Sequence stratigraphic characteristics and geological significance of the Permian Qixia Stage in northwestern Sichuan Basin

Based on outcrops, drilling, cores, and logging data, the Liangshan Formation and Qixia Formation in the northwestern Sichuan region are analyzed using the theory and method of sequence stratigraphy. Three third-order sequence boundaries are identified, including the basal boundary of Liangshan Formation (type Ⅰ), the boundary between Qi 1 Member and Qi 2 Member (type Ⅱ), and the boundary between the Qixia Formation and the Maokou Formation (type Ⅰ). The Middle Permian Qixia Stage can be subdivided into two third-order sequences (from base to top: SQ1 and SQ2). The SQ1 sequence corresponds to the Liangshan Formation and the Qi 1 Member, and the SQ2 sequence corresponds to the Qi 2 Member. Based on the sequence stratigraphic framework reconstruction of the Qixia Stage, the sedimentary filling pattern of the “onlapping at the base and truncation at the top” is discovered. The contour maps of SQ1 and SQ2 sequence stratigraphic thickness are calculated and plotted. Combined with the stratigraphic filling pattern, the tectonic-palaeogeographical framework of the early SQ1 and SQ2 phases of the Qixia Stage, their geological significance is discussed. At the Qixia Stage, the differentiation between uplift and depression occurs in the northwest and northeast trends. The Hannan uplift, the northern Sichuan uplift, the northern margin uplift and the Guangyuan-Wangcang sag have controlled the sedimentary pattern in the study area. It is indicated that prototype of the Guangyuan-Wangcang Trough began in the Middle Permian Qixia Stage. In the study area, the karst cave-type dolostone reservoir and the karst-type limestone reservoir around the Guangyuan-Wangcang sag rim are favorable exploration areas.     

皖南龙潭阶与长兴阶界线的一种确定方法──层序地层学应用尝试

以层序地层学理论为指导，通过对皖南地区晚二叠世地层沉积层序特征的综合分析。可知该区晚二叠世存在两次海水进退过程，发育两个层序，两层序之界面即为龙潭阶和长兴阶的分界，该界线在视电阻率测井曲线上有较明显的反映，据此可方便地进行地层划分。     

川西北地区上三叠统卡尼阶古喀斯特的发现及研究意义

在川西北地区绵竹汉旺、安县雎水剖面上三叠统卡尼阶海绵礁（丘）灰岩顶部发现古喀斯特;野外露头可见明显的花斑状构造以及蜂窝状溶孔,显微镜下可见泥晶化颗粒,喀斯特角砾以及喀斯特溶孔充填物,其中包括泥-亮晶方解石,生物碎屑以及陆源石英颗粒;根据露头岩性和显微薄片特征判断其属于早成岩期喀斯特;喀斯特成单层发育,之上覆盖化石丰富的黄色或黑色页岩,其中的菊石化石鉴定表明其为上卡尼阶底部沉积。该喀斯特是重要的等时界面,且可作为该地区上下卡尼阶的界线。喀斯特之上的岩性在汉旺和雎水有差异:在绵竹汉旺青岩沟剖面,喀斯特灰岩之上覆盖有黑色粉砂质页岩与生屑灰岩（如层状海绵灰岩、海百合灰岩）,在汉旺观音崖剖面,喀斯特面之上发育海绵丘灰岩及页岩,在安县雎水剖面,古喀斯特发育在滚落的海绵巨砾之上。综合研究表明,喀斯特的形成与早期龙门山的隆升以及卡尼期湿润气候事件在发生时间上非常相近,推测其成因与龙门山的隆升以及卡尼期湿润气候事件有关。     

早白垩世陆相九佛堂阶的重新厘定及其层型剖面

通过实测冀北滦平梁根村-东沟村九佛堂组剖面,并在开展多学科系统研究的基础上,把剖面划分为3个岩性段,建立了系统的叶肢介生物地层6个组合,进行辽西九佛堂组—沙海组与冀北滦平九佛堂组的等时性对比;分析剖面的沉积相叠置特征,证明了剖面的沉积连续性和沉积旋回性变化,识别出剖面的3个浅湖相三级层序,重新厘定九佛堂阶的定义及其单位、界线层型。建议将“沙海阶”并入九佛堂阶,单位和界线层型定在冀北滦平盆地西北部梁根村-东山村之间;底界以叶肢介Eosestheria fuxinensis和E. jiufotangensis 的首现为标志。     

中国第一个“金钉子”剖面的建立

中国浙江常山黄泥塘发育了穿越中奥陶统达瑞威尔阶底界的连续地层剖面,笔石和牙形刺的连续演化序列使之得以成为全球对比的标准。经国际地层委员会奥陶系分会、国际地层委员会和国际地科联邮投和批准,已成为达瑞威尔阶的全球层型剖面点。     

Zooplankton communities and oceanographic structures in a high-resolution grid in the south-eastern corner of the Bay of Biscay

A one year long monthly sampling series at a fixed station was combined with a high-spatial resolution survey (May 2003) to investigate factors controlling zooplankton distribution in the south-eastern corner of the Bay of Biscay. Species abundance and gonad maturity for Calanoides carinatus and Calanus helgolandicus were estimated to clarify whether the observed spatial patterns were attributable to increased population growth or to mechanical accumulation. The two studies included distinct oceanographic regimes. The eastern corner of the grid was characterized by Adour river plume waters and the Cap Breton canyon, and the rest of the area by an alternating pattern of physical convergences and divergences. In the river plume, the zooplankton community diversity and abundances were highest in response to the nutrient enriched river plume waters and the submarine canyon. In the rest of the area, distribution and abundance patterns were the result of a combination of behaviour and physical transport.     

New Maikhanellid Shells and Siphogonuchitid Spicule Bundles from the Cambrian Fortunian Stage of South China

Maikhanellids are a distinct group of Cambrian Fortunian small shelly fossils by the cap-shaped profiles and scaly shell ornamentation. According to the individual shell shape and ornamentation feature types of 50 maikhanellids fossils which were collected from Xixiang botia, we confirmed the family Maikhanellidae content of six genera, which are Maikhanella, Ramenta, Purella, Ramentoides, Yunnannopleura and Mediata. Unlike the halkieriid animals whose shells and spicules are articulated on different body parts, maikhanellids were presumably yielded by siphogonuchitid spicules penetrating the intermediate matrix (the "spicule shell" hypothesis), and this is the reason that some researchers treated maikhanellids and co-occurring siphogonuchitids as synonyms. The affinities of Maikhanellids and siphogonuchitids remain debatable. Here, we report three dimensionally phosphatized maikhanellid shells and siphogonuchitid spicule bundles from the Cambrian Fortunian small shell faunas of South China. They differ from all the previously reported maikhanellids and siphogonuchitids, and may represent new types. The intact and smooth surface underneath the partially preserved scales of the shells challenges the "spicule-shell" hypothesis. The present siphogonuchitid spicules differ from the maikhanellid scales in size, morphology, and .arrangement pattern, thus the spicules might not be derived from the shells. Whether the shells and spicule bundles were articulated on different body parts of the same animals remains unknown.     

奥陶系研究百余年:从英国标准到国际标准

英国学者Sedgwick、Murchison和Lapworth等早在19世纪便对奥陶系作出了先驱性的研究,包括创建了奥陶系。但百年来各国主要都集中于地区性的奥陶系研究,并建立了地区性的序列和标准,这在事实上一直都把英国的奥陶系划分作为国际间的对比标准。近三十年来,随着国际奥陶系分会不断推进各国奥陶系的研究工作,并在2007年完成了奥陶系三统七阶的全部全球层型剖面和点位(GSSP)的研究,建立了全球标准。为了便于运用,建议将奥陶系的三统七阶分为20个间隔段,以利于洲际对比,并把地区性的统与阶准确地对比到国际标准上去。同时附上与年代地层划分相一致的奥陶系全球碳同位素的变化曲线。     

Smaller foraminifers from type sections of the Bolorian stage,the Lower Permian of Darvaz

Smaller foraminifers from Upper Yakhtashian and Bolorian deposits of the stratotype area (Pamir, Darvaz, Tajikistan) are investigated. Four assemblages are defined. The first assemblage is from Chalaroschwagerina vulgaris-Pamirina darvasica Zone. The second assemblage found in the transitional Yakhtashian-Bolorian beds includes Globivalvulina, Palaeotextulariidae, Hemigordiidae, and Glomospira, associated with the first Pachyphloia and Langella forms. Characteristic taxa of third assemblage from the Misellina (Brevaxina) dyhrenfurthi Zone are Geinitzinidae, Globivalvulina, Palaeotextulariidae, Glomospira, and rare Pachyphloia. The forth assemblage of Hemigordiidae, Pachyphloia, Palaeotextulariidae, Geinitzinidae, Pseudoagathammina is identified in the M. (Misellina) parvicostata Zone. The assemblages were compared with concurrent analogs from China, Japan, and Russia. New species and subspecies Glomospira paleograndis sp. nov., G. darvasica sp. nov., Agathammina darvasica sp. nov., Pachyphloia darvasica sp. nov., Nodosinelloides cubanicus elongatus subsp. nov., and Hemigordius saranensis darvasicus subsp. nov. are described.     

The skeleton of a straight-tusked elephant,Palaeoloxodon antiquus (Falconer and Cautley, 1847) from Selsey,England, and growth and variation in Palaeoloxodon of the European Pleistocene

A partial skeleton of straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) excavated at Selsey beach (Sussex, UK) in 1961 is one of very few from Marine Isotope Stage 7 (MIS 7), ca. 240–200 ka, in Europe. Dental morphometrics, including X-ray micro-computed tomography, confirms the species identification. Age determination through dental wear and skeletal morphology, sex determination through pelvic anatomy, and body-size measurements, together identify the individual as a female of approximately 30 years old with a live shoulder height of ca. 3 m and a body mass of ca. 5 t. Dental mesowear indicates mixed feeding with a significant proportion of grass, indicating selective feeding in a predominately forested environment. Although taphonomic conclusions are limited by the nature of the excavation, identification of 107 recovered skeletal elements indicates predominant preservation of the right side of the animal, suggesting death or burial on the right side in a shallow, slow-moving freshwater environment, with possible removal of other elements by scavenging or decay. Combining the Selsey data with 29 comparative skeletons from across Europe, we demonstrate the validity of pelvic proportions for determining sex and provide a graphical representation of variation and growth rate in males and females of this species.