Geobiological interpretation of the oxygen-deficient deposits of the Middle Permian marine source rocks in South China:A working hypothesis

To decipher the origin of oxygen-deficient shelfal deposits is significant for tracing the distribution of marine source rocks and interpreting the evolution of depositional environment. The origin of the Middle Permian Chihsia Formation in South China remains a puzzle for long with its evident oxygen-deficient features but diverse benthos. This paper shows a typical Chihsian depositional rhythm composed of the massive and the laminated limestones with ecological and geochemical features. Massive bioclastic limestone from the rhythm was aerobic in paleoxygenation condition indicated by both the ecological and geochemical features. However, a contradictory oxygenation was inferred for the “laminated” counterpart from the rhythm, with the ecological signal being aerobic and the geochemical one being anoxic. The difference in ecological and geochemical indications was interpreted as the instability of paleoxygenation condition in shelf environments, caused by an enhanced paleoproductivity. Rhythmic occurrence of the oxygen-deficient condition might have been stemmed from paleo-Tethyan paleocurrents flowing across South China. __________ Translated from Earth Science—Journal of China University of Geosciences, 2007, 32(6): 789–796 [译自: 地球科学—中国地质大学学报]     

半干旱区沼泽沉积剖面特征元素比值及其物源、氧化还原变化信息

沼泽发育过程中堆积的各类沉积物真实地记录了区域环境演变与沼泽发育过程。以霍林河下游漫流区--向海沼泽湿地为研究对象,由¹³⁷Cs、²¹⁰Pb法定年实现沉积层深度坐标向年代坐标的转换,对其典型沉积剖面特征元素比值进行了综合剖析。结果表明：稳定元素对比值Ti/Al是判断不同沉积物来源是否一致的较好指标。剖面上下Ti/Al比值在一定层序的波动变化表明物源的波动性,洪水成因可能性较大。综合比较,V/(V+Ni)比值用于沼泽湿地缺氧沉积环境的判别标准可靠性较好。贫氧环境是向海沼泽湿地主要特征之一,其次是缺氧或含氧环境,各环境之间频繁振荡,体现了内流河下游半干旱区沼泽地表水周期和干湿环境转换频繁的特征。     

鄂湘桂地区栖霞组古氧相分析与层序地层和海平面变化

鄂湘桂地区，早二叠世栖霞组主要为贫氧沉积，通过恢复其形成时沉积环境水体中溶氧量特征及其变化，识别出６个古氧相和４种古氧相相序。古氧相类型、古氧相相序及相差分别反映了沉积环境海平面变化的相位，速度和幅度。古氧相分析从成因上刻画了地层层序的内部结构，成为本区栖霞组内关键性界面，副层序，体系域及层序识别和确定的基础，在对岩相组合单调，空间上岩相厚度变化不大，同时具缺氧成因特征的地层进行层序地层分析时，具     

Progress in Seto Inland Sea Research

The Seto Inland Sea is a representative coastal sea in Japan with a complicated geometry and thus a variety of marine environments. This sea is, at the same time, one of the most industrialized areas in Japan, and its marine environment has been significantly affected by the anthropogenic impacts over the last four decades. The wide range of marine environments in this sea and the serious environmental issues resulting from these impacts have attracted the attention of Japanese coastal oceanographers. It is believed that the nature and scope of these studies might be an example of the progress of Japanese coastal oceanography. The historical changes in the Seto Inland Sea environment in the last four decades are briefly summarized, and the progress in the studies of the Seto Inland Sea is reviewed with reference to historical changes. Some recent research topics and activities are also mentioned. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

南华海泥盆纪烃源岩的古氧相和缺氧环境模式——以广西中、上泥盆统为例

缺氧条件是形成和保存优质烃源岩的重要条件。古氧相的研究对查明海相优质烃源岩时空分布、恢复地史时期古环境演化具有重要意义。泥盆纪时期,南华海受陆内裂陷作用影响,形成台地(滨岸台地和孤立台地)与台沟间列的盆地格局。不同的控制因素控制了古氧相的类型。在台沟和钦防裂陷海槽中,海水分层控制了泥盆纪的古氧相类型和变化。台沟和钦防裂陷海槽以厌氧相与准厌氧相为主。在台地相区,海平面变化控制了古氧相的类型和分布。台地相区的古氧相主要是常氧相和贫氧相。南华海中、晚泥盆世硅质沉积、磷质沉积发育,有机质丰富,形成了有机质-硅质-磷质沉积三位一体的特征,指示上升流作用明显。南华海地区泥盆纪位于赤道附近的信风带,向西的表面洋流越过南华海在西部形成离岸流,海底海水向东补充形成上升的底流,也说明了泥盆纪南华海上升流存在的可能性。     

珠江口贫氧区沉积物中微量金属元素的地球化学特征

研究了珠江口贫氧区表层沉积物中Cu,Pb,Zn,Cd,Fe和Mn含量的相互关系;探讨它们在迁移和固-液平衡过程相互作用的特征;研究了沉积物的环境因素和重要组分对其沉积-溶解作用的影响;研究了表层沉积物对它们的富集作用。结果发现,沉积物对Cu,Pb,Zn和Cd的富集系数(K)排列次序为K_(Cd)>K_(Pb)>K_(Cu)>K_(Zn)。K_(Cd)大于对照区和长江口的相应值。此结果说明,上述区域的表层沉积物中可能有自生的CdS。且贫氧水的表层沉积物中Fe,Mn,Cu,Pb和Cd的地球化学特性尚未有显著的改变。     

Current and Turbidity Variations in the Western Part of Suo-Nada, the Seto Inland Sea, Japan: A Hypothesis on the Oxygen-Deficient Water Mass Formation

A hydrographic survey and a 25-hour stationary observation were carried out in the western part of Suo-Nada in the summer of 1998 to elucidate the formation mechanism of the oxygen-deficient water mass. A steep thermocline and halocline separated the upper layer water from the bottom water over the observational area except for near the Kanmon Strait. The bottom water, in comparison with the upper layer water, indicated lower temperature, higher salinity, lower dissolved oxygen, higher turbidity, and higher chlorophyll a. Turbidity in the upper layer water changed with semi-diurnal period while the bottom water turbidity showed a quarter-diurnal variation, though the M₂ tidal current prevailed in both waters. From the turbidity distribution and the current variation, it is revealed that the turbidity in the upper layer water is controlled by the advection due to the M₂ tidal current. On the other hand, the quarter-diurnal variation in the bottom water turbidity is caused by the resuspension of bottom sediments due to the M₂ tidal current. The steep thermocline and halocline were maintained throughout the observation period in spite of the rather strong tidal currents. This implies an active intrusion of the low temperature and high salinity water from the east to the bottom of Suo-Nada. Based on the observational results, a hypothesis on the oxygen-deficient water mass formation was proposed; the periodical turbidity variation in the bottom water quickly modifies the oxygen-rich water in the east to the oxygen-deficient bottom water in Suo-Nada in a course of circulation.     

Current Structure and Behavior of the River Plume in Suo-Nada

The behavior of a river plume in Suo-Nada, Japan, has been studied using a primitive equation numerical model, the Princeton Ocean Model. Special attention has been paid to the current structure and behavior of the anticyclonic eddy (bulge) induced by high freshwater inflow changing on a timescale of one week. First, the freshwater is supplied from a river to a rectangular basin with a simple topography. When the river discharge subsides after reaching its peak value, the bulge propagates upstream (i.e., opposite to the direction of the Kelvin wave propagation). Next, the freshwater is supplied from eight major rivers to the basin with realistic topography. The less saline water mass in the southern part of Suo-Nada propagates to the west (i.e., upstream) after the river discharge subsides. This is consistent with an observed phenomenon, viz., that the less saline water mass appears in the western part of Suo-Nada, suggesting that the upstream propagation of the bulge is possible in the real ocean. Finally, the cause of the upstream propagation is considered. Onshore currents appear in the bottom layer beneath the bulge, propagating upstream. They produce an anticyclonic barotropic eddy due to the conservation of potential vorticity. The current component associated with the eddy crosses normally to the isohaline in the upper layer, and therefore transports the bulge upstream. No other current component (such as surface current velocity minus vertically-averaged value) is responsible for the upstream propagation of the bulge. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

从地球生物学角度讨论华南中二叠世海相烃源岩缺氧沉积环境成因模式

探讨陆棚环境缺氧沉积的成因, 对查明海相优质烃源岩时空分布、恢复地史时期古环境演化具有重要意义.华南地区中二叠世栖霞组有机质丰富, 出现多方面缺氧沉积特征, 同时多门类底栖生物繁盛, 其成因一直令人困惑.简要介绍了陆棚浅海缺氧环境的生物特征及古氧相划分, 分析了栖霞组一个由纹层状灰岩和块状灰岩组成的典型的沉积序列的古氧相特征.块状灰岩的生物特征和地球化学特征均指示常氧沉积环境; 而纹层状灰岩的生物特征偏向常氧相, 沉积地球化学特征偏向厌氧相, 体现了陆棚缺氧沉积环境水体溶氧量不稳定的特点.栖霞组沉积特征表明, 栖霞组缺氧沉积环境的频繁出现与较高的生物产率有关.结合区域古地理和古特提斯古海洋背景, 认为华南地区中二叠世缺氧环境的成因与当时陆海分布格局和古海洋表面洋流系统有关.