Organic carbon isotopes of the Sinian and Early Cambrian black shales on Yangtze Platform, China

Organic matter of the Sinian and early Cambrian black shales on the Yangtze Platform belongs to the light carhon group of isotopes with the δ¹³C values from - 27% to - 35 %, which are lower than those of the contempomneously deposited carbonates and phosphorites. A carbon isotope-stratified paleooceanographic model caused by upwelling is proposed, which can be used not only to interpret the characteristies of organic carbon isotopic compositions of the black shales, but also to interpret the paleogeographic difference in the organic carbon isotope compositions of various types of sedimentary rocks. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 49472114) and the Open Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences.     

Trace elements and stable isotopic geochemistry of an Early Cambrian chert-phosphorite unit from the lower Yurtus Formation of the Sugetbrak section in the Tarim Basin

A chert-phosphorite unit from the Sugetbrak section in the Tarim Basin was analyzed for rare earth elements (Ce, Eu), redox sensitive proxies, and carbon isotopic compositions (δ¹³C_carb and δ ¹³C_org) in the lower Yurtus Formation of the Early Cambrian period. Redox sensitive element ratios (Th/U, V/Cr, Ni/Co, and V/Sc) were employed to determine the palaeoenvironmental conditions during this period. The ratios indicated that the depositional environment of the chert-phosphorite-black shale unit ranged from suboxic to anoxic. Negative Ce and positive Eu anomalies in the chert-phosphorite assemblages of the studied Yurtus Formation indicated the existence of a redox-stratified ocean, similar to that of South China. Overturn or upward expansion of the deep water-mass probably reached the shallow marine zone after the formation of the Yurtus phosphorites. The characteristics of the negative Ce anomaly may be due to phosphoritic inheritance from the Ce-depleted signature of the overlying water column. Subsequent hydrothermal inputs and reduced detrital supplies of the deep water caused by the upwelling affected certain redox sensitive elements in the sedimentary basin. δ ¹³C_carb and δ¹³C_org negative excursions in the Yurtus chert-phosphorite unit may be related to a transgression phase when episodic basinal upwelling moved ¹²C- and P-rich waters from the pelagic basin floor to the continental shelf. Although carbon isotopic compositions in the Yurtus chert-phosphorite assemblages may have suffered from diagenetic alteration, they can be used to probe diagenetic conditions. Multi-proxy geochemical studies indicated that the δ ¹³C_carb values of the Yurtus chert-phosphorite assemblages might be considered reflections of a predominantly suboxic environment that was subsequently affected by hydrothermal inputs due to the upwelling.     

Characteristics of sulfur species and their implications in Lower Cambrian black shales from southern margin of Yangtze Platform

There are different sulfur forms in the black shales from the Early Cambrian of the Yangtze platform. With its emphasis on pyrite and organosulfur, this paper discusses their distribution and formation. The research shows that sulfur phases take regular variations laterally as well as vertically in the research areas. In western researched profile with high terrigenous supply at the time it formed, there exists a larger amount of pyrite and less organosulfur, and pyrite amount declines while organosulfur content increases upwards along the profile. This black shale profile is characterized by relatively light sulfur isotope composition with evolution trend of becoming heavier both for pyrite and organosulfur from bottom to top along the profile. Opposite situation occurs in eastern profiles which were located farther away from terrigenous land. Here pyrite amount obviously decreases and organic matter has combined more sulfur, although these two kinds of sulfur species take similar trend in content variation along profiles to that for western profile. At the same time more³⁴S is accumulated in sulfur species of black shale samples from eastern profile, and sulfur isotope composition gradually turns lighter from bottom to top. In combination with other information of iron, organic carbon contents and petrographic features, it can be established that sea-level change, supply of terrigenous matters, tectonic background and natures of paleoceanic chemistry have exerted great influence on the distribution of sulfur species in these black shales.     

Paleomagnetism of the latest Precambrian/Cambrian Unicoi basalts from the Blue Ridge, northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia: evidence for Taconic deformation

Three components of magnetization have been observed in ninety-six samples (twelve sites) of amygdaloidal basalts and “sedimentary greenstones” of the Unicoi Formation in the Blue Ridge Province of northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia. These components could be isolated by alternating field as well as thermal demagnetization. One component, with a direction close to that of the present-day geomagnetic field is ascribed to recent viscous remanent magnetizations; another component, with intermediate blocking temperatures and coercivities, gives a mean direction of D = 132°, I = +43°,α₉₅ = 9° for N = 10 sites before correction for tilt of the strata. This direction and the corresponding pole position are close to Ordovician/Silurian data from the North American craton and we infer this magnetization to be due to a thermal(?) remagnetization during or after the Taconic orogeny. This magnetization is of post-folding origin, which indicates that the Blue Ridge in our area was structurally affected by the Taconic deformation. The third component, with the highest blocking temperatures and coercivities, appears to reside in hematite. Its mean direction, D = 276°, I = ?17°,α₉₅ = 13.8° for N = 6 sites (after tilt correction) corresponds to a pole close to Latest Precambrian and Cambrian poles for North America. The fold test is inconclusive for this magnetization at the 95% confidence level because of the near-coincidence of the strike and the declinations. We infer this direction to be due to early high-temperature oxidation of the basalts, and argue that its magnetization may have survived the later thermal events because of its intrinsic high blocking temperatures. A detailed examination of the paleomagnetic directions from this study reveals that the Blue Ridge in this area may have undergone a small counterclockwise rotation of about 15°.     

On the evolution and histology of some Cambrian protoconodonts,paraconodonts and primitive euconodonts

Although the history of Cambrian conodont study goes back to a century ago, it was not until 1959 that the systematic study of Cambrian conodonts was initi-ated[1]. During the last 44 years Cambrian conodonts have been well documented from all continents but Africa. However, the morphological evolution of para- conodonts and protoconodonts have been subjected to less study than the primitive euconodonts in the inter-val across the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary. Miller (1984) proposed a Weste…     

Significance of fossilized microbes from the Cambrian stromatolites in the Tarim Basin,Northwest China

Samples of the Cambrian microbial dolomites were collected from Penglaiba section,a well-exposed stratigraphic section in the northwestern area of the Tarim Basin.This study provides an analogue for mediated dolomites that can precipitate in microbial mats and biofilms.The Cambrian stromatolitic dolomites were studied using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy.The results are as follows:(1)dolomites with 50 nm to 100 nm spherical nanostructures are aggregated into minerals of larger sphericities;(2)nanospherical dolomites of 50 nm to 170 nm diameter are densely arranged as dumbbell-shaped or chained aggregates;(3)silicified filaments,as well as dumbbell-shaped and chain arrangements,are preserved as important microstructures.On the basis of sedimentological,compositional,geochemical,and petrographic data,the microstructures were interpreted as nanoglobules that function as bacteria in the nucleation and filament mineralization stages.The microstructures function as such because they are wrapped in extracellular polymeric substance(EPS)or mucus and mineralized fossils.Silicification accounts for the exceptional preservation of microbial mat structures,including biofilms,as well as filamentous and coccoid microbes.In addition,EPS process is capable of binding different elements,with preference for Si,Mg,and Ca.Such suitable composition favors microbe mineralization and dolomite nucleation on organic substrates.These microscopic structures suggest bacterial mineralization and provide visual evidence for the origin of microbial dolomites.     

晚寒武世早期河北北部柳江盆地发生的强地震

在河北省北部柳江盆地发现了距今5亿年前的地震记录。 震积岩发育在上寒武统崮山组中部。 沉积物变形构造主要有地裂缝、 地震楔、 砂脉、 砂层液化、 包卷层理等。 这些特征沉积构造是地震波作用于潮上—潮间带沉积环境中软沉积物而形成的。 在古沙垄顶部的内碎屑微晶灰岩中有沉积物液化产生扰动层理和流体逃逸形成的砂脉。 显微镜下可见沉积物液化流动显微构造和结构, 如微褶皱、 纹层断错、 液化颗粒等。 水面下在生物礁或沙垄斜坡局部可见重力流形成的包卷层理。 包卷层理核部为浅黄色和紫红色竹叶状灰岩, 中部为浅灰色破碎流化微晶灰岩碎屑, 外部为浅色和紫色内碎屑微晶灰岩。 崮山组的岩性组合和这些软沉积物变形构造表明, 崮山期柳江盆地构造活动剧烈, 沉积环境水深反复变化、 逐步变浅, 伴有地震发生, 估计产生震积岩的古地震的强度为7级左右。 该古地震事件的确定有益于研究地震活动和构造活动规律。     

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.     

Nature of the Precambrian metamorphic blocks in the eastern segment of Central Tianshan: Constraint from geochronology and Nd isotopic geochemistry

The Central Tianshan Tectonic Zone (CTTZ) is anarrow domain between an early Paleozoic southernTianshan passive continental margin and a late Paleo-zoic northern Tianshan arc zone, which is character-ized by the presence of numerous Precambrian meta-morphic basement blocks. Proterozoic granitoidgneisses and metamorphic sedimentary rocks,namely Xingxingxia and Kawabulag and Tianhugroups, are the most important lithological assem-blages in these metamorphic basement blocks, and alittle of …     

Geochemistry of black shale at the bottom of the Lower Cambrian in Tarim Basin and its significance for lithosphere evolution

At the bottom of the Lower Cambrian, there widely develops a suit of rock association com-posed of black shales interbedded with thin silicalite in the India, northern Pakistan, Iran, southern France, England, northern Oman, the former USSR, southern Kaza…     

Human remains and the environment of Early Pleistocene in the Nihewan Basin

The Nihewan (Nihowan) Basin is well known in the world for producing abundant mammal fossils and paleoliths. As one issue of the program 搕he early hominid evolution and environmental background in East Asia?a biostratigraphic survey was made in July 2001, and a large number of mammal fossils were un-earthed and 5 lithic artifacts were recognized from the Majuangou gully in the Nihewan Basin, Hebei Prov-ince, North China. 1 Stratigraphic section The new site is located on the south bank…     

Negative carbon isotopic excursion on the Lower/Middle Cambrian boundary of Kaili Formation,Taijiang County,Guizhou Province,China: Implications for mass extinction and stratigraphic division and correlation

The stratigraphic division and correlation of the Lower/Middle Cambrian boundary is a global problem that has not yet been solved even up to now. That is because there existed two distinctly different biogeographic regions during the Early and Middle Cambrian[1]—— the Indian-Pacific biogeographic region and the Atlantic biogeographic region. In the Atlantic biogeographic region the traditional Lower/Middle Cambrian boundary was marked by the extinction of Olenellids trilobite and the in…     

Rhenium-osmium isotope constraints on the age and source of the platinum mineralization in the Lower Cambrian black rock series of Hunan-Guizhou provinces,China

The bottom of the Lower Cambrian series is an important bed typical of boundary event. The bed had been enriched with many useful elements such as Ni, Mo, Cu, Pb, Zn, Au, Ag, Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir and Pt, many rare and dispersed elements such as Cd, Se, Tl, …     

Two new species of Vestrogothia (Phosphatocopina, Crustacea) of Orsten-type preservation from the Upper Cambrian in western Hunan, South China

Although fossils of Orsten-type preservation represented by Skaracarida and Phosphatocopina were first reported from the Middle and Upper Cambrian in western Hunan, South China in 2005, diversified phosphatocopine species have never been appropriately described and elucidated in terms of their evolutionary relationships. Here, we described two new species of Phosphatocopina, Vestrogothia anterispinata sp. nov. and V. bispinata sp. nov. The evolutionary relationship among all the valid species of Phosphatoco...     

Magnetostratigraphic dating of Early Miocene deep-sea fossils from the Morozaki Group in central Japan

Early Miocene sediments of the Morozaki Group in central Japan contain deep-sea fossils that have been dated using biostratigraphic and radiometric data. In this study, we utilize magnetostratigraphy to provide a more precise age for mudstones from just below the layer containing the fossils. Rock magnetic experiments suggest that both magnetic iron sulfide and Ti-poor titanomagnetite carry the remanent magnetization of the mudstones. Two different stratigraphic sites have normal polarity directions with a northeastern declination, which can be correlated with Chronozone C5Dn. Given their magnetostratigraphic position near the C5Dn/C5Dr chronozone boundary (17.466 Ma) and a high sedimentation rate, the estimated age for both the sites and the deep-sea fossils is ~17.4 Ma. The northeasterly-directed site-mean directions suggest clockwise tectonic rotation, most likely due to the Early Miocene clockwise rotation of Southwest Japan associated with the back-arc opening of the Japan Sea. The deep-sea fossils, dated at ~17.4 Ma, represent organisms deposited within a submarine structural depression formed by crustal extension during the back-arc opening stage.     

Early Cretaceous uplift history of the Dabie orogenic belt: Evidence from pluton emplacement depths

The North Dabie complex unit(NDC)is a widely exposed petro-tectonic unit.To understand post-orogenic uplift history and mechanism of the Dabie orogenic belt,many samples of granite,granodiorite,diorite,and alkali feldspar granite with precise zircon U-Pb ages were collected for electron microprobe analysis of hornblende.Emplacement pressure values were then calculated by using an Al-in-hornblende geobarometer.The result shows that total Al(AlT)values in hornblende range from 1.17to 1.97 p.f.u.,XFe(=Fe/(Fe+Mg))from 0.4 to 0.65,and corresponding pressure values from 256.8 to 676.2 MPa for AlT greater than 1.17.It is suggested that although the main mechanism for the uplift is tectonic extension,inhomogeneous uplift related to the pluton emplacement is also important during post-orogenic evolution of the Dabie orogenic belt.Emplacement depth distribution of the plutons shows that uplift in the NDC is affected by horst-graben structures since 120 Ma.     

Carbon isotopic studies of individual lipids in organisms from the Nansha sea area, China

Sediments contain abundant lipid compounds in general, which are used as biomarker compounds to study organic matter sources and reconstruct the pa-laeoenvironments[1—7]. However, lipid compounds in sediments are generally a mixture of various genetic components so that it is difficult to correctly decouple their biological sources only by the results of bio-chemical researches. Carbon isotopic studies of indi-vidual sedimentary lipid compounds can discover their genetic information, which pr…     

Two new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vestrogothia</Emphasis> (Phosphatocopina,Crustacea) of Orsten-type preservation from the Upper Cambrian in western Hunan,South China

Although fossils of Orsten-type preservation represented by Skaracarida and Phosphatocopina were first reported from the Middle and Upper Cambrian in western Hunan, South China in 2005, diversified phosphatocopine species have never been appropriately described and elucidated in terms of their evolutionary relationships. Here, we described two new species of Phosphatocopina, Vestrogothia anterispinata sp. nov. and V. bispinata sp. nov. The evolutionary relationship among all the valid species of Phosphatocopina is discussed and the phylogeny of Phosphatocopina is reestablished using cladistic analysis. Accordingly, phosphatocopines primitively evolved along two lineages: one evolved towards the emergence of lobes; the other evolved towards the emergence of dorsal spines. Respectively, lobes originated independently three times, and dorsal spines originated only once. With regard to the dorsal rims, interdorsum originated first, whereas dorsal furrow originated independently twice on the basis of interdorsum. Probably Hesslandona may represent a polyphyletic group, whereas Vestrogothia a monophyletic group. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40772008, 40572003), Research Fund for Doctoral Program of High Education (Grant No. 20060001059), State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 083101)     

Discovery of agglutinated foraminifers from the Longzhaogou Group in eastern Heilongjiang Province

The low diversity agglutinated foraminifers are recovered from the Qihulin Formation of the Longzhaogou Group in eastern Heilongjiang, China. The foraminiferal fauna consists of 9 species of 5 genera. The common members are Cribrostomoides nonioninoides (Reuss), Haplophragmoides concavus (Chapman), H. gigas minor Nauss. Although the diagnostic zonal taxa are absent in the agglutinated fauna, according to the global stratigraphic distribution of the above-mentioned species, and the associated Pseudohaploceras ammonite fauna, the foraminiferal fauna may be of a Barremian-Aptian (Early Cretaceous) age.