The North of Eastern Siberia: Refuge of Mammoth Fauna in the Holocene

The global climate changings at the end of Pleistocene led to extinction of the typical representatives of Mammoth fauna–mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, wild horse, bison, muskox, cave lion, etc.–on the huge territories of Northern Eurasia. Undoubtedly the Mammoth fauna underwent pressure from the Upper Paleolithic Man, whose hunting activity also could play the role in decreasing the number of mammoths and other representatives of megafauna (large mammals). Archaeological data testify that the typical representatives of Mammoth fauna were the Man's hunting objects only till the end of the Pleistocene. Their bone remains are not usually found on the settlements of Mesolithic Man. Formerly it was supposed that the megafauna of ‘Mammoth complex’ was extinct by the beginning of Holocene. Nevertheless the latest data testify that the global extinction of the Mammoth fauna was sufficiently delayed in the north of Eastern Siberia. In the 1990s some radiocarbon data testified that the mammoths on the Wrangel Island existed for a long time during the Holocene from 8000 till 3700 y. BP. The present radiocarbon data show that wild horses inhabited the north of Eastern Siberia (the lower stream of the Enissey river, the Novosibirskie Islands, the East Siberian sea-shore) 3000–2000 y. BP. Musk-oxen lived on the Taimyr Peninsula and the Lena River delta about 3000 y. BP. Some bison remains from Eastern Siberia belong to the Holocene. The following circumstances could promote the process of preservation of the Mammoth fauna representatives. The cool and dry climate of this region promotes the maintenance of steppe associations – habitats of those mammals. The Late Paleolithic and Mesolithic settlements are not found in the Arctic zone of Eastern Siberia from the Taimyr Peninsula to a lower stream of the Yana River; they are very rare in the basins of the Indigirka and Kolyma Rivers. So, the small number of the Stone Age hunting tribes on the North of Eastern Siberia was another factor in the long-term preservation of some Mammoth fauna representatives.     

Lower and Middle Ordovician conodonts of Laurentian affinity from blocks of limestone in the Rosroe Formation,South Mayo Trough,western Ireland and their palaeogeographic implication

The Middle Ordovician Rosroe Formation consists of some 1350 m of coarse, mainly siliciclastic to volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks, deposited in a submarine fan environment, and is restricted to the southern limb of the South Mayo Trough, western Ireland. Discrete allochthonous blocks, reaching 5 m in size, are present in the formation at several localities. Conodonts recovered from these blocks, collected from two separate locations, are of late Early and mid Mid Ordovician age. The conodonts have high conodont‐alteration indices (CAI 5) indicative of temperatures as high as 300^o to max. 480 °C; some found in the Lough Nafooey area have abnormally high indices (CAI 6), which correspond to temperatures of about 360^o to max. 550 °C. The oldest fauna is dominated by Periodon aff. aculeatus and characterized by Oepikodus evae typical of the Oepikodus evae Zone (Floian Stage; Stage Slices Fl2–3, Lower Ordovician). The younger conodont assemblage, characterized by Periodon macrodentatus associated with Oistodella pulchra, is referred to the P. macrodentatus conodont Biozone (lower Darriwilian; Stage Slices Dw1–2). The Rosroe conodont assemblages are of Laurentian affinity; comparable faunas are well known from several locations along the east to south‐eastern platform margin of Laurentia and the Notre Dame subzone of central Newfoundland, Canada. The faunal composition from the limestone blocks suggests a shelf edge to slope (or fringing carbonate) setting. The faunal assemblages are coeval with, respectively, the Tourmakeady Formation (Floian–Dapingian) and Srah Formation (Darriwilian) in the Tourmakeady Volcanic Group in the eastern part of the South Mayo Trough and probably are derived from the same or similar laterally equivalent short‐lived carbonate successions that accumulated at offshore ‘peri‐Laurentian’ islands, close to and along the Laurentian margin. During collapse of the carbonate system in the late Mid Ordovician, the blocks were transported down a steep slope and into deep‐water by debris flows, mixing with other rock types now found in the coarse polymict clastics of the Rosroe Formation. The faunas fill the stratigraphical ‘gap’ between the Lower Ordovician Lough Nafooey Volcanic Group and the upper Middle Ordovician Rosroe Formation in the South Mayo Trough and represent a brief interval conducive to carbonate accumulation in an otherwise siliciclastic‐ and volcaniclastic‐dominated sedimentary environment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

柴达木盆地东北缘中中新世以来古气候变化

全球变冷、青藏高原隆升以及特提斯洋海退被认为是控制亚洲大陆新生代气候变化的三大因素,然而由于长时间尺度古气候记录的匮乏,对于三者影响的认识并不清晰。柴达木盆地是青藏高原北部最大的一个封闭盆地,发育巨厚且连续的新生代地层,详细记录了周缘山体构造隆升过程和区域气候演化历史。本文通过柴达木盆地东北缘怀头他拉剖面的中中新世-早更新世沉积物气候代用指标碳酸盐、硫酸根和氯离子含量分析,显示该研究区中中新世以来气候变化经历了15.3~13.0Ma相对湿润、13.0~6.6Ma半干旱-半湿润和6.6~1.8Ma干旱的3个演化阶段。结合生物特征和前人研究成果,认为柴达木盆地干旱化历史可能从中中新世13Ma左右开始逐步发展,而真正意义上的干旱化始于6.6Ma以来。全球变冷是控制柴达木盆地干旱气候形成和发展的主导因素,同时青藏高原晚期持续阶段性的强烈隆升起到了催化剂的作用。     

Late Ordovician stratigraphy northwest of the Sugarloaf,mid-Wales — a discussion

Several modifications are proposed to the Ordovician stratigraphy recently proposed by Mackie and Smallwood (1987), based in particular on the recognition of a major Mynydd Trawsnant anticline on the northwest flank of the Tywi structure and on field relationships indicating the Foel Formation directly to overlay the Caradoc black shale succession and directly to underlay the Craig Las Formation. The Clyn Glas Formation is suggested to have accumulated at a slope base rather than a shelf–slope break.     

辽东南地区晚中生代地层序列与盆地演化规律

辽东南地区晚中生代地层发育不甚完全,具有两期盆地叠合演化的特征,即早中侏罗世和早白垩世两个演化阶段,经历了2次伸展裂陷和2次挤压反转。在详细研究辽东南地区各盆地岩石地层序列、生物化石组合特征、年代地层格架以及区域地层对比的基础上,讨论了盆地的演化阶段和演化规律,指出是古太平洋板块向东亚大陆边缘不同方向的俯冲与走滑,以及来自北方西伯利亚板块的持续碰撞挤压的联合构造应力场制约了中国东北地区晚中生代盆地的裂陷过程和构造反转的演化,进而为揭示华北克拉通晚中生代岩石圈演化的动力学机制提供参考依据。     

具有硅酸盐尘埃特征碳星的新的候选者

本文根据红外天文卫星的宽波段测光及低分辨率光谱资料，给出了两颗新的可能具有硅酸尘埃特征的碳星及４颗可能的候选者。     

福建晚更新世海侵问题探讨

福建沿海在晚更新世大约距今90—80ka、70—60ka、44—39ka和34—20ka期间分别发生过4次海侵。最末一次海侵(距今34—20Ka)期间有过明显的海面下降波动,时间大约在距今28ka前后。     

塔里木盆地古城地区下奥陶统碳酸盐岩碳氧同位素特征

下奥陶统碳酸盐岩储层是塔里木盆地古城地区的主要产气层。为了探讨研究区下奥陶统碳酸盐岩碳同位素变化的原因,对取自塔中地区古城7、古城8、古城9和古城12等4口井的51块碳酸盐岩样品进行了分析,结果显示,δ13C值为-2.26‰~1.55‰,δ18O值为-10.57‰~-4.69‰,Mn/Sr也小于2~3的范围。结果表明,研究区碳酸盐岩样品基本保持了碳氧同位素的原始组成。δ13C值与海平面变化存在正相关关系,证明研究区早奥陶世晚期存在一海退期。     

下扬子烃源岩新层位——中下奥陶统

中下奥陶统通常主要作为储层看待,然而皖南地区的下奥陶统宁国组主要为一套富含笔石的灰黑色—黑色薄层硅质、碳质泥岩,属广海陆棚相至深海盆地相沉积;而中奥陶统胡乐组主要为一套同样富含笔石的深灰色薄层粉砂质泥岩和中厚层硅质泥岩,属深海陆棚相至盆地相沉积。二者分布范围相当,但宁国组厚度明显大于胡乐组。下奥陶统宁国组6个样品的岩石热解数据显示,恢复后的TOC均值为1.24%。根据上升流的识别标准,宁国组和胡乐组的岩性和岩相特征以及宁国组地球化学测试结果,推测皖南地区中下奥陶统可能是一套受上升流影响的中—好烃源岩。鉴于南黄海是下扬子的主体,建议加强南黄海中下奥陶统烃源岩的研究。     

First evidence of Middle to Late Triassic radiolarians in the Garba mountains,South Sumatra,Indonesia

A Middle to Late Triassic (Ladinian–Carnian) radiolarian fauna was discovered in cherts of the Situlanglang Member of the Garba Formation, South Sumatra, which is generally regarded as of Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous age. This fauna is characterized by the presence of Annulotriassocampe sulovensis, Triassocampe postdeweveri, Spongotortilispinus tortilis, Poulpus piabyx, Canoptum levis and others. This evidence possibly indicates that the deposition of the Situlanglang cherts took place after the collision of the Sibumasu and East Malaya blocks recorded in the Bentong–Raub Suture in Peninsular Malaysia in Late Permian–Early Triassic times. During the Middle–Late Triassic Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia consisted of submarine horst and graben structures. It is possible that a submarine graben, the Tuhur basin, whose southern boundary was formerly undefined, extends into South Sumatra, to the area in which the Situlanglang cherts were deposited. The Situlanglang Member is proposed to be a rock unit stratigraphically contemporaneous with those of the Middle–Upper Triassic Kualu and Tuhur Formations in North and Central Sumatra.