Discovery and significance of microspherules at Lower-Middle Devonian boundary of Guangxi, South China

Microspherules are found in different facies at the Lower-Middle Devonian boundary, Guangxi, South China. There are more than 20 grains per kilogram rock sample. Composition and form of the microspherules are very similar to those of the microtektites from modern deposits of South Pacific Ocean and F-F boundary (Devonian). This may indicate that the microspherules from Guangxi are most likely the products of an extraterrestrial impact event that occurred at the end of Early Devonian Epoch. The event may be responsible for the biomass reduction and extinction of benthic organisms at the end of Early Devonian. The impact products (ejecta) can be used as a potential tool for stratigraphic correlation.     

Coupling relationships between brachiopods and Girvanella during the Late Devonian F-F transition in Guilin, South China

The abundance curves derived from area proportions of brachiopods and Girvanella in the thin sections from the Yangdi section, South China, exhibits complex relationships during the Late Devonian Frasnian-Famennian transition. The living activity of brachiopods such as grazing and borrowing did great damage to the growth of Girvanella. However, there was more to just a mere a survival competing relationship between them, Girvanella actually improved marine environments by oxygenating the dysoxic ambient sea-water through photosynthesis in the lower Kellwasser Horizon. Profited from this improvement brachiopods' abundance increased subsequently and suppressed Girvanella again. Nonetheless, without Girvanella's photosynthesis, brachiopods were wiped out by the farther anoxic environments in the upper Kellwasser Horizon. The complex relationships between Girvanella and brachiopods may be a key to unlocking the relationships between geomicrobes and metazoans in the geological overturn periods.     

Coupling relationships between brachiopods and Girvanella during the Late Devonian F-F transition in Guilin, South China

The abundance curves derived from area proportions of brachiopods and Girvanella in the thin sections from the Yangdi section, South China, exhibits complex relationships during the Late Devonian Frasnian-Famennian transition. The living activity of brachiopods such as grazing and borrowing did great damage to the growth of Girvanella. However, there was more to just a mere a survival competing relationship between them, Girvanella actually improved marine environments by oxygenating the dysoxic ambient sea-water through photosynthesis in the lower Kellwasser Horizon. Profited from this improvement brachiopods’ abundance increased subsequently and suppressed Girvanella again. Nonetheless, without Girvanella’s photosynthesis, brachiopods were wiped out by the farther anoxic environments in the upper Kellwasser Horizon. The complex relationships between Girvanella and brachiopods may be a key to unlocking the relationships between geomicrobes and metazoans in the geological overturn periods. Supported by NSFC Innovation Research Group Program (Grant No. 40621002), MOE Innovative Research Team Program (Grant No. IRT0546), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40472020, 40730209, 40802005 and 40872001) and SINOPEC Project (Grant No. G0800-06-ZS-319)     

Devonian Frasnian-Famennian transitional event deposits of Guangxi, South China and their possible tsunami origin

A suite of event deposits, isochronous and interrelated in origin, occurs widely near the Frasnian- Famennian boundary in Guangxi, South China. It is mainly distributed in the facies areas of the platform-margin slope and inter-platform rift-trough. The rudstone or calcirudite occur in the Liujing section of Hengxian and Luoxiu and Baqi sections of Xiangzhou in the facies area of platform-margin slope. The turbidites are observed in the sections of Yangdi and Baisha of Guilin, Du'an of Debao, Nandong and Sanli of Wuxuan, Xiangtian, Ma'anshan of Xiangzhou, Nayi of Chongzuo, Yunpan of Shanglin in the facies area of inter-platform rift-trough. The massive homogenites occur in sections of Mangchang, Luofu and Road from Nandan to Tian'e and Ma'anshan etc in the facies area of inter-platform rift-trough. Herein event deposits can be correlated in stratohorizon to the turbidite in the bottom of the Lower triangularis Zone in Hony railroad cut of Belgium, Devils Gate of Nevada, USA, Atrous of Morocco, South Urals and Fore-Kolyma of northeastern Siberia of Russia, and erosional discontinuities and brecciation in the Frasnian-Famennian boundary in South Polish-Moravian shelf. The event deposits could be caused by a violent tsunami related to bolide impacts into ocean.     

The Upper Devonian orbital cyclostratigraphy and numerical dating conodont zones from Guangxi,South China

The hierarchically organized laminae, bundles, bundlesets and superbundlesets which correspond to a sub-Milankovitch, obliquity or precession, eccentricity and long eccentricity cyclothems, respectively, have been distinguished from the Upper Devonian Fras-nian-Famennian (F-F) transitional carbonate successions deposited in the carbonate-basin and slope facies of Guangxi, South China. The durations of cyclothems are 8000-10000a, 16667a or 33333a, 100000a and 400000a, respectively. The ratio of eccentricity to precession, eccentricity to obliquity, and long eccentricity to eccentricity is 1 : 6, 1 : 3 and 1 : 4 in the Devonian, respectively. Orbital cyclostratigraphical studies show that the durations of the conodont falsio-valis Zone, transitans Zone, punctate Zone, Lower hassi Zone, Upper hassi Zone, jamieae Zone, Lower rhenana Zone, Upper rhenana Zone, linguiformis Zone, Lower triangularis Zone, Middle triangularis Zone and Upper triangularis Zone are 0.4, 0.4, 0.4, 0.3, 0.4, 0.2, 0.8, 0.6, 0.8, 0.3, 0     

Relationships between bacterial-algal proliferating and mass extinction in the Late Devonian Frasnian-Famennian transition: Enlightening from carbon isotopes and molecular fossils

The five major mass extinctions which occurred in the transition of the Ordovician-Silurian (440 Ma), Late Devonian Frasnian-Famennian (F-F) (370 Ma), Permian-Triassic (250 Ma), Triassic-Jurassic (205 Ma) and Cretaceous-Paleogene (65 Ma) are significant phenomena in the Phanerozoic global environment and organic evolution. Their corresponding extinction rates of marine invertebrate at the level of genus and family are 60% (genus) and 26% (family), 57% and 22%, 82% and 51%, 53% and 22%, …     

Disequilibria between ~(210)Po and ~(210)Pb in surface waters of the southern South China Sea and their implications

Naturally occurring 210Po (half-life 138.4d) is the granddaughter of 210Pb (half-life 22.3a), both are members of 238U decay series and have been inten-sively utilized to study kinetic aspects of material cy-cling in the ocean[1]. Based on radioactive disequilibria in the 226Ra-210Pb-210Po system, oceanographical processes with different timescales have been widely studied. Rama et al.[2] first detected excess 210Pb rela-tive to its precursor 226Ra in surface waters, and considered this exc…     

Middle and Late Devonian microbial carbonates,reefs and mounds in Guilin,South China and their sequence stratigraphic,paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic significance

The importance of calcimicrobes and microbialite in carbonate platform and reefal environments has been stressed in recent literature. Burne and Moore[1] introduced the term microbialite to describe the clotted, laminated and undifferentiated fabrics formed by mi-crobial communities. Microbialites are organosedi-mentary deposits that have accreted as a result of ben-thic (prokaryotic or eukaryotic) communities, trapping and binding detrital sediment[1]. Microbial organisms and microbialite are…     

Anachronistic facies in the Lower Triassic of South China and their implications to the ecosystems during the recovery time

The end-Permian mass extinction not only severely distressed the Paleozoic ecosystems but also dramatically changed the sedimentary systems, resulting in a peculiar Early Triassic ecosystem and submarine environment during the recovery time following the mass extinction. The Lower Triassic is characteristic of the wide occurrence of various distinctive sediments and related sedimentary structures, such as flatpebble conglomerates, vermicular limestone, subtidal wrinkle structures, microbialite, carbonate seafloor fans, thin-bedded limestone and zebra limestone-mudstone. These sediments were common in the Precambrian to Early Ordovician marine settings, and then they occurred only in some extreme and unusual environments with the expansion of metazoan faunas. However, the Early Triassic witnessed an "anachronistic" reappearance of some distinctive sedimentary records in normal shallow marine settings. The study of these anachronistic facies should be of great importance for the understanding of the unique ecosystem and marine environment through the great Paleozoic-Mesozoic transition. The anachronistic facies characterized by vermicular limestone have been documented in many localities in South China and occur at various horizons of the Lower Triassic. Most types of re- ported distinctive sediments over the world have been observed in the Lower Triassic of South China. This provides an excellent opportunity for understanding the Early Triassic environment and its co- evolution with the biotic recovery. Among the anachronistic facies the vermicular limestone is the most characteristic and common distinctive sediments in the Lower Triassic of South China but has received relatively few investigations. Taking it as a case study, we will detail the variation of vermicular limestone and its stratigraphic distribution in the Three Gorges area, Hubei Province. The investigation on the vermicular limestone and other distinctive sediments from the Lower Triassic of South China further indicates that the appearance of anachronistic facies immediately following the mass extinction and the elimination from normal shallow marine facies with the radiation of Mesozoic marine faunas imply the natural response of the sedimentary systems and ecosystems to the great Paleozoic-Mesozoic transitional events and their induced harsh environments. Therefore, the ups and downs of the anachronistic facies may act as a proxy for the evolution of ecosystems independent of fossil analyses.     

南海北部洋陆转换带盆地发育动力学机制

南海北部洋陆转换带是近年来基础科学研究和深水油气勘探热点地区.本文在详细研究南海北部洋陆转换带新采集的二维长电缆深反射地震剖面资料的基础上,采用挠曲悬臂梁模型和挠曲回剥模型算法,分别计算了上地壳、地壳和整个岩石圈拉伸系数,实验结果表明,研究区洋陆转换带盆地岩石圈发生了与深度相关的拉伸变形过程,并且随深度增加,拉伸量逐渐变大,该结果解释了南海北部盆地裂后阶段发生的加速沉降现象.同时,本文结合南海北部洋陆转换带盆地发育过程的特点,将洋陆转换带盆地演化划分为陆内裂陷阶段、裂后热沉降阶段和裂后加速沉降阶段.本研究将有助于认识南海北部深水盆地特征,并对大陆边缘动力学研究和陆缘盆地深水区油气勘探有重要意义.     

南海深部构造特征及其地质意义:来自重磁位场反演的认识

莫霍面和居里面是认识深部过程重要的地质与地球物理界面.为了进一步理解南海深部构造活动与洋盆扩张的关系,本文以OBS剖面和深反射地震剖面作为约束,对卫星测高重力异常进行海水、沉积层影响校正,采用最小曲率位场分离方法消除局部密度体的重力影响,获取了反映莫霍面起伏的重力异常,并利用双界面模型重力场快速反演方法计算得到了南海地区莫霍面深度值.通过与居里面起伏的对比研究,发现南海莫霍面和居里面整体均表现为"洋盆浅、周缘深"的菱形特征,两者在洋陆转换区呈现明显的窄梯级带特征,反映了南海扩张期岩石圈的强烈伸展减薄、南北向构造拉张作用等深部构造过程.洋盆莫霍面和居里面的西南向楔形形态是对南海由东向西渐进式扩张的深部构造响应.洋盆南部莫霍面浅于北部,这与扩张中心逐渐向南迁移的特征一致,而洋盆居里面南深北浅的特征则可能与洋盆的简单剪切扩张方式以及洋盆北部的岩浆活动更活跃有关.南海地区莫霍面和居里面呈现交错叠置关系,南、北陆缘表现为明显的深部构造差异,说明南海为非对称式扩张.北部陆缘区居里面深度浅于莫霍面,而洋盆区和南部陆缘区居里面深于莫霍面,这与南、北陆缘性质的差异和南部陆缘复杂的中-新生代俯冲碰撞等构造演化相关,而洋盆区居里面深于莫霍面的现象推测与大洋上地幔橄榄岩蛇纹石化导致的岩石磁性增强有关.     

Disequilibria between 210Po and 210Pb in surface waters of the southern South China Sea and their implications

Activities of the naturally occurring radionuclides, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po, were measured in both dissolved (<0.45 μm) and particulate (>0.45 μm) phases from surface waters of the southern South China Sea. The average activity of particulate ²¹⁰Pb, 0.23 Bq/m³ (n=23), accounted for about 12% of the total ²¹⁰Pb, which corresponds with values of open oceans. Particulate ²¹⁰Po, with an average activity of 0.43 Bq/m³, accounted for about 40% of the total ²¹⁰Po, which was much higher than those of open and eutrophic oceans. The residence times of total ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb in surface waters estimated from an irreversible steady-state model were 0.82 a and 1.16 a, respectively. The consistently high fractionation factor calculated either by scavenging rate constants (5.42) or K_d values (6.69) suggested that a significant fractionation occurred between ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb during their removal from solution to particles and that the two radionuclides had different biogeochemical cycling pathways in the oligotrophic South China Sea. Furthermore, our results indicated that there exist different fractionation mechanisms between ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb in different marine environments: in eutrophic ocean, plankton detritus and fecal pellets are the main carrier of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb, by which ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb have been scavenged and removed; while in oligotrophic ocean, microbes could become the main carrier of ²¹⁰Po and fractionate ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb significantly as a result of scarce plankton detritus and fecal pellets. These results suggest the use of ²¹⁰Po to trace marine biogeochemical processes relating to microbial activities and the cycling of sulfur group elements (S, Se, Te and Po).     

Late Paleozoic brachiopod faunas of the South Kitakami Belt, northeast Japan, and their paleobiogeographic and tectonic implications

Abstract    Late Paleozoic (Middle Devonian, Early Carboniferous and Middle Permian) brachiopod faunas of the South Kitakami Belt, northeast Japan, are closely related paleobiogeographically to those of the Xinjiang–Inner Mongolia–Jilin region, northwest–northeast China. This relationship suggests that the South Kitakami Belt was part of the trench or continental shelf bordering the northern and eastern margins of North China (Sino-Korea) during the Middle Devonian to Middle Permian times. Among the three models on the origin and tectonic development of the South Kitakami Belt, the strike–slip model is most consistent, but both the microcontinent model and the nappe model have considerable inconsistencies with the above paleobiogeographic and paleogeographic evidence.     

U-Pb dating of early Mesozoic granodioritic intrusions in southeastern Hunan Province, South China and its petrogenetic implications

The NE-trended Mesozoic granodioritic intrusions are spatially and temporally associated with the copper multi-metal mineralization in southeastern Hunan Province, South China. U-Pb dating result of single-grained zircons of four samples respectively from Shuikoushan, Baoshan, western Tongshanling and eastern Tongshanling intrusions reveals that their crystallization age spans a range from 172 Ma to 181 Ma, which also represents the oldest age of the regional copper multi-metal mineralization. Some of the zircon grains give an upper intercept age of about 1753 Ma and ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb apparent age of (1752 ± 4) Ma, implying the involvement of the pre-Cambrian metamorphic (possible Middle Proterozoic) basement in their genesis. The presence of such a kind of zircon grains in these granodiorites indicates either that the parental magmas were assimilated by basement rocks during magma ascent or that lower/middle crustal rocks were one of the important components during the melting process.     

Modern microbialites and their environmental significance, Meiji reef atoll, Nansha (Spratly) Islands, South China Sea

Meiji (Mischief) coral atoll, in Nansha (Spratly) Islands, South China Sea, consists of an annular reef rim surrounding a central lagoon. On the atoll rim there are either protuberant 'motu' (small coral patch reefs on the rim of atoll) islets or lower sandy cays that contain modern microbialite deposits on the corals in pinnacles and surrounding bottoms of the atoll. Microbialites, including villiform, hairy, and thin spine growth forms, as well as gelatinous masses, mats and encrustation, developed on coral colonies and atoll rim sediments between 0 and 15 m deep-water settings. The microbialites were produced by natural populations of filamentous cyanobacteria and grew on (1) bulbous corals together with Acropora sp., (2) on massive colonies of Galaxea fascicularis, (3) on dead Montipora digitata, and (4) on dead Acropora teres, some hairy microbialite growing around broken coral branches. This study demonstrates that microbial carbonates are developed in coral reefs of South China Sea and indicates that microbial processes may be important in the construction of modern reef systems. The results have significance in the determination of nature and composition in microorganisms implied in the formation ancient microbialites, and permit evaluation of the importance of microbial deposits in mo-dern coral reefs and of 'microbialites' in biogeochemical cycles of modern coral reef systems. The re-sults also provide evidence of modern analogues for ancient microbialites in shallow-water settings, and combine with sedimentological studies of ancient microbialites to understand their controls.     

Geochemical and Sm–Nd isotopic characteristics of metabasites from central Hainan Island, South China and their tectonic significance

Abstract   Major and trace elements and Sm–Nd isotopic data are presented for metabasites that are present as lenses within Paleozoic metasediments in the Chenxing and Bangxi regions, central Hainan Island, Southeast (SE) China. Most metabasites are metamorphosed cumulated gabbroic rocks tholeiitic in nature, and characterized by varying degrees of depletion in Th, Nb, Ta and light rare earth elements (LREE). Moreover, they show high positive ∈Nd(T) values of approximately +7, similar to those of mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB). A Sm–Nd isochron age of 333 ± 12 Ma obtained for the metabasites is interpreted as their crystallization age. The combined geochemical and Sm–Nd isotopic data suggest that the metabasites were generated by dynamic partial melting from a MORB-like mantle source in an oceanic regime. These rocks probably represent remnants of fragmented oceanic crust of the eastern part of Paleo-Tethys. They were obducted onto the continental crust as part of the 'Shilu Mélange' in earliest Mesozoic time when southern Hainan (part of the Indochina block) collided with northern Hainan (part of South China). Alternatively, they could be formed in a volcanic rifted passive margin at the sea-floor spreading stage as part of MORB-like seaward-dipping reflector break-up packages.     

New stylophorans (Echinodermata) from the upper Cambrian of Guangxi,South China

This paper describes for the first time the cornute stylophorans (Echinodermata) in China. The new material came from the Guole Formation of the Furongian (Late Cambrian) in the Guole area of Jingxi, Guangxi Province, South China. These new cornute specimens are preserved in situ and found along with well-preserved trilobites and brachiopods. One new species, Phyllocystis jingxiensis sp. nov., is proposed to accommodate these unusual materials. The new species is defined by the small, heart-shaped theca with the frame composed of ten narrow, smooth and thick marginal plates, three adoral plates and distinctive zygal and aulacophore. Both supracentrals and infracentrals are polygonal-outlined. The marginal plate M1' on the inferior face extends posteriorly to form zygal that possesses a broadened proximal end and the proximal portion joining with the conjunction between M4 and M5 on the inferior face. Aulacophore comprises ten segments at its proximal part and is conical at the middle part (named stylocone). Its distal portion is rather long and bears conspicuous ambulacrum grooves. Tectals are horizontally arranged on superior face and obliquely arranged on inferior face. Both cothurnopore and anal pyramid are vaguely seen on the right anterior corner and the extremity of theca's superior face.     

华南地区上地幔P波三维速度结构和动力学意义:来自有限频层析成像的证据

利用155个宽频带流动地震仪记录的连续地震波形数据,通过有限频层析成像技术,反演获得了华南地区上地幔的高分辨率P波三维速度模型.结果显示,大致以江南造山带为界,研究区域南部的华夏块体的大部分区域上地幔存在一个清晰的低速异常构造,而研究区北部的扬子克拉通的大部分区域上地幔则存在高速异常结构,并且这些速度异常体都向下延伸到地幔转换带.一个重要的结果是在(27°N,118°E)处观测到通过410-km界面的上涌流,并且在上升的过程中逐渐向西和向北扩展,显示为华夏块体深部200~400 km深度的大范围低速异常,可能为华夏块体广泛分布的新生代岩浆活动提供深部来源.更重要的是华夏块体通过410-km界面上涌流在上涌的过程中向北延伸,越过江南造山带"侵入"到扬子克拉通的南部地区,造成了扬子克拉通较厚的岩石圈对应的高速异常体向南倾斜的假象.最后,位于117°E(郯庐断裂的南端)以东的扬子克拉通岩石圈已经被"活化",即被来自南部热的软流圈物质替而代之.同时,推断在华夏块体下方地幔转换带内低速异常体可能是与海南地幔柱有关.海南地幔柱和(27°N,118°E)410-km界面上涌流的关系还有待于今后更大范围地震台阵反演研究进行验证.     

中国华南地区地壳厚度与波速比分布特征及其地质意义

本研究利用中国国家地震台网336个固定地震台站记录的远震波形资料,通过P波接收函数H-κ分析估算了中国华南地区的地壳厚度和地壳平均波速比.研究结果显示,地壳厚度约为25~46 km,整体表现西深东浅的变化特点.研究区地壳厚度变化分别与布格重力异常和地形呈现负相关和正相关.扬子块体东部显示较低地壳波速比（< 1.7）可能与地表沉积岩的存在相关.四川盆地内部的平均地壳波速比（约1.71~1.8）与全球大陆地盾/克拉通地区相当.但其周围地区地壳平均波速比明显增高（1.81~1.95）,推测可能是克拉通形成过程中岩浆的底侵引起下地壳组分以铁镁质麻粒岩为主.华夏块体西部表现为薄的地壳厚度和低的地壳平均波速比（1.65~1.75）,暗示该区基性下地壳物质的缺失可能与增厚的地壳发生拆沉有关.华夏块体东南段呈现出较高的地壳平均波速比（约1.77~1.86）,地壳组成以中基性铁镁质为主,推断可能与晚中生代铁镁质岩浆底侵作用密切相关.

     

南海北部深水盆地流体活动系统及其成藏意义

根据高精度的3D和2D地震资料,对南海北部深水盆地的流体活动系统的类型、影响因素和它们之间的演化关系进行了研究.南海北部深水区存在着包括:泥火山、泥底辟、气烟囱、管状通道、多边形断层和构造断层等多种类型的流体活动系统.根据地震反射特征,可以把它们划分为断层有关的流体活动系统和柱状流体活动系统两大类.研究发现研究区内的流体活动系统主要受构造和沉积两方面的影响.并且,气烟囱、泥底辟和泥火山存在着单向演化的关系,可以从是否有沉积物参与运移及是否喷出海底将它们区分开来.最后,本文探讨了流体活动系统对深水油气和天然气水合物成藏的重要影响,建立了南海北部流体活动系统的存在模式.