Integrated stratigraphy and <Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar chronology of the Early to Middle Miocene Upper Freshwater Molasse in eastern Bavaria (Germany)

A detailed integrated stratigraphic study was carried out on middle Miocene fluvial successions of the Upper Freshwater Molasse (OSM) from the North Alpine Foreland Basin, in eastern Bavaria, Germany. The biostratigraphic investigations yielded six new localities thereby refining the OSM biostratigraphy for units C to E (sensu; Heissig, Actes du Congres BiochroM’97. Mem Trav EPHE, Inst Montpellier 21, 1997) and further improving biostratigraphic correlations between the different sections throughout eastern Bavaria. Radioisotopic ages of 14.55 ± 0.19 and 14.88 ± 0.11 Ma have been obtained for glass shards from the main bentonite horizon and the Ries impactite: two important stratigraphic marker beds used for confirming our magnetostratigraphic calibration to the Astronomical Tuned Neogene Time Scale (ATNTS04; Lourens et al. in Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press, 2004). Paleomagnetic analysis was performed using alternating field (AF) and thermal (TH) demagnetization methods. The AF method revealed both normal and reverse polarities but proofs to yield unreliable ChRM directions for the Puttenhausen section. Using the biostratigraphic information and radioisotopic ages, the magnetostratigraphic records of the different sections are tentatively correlated to the Astronomical Tuned Neogene Time Scale (ATNTS04; Lourens et al. in Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press, 2004). This correlation implies that the main bentonite horizon coincides to chron C5ADn, which is corroborated by its radioisotopic age of 14.55 Ma, whereas the new fossil locality Furth 460, belonging to OSM unit E, probably correlates to chron C5Bn.1r. The latter correlation agrees well with the Swiss Molasse locality Frohberg. Correlations of the older sections are not straightforward. The Brock horizon, which comprises limestone ejecta from the Ries impact, possibly correlates to C5ADr (14.581–14.784 Ma), implying that, although within error, the radioisotopic age of 14.88 ± 0.11 Ma is somewhat too old. The fossil localities in Puttenhausen, belonging to the older part of OSM unit C, probably coincide with chron C5Cn.2n or older, which is older than the correlations established for the Swiss Molasse. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi: ) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Petrogeochemical features of Oligocene-Early Miocene volcaniclastic rocks of the Sea of Japan

Petrographic and geochemical studies showed that the Oligocene-Early Miocene volcaniclastic rocks from the southern part of the Sea of Japan are ascribed to the high-potassium aluminous rocks of the subalkaline volcanic series of active continental margins. A comparative analysis revealed the spatiotemporal relation of Oligocene-Early Miocene subaerial volcanism of the Sea of Japan with Late Cretaceous and Eocene-Early Miocene ignimbrite volcanism of the East Eurasian margin. This allows us to refer the volcaniclastic rocks of the Sea of Japan to a stage of ignimbrite volcanism that occurred during relative quiescence against a general extension in the continental margin setting.     

PALEOZOOLOGY

正20140968Chen Xiaohong(Northeastern University,Shenyang 110819,China);Gong Enpu The Basic Characteristics of Early Carboniferous Coral Reef at Xiadong Village in Tianlin,Guangxi,and Its Sedimentary Environment(Acta Geologica Sinica,ISSN0001-5717,     

Magmatic and geodynamic evolution of Urumieh–Dokhtar basic volcanism,Central Iran: major,trace element,isotopic, and geochronologic implications

Basic volcanic rocks from the West Nain area of the Urumieh–Dokhtar Magmatic Assemblage demonstrate significant subduction-related geochemical characteristics; these along with the new age data obtained for the volcanic rocks shed new light on the geodynamic evolution of the Iranian segment of Alpine–Himalayan orogeny. The late Oligocene (26.5 Ma) high-Nb basic volcanic rocks are likely to represent a transient rather enriched asthenospheric mantle underlying the otherwise dominantly Eocene–early Oligocene West Nain island arc. Lithospheric mantle geochemical signatures of the low-Zr volcanic rocks (20.6 Ma) and high-Th volcanic rocks (19.7 Ma) imply replacement of the underlying mantle. The substitution of asthenospheric mantle by a lithospheric mantle wedge might have been associated with – or perhaps caused by – an increase in the subduction rate. Culmination of the West Nain magmatism into slab melting that produced the early Miocene (18.7 Ma) adakitic rocks is compatible with subsequent ascent that triggered slab decompression melting.     

青藏高原东北缘早渐新世—早中新世干旱化的粘土矿物学证据——以兰州盆地为例

为揭示青藏高原东北缘早渐新世—早中新世气候环境演化及干旱化事件,采用X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电子显微分析(SEM)等现代测试技术,对甘肃兰州盆地早渐新世—早中新世沉积物中粘土矿物的微观形貌、相对含量、V(Ill+Chl)/V(Sme)比值等参数进行了系统研究。结果表明,早渐新世—早中新世沉积物中粘土矿物主要有伊利石、绿泥石、蒙脱石以及少量的伊-蒙混层粘土矿物,指示该时间段气候总体以干旱为特征,局部出现相对温暖潮湿的气候。根据粘土矿物相对含量及V(Ill+Chl)/V(Sme)比值变化特征将兰州地区早渐新世—早中新世的气候环境演化划分为以下4个阶段:(Ⅰ)31.5~28.8 Ma相对温干偏湿的气候阶段;(Ⅱ)28.8~26.2 Ma相对冷干的气候阶段;(Ⅲ)26.2~22.1 Ma相对温暖潮湿的气候阶段;(Ⅳ)22.1~16.5 Ma相对温干偏湿的气候阶段。扫描电子显微分析表明,在相对温暖潮湿的时期,粘土矿物溶蚀较明显;在相对干旱的时期,粘土矿物表现显著的物理风化特征。以上粘土矿物学特征所揭示的阶段性干旱可能与青藏高原的阶段性隆升相对应。     

Magmatic evolution of pre-ore volcanics and porphyry intrusives associated with the Altar Cu-porphyry prospect,Argentina

Altar is a Cu-porphyry deposit related to several small plagioclase porphyry intrusions of the late Miocene formed on the margin of the Flat-Slab segment along the Andean Cordillera in north-west Argentina. New stratigraphic and structural mapping supported by geochemistry and geochronology of pre-ore volcanics at Altar has revealed that a period of ∼6–7 Ma of volcanism during the late Oligocene-early Miocene formed ∼4000 m of volcano-stratigraphic succession making up the Pachón Formation. It represents a period dominated by explosive to effusive eruption in a dynamic arc basin with local ash fall and flow deposition in lacustrine and fluvial sites. Volcanism is typified by medium- to high-K calc-alkaline arc magmatism with a shift from mafic compositions at the base to felsic rocks at the top of the formation containing zircons aged 21.9 ± 0.2 Ma (2 Std.Dev, U–Pb). A clear geochemical separation exists between early Miocene pre-ore volcanics that show signatures akin to non-adakitic, normal arc, extensional tectonic settings conducive of chemical differentiation at shallow crustal levels and correlate with intra-regional Abanico and Farellones Formations; and the middle to late-Miocene Cu-mineralised porphyry intrusions. After a break of ∼9 Ma in the geological record at Altar, these Cu-fertile bodies are emplaced entirely within the Pachón Rhyolite and represent adakite-like magmas with fractionation trends evolving from a lower crustal MASH zone. This distinction is controlled by a change from an extensional to compressive tectonic regime in the region during the middle Miocene in which magmas were stalled in the lower crust for an extended period, subsequently became enriched in metals and then formed several Cu-porphyry bodies which were emplaced during a relatively short period towards the late Miocene.     

Bamboo Leaf and Pollen Fossils from the Late Miocene of Eastern Zhejiang,China and their Phytogeological Significance

Fossil bamboo leaves and pollen from Upper Miocene deposits of the Shengxian Formation in Tiantai and Ninghai counties,eastern Zhejiang,China represent a rare record in Asia.The distinctive pseudopetiole and parallel venation of the leaf blades and the clearly thickened annulus of the pollen aperture place them in the subfamily Bambusoideae.Morphological analysis supports the determination of these fossil leaves as belonging to the genus Bambusium and two new species are described.Bambusium latipseudopetiolus Q.J.Wang et B.N.Sun sp.nov.has a distinctly wide pseudopetiole of 0.23 cm in width and 0.40 cm in length,several vascular bundles on parallel veins,and 5–8 lateral veins on both sides of the midrib.Bambusium longipseudopetiolus Q.J.Wang et B.N.Sun sp.nov.has a distinctly long pseudopetiole of 0.60 cm in length and 0.10 cm in width,several vascular bundles on the pseudopetiole,and 6 lateral veins on both sides of the midrib.Pollen grains from the same layer provide additional evidence of bamboos.They are characterized by 32.0–51.0 μm in diameter,a round pore 3.0–4.0 μm in diameter with a broad thickened annulus 2.5–3.5 μm around,and several conspicuous secondary folds on the exine surface.The morphological analysis leads to their assignment to Graminidites bambusoides Stuchlik.These fossils are important for the study of bamboo phytogeography in China.They demonstrate that there were bamboos growing in southeastern China during the Late Miocene and that bamboos in Zhejiang begin to diversify no later than the Late Miocene.In combination with bamboo fossils from other places,it seems that bamboos had a wide distribution across southern China during the Miocene,ranging from southwestern Yun'nan to southeastern Zhejiang.     

Exhumed channel sandstone networks within fluvial fan deposits from the Oligo-Miocene Caspe Formation, South-east Ebro Basin (North-east Spain)

The Oligo‐Miocene Caspe Formation corresponds to the middle fluvial facies of the wider Guadalope‐Matarranya fluvial fan, located in the South‐east Ebro foreland basin (North‐east Spain). At the time of the Caspe Formation deposition, this sector of the Ebro basin underwent a very continuous, moderate sedimentation rate. Lithofacies comprise deposits from channellized and unchannellized flows. Channellized flow lithofacies form multi‐storey ribbon‐like sandstone bodies that crop out as extensive sandstone ridges belonging to exhumed channel networks. Width/thickness ratios of these channel‐fill bodies average close to six. Sinuosity is usually low (most common values around 1·1), although it can be high locally (up to 2). Thicknesses range from a few metres to 15 m. Unchannellized flow lithofacies form tabular bodies that can be ascribed to overbank deposits (levées, crevasse splays and fine‐grained floodplain deposits) and also to frontal lobes, although recognition of this last case requires exceptional outcrop conditions or geophysical subsurface studies. The unchannellized flow lithofacies proportion ranges from 75% to 97·8%. Methods applied to this study include detailed three‐dimensional architectural analysis in addition to sedimentological analysis. The architecture is characterized by an intricate network of highly interconnected ribbon‐like sandstone bodies. Such bodies are connected by three kinds of connections: convergences, divergences and cross‐cuttings. Although the Caspe Formation lithofacies and architecture resemble anastomosed channels (low topographic gradient, high preservation potential, moderate aggradation rate, high lateral stability of the channels, dominance of the ribbon‐like morphologies and high proportion of floodplain to channel‐fill sediments), an unambiguous interpretation of the channel networks as anastomosed or single threaded cannot be established. Instead, the observed architecture could be considered as the product of the complex evolution of a fluvial fan segment, where different network morphologies could develop. A facies model for aggrading ephemeral fluvial systems in tectonically active, endorheic basins is proposed.     

Origin of the Red Earth sequence on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and its implications for regional aridity since the middle Miocene

Desiccation in the interior of Asia is an important aspect of paleoclimate change during the Cenozoic era[1,2]. Research[3,4] shows that the widely distributed loess deposits in China were mainly transported by northwesterly and northerly winds from deserts and the Gobi region; in addition, an indispensable re- quirement for the generation of aeolian sediment is the presence of dry lands in central Asia[5,6]. The aeolian deposits in China provide an especially useful record of desiccation pr…     

Stratigraphy,age and petrography of the Beni Issef successions (External Rif; Morocco): Insights for the evolution of the Maghrebian Chain

In the Beni Issef Massif, nearly 30 km west of Chefchaouen (Morocco), the thickest post-nappe succession within the Rifian sector of the Maghrebian Chain seals the tectonic contact between the Intrarifian External Tanger and Loukkos Units, related to the Rifian External Domain. This succession is very important for the reconstruction of the deformation timing of the Rifian Maghrebids. The age of its base, in fact, is an important constraint for defining an upper boundary to the stacking of both the Intrarifian and Maghrebian Flysch Basin Units, because clasts fed by the Melloussa and Numidian Flysch Nappes are abundant in the conglomerate layers. Field and biostratigraphic analyses pointed out the presence of a Lower Beni Issef Fm, unconformable on the Intrarifian External Tanger and Loukkos Units, and an Upper Beni Issef Fm, unconformable on both the Intrarifian Units and the Lower Beni Issef Fm. The Lower Beni Issef Fm, 150 m thick, consists of lenticular conglomerates with huge blocks in a marly-clayey matrix, followed by marls and minor sandstones. It deposited in a siliciclastic platform, shows a fining upward trend and is affected by metre- to hectometre-sized, locally reversed, folds. Samples collected 45–50 m above the base of the formation resulted not older than Late Tortonian in age, but an older age for the base of the formation cannot be excluded. The Upper Beni Issef Fm, up to 550 m thick, starts with coarse conglomerates followed by medium- to coarse-grained well-bedded sandstones and by grey-blue marls and mudrocks. It indicates deposition in a channelized marine delta, with evolution towards pro-delta pelites, and shows sub-horizontal or gently dipping beds towards the east. Biostratigraphic data indicate a probable Messinian age for this formation. The composition of the arenites of both Lower Beni Issef and Upper Beni Issef Fms is quartzolithic and all samples show a notable content of monocrystalline well-rounded quartz and sedimentary lithic fragments. Detrital modes, all falling in the Quartzose Recycled and Transitional Recycled fields, suggest a provenance from recycling of sedimentary successions, easily recognizable in the Flysch Basin and External Units, mainly the Numidian Nappe sandstones. A Tortonian age of the Lower Beni Issef Fm would agree with the Late Serravallian age of the uppermost beds of the External Tanger Unit and indicate that the most probable age for the stacking of the Intrarifian Units falls in the Late Serravallian-Middle Tortonian time span. The Lower Beni Issef Fm was involved in a compressive tectonic phase testified by north-south striking folds. Later, probably during Messinian, the Upper Beni Issef Fm deposited in a younger intramontane basin, resting on both the Intrarifian Units and the Lower Beni Issef Fm. Successively, the Upper Beni Issef Fm was passively transported piggyback on top of the fold and thrust belt during later tectonic evolution of the Rifian Maghrebids. This tectonic evolution results quite similar to that recognized in the Tellian and Sicilian Maghrebids and also in the southern Apennines.