples taken from the Marwar Basin show distinctly younger zircons. This observation led to speculation that the Upper Vindhyan and Marwar sequences did not develop coevally.While there are alternative explanations for why the two basins may differ in their detrital zircon populations, paleomagnetic studies may provide independent evidence for differences/similarities between the assumed coeval basins. We have collected samples in the Marwar Basin and present the paleomagnetic results. Previous paleomagnetic studies of Marwar basinal sediments were misinterpreted as being indistinguishable from the Upper Vindhyan sequence. The vast majority of our samples show directional characteristics similar to the previously published studies. We interpret these results to be a recent overprint. A small subset of hematite-bearing rocks from the Jodhpur Formation (basal Marwar) exhibit directional data (Dec = 89° Inc = −1° α95 = 9°) that are distinct from the Upper Vindhyan pole and may offer additional support for temporally distinct episodes of sedimentation in these proximal regions. A VGP based upon our directional data is reported at 1°S 344°E (dp = 5°, dm = 9°). We conclude that the Marwar Supergroup developed near the close of the Ediacaran Period and is part of a larger group of sedimentary basins that include the Huqf Supergroup (Oman), the Salt-Range (Pakistan), the Krol–Tal belt (Himalayas) and perhaps the Molo Supergroup (Madagascar).     

Nitrogen distribution in Lower Palaeozoic slates/phyllites of the Meguma Supergroup, Nova Scotia, Canada: implications for Au and Zn-Pb mineralisation and exploration

Major and trace elements and nitrogen were analysed in 59 Cambrian and Ordovician slates/phyllites of various lithostratigraphic levels within the Meguma Supergroup, 14 Ordovician slates/phyllites of The Ovens gold mineralisation, and 16 Ordovician slates/phyllites of the Eastville Pb-Zn-Cu mineralisation.The fixed nitrogen content and the normative N_fix/K₂O ratio of muscovite separates members of the Goldenville (sandstone-greywacke-quartzite dominated) and Halifax Formation (slate-phyllite dominated). Low fixed nitrogen concentration is related to high manganese concentration. Black slates/phyllites of the saddle-reef-type Au-mineralisation in The Ovens area are characterised by high fixed nitrogen and a high normative N_fix/K₂O ratio of muscovite. The nitrogen is of secondary hydrothermal origin. Therefore, it might be possible to use the fixed nitrogen as an exploration tool for black slates/phyllite hosted gold mineralisation in Nova Scotia. Mineralised slates/phyllites of the Eastville stratabound Pb-Zn mineralisation cannot be distinguished from nonmineralised time equivalent lithologies on the basis of the fixed nitrogen distribution or the N_fix/K₂O ratio of muscovite.     

鄂尔多斯盆地早侏罗世富县期沉积演化: 大洋缺氧事件前后陆地气候变化的响应*

托阿尔期早期早侏罗世大洋缺氧事件(T-OAE,~183.8 Ma)是一次全球性的地质事件,鄂尔多斯盆地下侏罗统富县组记录了此次地质事件的陆地响应过程。主要基于盆地东缘野外地质调查、扫描电镜及薄片分析,本次研究描述了盆地东北部富县组岩性、颜色和沉积序列,利用前人研究成果总结了富县期岩相古地理变化规律及沉积模式,认为富县期经历了由干旱到湿润的古气候变化: 富县组下部含植物化石较为丰富的白色砂砾岩及黑色、灰色泥页岩沉积于湿润气候时期,对应着盆地下切河谷发育期和填平补齐期; 而上覆的罕见植物化石的杂色、红色泥页岩为(富县期晚期)相对平坦地形条件下的沉积,对应着早、中侏罗世湿润气候背景下的一次干旱气候脉动,为托阿尔期大洋缺氧事件在陆相环境的气候响应,可由此进行富县组区域等时性对比。研究认为“粗富县”为下切谷内河流充填沉积, “细富县”形成于湖泊环境或河漫环境, “黑富县”和“白富县”是湿润气候条件下沉积产物,而“红富县”和“杂富县”为T-OAE期后干旱条件下形成。     

准噶尔盆地西北部P-T转换期不整合的发育演化特征及意义*

二叠纪晚期—三叠纪早期是准噶尔盆地演化的重要转换期,发育了具有特色性的不整合面。本研究以该盆地的西北部为例,综合利用地震和钻井资料,探讨该时期不整合的发育演化特征及其地质意义。研究表明,转换期发育P₃/P₂期主要不整合与T₁/P₃期次要不整合,它们在研究区北部叠加复合,构成了三叠系底界叠合不整合面,在南部被上二叠统所分隔而独立存在;转换期经历了主要不整合的形成、主要不整合被上二叠统超覆、次要不整合与叠合不整合的形成及其被三叠系最终超覆4个演化阶段。不整合的发育演化特征揭示了晚海西期和早印支期构造运动对准噶尔盆地影响的强弱程度、地层记录的“楔形体”内涵以及上二叠统与下三叠统的层序归属。P-T转换期不整合面及其相邻地层形成了有效的油气运移通道、良好的储盖组合和类型众多的圈闭,因此具有重要的油气勘探意义。     

Post-Marinoan marine siliciclastic sedimentation: The Masirah Bay Formation,Neoproterozoic Huqf Supergroup of Oman

The Huqf Supergroup of Oman contains an excellently exposed succession from the presumed Marinoan-age Fiq glaciation (ca. 635 Ma) to the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary (542 Ma). Within this time interval, two major siliciclastic-to-carbonate cycles are present, starting with the transgression of basin margins following the deposition of the glacigenic, probably rift-related Fiq Member. The dominantly siliciclastic portion of the first cycle is termed the Masirah Bay Formation. In the Huqf region of east-central Oman, two quartz-arenitic sandstone bodies crop out, below the transition into the overlying Khufai Formation carbonates. In the Jabal Akhdar of northern Oman, only deep marine shales and siltstones are found.The Masirah Bay Formation in the Huqf area is divided into a number of members with constituent units containing distinctive facies assemblages. In Member 1, wave-rippled shoreface deposits are overlain by trough cross-stratified, coarse-grained sandstones deposited in proximal tidal sandsheets or estuarine tidal shoals. Member 2 represents essentially a repeat of this coarsening- and shallowing-up trend via a basin-wide flooding event. A second major flooding surface is overlain by the lower shoreface to offshore sedimentary rocks of Member 3, which pass gradationally upwards into the distal carbonate ramp of the Khufai Formation. The two major progradational cycles can be identified in nearby subsurface well penetrations such as Masirah-1 (SMP-1).The tidal sandstones of the Masirah Bay Formation were deposited as regressive-transgressive pulses in a longer term transgressive stratigraphic trend associated with both the demise of continental glaciation and the end of active extensional tectonics. As basin margins were flooded, compositionally and texturally mature but coarse-grained quartzose sand was swept by currents into tidal sandsheets and estuary-fills along a broad littoral margin situated in the eastern fringe of the study area. The development of meso-macrotidal conditions over extensive sandy shelves and coastlines appears to be a common but unexplained feature of the Ediacaran and Early Cambrian interval.     

First carbon isotope chemostratigraphy of the Ouled Abdoun phosphate Basin,Morocco; implications for dating and evolution of earliest African placental mammals

The well-known Maastrichtian–Ypresian vertebrate-bearing phosphate series, in the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco, is classically dated using regional selachian biostratigraphic zonation. These marine sediments yielded Paleocene and Eocene mammals comprising the earliest known placentals from Africa. This study provides the first insight into the organic carbon isotope chemostratigraphy (δ¹³C_org) of the Moroccan phosphate series and a refined dating of its vertebrate-bearing levels. Four Paleocene–Eocene sections in the NE Ouled Abdoun quarries show consistent δ¹³C_org long term evolutions, from the base to the top: 1) positive trend in phosphorite Bed IIa, beginning with the lower Bone Bed yielding mammals such as Eritherium, Ocepeia, Abdounodus, Lahimia, of early Thanetian and Selandian age; 2) transitional negative trend in the Intercalary phosphorite Beds II/I that includes the Otodus obliquus and Phosphatherium escuilliei Bone Bed of earliest Ypresian age; 3) negative trend to the lowermost δ¹³C_org values that are correlative to the early–middle Ypresian interval including ETM 2 and ETM 3 hyperthermal events in the global record; 4) positive trend in chert-enriched facies containing the middle Ypresian EECO global climatic event. Our chemostratigraphic study of the Ouled Abdoun phosphate series provides a new chronostratigraphic framework for calibrating the beginning of the evolution of placental mammals in Africa. The lower Bone Bed level from the Paleocene phosphorite Bed IIa yielding Eritherium is not younger than early Thanetian, and is most likely Selandian. The Phosphatherium Bone Bed in the Intercalary Beds II/I is earliest Ypresian. The phosphorite Bed 0, from which Daouitherium probably came, is early–middle Ypresian, just below the EECO. This suggests that the first large proboscideans evolved after the PETM, during mid-Ypresian warming events. The δ¹³C_org study does not support the presence of Lutetian in the NE Ouled Abdoun phosphate series and suggests that a noticeable part of the upper Thanetian is absent.     

Geochemical and biogeochemical exploration research near early precambrian porphyry-type molybdenum-copper mineralization,northwestern Ontario,Canada

An extensive zone of molybdenite concentration occurs in the north part of a small (5.7 km²) epizonal pluton of equigranular to porphyritic granodiorite-quartz monzonite that intrudes Early Precambrian mafic metavolcanics and metasediments at Setting Net Lake in northwestern Ontario. Within an east-trending mineralized zone up to 460 m wide and 2500 m long, widespread molybdenite occurs along the margins of narrow, variably spaced quartz veins filling joints in the stock, and as minor disseminated mineralization throughout the granodiorite-quartz monzonite. The zone also contains minor chalcopyrite. The study area is typical of extensive poorly-drained, low relief regions of northwestern Quebec, northern Ontario and central Manitoba that are covered by transported Quaternary deposits of glacial till and calcareous lake clay.Average metal abundances in plutonic rocks of the Setting Net Lake stock are (in p.p.m.): Cu - 8, Mo - 1.7, Zn - 30, Mn - 277 in the barren south half of the stock, and Cu - 61, Mo - 26, Zn - 30, Mn - 240 in the mineralized north half of the stock.Molybdenum concentrations range from 1 p.p.m. to 80 p.p.m. in soils and from 2 p.p.m. to 71 p.p.m. in the ash of second year black spruce needles. Anomaly patterns can be explained in terms of pH-solubility relationships in a wide range of Eh-pH environments and it is apparent that Mo uptake by coniferous vegetation is controlled mainly by Mo concentration and mobility in supporting soils.Copper concentrations range from 3 p.p.m. to 311 p.p.m. in soils and from 32 p.p.m. to 322 p.p.m. in the ash of second year black spruce needles. Anomalous copper levels in soil extend into areas of high pH soils developed on calcareous parent material. Copper anomaly contrast is limited to 3/1 in vegetation growing in soil containing as much as 30 times background levels of copper and for this reason, it is suggested that Cu uptake by coniferous vegetation is controlled mainly by the specific biochemical requirement of the plant for this metal.