Integrated biostratigraphy and carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian to Albian) Adriatic-Dinaridic carbonate platform deposits in Istria, Croatia

The Adriatic-Dinaridic carbonate platform (ADCP) was one of the largest and relatively well preserved Mesozoic platforms in the Mediterranean region (central Tethys). The peninsula Istria, in the northwestern part of the ADCP, is built up predominantly of shallow-water carbonates of the Middle Jurassic (Dogger) to Eocene age and, to a lesser extent, of Paleogene clastic deposits (flysch and calcareous breccia). This study focuses on a Lower Cretaceous (Barremian to Albian) succession of strata at five localities in western Istria. Stratigraphic determinations are based on identification of nine microfossil assemblages (benthic foraminifera and calcareous algae Dasycladales) and on using their taxa as index fossils. The age of strata with these microfossil assemblages, however, is questionable. Most of the age uncertainties are associated with a regional emersion, which occurred on the ADCP during the Aptian or close to the Aptian-Albian transition. It is unclear what portions of the Upper Aptian and/or Lower Albian are missing along this unconformity. A stable isotope study was conducted on homogenous micritic matrix samples in an attempt to resolve some of these uncertainties. Variations in carbon isotope compositions proved useful for stratigraphic correlation between the examined successions of strata, for improving their age determination, and for relating them to other coeval successions that span an important time interval of major oceanographic changes and carbon-cycle perturbations associated with the Early Aptian oceanic anoxic event (OAE 1a).     

A New Genus and Species of Sapeornithidae from Lower Cretaceous in Western Liaoning, China

Sapeornithidae is a basal pygostylian family of Early Cretaceous primitive birds, in which only one genus and species, Sapeornis chaoyangensis, was reported before. This paper deals with a new genus and species of this family, Didactylornis jii gen. et sp. nov., which was unearthed from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in western Liaoning. According to our phylogenetic analyses, both Didactylornis gen. nov. and Sapeornis form a sister group, which is basal to the clade formed by Confuciusornis and all the more derived birds, and more closely related to the short-tailed pygostylian birds than to the long-tailed avialian birds. The early history of pygostylian birds is poorly documented except for the studies of Confuciusornis and Sapeornis. The discovery ofDidactylornisjii gen. et sp. nov. adds the new material for the study on the early evolution of birds.     

辽东湾凝析气田超压成因及侧向传递机制初探

位于辽东湾西部低凸起北端的JZ20-2超压凝析气田,离供烃中心较远,压力系数却达到1.56~1.7,这在我国东部裂谷盆地比较少见。经过综合分析,作者认为JZ20-2凝析气田异常高压的形成与其所处的特殊地质背景紧密相关,辽中凹陷沙河街组三段超压凝析油气沿不整合面、砂体输导通道向辽东湾西部低凸起的运移、充注和能量的侧向传递是JZ20-2凝析气田异常高压形成的根本原因,而上覆东营组二段下亚段-东营组三段巨厚的强超压泥岩封盖和辽西3号边界断层侧向遮挡共同构成的优越封闭环境是超压保存的必要条件。本文分析了该气田超压特征及其远距离超压侧向传递的成因机制,不仅有助于揭示辽东湾西部低凸起超压流体运移聚集的规律和成藏作用,而且可能提供了一个超压远距离侧向传递的典型实例。     

论氢化物的形成及其在分析测试领域的应用

论述了氢化物形成的普遍性、氢化物的物理化学性质、元素周期系各类元素的氢化物类型。认为一些金属离子、非金属离子在酸性介质中与硼氢化钾（钠）作用及金属锌等强还原剂作用生成氢化物。综述了氢化物的形成在分析测试领域的应用：试样分解、分离富集、容量分析、光度分析、原子光谱分析、质谱分析。     

塔里木盆地下奥陶统蓬莱坝组白云岩成因及储层主控因素分析——以巴楚大班塔格剖面为例

寒武系-下奥陶统白云岩是塔里木盆地非常重要的勘探接替领域,但由于白云岩埋藏深度大,勘探和研究程度低,目前的认识程度无法满足勘探的需求,尤其是白云岩储层成因和分布的认识。本文以巴楚地区大班塔格剖面蓬莱组白云岩的精细解剖为例,测制解剖剖面9条,采集样品195块,系统的开展了岩石薄片、物性及地球化学特征分析,取得了两个方面的新的认识。1)是塔里木盆地蓬莱坝组发育粉晶、细晶、中晶和粗晶四种白云岩,主要形成于早-中埋藏期与海源流体有关的白云石化作用中,局部受到热液改造,其晶粒大小与原岩结构的粗细及孔隙空间的大小有关,原岩结构粗,形成的白云石晶粒就粗,原岩孔隙空间大,白云石晶粒就大。2)是白云岩储层的分布具成层性和旋回性,孔隙发育段总体位于向上变浅旋回的顶部,与高频旋回的暴露面有关,其载体以细-粗晶白云岩为主,孔隙主体来自原岩孔隙的继承和再调整,少量来自埋藏(热液)溶蚀作用,而并不是传统观点所认为的白云石化作用建造孔隙,这一认识对塔里木盆地深层白云岩有效储层预测具重要的指导意义。     

Biostratigraphy of the Garau Formation (Berriasian?–lower Cenomanian) in central part of Lurestan zone,northwest of Zagros,Iran

Deposition of organic rich black shales and dark gray argillaceous limestones in the Berriasian–Turonian interval has been documented in many parts of the world. Northwest of Zagros, Iran (Lurestan zone), thin bedded black shales and marls, dark gray argillaceous limestones and fissile limestone layers, having bitumen, of the Garau Formation are deposited. For biostratigraphic studies two stratigraphic sections including one surface section (Kuzaran) and one subsurface section (Naft well) were selected, respectively. In this study, 61 foraminiferal species belonging to 17 genera have been identified, and 12 biozones were recognized. Based on fossils distribution and biozones identification, the age of the Garau Formation is Berriasian?–early Cenomanian. In addition, the micropalaeontological study demonstrated a variety of widespread morphological changes in planktonic foraminifera assemblages (e.g., the elongation of the final chambers, appearance of twin chambers in the last whorl). These changes coincide with deposition of argillaceous limestones and marls rich in organic matter, indicating oceanic anoxic events. On this basis, three oceanic anoxic events such as OAE1a, OAE1b and OAE1d were recognized in Naft well section and two (OAE1b and OAE1d) in Kuzaran section.     

Large Tetrapod Burrows from the Permian Naobaogou Formation of the Daqingshan Area,Nei Mongol,China

Two new tetrapod burrow casts from the Naobaogou Formation （Middle or Late Permian） of Nei Mongol,China are described.It marks the first pre-Cenozoic tetrapod burrow from China,and one of the earliest records of tetrapod burrows.Comparison to other Permian and Triassic burrows suggests that these burrows were created by tetrapod slightly smaller than Lystrosaurus.Deduced from the morphology and sizes of two burrows and known tetrapods of the Naobaogou Formation,the burrow should be the production of a therapsid,most likely a dicynodon.These burrows indicate a seasonal climate and this area was semiarid or arid during that time.     

Lake George revisited: New evidence for the origin and evolution of a large closed lake,Southern Tablelands,NSW, Australia

Lake George contains the longest continuous sedimentary record of any Australian lake basin, but previous age models are equivocal, particularly for the oldest (pre-Quaternary) part of the record. We have applied a combination of cosmogenic nuclide burial dating, magnetostratigraphy and biostratigraphy to determine the age of the basal (fluvial) unit in the basin, the Gearys Gap Formation. Within the differing resolutions achievable by the three dating techniques, our results show that (i) the Gearys Gap Formation, began accumulating at ca 4 Ma, in the early Pliocene (Zanclean), and (ii) deposition had ceased by ca 3 Ma, in the mid late Pliocene (Piacenzian). Whether the same age control provides an early Pliocene (Zanclean) age for the formation of the lake basin is uncertain. During the Piacenzian, the vegetation at the core site was a wetland community dominated by members of the coral fern family Gleicheniaceae, while the surrounding dryland vegetation was a mix of sclerophyll and temperate rainforest communities, with the latter including trees and shrubs now endemic to New Guinea–New Caledonia and Tasmania. Mean annual rainfall and temperatures are inferred to have been ～2000–3000 mm, although probably not uniformly distributed throughout the year, and within the mesotherm range (>14°C <20°C), respectively. Unresolved issues are: (1) Does the basal gravel unit predate uplift of the Lake George Range and therefore provide evidence that one of the proposed paleo-spillways of Lake George, that above Geary's Gap, has been elevated up to 100–200 m by neotectonic activity over the past 4 million years? (2) Did a shallow to deepwater lake exist elsewhere in the lake basin during the Pliocene?     

Late Cretaceous ophiolite obduction and Paleocene India-Asia collision in the westernmost Himalaya

Abstract

Collision of the Kohistan island arc with Asia at ~100 Ma resulted in N-S compression within the Neo-Tethys at a spreading center north of the Indo-Pakistani craton. Subsequent India-Asia convergence converted the Neo-Tethyan spreading center into a short-lived subduction zone. The hanging wall of the subduction zone became the Waziristan, Khost and Jalalabad igneous complexes. During the Santonian- Campanian (late Cretaceous), thrusting of the NW IndoPakistani craton beneath Albian oceanic crust and a Cenomanian volcano-sedimentary complex, generated an ophiolite-radiolarite belt. Ophiolite obduction resulted in tectonic loading and flexural subsidence of the NW Indian margin and sub-CCD deposition of shelf-derived olistostromes and turbidites in the foredeep. Campanian-Maastriehtian calci- clastic and siliciclastic sediment gravity flows derived from both margins filled the foredeep as a huge allochthon of Triassic-Jurassic rise and slope strata was thrust ahead of the ophiolites onto the Indo-Pakistani craton. Shallow to intermediate marine strata covered the foredeep during the late Maastrichtian. As ophiolite obduction neared completion during the Maastrichtian, the majority of India-Asia convergence was accommodated along the southern margin of Asia. During the Paleocene, India was thrust beneath a second allochthon that included open marine middle Maastrichtian colored mélange which represents the Asian Makran-Indus-Tsangpo accretionary prism. Latérites that formed on the eroded ophiolites and structurally higher colored mélange during the Paleocene wei’e unconformably overlapped by upper Paleocene and Middle Eocene shallow marine limestone and shale that delineate distinct episodes of Paleocene collisional and Early Eocene post-collisional deformation.