Impact of the Kuroshio Current on the South China Sea based on a 115 000 year diatom record

We used the tropical oceanic planktonic diatom species Nitzschia marina, Rhizosolenia bergonii and Azpeitia africana/Azpeitia neocrenulata, most commonly found in the surface sediments of the northeasternmost South China Sea (SCS) where the Kuroshio Current enters the SCS through the Bashi Strait north of Luzon, to analyse the influence of the the Kuroshio Current on the SCS. The impact of the Kuroshio Current seems to be relatively strong during major warm periods and, to a lesser degree, in minor warm periods during the last 115 000 years. The strongest influence took place during the main part of the Holocene and during the very late phase of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e. It is possible to distinguish two magnitudes of change in the impact of the Kuroshio Current on the SCS: large changes occurred at shifts between glacial and interglacial conditions, while smaller changes seem to have recurred in both glacial and interglacial episodes as well as during the Holocene. Climatic/oceanographic changes and sea‐level variations were possibly the two most important mechanisms for the varying influences of the Kuroshio Current on the SCS. The interaction between the Kuroshio Current and monsoon‐related processes may also have played a role. However, because of restricted knowledge of the present‐day Kuroshio Current and the absence of a modern analogue to the ancient SCS due to the marked changes in palaeogeography, this relationship is difficult to establish. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Putative Meteoritic Craters in Río Cuarto (Central Argentina) Interpreted as Eolian Structures

Ten oblong aligned depressions in the Río Cuarto area (provincia de Córdoba, Argentina) were supposed to be the result of very-low-angle Holocene meteoroid impacts. However, we consider that authors that studied the structures did not demonstrated their extraterrestrial origin. We suggest that an eolian origin for the structures of Río Cuarto is more likely. Actually, these landforms integrate large systems of similar deflation/accumulation geoforms aligned according to predominant winds during different periods.     

Changing marine productivity off northern Chile during the past 19 000 years: a multivariable approach

A multivariable approach utilising bulk sediment, planktonic Foraminifera and siliceous phytoplankton has been used to reconstruct rapid variations in palaeoproductivity in the Peru–Chile Current System off northern Chile for the past 19 000 cal. yr. During the early deglaciation (19 000–16 000 cal. yr BP), our data point to strongest upwelling intensity and highest productivity of the past 19 000 cal. yr. The late deglaciation (16 000–13 000 cal. yr BP) is characterised by a major change in the oceanographic setting, warmer water masses and weaker upwelling at the study site. Lowest productivity and weakest upwelling intensity are observed from the early to the middle Holocene (13 000–4000 cal. yr BP), and the beginning of the late Holocene (<4000 cal. yr BP) is marked by increasing productivity, mainly driven by silicate‐producing organisms. Changes in the productivity and upwelling intensity in our record may have resulted from a large‐scale compression and/or displacement of the South Pacific subtropical gyre during more productive periods, in line with a northward extension of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and increased advection of Antarctic water masses with the Peru–Chile Current. The corresponding increase in hemispheric thermal gradient and wind stress induced stronger upwelling. During the periods of lower productivity, this scenario probably reversed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

3-D BAROCLINIC NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA I. UPPER CIRCULATION

A three-dimensional baroclinic shelf sea model was employed to simulate the seasonal characteristics of the South China Sea (SCS) upper circulation. The results showed that: in summer, an anticyclonic eddy, after its formation between the Bashi Channel and Dongsha Islands in the northeastern SCS, moves southwestward until it disperses slowly. There exists a northward western boundary current along the east shore of the Indo-China Peninsula in the western SCS and an anticyclonic gyre in the southern SCS. But at the end of summer and beginning of autumn, a weak local cyclonic eddy forms in the Nansha Trough, then grows slowly and moves westward till it becomes a cyclonic gyre in the southern SCS in autumn. At the beginning of winter, there exists a cyclonic gyre in the northern and southern SCS, and there is a southward western boundary current along the east shore of the Indo-China Peninsula. But at the end of winter, an anticyclonic eddy grows and moves toward the western boundary after forming in the Nansha Trough. The eddy‘s movement induces a new opposite sign eddy on its eastern side, while the strength of the southward western boundary current gets weakened. This phenomenon continues till spring and causes eddies in the southern SCS.     

东北南部早石炭世植物群研究

自作者（１９８７）在辽东本溪群下部发现Ｓｕｂｌｅｐｉｄｏｄｅｎｄｒｏｎ以来，又相继在吉南、辽南（范炳桓，１９９２）和辽西发现了Ｓｕｂ．ｓｐ．，Ｒｈｏｄｅａｈｓｉａｎｇｈｓｉａｎｇｅｎｓｉｓ等属于早石炭世的植物及维宪－纳缪尔Ａ期孢粉化石，从而证实东北南部普遍存在早石炭世地层。本文记述了产于上述层位的植物化石３０属７９种，并归纳为Ｓｕｂｌｅｐｉｄｏｄｅｎｄｒｏｎ－Ａｒｃｈａｅｏｃａｌａｍｉｔｅｓ－Ｌｉｏｐｔｅｒｉｓ组合（带）．东北南部早石炭世植物群中的一些属种，虽然显示了欧美植物群的特点，但其发生、演化又早于欧美植物群（分子），作者暂称为“东北南部早石炭世华夏植物群”。该植物群与东北北部安加拉植物群的界线，大致与槽台界线相吻合。     

Deepwater Ventilation and Stratification in the Neogene South China Sea

Combined data of physical property, benthic foraminifera, and stable isotopes from ODP Sites 1148, 1146, and 1143 are used to discuss deep water evolution in the South China Sea (SCS) since the Early Miocene. The results indicate that 3 lithostratigraphic units, respectively corresponding to 21-17 Ma, 15-10 Ma, and 10-5 Ma with positive red parameter (a*) marking the red brown sediment color represent 3 periods of deep water ventilation. The first 2 periods show a closer link to contemporary production of the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) and Northern Component Water (NCW), indicating a free connection of deep waters between the SCS and the open ocean before 10 Ma. After 10 Ma, red parameter dropped but stayed higher than the modern value (a*=0), the CaCO3 percentage difference between Site 1148 from a lower deepwater setting and Site 1146 from an upper deepwater setting enlarged significantly, and benthic species which prefer oxygen-rich bottom conditions dramatically decreased. Coupled with a major negative excursion of benthic δ13C at ~10 Ma, these parameters may denote a weakening in the control of the SCS deep water by the open ocean. Probably they mark the birth of a local deep water due to shallow waterways or rise of sill depths during the course of sea basin closing from south to east by the west-moving Philippine Arc after the end of SCS seafloor spreading at 16-15 Ma. However, it took another 5 Ma before the dissolved oxygen approached close to the modern level. Although the oxygen level continued to stabilize, several Pacific Bottom Water (PBW) and Pacific Deep Water (PDW) marker species rapidly increased since ~6 Ma, followed by a dramatic escalation in planktonic fragmentation which indicates high dissolution especially after ~5 Ma. The period of 5-3 Ma saw the strongest stratified deepwater in the then SCS, as indicated by up to 40% CaCO3 difference between Sites 1148 and 1146. Apart from a strengthening PDW as a result of global cooling and ice cap buildup on northern high latitudes, a deepening sea basin due to stronger subduction eastward may also have triggered the influx of more corrosive waters from the deep western Pacific. Since 3 Ma, the evolution of the SCS deep water entered a modern phase, as characterized by relative stable 10% CaCO3 difference between the two sites and increase in infaunal benthic species which prefer a low oxygenated environment. Thesubsequent reduction of PBW and PDW marker species at about 1.2 Ma and 0.9 Ma and another significant negative excursion of benthic δ13C to a Neogene minimum at ~0.9 Ma together convey a clear message that the PBW largely disappeared and the PDW considerably weakened in the Mid-Pleistocene SCS. Therefore, the true modern mode SCS deep water started to form only during the "Mid-Pleistocene climatic transition" probably due to the rise of sill depths under the Bashi Strait.     

扬子陆块北缘构造演化新认识：来自原花山群年代学和地球化学的制约

原花山群分布于紧邻南秦岭的扬子陆块北缘大洪山地区,出露于重要的构造部位,是研究其形成时期扬子陆块构造演化及其与南秦岭关系的重要载体,其物质组成、形成时代和构造属性长期存在争论。本文将原花山群解体为花山构造混杂岩和正常的火山—沉积地层（本文所指花山群）两部分来讨论。笔者重新厘定了花山群的沉积时限,有针对性地对有构造背景争议的花山群进行玄武岩地球化学研究,对有时代争议的混杂岩进行锆石U-Pb年代学研究。年代学、地球化学和沉积学综合研究表明,花山群的沉积时限为ca. 830 Ma至ca. 800 Ma,形成于与Rodinia超大陆裂解有关的陆内裂谷盆地。花山构造混杂岩带可能不只是晋宁期的缝合带,而是具有多期物质组成、经历了多期构造叠加的复合型缝合带。结合他人成果,我们提出了扬子陆块与南秦岭从新元古代到早古生代的构造演化新模式。     

洛南任家滩-荞麦山正长斑岩成因及其对古元古代晚期裂解的指示--岩石化学及锆石U-Pb年龄和Lu-Hf同位素特征

华北克拉通南缘的陕西洛南-河南豫西地区出露一系列形成于1.8~1.6Ga的碱性岩,对这些碱性岩的研究有助于提高对华北克拉通南缘古元古代构造环境的认识。本文选取陕西省洛南县任家滩-荞麦山一带碱性侵入体进行系统的岩石学、LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年代学、Lu-Hf同位素分析和岩石地球化学研究,讨论了其成因机制和构造背景。研究表明,任家滩-荞麦山岩体的主体岩性为正长斑岩,加权平均年龄为1689±20Ma（MSWD=0.12）,表明其侵位时代为古元古代。该岩体富碱（Na2O+K2O=7.95% ~ 9.5%）,高钾（K2O=4.67% ~ 8.51%）;稀土元素总量较高（496.15×10-6 ~ 650.16×10-6,平均543.06×10-6）,轻、重稀土元素分馏比较明显,轻稀土元素相对富集（LREE=454×10-6 ~ 605×10-6）,重稀土元素亏损（HREE=39.3×10-6 ~ 45.6×10-6）,具有弱负铕异常;K、Rb、Ba、Th富集,Nb、Ta、P、Ti亏损,并且具有明显的Sr负异常。εHf（t）值<0,TDM1值为2038 ~ 2218Ma,TDM2值为2250 ~ 2516Ma,说明岩浆源区物质与富集地幔有关或受到过地壳物质的混染。因此,任家滩-荞麦山岩体是由地幔玄武质岩浆与地壳基底太华杂岩形成的中酸性花岗质岩浆混合后形成的熔体,经强烈的结晶分异作用形成的,其形成于陆内裂谷的构造环境,是华北克拉通南缘对哥伦比亚超大陆裂解事件的响应。     

南海北部神狐海域细粒储层矿物组分对天然气水合物储集赋存的影响

为了探明矿物类型对于天然气水合物成藏的影响,笔者等利用南海北部神狐海域W07站位样品及其水合物饱和度数据,进行XRD全岩和黏土矿物测试分析、比表面积分析以及束缚水能力综合分析。结果表明,海床下110~127 m（即110~127 mbsf,meters below sea floor, 海床以下深度）为水合物储层段,海床下127~156 m为非水合物储层段。通过XRD分析可知,高石英及长石含量,低伊蒙混层含量的层段,比表面积与束缚水能力较低,说明其具有相对较好的孔渗条件,为水合物的运移与储集提供了良好的空间条件,因此形成水合物储层段;而在高伊蒙混层的层段中,比表面积较大,束缚水能力较强,其对甲烷气体及流体的吸附和束缚能力较强,对水合物成藏起到潜在的封隔作用,成为非储层段,储层与非储层段纵向叠置序列有利于优质水合物储层的形成。本次研究总结了矿物组分与优质水合物储层之间的关系,并揭示两者存在的潜在成因联系,以期丰富水合物富集成藏的基础理论,对未来南海北部天然气水合物的商业化开发提供支持。