Loess and palaeoenvironment: Some results of a European joint programme of research

In 1985, a programme of research on the sedimentology and diagenesis of the loess and loessic silts of western Europe was initiated jointly by laboratories in Leicester, Meudon, Caen, Milan, Cardiff and Southampton, involving a limited amount of comparative work on the loess from types sites in the Loess Plateau of central China. Preliminary results include the following: (1) Experimental procedures in particle size analysis, clay sample preparation and microscopy have been standardised in all cooperating groups; distinctive fabrics indicative of depositional mechanisms have been recognised. (2) Comparison of aeolian, colluvial and alluvial silt by laser-scanning and bulk magnetic susceptibility anisotropy methods appears to differentiate aeolian silt from loessic silts re-deposited by slope processes and flowing water. (3) The variability in the anisotropy of the limon à doublet facies has been assessed by image analysis of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy. Strong anisotropy has also been measured in thin section imagery of loess from Normandy and Poland as the product of freezing and thawing. This is confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and by experimental freezing of some silts. (4) The clay fabric and mineralogy in western European loess differ from those in Chinese loess, especially in the case of semi-arid deposits. (5) Distribution of CaCO₃, using thin sections and SEM analysis, has been determined for loess from Normandy and the Rhǒne valley in France and for some Chinese loess, At Saint Vallier, zones of CaCO₃ concentration occur masking much of the original (loess) sedimentary skeleton which is a locally reworked loessic silt with some laminations. Despite considerable scatter, the palaeomagnetic results indicate a reversed polarity throughout, placing the whole Saint Vallier sequence in the Matuyama chron. These preliminary results suggest the existence of two different palaeoenvironments: one typified by central China, with arid glacials and humid interglacials; and the other represented by western Europe, with generally high humidities. There was stronger weathering and soil development and fewer freezing effects on the lossic succession in northern Italy than in western littoral Europe.     

古地中海植物区系在青藏高原隆起后的演变和发展

青藏高原植物区系是第三纪古地中海退却,青藏高原成陆以后开始发展演变而来的。化石资料表明,在早第三纪时青藏高原具有同特提斯早第三纪喜暖的樟叶林一致的植物区系;在第三纪中期以后由于古地中海气候逐步旱化而逐步消失;在横断山及喜马拉雅和东亚其它地区得以保存和发展。新第三纪以后由于古地中海气候变得干旱,原暖湿植物区系逐步被现代旱生的地中海植物区系所取代。一些代表类群：黄花木属、沙冬青属、Anagyris、钩毛草属、无心菜属、铁筷子属,绿绒蒿属,芒苞草科,马桑属、高山栎组、沙棘属等类群分布区和地理分布格局的形成,说明了这些旱生的地中海成分随着青藏高原的隆升进一步分化形成了中亚成分、地中海-西亚-中亚成分、旧世界温带成分、北温带成分、中国喜马拉雅成分等,并形成了一些间断、残遗和特有的分布现象。因此,古地中海植物区系是现代青藏高原植物区系的一个重要源头。通过分析也进一步论证了第三纪早期沿古地中海东西迁移路线和在此路线分别同热带亚洲、非洲和南美洲进行的南北迁移可能是青藏高原同欧洲、北美、南半球等间断分布格局形成的一条重要途径。     

南沙群岛及其邻近海区第四纪气候演化的非线性特征

南沙群岛及其邻近海区近１８.５万年以来气候与环境非线性研究表明曾发生三次明显气候转变，形成四个映射区。其中氧同位素第５期与第４期转变较明显，其次是氧同位素第６期与第５期的转变，最后是第３与第２期之间的变化，这与全球第四纪古气候研究结果是一致的，得到了氧同位素和古生物资料的进一步印证。半深海－深海海底沉积物有机质演化阶段在海进海退过程中表现出垂直分带和非线性变化。上陆坡以氧化堆积带为主，有机质供给多、但消耗迅速且水动力相对强；中陆坡为利于有机质保存的还原带；下陆坡为有机质缩合阶段，陆坡下缘－远洋为有机质沉降氧化带与沉积埋藏阶段的植烷形成带。这几个带在古气候、古海平面非线性变化中是沿海底向上或向下迁移的，其变化是非线性的。     

南沙海域新生代盆地类型及演化历史

南沙海域主要的新生代盆地及其类型为:(1)曾母盆地,走滑一周缘前陆型;(2)万安盆地,拉张剪切型;(3)沙巴一文莱盆地,弧前盆地;(4)湄公河盆地,陆内断陷型;(5)西纳土纳盆地,剪切拉张型。这些盆地沉积厚度大多在3000m 以上,最厚大干12000m,含海、陆相沉积,具较好的油气勘探前景。其演化历史最早的始于始新世,最晚的始于渐新世晚期,文中对各盆地演化历史作了对比。     

东北区区域地层发育与地壳演化

根据东北区地层发育总体特征，运用现代沉积学、大地构造学理论，对东北区的各个历史时期地层发育与地壳演化关系，进行了深入的讨论。     

扬子陆块东南缘早古生代的巨型斜坡带

寒武、奥陶纪，在扬子陆块东南缘，发育—条横垣两千多公里的古台缘斜坡带。本文综合研究了此斜坡带的沉积类型，计有重力滑塌、滑移沉积、重力流沉积（碎屑流、浊流、颗粒流）、等深流沉积、上升流沉积、风暴流沉积以深水瘤状灰岩和生物扰动灰岩。台缘斜坡带沉积序列所反映的大地构造背景为被动大陆边缘，当时华南小洋（或海）盆为—拉伸下沉盆地。     

下扬子区三叠纪古生物和古地理变迁及其主要原因

根据下扬子区三叠系生物化石和沉积相的研究，该区三叠纪古地理环境先后经历陆表海，萨布哈潮坪－泻湖，下三角洲平原滨海河口湾及三角洲平原河，湖和沼泽一系列变迁，其主要原因是由于扬子板块从赤道以南附近持续向北进行跨气候带漂移抵达北回归线以北附近的结果。     

Localized folding of viscoelastic layers

Naturally occurring fold systems are typically irregular. Although such systems may sometimes be approximated by a periodic geometry, in reality they are commonly aperiodic. Ord (1994) has proposed that naturally occurring fold systems may display spatial chaos in their geometry. Previous work has indicated that linear theories for the formation of fold systems, such as those developed by Biot (1965), result in strictly periodic geometries. In this paper the development of spatially chaotic geometries is explored for a thin compressed elastic layer embedded in a viscoelastic medium which shows elastic softening. In particular, it is shown that spatially localized forms of buckling can develop and the evolution of these systems in the time domain is presented. A nonlinear partial differential equation, fourth order in a spatial variable and first order in time, is found to govern the evolution. A related nonlinear fourth-order ordinary differential equation governs an initial elastic phase of folding. The latter equation belongs to a class with spatially chaotic solutions. The paper reviews the implications of localization in the geological framework, and draws some tentative conclusions about the development of spatial chaos. Crudely arrived-at, yet plausible, evolutionary time plots under the constraint of constant applied end displacement are presented. Emphasis throughout is on phenomenology, rather than underlying mathematics or numerics.     

黔中沉积磷灰石的硫碳同位素及其地质意义

本文研究了黔中磷块岩中磷灰石的结构硫同位素组成。磷灰石的δ３４Ｓ值为３４．２‰～４２．４‰，它高于同期海水的δ３４Ｓ（约３４．２‰），也高于共生的成岩黄铁矿的δ３４Ｓ（１５．４‰～１９．８‰），表明磷灰石形成于富有机质沉积物早期成岩作用硫酸盐还原带的最上部，其间同时伴有大量硫酸盐细菌的还原过程。磷灰石的碳同位素组成（δ１３Ｃ＝－３．６３‰～１．０‰），表明它含有微生物有机质分解演化而来的ＣＯ２－３，而磷灰石比胶结白云石更富集轻同位素则反映出沉积阶段生物作用的影响比成岩阶段更为明显     

Hydrogen isotopic compositions of individual alkanes as a new approach to petroleum correlation: case studies from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Isotopic compositions of carbon-bound hydrogen in individual n-alkanes and acyclic isoprenoid alkanes, from a number of crude oil samples, were measured using gas chromatography-thermal conversion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The precision of this technique is better than 3‰ for most alkanes, compared to the large range of δD variation among the samples (up to 160‰). The oils were selected from major genetic oil families in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, with source rocks ranging in age from Ordovician (and possibly Cambrian) to Cretaceous. The hydrogen isotopic composition of alkanes in crude oils is controlled by three factors: isotopic compositions of biosynthetic precursors, source water δD values, and postdepositional processes. The inherited difference in the lipid's biosynthetic origins and/or pathways is reflected by a small hydrogen isotopic variability within n-alkanes, but much larger differences in the δD values between n-alkanes and pristane/phytane. The shift toward lighter hydrogen isotopic compositions from Paleozoic to Upper Cretaceous oils in the WCSB reflects a special depositional setting and/or a minor contribution of terrestrial organic matter. The strong influence of source water δD values is demonstrated by the distinctively lower δD values of lacustrine oils than marine oils, and also by the high values for oils with source rocks deposited in evaporative environments. Thermal maturation may alter the δD values of the alkanes in the oil to some extent, but secondary oil migration does not appear to have had any significant impact. The fact that oils derived from source rocks that could be of Cambrian age still retain a strong signature of the hydrogen isotopic compositions of source organic matter, and source water, indicates that δD values are very useful for oil-source correlation and for paleoenvironmental reconstructions.