Cretaceous deformation history of the middle Tan-Lu fault zone in Shandong Province, eastern China

Based on field analysis of fault-slip data from different rock units of the Cretaceous basins along the middle part of the Tan-Lu fault zone (Shandong Province, eastern China), we document polyphase tectonic stress fields and address the changes in sense of motion of the Tan-Lu fault zone during the Cretaceous. The Cretaceous deformation history of the Tan-Lu fault zone can be divided into four main stages. The first stage, during the earliest Cretaceous, was dominated by N-S extension responsible for the formation of the Jiaolai basin. We interpret this extension to be related to dextral strike-slip pull-apart opening guided by the Tan-Lu fault zone. The second stage, during the middle Early Cretaceous, was overwhelmingly rift-dominated and characterized by widespread silicic to intermediate volcanism, normal faulting and basin subsidence. It was at this stage that the Tan-Lu-parallel Yi-Shu Rift was initiated by E-W to WNW-ESE extension. The tectonic regime then changed during the late Early Cretaceous to NW-SE-oriented transpression, causing inversion of the Early Cretaceous rift basin and sinistral slip along the Tan-Lu fault zone. During the Late Cretaceous, dextral activation of the Tan-Lu fault zone resulted in pull-apart opening of the Zhucheng basin, which was subsequently deformed by NE-SW compression. This deformation chronology of the Tan-Lu fault zone and the associated Cretaceous basins allow us to constrain the regional kinematic models as related to subduction along the eastern margin of Asia, or related to collision in the Tibet region.     

Confirmation of an Early Cretaceous age for the Qihulin Formation in eastern Heilongjiang Province, China: constraints from a new discovery of radiolarians

The coal-bearing, alternating marine and non-marine Longzhaogou Group in eastern Heilongjiang, northeastern China, has long been considered as Jurassic, or mainly Jurassic, in age. However, recent studies have demonstrated that the ammonites and dinoflagellate cysts are of Early Cretaceous age. This has now been confirmed by new radiolarian evidence. The radiolarian fauna recovered from the upper Qihulin Formation of the Longzhaogou Group consists of nine poorly preserved species referable to nine genera. Novixitus is a Cretaceous genus, and the specimens of Archaeodictyomitra sp. and Xitus sp. recovered resemble A. vulgaris Pessagno and X. spicularius (Aliev), respectively.     

Orbitolinidae and Alveolinidae (Foraminiferida) from the uppermost Albian-lower Cenomanian of Monti d'Ocre (Abruzzi, Italy)

A biostratigraphic study carried out in the Monti d'Ocre area, Abruzzi, Central Apennines, allowed us to recognize Orbitolina (Conicorbitolina) moulladei ‘Strata 5 (1985) 1’, Praealveolina iberica Reichel and Praealveolina simplex Reichel in uppermost Albian–lower Cenomanian shelf-edge deposits of the Fossato Machè succession. These foraminifers have now been found for the first time in the Apennines of central Italy; their finding is quite important from a palaeobiogeographic viewpoint, as it contributes to the improvement of our knowledge on facies distribution in the circum-Mediterranean regions during the Cretaceous Period. In the study area, the coeval Monte Rotondo and Monte Orsello sections also crop out; these are characterized by bauxite deposits and stratigraphic gaps reflecting episodes of emergence on the carbonate platform. The Monte Rotondo and Monte Orsello sections accumulated in a platform back-reef environment; consequently, in this sector of the Monti d'Ocre area, the depositional environment shifted from a back-reef westward and southward to a shelf-edge northward, during the latest Albian–early Cenomanian. Owing to synsedimentary tectonics, the area investigated underwent differential subsidence: westward and southward, wide areas were uplifted and subjected to emergence, karstification and bauxite accumulation, whereas sedimentation continued in a shelf-edge environment in the north-eastern area.     

楚雄复式盆地演化及形成的动力学机制

楚雄盆地处于中国云南省中部，位于扬子板块西南缘，南西界以红河断裂为界与哀牢山造山带相连，北西界为程海断裂，东边为绿汁江断裂。盆地基底包括结晶基底和褶皱基底双重结构。盆地内发育了中三叠世以后的沉积盖层，西部中三叠世和晚三叠世早、中期为海相沉积，晚期为海陆交互相和陆相沉积；盆地东部为陆相沉积。侏罗—白垩纪整个盆地为巨厚的陆相沉积。楚雄盆地的构造格架分为４个带：（１）哀牢山造山带；（２）褶皱逆冲带；（３）中部沉降带；（４）东部隆起带。盆地形成与演化分为六个阶段：（１）被动大陆边缘沉降阶段；（２）拉张热隆起边缘——裂谷盆地阶段；（３）沟－弧－盆系阶段；（４）残洋－周缘前陆盆地阶段；（５）走滑－拉张盆地阶段；（６）走滑－挤压－改造阶段。楚雄盆地的形成与演化体现了盆地动力学性质转化和复合，在多种动力系统作用下或经过多旋回构造阶段产生了复式盆地     

Palynological dating of infra- and intertrappean sediments in the Mesozoic succession of Borehole PGD-6, Domra Sub-basin, West Bengal, India

Palynofloras have been examined from infra- and intertrappean sediments of the Panchet and Rajmahal Formations in the Domra Sub-basin of the Damodar Basin, West Bengal, India. Three distinct palynological assemblages are identified and referred to the following palynozones: (i)Lundbladispora–Verrucosisporites(506.60–505.00 m, late Early Triassic, (ii)Murospora florida(501.65–422.20 m. Late Jurassic, Kimmeridgian–Tithonian), and (iii)Cicatricosisporites australiensis(342.00–229.6 m. Early Cretaceous, Tithonian–Berriasian). The first occurrences ofCallialasporites turbatusandC. dampieriare at 501.65 m.Callialasporitesis a dominant element of the succeeding assemblages from the Panchet Formation and indicates a Jurassic age. The FAD ofCicatricosisporites australiensisandC. augustusat 342.00 m, and inconsistent occurrences ofAequitriradites spinulosus,Crybelosporites stylosusin the overlying sediments indicate Jurassic–Cretaceous transition.     

New palaeomagnetic data from Central Iran and a Triassic palaeoreconstruction

New pole positions for Triassic and Cretaceous times have been obtained from volcanic and sedimentary sequences in Central Iran. These new results confirm the general trend of the Apparent Polar Wander Path (APWP) of the Central-East-Iran microplate (CEIM) from the Triassic through the Tertiary as published by Soffel and Förster (1983, 1984). Two new palaeopoles for the Triassic of the CEIM have been obtained; limestones and tuffs from the Nakhlak region yield a mean direction of 094.0°/25.0°, N=12, k=4.1,α ₉₅=24.7°, after bedding correction, corresponding to a palaeopole position of 310.8°E; 3.9°S, and volcanic rocks from the Sirjan regions yield a mean direction of 114.5°/35.1°, N=44, k=45.9,α ₉₅=3.2° after bedding correction and a palaeopole position of 295.8°E; 10.3°N. Combining these with the two previously published results yields a new palaeopole position of 317.5°E; 12.7°N, for the Triassic of the CEIM, thus confirming that large counterclockwise rotations of the CEIM have occurred since the Triassic time. New results have also been obtained from Cretaceous limestones from the Saghand region of the CEIM. The mean direction of 340.7°/26.3°, N=33, k=44.3,α ₉₅=3.8°, and the corresponding palaeopole position of 283.1°E; 64.4°N, is in agreement with previously determined Cretaceous palaeopole positions of the CEIM. Furthermore, results have also been obtained from Triassic dolomite, limestone, sandstone and siltstone from the Natanz region, which is located to the west of the CEIM. A total of 161 specimens from 44 cores taken at five sites gave a mean direction of the five sites at 033.3°/25.1°, N=5, k=69.0,α ₉₅=9.3° and a palaeopole position of 167.2°E; 53.7°N. They pass the positive fold test of McElhinny (1964) on the level of 99% confidence. This pole position is in fairly good agreement with the mean Triassic pole position of the Turan Plate (149°E; 49°N). It indicates that the area of Natanz has not undergone the large counterclockwise rotation relative to the Turan plate since the Triassic, which has been shown for the CEIM. A Triassic palaeogeographic reconstruction of Iran, Arabia (Gondwana) and the Turan Plate (Eurasia) is also presented.     

Stratigraphy of the upper cretaceous and lower tertiary strata in the Tethyan Himalayas of Tibet (Tingri area,China)

The 1500-m-thick marine strata of the Tethys Himalaya of the Zhepure Mountain (Tingri, Tibet) comprise the Upper Albian to Eocene and represent the sedimentary development of the passive northern continental margin of the Indian plate. Investigations of foraminifera have led to a detailed biozonation which is compared with the west Tethyan record. Five stratigraphic units can be distinguished: The Gamba group (Upper Albian - Lower Santonian) represents the development from a basin and slope to an outer-shelf environment. In the following Zhepure Shanbei formation (Lower Santonian - Middle Maastrichtian), outer-shelf deposits continue. Pebbles in the top layers point to beginning redeposition on a continental slope. Intensified redeposition continues within the Zhepure Shanpo formation (Middle Maastrichtian - Lower Paleocene). The series is capped by sandstones of the Jidula formation (Danian) deposited from a seaward prograding delta plain. The overall succession of these units represents a sea-level high at the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary followed, from the Turonian to Danian, by an overall shallowing-upward megasequence. This is followed by a final transgression — regression cycle during the Paleocene and Eocene, documented in the Zhepure Shan formation (?Upper Danian - Lutetian) and by Upper Eocene continental deposits. The section represents the narrowing and closure of the Tethys as a result of the convergence between northward-drifting India and Eurasia. The plate collision started in the Lower Maastrichtian and caused rapid changes in sedimentation patterns affected by tectonic subsidence and uplift. Stronger subsidence and deposition took place from the Middle Maastrichtian to the Lower Paleocene. The final closure of remnant Tethys in the Tingri area took place in the Lutetian.     

福建沙县地区早白垩世火山岩成因及构造环境分析

本文着重阐述了沙县地区早白垩世火山岩地球化学特征，论证了中性与酸性火山岩的成因及物质来源，认为二者为不同源岩浆演化的产物，其岩浆物质来源于壳幔混源区，为省内双峰式火两端员岩石间成因关系的分析研究提供了新的例征。     

岩层离距图法研究沉积岩断裂发育史——以松辽盆地敖古拉断裂为例

利用断裂活动过程中留下的各种地质标记研究断裂发育史是比较困难的 ,已有的研究方法主要可归纳出七种 ,都存在局限性。岩层离距图法是以地震剖面为基础 ,将穿过断裂的各剖面上的标志层投影到沿断裂走向的铅垂面上 ,得到多组标志层的垂向断距数据 ,然后用下部各标志层的断距减去最上部标志层的断距 ,并作多轮次计算 ,直到最后的断距差近似为零或仅剩一个非零标志层。每一轮次计算代表一个活动期次 ,如果出现负值 ,则表示有构造反转。对松辽盆地敖古拉断裂作了实例计算 ,结果为该断裂发育经历了三个正断活动期和一个逆断活动期 ,与盆地区域性活动有些差别。岩层离距图法比起其他已有方法 ,可靠程度大大提高     

Depositional sequence architecture and filling response model of the Cretaceous in the Kuqa depression, the Tarim basin

The Cretaceous system of the Kuqa depression is a regional scale (second order) depositional sequence defined by parallel unconformities or minor angular unconformities. It can be divided into four third-order sequence sets, eleven third-order sequences and tens of fourth- and fifth-order sequences. It consists generally of a regional depositional cycle from transgression to regression and is composed of three sets of facies associations: alluvial-fluvial, braided river-deltaic and lacustrine-deltaic facies associations. They represent the lowstand, transgressive and highstand facies tracts within the second-order sequence. The tectonic subsidence curve reconstructed by backstripping technique revealed that the Cretaceous Kuqa depression underwent a subsidence history from early accelerated subsidence, middle rapid subsidence and final slower subsidence phases during the Cretaceous time, with the correspondent tectonic subsidence rates being 30-35 m/Ma, 40-45 m/Ma and 5-10 m/Ma obtained from northern foredeep. This is likely attributed to the foreland dynamic process from early thrust flexural subsidence to late stress relaxation and erosion rebound uplift. The entire sedimentary history and the development of the three facies tracts are a response to the basin subsidence process. The slower subsidence foreland gentle slope was a favorable setting for the formation of braided fluvial deltaic systems during the late period of the Cretaceous, which comprise the important sandstone reservoirs in the depression. Sediment records of impermanent marine transgression were discovered in the Cretaceous and the major marine horizons are correctable to the highstands of the global sea level during the period.