Predation by boring gastropods on Late Cretaceous and Early Palaeocene ostracods

The predation by boring gastropods on ostracods can be thought of in terms of being a “truncated” system inasmuch as all adult prey individuals are accessible to all predators, but only attract juveniles of the latter. Material from the Santonian (Late Cretaceous) of Israel and the Palaeocene of Nigeria were studied. Hole-size is not correlated with prey-size for the Santonian material, whereas this relationship is highly significant in the Palaeocene samples. Holes made by juvenile naticids are larger, on the average, than those made by muricids. The dimensions of the boreholes for the two samples do not differ statistically at the bivariate level. Ostracods with strong surface ornament were less likely to be drilled than those with smoother shells. In neither the Santonian nor the Palaeocene could a case be made for a selective effect arising out of predational pressure (the predational level in the Santonian is 8% and in the Palaeocene, 2%). Partially completed holes made by muricids and naticids occur in both sets of material and there are several examples of multiple boreholes (i.e. two or more holes in the same shell). Examples of boreholes are figured and an early phase of drilling illustrated in which radula scratches and the effects of dissolution by the accessory boring organ (ABO) are visible. Estimates of muricid and naticid sizes, based on ABO dimensions, (reconstructed from borehole diameters) indicate a range in whorl-height running from 0.6–3.9 mm (mode at 1.8 mm).     

Petrogenesis of the Late Cretaceous northern Alberta kimberlite province

At present, 48 Late Cretaceous (ca. 70–88 Ma) kimberlitic pipes have been discovered in three separate areas of the northern Alberta: the Mountain Lake cluster, the Buffalo Head Hills field and the Birch Mountains field. The regions can be distinguished from one another by their non-archetypal kimberlite signature (Mountain Lake) or, in the case of kimberlite fields, primitive (Buffalo Head Hills) to evolved (Birch Mountains) magmatic signatures.

The dominant process of magmatic differentiation is crystal fractionation and accumulation of olivine, which acts as the main criteria to distinguish between primitive and evolved Group I-type kimberlite fields in the northern Alberta. This is important from the viewpoint of diamond exploration because the majority (about 80%) of the more primitive Buffalo Head Hills kimberlites are diamondiferous, whereas the more evolved Birch Mountains pipes are barren of diamonds for the most part. Petrographically, the Buffalo Head Hills samples are distinct from the Birch Mountains samples in that they contain less carbonate, have a smaller modal abundance of late-stage minerals such as phlogopite and ilmenite, and have a higher amount of fresh, coarse macrocrystal (>0.5 mm) olivine. Consequently, samples from the Buffalo Head Hills have the highest values of MgO, Cr and Ni, and have chemistries similar to those of primitive hypabyssal kimberlite in the Northwest Territories. Based on whole-rock isotopic data, the Buffalo Head Hills K6 kimberlite has ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and _Nd values similar to those of South African Group I kimberlites, whereas the Birch Mountains Legend and Phoenix kimberlites have similar _Nd values (between 0 and +1.9), but distinctly higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values (0.7051–0.7063).

The lack of whole-rock geochemical overlap between kimberlite and the freshest, least contaminated Mountain Lake South pipe rocks reflects significant mineralogical differences and Mountain Lake is similar geochemically to olivine alkali basalt and/or basanite. Intra-field geochemical variations are also evident. The K4 pipe (Buffalo Head Hills), and Xena and Kendu pipes (Birch Mountains) are characterized by anomalous concentrations of incompatible elements relative to other northern Alberta kimberlite pipes, including chondrite-normalized rare-earth element distribution patterns that are less fractionated than the other kimberlite samples from the Buffalo Head Hills and Birch Mountains. The Xena pipe has similar major element chemical signatures and high-Al clinopyroxene similar to, or trending towards, the Mountain Lake pipes. In addition, K4 and Kendu have higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and lower _Nd than Bulk Earth and plot in the bottom right quadrant of the Nd–Sr diagram. We suggest, therefore, that the K4 and Kendu pipes contain a contribution from old, LREE-enriched (low Sm/Nd) lithosphere that is absent from the other kimberlites, are affected by crustal contamination, or both.

Based on xenocryst populations, the northern Alberta kimberlite province mantle is dominated by carbonate-saturated lherzolitic mantle. Higher levels of melt depletion characterize the Buffalo Head Hills mantle sample. Despite high diamondiferous to barren pipe ratios in the Buffalo Head Hills pipes, mineral indicators of high diamond potential, such as G10 garnet, diamond inclusion composition chrome spinels and high-sodium eclogitic garnet, are rare.     

Cretaceous paleomargin tilted blocks geometry in northern Tunisia: stratigraphic consideration and fault kinematic analysis

New stratigraphic data, lithostratigraphic correlations, and fault kinematic analysis are used to discuss the basin geometry and sedimentation patterns of the northeastern Tunisia during Cretaceous times. Significant facies and thickness variations are deduced along the northeastern Atlas of Tunisia. The NW-SE 80-km-long regional correlation suggests a high sedimentation rate associated with irregular sea floor. The fault kinematic analysis highlights N-S to NE-SW tectonic extension during Early Cretaceous. During Aptian–Albian times, an extensional regime is recognized with NE-SW tectonic extension. The Cenomanian–Turonian fault populations highlight a WNW-ESE to NW-SE extension, and Campanian–Maastrichtian faults illustrate an NW-SE extension. The normal faulting is associated to repetitive local depocenters with a high rate of sedimentation as well as abundant syntectonic conglomeratic horizons, slump folds, and halokinetic structures. The sequence correlation shows repetitive local depocenters characterizing the basin during Early Cretaceous times. All the above arguments are in favor of basin configuration with tilted blocks geometry. This geometry is shaped by major synsedimentary intra-basin listric normal faults, themselves related to the extensional setting of the southern Tethyan paleomargin, which persisted into the Campanian–Maastrichtian times. The results support a predominant relationship between tilted blocks geometry and sedimentation rather than E-W “Tunisian trough” as it was previously accepted.     

Sedimentological and stratigraphic evolution of northern Lebanon since the Late Cretaceous: implications for the Levant margin and basin

This paper presents an updated review of the Upper Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentological and stratigraphic evolution of the Levant margin with a focus on the northern Lebanon. Facies and microfacies analysis of outcrop sections and onshore well cores (i.e., Kousba and Chekka) supported by nannofossil and planktonic foraminifers biostratigraphy, allowed to constrain the depositional environments prevailing in the Turonian to Late Miocene. The “Senonian” (a historical term used to define the Coniacian to Maastrichtian) source rock interval was subdivided into four sub-units with related outer-shelfal facies: (1) Upper Santonian, (2) Lower, (3) Upper Campanian, and (4) Lower Maastrichtian. This Upper Cretaceous rock unit marks the major drowning of the former Turonian rudist platform. This paper confirms the Late Lutetian to Late Burdigalian hiatus, which appears to be a direct consequence of major geodynamic events affecting the Levant region (i.e., the continued collision of Afro-Arabia with Eurasia), potentially enhanced by regressional cycles (e.g., Rupelian lowstand). The distribution of Late Burdigalian–Serravallian rhodalgal banks identified in northern Lebanon was controlled by pre-existing structures inherited from the pulsating onshore deformation. Reef barriers facies occur around the Qalhat anticline, separating an eastern, restricted back-reef setting from a western, coastal to open marine one. The acme of Mount Lebanon’s uplift and exposure is dated back to the Middle–Late Miocene; it led to important erosion of carbonates that were subsequently deposited in paleo-topographic lows. The Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic facies variations and hiatuses show that the northern Lebanon was in a higher structural position compared to the south since at least the Late Cretaceous.     

Fault-controlled stratigraphy of the Late Cretaceous Abiod Formation at Ain Medheker (Northeast Tunisia)

The palaeogeographic setting of the studied Ain Medheker section represents an Early Campanian to Early Maastrichtian moderately deep carbonate shelf to distal ramp position with high rates of hemipelagic carbonate production, periodically triggered by mass-flow processes. Syndepositional extensional tectonic processes are confirmed to the Early Campanian. Planktonic foraminifera identified in thin sections and calcareous nannofossils allow the identification of the following biozones: Globotruncanita elevata, Contusotruncana plummerae (replacing former Globotruncana ventricosa Zone), Radotruncana calcarata, Globotruncana falsostuarti, and Gansserina gansseri. The following stable C-isotope events were identified: the Santonian/Campanian boundary Event, the Mid-Campanian Event, and the Late Campanian Event. Together with further four minor isotopic events, they allow for correlation between the western and eastern realms of Tunisia. Frequently occurring turbidites were studied in detail and discussed in comparison with contourites.     

Cretaceous oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) recorded in the northern margin of Africa as possible oil and gas shale potential in Tunisia: An overview

Abstract

Significant attention has been given, during the last decade, to Palaeozoic unconventional oil and gas shale in northern Africa where the productive Palaeozoic basins are located. New tentative strategies shed light on Mesozoic unconventional plays represented by Cretaceous shale reservoirs. In most petroleum systems the proven Cretaceous oceanic anoxic events (OAEs), represented mainly by the Fahdene and Bahloul Formations, played the main role in hydrocarbon generation with good distribution. Their deposition was restricted to the early Aptian (Bedoulian), the early/late Albian, and the Cenomanian–Turonian transition. Additional black shales have been detailed for the first time in Tunisia which relate to the Valanginian Weissert and late Hauterivian Faraoni events. Biostratigraphic and complete geochemical reviews have been undertaken from published papers and unpublished internal reports to better assess these important source intervals. These black shale levels, pertaining to OAEs, were deposited in almost deep marine environments during short-lived periods of anoxia (ca. 2 Ma). In the course of this review, thickness, distribution, and maturity maps have been established for each level using well data from published sources.     

柴达木盆地北缘晚白垩世古构造活动的特征研究

柴达木盆地北缘晚白垩世构造活动控制了现今中生代残余层序的分布。在分析中生代地层分布特征的基础上,通过对红山凹陷下白垩统的地层尖灭关系讨论、马海凸起中生代地层的剥蚀厚度变化分析和苏干湖凹陷晚白垩世形成的古断裂带结构研究,提出柴达木盆地北缘晚白垩世古构造活动形成了北西走向的构造带,古构造以断块差异隆升为特点。现今新生代层序和下伏层序的复杂接触关系主要是由该期构造运动决定的。     

羌塘盆地侏罗纪末—早白垩世沉积特征与地层问题

羌塘盆地侏罗纪末至早白垩世地层包括扎窝茸组、雪山组、白龙冰河组和索瓦组上段，目前对它们的划分、对比和相互间关系的认识不一。笔者根据各组的含义和时代依据，指出各地层组为岩石地层单元，目前资料尚不足以作进一步年代学划分。通过全面统计各组的分布情况，分析各组的沉积特征，发现白龙冰河组为陆棚相，仅见于盆地北西部；索瓦组上段为海湾泻湖相，见于盆地中部；雪山组和扎窝茸组为河流一三角洲相，见于北东部。为此，认为各地层组是盆地内同期异相沉积，作为上下关系处理是不妥的，据此又提出了新的地层对比方案，认为盆内最高海相层位应该跨入了下白垩统，海水最终是向北西方向逐步退出盆地的。     

松辽盆地北部晚白垩世陆相沟鞭藻及疑源类特征与沉积环境研究

通过对松辽盆地北部晚白垩世青山口组和嫩江组一段、二段中沟鞭藻及疑源类化石形态、丰度、分异度、优势度和组合等古生态特征研究 ,以及对微量元素硼含量、相当硼含量、锶钡比和硼镓比等地球化学特性的分析 ,得出在盆地北部沟鞭藻及疑源类化石的古生态、微量元素的分布规律与盆地内沉积相带的展布三者之间具有较好的相关性 ,说明松辽盆地的沟鞭藻及疑源类的发育和分布是由自生环境决定的。同时 ,通过专门对所谓“海侵”通道上的微体古生物和微量元素特征进行综合分析 ,未发现任何能证明海侵通道存在的证据 ,从而认为此海侵通道并不存在。     

Development of calcrete of the Late Cretaceous carbonate platform,northern Jordan,and its tectonic implications

A calcrete horizon, 3–10 m thick, is found exposed in northern Jordan in three localities, Rumman, Marsa’, and Wasfi At Tal forest (WTF). It is situated at the base of the dominantly limestone, Late Cenomanian Hummar Formation, separating it from the underlying marly Fuheis Formation. The calcrete horizon exhibits all the diagnostic features characteristic of calcrete, such as diagenetic pisoids; a mottled or clotted texture; circumgranular cracks around grains in a nodular texture; pendant or microstalactitic cement; meniscus cement; plant roots or rhizogenic structures, both longitudinal and transverse; exfoliation on boulder and cobbles; alagally laminated hard pans; and abundant dissolution of cracks and vugs. Consequently, it represents a subaerial erosional unconformity and type 1 sequence boundary (SB) that was not previously noticed. The Hummar Formation is considered as a third-order sequence with the SB at the base of the calcrete horizon, while the calcrete horizon itself forms the lowstand system tracts (LST). The transgressive systems tracts (TST) involve the lower two third of the Hummar Formation ending with peloidal grainstone representing the maximum flooding surface (MFSs). The rest of the formation is the falling highstand systems tracts (HST). The next SB is not seen due to a thick soil-covered gap. The calcrete horizon formed due to the formation of a paleohigh, in the study area, associated with the compression produced by the initial subduction of the Afro-Arabian Plate under the Eurasian Plate during the Late Cenomanian, slightly earlier than the previously known Turonian subduction and compression.     

Palaeoenvironments of the Continental Intercalaire fossil from the Late Cretaceous (Barremian-Albian) in North Africa: a case study of southern Tunisia

Through the Late Cretaceous, the southern shore of the Tethys Ocean migrated north and south over short distances. These vicissitudes are documented in the Continental Intercalaire, a long series of mainly non-marine sediments deposited in which dinosaur or other reptiles tracks and floral fossils are common across southern Tunisia (North Africa). A combined taxonomic, climatological, and palaentological studies provides independent lines of evidence for reconstruction of palaeoenvironments. The Bou Hedma/Boulouha and Sidi Aïch/Douiret Formations from southern Tunisia span the later part of the Late Cretaceous. During the Late Cretaceous the Tunisian territory was an archipelago, thus a particularly suitable area for a more detailed study. We investigated the area’s plant palaeo-biogeography, using fossil wood, with information from both a literature survey and investigation of new samples. The presence of fossils at great depths and distances from the present coastline, without signs of abrasion and far from areas of fluvial discharges does indicate that these remains have not been transported from the continent to the shelf, but have been preserved directly on the area that today correspond to the continental shelf. The climate during the accumulation of Barremian-Albian deposits in this region is inferred to have been warm and humid.     

青藏高原北部白垩纪隆升的证据

认为青藏形成统一大陆应该在印支期晚期古特提斯洋关闭和海水退出时。由于来自冈瓦纳大陆的羌塘微陆块向NE斜向俯冲 ,产生了印支期的阿尼玛卿、柴北缘和阿尔金大规模走滑断裂的形成 ,并且由于东部受到华南板块的阻挡 ,形成南北向的龙门山褶皱带。此阶段 ,地势较低 ,海拔不高。直至中特提斯洋在白垩纪早期关闭 ,来自冈瓦纳大陆的冈底斯微陆块沿班公湖—怒江一线俯冲到北部高原的下面 ,由于高原北部受到塔里木—阿拉善地块的阻挡 ,东部受到南中国板块的阻挡 ,高原北部开始隆升 ,形成高原雏形。高原南北统一大陆形成于新特提斯洋的关闭和印度板块沿雅鲁藏布江缝合带与欧亚大陆碰撞时 ,并在新近纪后开始快速抬升 ,形成现今的高原地貌 ,这已是共识。值得讨论的是 ,如何识别高原北部白垩纪时期的隆升 ,以及其对建立高原隆升模型和计算高原北部隆升速率的贡献。     

Evidence of iguanodontian dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous of Tunisia

The fossil record of ornithischian dinosaurs from Africa is particularly scarce and limited to a few historic localities. In this study we describe new ornithischian remains from the Albian deposits of southern Tunisia (Tataouine Governorate), represented by isolated teeth of large-bodied iguanodontians. Teeth display a wide, diamond-shaped crown with a primary ridge dividing the occlusal surface in two unequal parts and two or more secondary ridges. Hook-like denticles are present on both mesial and distal crown margins and do not display mammillae. In overall morphology, specimens are comparable to those of many Early Cretaceous basal hadrosauriforms, including isolated ornithopodan teeth from comparably-aged levels of Niger. Transversal sections of the crowns permitted identification of dental tissues, which include a thick enamel, and well developed longitudinal and transverse giant tubules. Their relative extents appear to be related to the size, thus developmental age, of the tooth. Teeth are representative of the Oum ed Diab Member, a unit characterized by coastal deposits accumulated under arid to xeric climatic conditions and dominated by fish, crocodilians, and hydraulically transported rebbachisaurid and spinosaurid remains. Sedimentological data and preservation bias strongly support selective taphonomic causes for the fossil distribution of ornithischians in southern Tunisia questioning the purported geographic and paleoecologic distribution of isolated Saharan dinosaurs.     

苏北盆地高邮凹陷晚白垩世—新生代构造沉降史分析与构造演化

本文应用回剥法及地层骨架厚度不变模型对苏北盆地高邮凹陷沉积地层进行了去压实校正,利用声波时差及镜质体反射率法对三垛期末盆地剥蚀量进行恢复,用艾里公式对盆地的构造沉降量及总沉降量进行估算,进而对苏北盆地高邮凹陷晚白垩世-新生代沉降史进行分析。研究表明:高邮凹陷为典型的裂陷盆地,经过了拗断期-断拗期-断陷期-坳陷期的盆地演化阶段。演化过程经历了三期沉降和两期隆升。在不同的阶段凹陷的沉降中心略有不同,其受主边界断层的控制,围绕着边界断层呈串珠状分布。     

Palaeotemperature curve for the Late Cretaceous of the northwestern circum-Pacific

In the northwestern circum-Pacific, two main trends in Late Cretaceous temperatures can be recognized. (1) In general, a recurrent warming trend is thought to have begun in the Turonian–Campanian, reaching temperature maxima in the early Late Santonian and early Late Campanian, and temperature minima in the earliest Santonian and perhaps early Campanian. (2) During the Maastrichtian, temperatures dropped sharply, with only a slight warming in the early Late Maastrichtian. The existence of a thermal maximum at the Coniacian–Santonian transition has previously been expected, but is not confirmed by new isotopic results.     

Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Northern Qaidam Basin, NW China: Implications for the earliest Cretaceous intracontinental tectonism

Formation of Mesozoic western China, which was dominated by tectonic amalgamation along its southern margin and associated intracontinental tectonisms, holds a key for interpreting the succedent Cenozoic evolution. This paper presents new data including lithology, sedimentary facies, stratigraphic contact, seismic interpretation and paleo-structures within the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous strata in the northern Qaidam Basin, NW China. These data all account for a contractional tectonic deformation in the earliest Cretaceous. The South Qilian Shan, according to the sedimentary features and provenance analysis, reactivated and exhumated during the deformation, controlling the deposition of the Lower Cretaceous sequences. A simplified model for the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous paleogeography and tectonics of the northern Qaidam Basin is accordingly proposed. The results also support a ∼25° clockwise rotation of the Qaidam Basin since the Early Cretaceous and a more accurate Mesozoic evolution process for the basin. This earliest Cretaceous deformation, associated with the reactivation of the South Qilian Shan at the time, are part of the intracontinental tectonisms in central Asia during the Mesozoic, and probably driven by both the closure of the Mongol-Okhostk Ocean to the north and the collision of the Lhasa and the Qiangtang blocks to the south.     

Late Cretaceous reactivation of major crustal shear zones in northern Namibia: constraints from apatite fission track analysis

Namibia's passive continental margin records a long history of tectonic activity since the Proterozoic. The orogenic belt produced during the collision of the Congo and Kalahari Cratons in the Early Proterozoic led to a zone of crustal weakness, which became the preferred location for tectonism during the Phanerozoic. The Pan-African Damara mobile belt forms this intraplate boundary in Namibia and its tectonostratigraphic zones are defined by ductile shear zones, where the most prominent is described as the Omaruru Lineament–Waterberg Thrust (OML–WT). The prominance of the continental margin escarpment is diminished in the area of the Central and Northern Zone of the Damara belt where the shear zones are located. This area has been targeted with a set of 66 outcrop samples over a 550-km-long, 60-km-broad coast-parallel transect from the top of the escarpment in the south across the Damara sector to the Kamanjab Inlier in the north. Apatite fission track age and length data from all samples reveal a regionally consistent cooling event. Thermal histories derived by forward modelling bracket this phase of accelerated cooling in the Late Cretaceous. Maximum palaeotemperatures immediately prior to the onset of cooling range from ca. 120 to ca. 60 °C with the maximum occurring directly south of the Omaruru Lineament. Because different palaeotemperatures indicate different burial depth at a given time, the amount of denudation can be estimated and used to constrain vertical displacements of the continental crust. We interpret this cooling pattern as the geomorphic response to reactivation of basement structures caused by a change in spreading geometry in the South Atlantic and South West Indian Oceans.     

拉萨地块北缘尼玛地区晚白垩世古地磁结果及其构造意义

通过对青藏高原拉萨地块北缘尼玛县城附近晚白垩世红层8个采点的系统古地磁测定,获得了研究区晚白垩世可靠的古地磁数据。通过系统热退磁获得了采样剖面高温特征剩磁方向平均值为:Dg=9.9°,Ig=5.5°,κg=30.3,α95=10.2°,N=8(地理坐标下);D_s=8.2°,I_s=27.4°,κs=37.6,α_(95)=9.2°,N=8(层面坐标下);对应古地磁极为:71.2°N,241.9°E,dp/dm=5.5°/10.0°。该高温剩磁分量在地理坐标下与现代地磁场方向有显著差别,具有正、反极性,并通过了倒转检验,由此认为其很可能代表岩石形成时的原生剩磁。本次研究结果表明拉萨地块北缘在晚白垩世位于~14.5°N的古纬度位置(参考点:31.8°N,87.2°E)。对比稳定亚洲大陆参考极显示晚白垩世以来拉萨地块北缘与稳定亚洲大陆之间发生了1200±630km(10.9°±5.7°)的南北向构造缩短,但并未发生明显的相对旋转作用(0.8°±5.9°)。综合地质证据提出印度与亚洲大陆碰撞所造成的亚洲大陆内部南北向构造缩短主要集中在拉萨地块以北的区域。