Formation of Lower and Middle Jurassic Coaliferous Sequences in the Northern Caucasus

Pliensbachian coaliferous sequences were formed along the southern margin of the Stavropol Uplift in various paleogeographic environments. Therefore, peat bogs are developed in various landscape zones. In the southern Kuban coaliferous district, which adjoins the tectonically active central Caucasus, coaliferous sediments were formed in river valleys, whereas peat bogs were developed in swamped valleys. In the northern Kuban and Baksan coaliferous districts situated away from this region, coaliferous sediments were formed under conditions of alluvial–deltaic and alluvial–lacustrine plains. Peat bogs were localized in the swamped alluvial–deltaic and alluvial–lacustrine plains. In the Laba–Urup and southeastern Baksan coaliferous districts situated far away from the tectonically active central Caucasus and dominated by partly isolated bays and lagoons (or coastal plains), peat bogs were formed in the swamped (partly isolated) bays and lagoons (or coastal plains). Similar environments of sedimentation and peat deposition were typical of the Daghestan coaliferous district in the early Aalenian and Bathonian of Middle Jurassic.     

Ammonites from the Lias Group (Lower Jurassic,Sinemurian and Pliensbachian) of White Park Bay,Co. Antrim,Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland's Jurassic succession has received relatively little detailed investigation. Late Sinemurian and early Pliensbachian strata are present in parts of north Antrim but they are poorly exposed at outcrop and have been penetrated by just a single borehole, at Portmore, in which parts of the succession are missing. Collecting from White Park Bay over more than two decades, augmented by examination of museum material, has established the presence within the Rathlin (North Antrim) Basin of ammonite zones and subzones additional to those proven in the Portmore Borehole. This suggests that parts of the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian stages, from the Obtusum Zone through to the Davoei Zone, and possibly even higher, may be preserved in onshore or nearshore parts of the basin. Despite the generally poor exposure, the material recovered encompasses more than 40 ammonite species, including several taxa that are poorly represented elsewhere in the UK, of which two, Vicininodiceras dalriatense sp. nov. and Cheltonia howarthi sp. nov., are previously undescribed.     

Bajocian ammonoids from Pumani River area (Ayacucho,Peru): Palaeobiogeographical and palaeoenvironmental implications for the Arequipa Basin

Deposits of the Socosani Formation in the Pucayacu and Pumani sections (Ayacucho Department, Peru), along several kilometres, have yielded Upper Bajocian ammonoid fossil-assemblages characterized by the occurrence of juvenile individuals belonging to endemic or pandemic genera, such as Megasphaeroceras and Spiroceras respectively. In addition, certain Bajocian genera relatively common in the Mediterranean-Caucasian Subrealm, but very scarce in the Eastern Pacific Subrealm, such as the strigoceratid Cadomoceras and the phylloceratid Adabofoloceras, occur in this area. According to the taphonomic, palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical evidence from the Pumani River area, the maximum deepening, relative sea-level rise and oceanic accessibility of a Bajocian–Bathonian, second-order, transgressive/regressive facies cycle in the marine Arequipa Basin were reached during the Late Bajocian Niortense Biochron. However, synsedimentary regional tectonics in the Pumani River area disturbed this general deepening/shallowing cycle of the Arequipa Basin, particularly during the Late Bajocian post-Niortense time-interval of the Garantiana and Parkinsoni biochrons.     

Radiocarbon Dating of the Dynamics of Landslides in the Upper Reaches of the Mzymta River Basin (Western Caucasus)

The article contains materials on the study of landslide deposits in the upper reaches of the Mzymta river basin. The results of ¹⁴C analysis showed that the youngest landslides are common on the southern slope of the Psekhako Ridge and date back to less than 200 and 390 ± 90, 400 ± 70 cal. years BP and more than 770 ± 150 cal. years BP. The most ancient landslide-collapse on the northern slope of the Aibga Ridge and dates back to 1110 ± 90 cal. years BP.     

Sedimentary environments and geochemistry of Upper Eocene and Lower Oligocene rocks in the northeastern Caucasus

Upper Eocene and Lower Oligocene rocks in the northeastern Caucasus were examined in the most representative Chirkei section (Sulak River basin). Sharp lithogeochemical distinctions between them were revealed. The results of the study of nannoplankton demonstrated that the Eocene/Oligocene interface occurs slightly below the boundary between the Belaya Glina and Khadum formations. The studied section revealed a series of nannoplankton bioevents facilitating its stratigraphic subdivision. It has been established that organic matter (OM) in rocks of the Khadum Formation is characterized by a relatively high degree of maturity. Probably, the material of mainly marine genesis contains a terrigenous OM admixture. Positive oxygen isotope anomaly in the upper part of the Belaya Glina Formation reflects global climate changes (cooling) near the Eocene/Oligocene interface. Limitation of the anomaly by the upper boundary of the Belaya Glina Formation is likely related to changes in water salinity variations in the Early Oligocene basin and intense early diagenetic processes in rocks therein. Lithological, geochemical, and paleoecological data suggest that the Khadum paleobasin was depleted in oxygen. Such environment was unstable with periodic intensification or attenuation. Paleoecology in the Belaya Glina basin was typical of normally aerated basins.     

Postsedimentary Transformations of Lower Triassic Rocks in the Northern Varandey-Adzva Zone (Pechora Oil- and Gas-Bearing Basin)

Lithology and Mineral Resources - New data on the mineral composition of Lower Triassic terrigenous rocks in the northern Pechora oil- and gas-bearing basin are presented. The relevance of the...     

Evolution of Part of the Lower Critical Zone, Farm Ruighoek, Western Bushveld

This study of a part of the lower Critical Zone, Farm Ruighoek,Western Bushveld, is based mainly on selected drill core samplesfrom two sections approximately 1.2 miles apart. The 1300-ftsequence investigated consists of pyroxenites with two harzburgitebands and sixteen chromitite seams. Results obtained are consistent with the hypothesis that evolutionof the sequence was a cyclic process in which cumulate mineralscrystallized in a zone near the floor of accumulation undergenerally quiescent conditions. Compositional changes of cumulateminerals reflect the influence of a separate intrusion of undifferentiatedparent magma or refusion at depth of crystals formed near thetop of the magma chamber. Interstitial mineral content and plagioclasecomposition reflect changing rates of crystal accumulation.Orthopyroxene grain size and sorting coefficient reflect, inpart, the vertical distance over which crystallization occurred.Textural features and contact relations of chromitite seamsare consistent with the hypothesis that most chromite crystallizedfrom the silicate magma and accumulated during a period of littleor no crystallization of silicate minerals. It is postulatedthat this loose crystal assemblage was enriched by co-accumulationand partial in situ crystallization of chromite-rich immiscibleliquid. Textural, mineralogical, and compositional changes infootwalls and hanging walls of chromitite seams are thoughtto reflect in situ reactions.     

The Mineralogy and Petrology of the Transition from the Lower to Upper Sillimanite Zone in the Oquossoc Area, Maine

Systematic changes in the assemblages and compositions of mineralssuggest that the transition from lower to upper sillimanitezone in the Oquossoc area, Maine, is marked by the reaction Staurolite+Sodic Muscovite+QuartzSillimanite+Biotite+K-richerMuscovite+Albite+Garnet+H₂O. Moreover, the mineralogic data for the silicates suggest thatH₂ O is buffered by some of the assemblages present but PH₂O<P_total. A consideration of the equilibria among the opaqueminerals enables a calculation of the composition of the fluidphase assuming specific PT conditions and that P_fluid = P_total.At several reasonable PT conditions the calculated fluid phaseis reasonable in terms of the model for P_H2O based upon thesilicate equilibria. Probable PT conditions for the metamorphism considered in thisstudy range from 575 to 630°C and 3 to 5 kb.     

北羌塘坳陷南部胜利河油浸白云岩

北羌塘坳陷南部胜利河上游出露油浸白云岩,层位为中侏罗统布曲组上部,近水平产状,下伏TOC含量高的黑色泥页岩。油浸白云岩呈灰黑色,原岩为生物碎屑灰岩,经历了白云岩化作用;表面覆盖烟灰状沥青,内含易于挥发的轻质油;地表样品含油率为765×10^–6,远高于南羌塘坳陷隆鄂尼—昂达尔错古油藏地表出露的白云岩油砂(含油率(12～236)×10^–6)。胜利河油浸白云岩裂隙发育,孔隙度为6.49%、渗透率为3.81 mD,属于羌塘盆地有利储层。油气地球化学及油源对比结果显示,胜利河油浸白云岩原油来源于中下侏罗统富有机质泥页岩。胜利河油浸白云岩对北羌塘坳陷油气勘查评价具有重要指示意义。     

Northern latitude chemical weathering rates: clues from the Mackenzie River Basin, Canada

The main scope of this study is to investigate parameters controlling chemical weathering rates for a large river system submitted to subarctic climate. More than 110 river water samples from the Mackenzie River system (northern Canada) have been sampled and analyzed for major and trace elements and Sr isotopic ratios in the dissolved phase. The three main morphological units are reflected in water chemistry. Rivers from the Canadian Shield are very dilute, dominated by silicate weathering (Millot et al., 2002), whereas the rivers of the Rocky and Mackenzie Mountains as well as the rivers of the sedimentary Interior Platform are dominated by carbonate weathering and are SO₄ rich. Compared to the rivers of the Mackenzie and Rocky Mountains, the rivers of the interior plains are organic, silica, and Na rich and constitute the dominant input term to the Mackenzie River mainstream. Rivers of the Canadian Shield area do not significantly contribute to the Mackenzie River system. Using elemental ratios and Sr isotopic ratios, a mathematical inversion procedure is presented that distinguishes between solutes derived from silicate weathering and solutes derived from carbonate weathering. Carbonate weathering rates are mostly controlled by runoff, which is higher in the mountainous part of the Mackenzie basin. These rates are comparable to the carbonate weathering rates of warmer areas of the world. It is possible that part of the carbonate weathering is controlled by sulfide oxidative weathering, but its extent remains difficult to assess. Conversely to what was stated by Edmond and Huh (1997), overall silicate weathering rates in the Mackenzie basin are low, ranging from 0.13 to 4.3 tons/km²/yr (Na + K + Ca + Mg), and confirm the negative action of temperature on silicate weathering rates for river basins in cold climates. In contrast to what has been observed in other large river systems such as the Amazon and Ganges Rivers, silicate weathering rates appear 3 to 4 times more elevated in the plains than in the mountainous headwaters. This contradicts the “Raymo hypothesis” (Raymo and Ruddiman, 1992). Isotopic characterization of suspended material clearly shows that the higher weathering rates reported for the plains are not due to the weathering of fine sediments produced in the mountains (e.g., by glaciers) and deposited in the plains. Rather, the relatively high chemical denudation rates in the plains are attributed to lithology (uncompacted shales), high mechanical denudation, and the abundance of soil organic matter derived from incomplete degradation and promoting crystal lattice degradation by element complexation. The three- to fourfold factor of chemical weathering enhancement between the plains and mountains is similar to the fourfold factor of enhancement found by Moulton et al. (2000) between unvegetated and vegetated watershed. This study confirms the negative action of temperature on silicate weathering for cold climate but shows that additional factors, such as organic matter, associated with northern watersheds are able to counteract the effect of temperature. This acceleration by a factor of 4 in the plains is equivalent to a 6°C increase in temperature.     

内蒙古二连盆地早三叠世地层及孢粉组合的发现

二连盆地曾被认为是缺失三叠纪沉积的地区。通过阿拉坦合力凹陷坦参１井的孢粉化石分析,首次证实了在二连盆地存在早三叠世地层。坦参１井的下三叠统的视厚度１ ３３９ｍ （井深５５８～１ ８９７ｍ ）,以紫红色、棕红色的泥岩为主,夹灰绿色泥岩,向下岩性变粗,含砾泥岩、砂砾岩增加,与上覆侏罗系及下伏上二叠统皆呈不整合接触。井深７００～１ ８９６ｍ 产以Ｌｉｍ ａｔｕｌａｓｐｏｒｉｔｅｓ大量出现、Ｔａｅｎｉａｅｓｐｏｒｉｔｅｓ具一定含量、出现Ｌｕｎｄｂｌａｄｉｓｐｏｒａ、Ａｒａｔｒｉｓｐｏｒｉｔｅｓ和Ｌｕｅｃｋｉｓｐｏｒｉｔｅｓ为主要特征的早三叠世孢粉化石组合。这一发现对重新认识二连盆地的地质发育历史颇有意义     

Revision of the Clam Shrimp Genus Magumbonia from the Upper Jurassic of the Luanping Basin,Hebei, Northern China

The diverse clam shrimp Nestoria-Keratestheria fauna is widely distributed in the Dabeigou Formation in northern Hebei and eastern Inner Mongolia of China. Its important component genus Magumbonia from the Dabeigou Formation in the Luanping Basin, northern Hebei, China, is revised on the basis of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) examination of the type species M. jingshangensis Wang, 1984, which revealed morphological features not recognized previously. These include coarse reticulation on the umbo and prominent growth lines ornamented with densely spaced, small tubercles and fine lirae.     

Revision of the Clam Shrimp Genus Magumbonia from the Upper Jurassic of the Luanping Basin,Hebei,Northern China

The diverse clam shrimp Nestoria-Keratestheria fauna is widely distributed in the Dabeigou Formation in northern Hebei and eastern Inner Mongolia of China.Its important component genus Magumbonia from the Dabeigou Formation in the Luanping Basin,northern Hebei,China,is revised on the basis of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) examination of the type species M.jingshangensis Wang,1984,which revealed morphological features not recognized previously.These include coarse reticulation on the umbo and promi...     

澳大利亚北卡那封盆地晚三叠世混合沉积特征

在澳大利亚北卡那封盆地的东南部,上三叠统Brigadier组为三角洲砂泥岩,在西北部则发育纯碳酸盐岩。盆地东南部有明显的河流及碎屑物源供应的证据,靠近物源区为三角洲碎屑岩沉积,远离物源区为生物礁滩沉积及滑塌沉积,总体上具有明显的混积特征。Brigadier组混合沉积形成的主要原因是碎屑物源输入的停止和水动力的减弱,碳酸盐岩沉积在早期河道砂泥岩之上,这属于典型的相混合成因类型。     

Structural Evolution and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Upper Paleozoic Northern Ordos Basin, North China

The hydrocarbon potential of the Hangjinqi area in the northern Ordos Basin is not well known, compared to the other areas of the basin, despite its substantial petroleum system.Restoration of a depth-converted seismic profile across the Hangjinqi Fault Zone(HFZ) in the eastern Hangjinqi area shows one compression that created anticlinal structures in the Late Triassic, and two extensions in ~Middle Jurassic and Late Early Cretaceous, which were interrupted by inversions in the Late Jurassic–Early Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous, respectively.Hydrocarbon generation at the well locations in the Central Ordos Basin(COB) began in the Late Triassic.Basin modeling of Well Zhao-4 suggests that hydrocarbon generation from the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian coal measures of the northern Shanbei Slope peaked in the Early Cretaceous, predating the inversion in the Late Cretaceous.Most source rocks in the Shanbei Slope passed the main gas-migration phase except for the Hangjinqi area source rocks(Well Jin-48).Hydrocarbons generated from the COB are likely to have migrated northward toward the anticlinal structures and traps along the HFZ because the basin-fill strata are dipping south.Faulting that continued during the extensional phase(Late Early Cretaceous) of the Hangjinqi area probably acted as conduits for the migration of hydrocarbons.Thus, the anticlinal structures and associated traps to the north of the HFZ might have trapped hydrocarbons that were charged from the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian coal measures in the COB since the Middle Jurassic.     

Rock avalanches of the Ardon River valley at the southern foot of the Rocky Range,Northern Caucasus,North Osetia

Deposits of very large rock avalanches were identified at the southern foot of the Rocky Range of the Northern Caucasus. Cliffs facing the Ardon River are 1–1.5 km high and composed of Cretaceous and upper Jurassic, hard, crystaline limestone, underlain by softer, middle Jurassic shale, siltstone and sandstone flysh. The largest rock avalanche, at Karivhoh, is ~2×10⁹ m³ in volume, travelled more than 7 km, and covered about 18 km² with deposits up to 200–300 m thick. All rock-avalanche bodies are composed of intensively crushed debris overlain by a blocky carapace. Numerous subsequent landslides develop within these deposits, and pose a threat to villages built on them.     

塔里木盆地北部坳陷及周缘下寒武统烃源岩特征及分布

塔里木盆地北部坳陷周缘发现的大量油气主要来源于下寒武统泥质烃源岩。坳陷西部下寒武统发育玉尔吐斯组,东部发育西大山和西山布拉克组,两者在有机质丰度、类型和成熟度等方面存在明显不同,微量元素显示玉尔吐斯组具有较高的古生产力,总体反映西部水体较深的强还原斜坡相沉积环境,而东部则反映为水体更深、还原程度更高的盆地相沉积环境。通过地震标定及解释,刻画了下寒武统烃源岩厚度图,发现了满西、满东两个沉积凹陷,结合总有机碳(TOC)分布图,对下寒武统烃源岩生烃潜力进行了计算及成图。北部坳陷生烃量巨大,而目前已发现油气仅占很小一部分,所以北部坳陷及周缘下步勘探潜力巨大。     

关于珠江口盆地BY7—1—1井上,下等三系界线的讨论

根据多门类古生物的研究结果,证明珠江口盆地最南部的ＢＹ７－１－１井珠江组时代归属晚渐新世无疑,因而证实秦国权拟定、并由此推论到整个盆地的早中新世“珠海组”界线及时代应予修正。