Small-Mammal Data on Early and Middle Holocene Climates and Biotic Communities in the Bonneville Basin, USA

Archaeological investigations in Camels Back Cave, western Utah, recovered a series of small-mammal bone assemblages from stratified deposits dating between ca. 12,000 and 500 ¹⁴C yr B.P. The cave's early Holocene fauna includes a number of species adapted to montane or mesic habitats containing grasses and/or sagebrush (e.g., Lepus townsendii, Marmota flaviventris, Reithrodontomys megalotis, and Brachylagus idahoensis) which suggest that the region was relatively cool and moist until after 8800 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Between ca. 8600 and 8100 ¹⁴C yr B.P. these mammals became locally extinct, taxonomic diversity declined, and there was an increase in species well-adapted to xeric, low-elevation habitats, including ground squirrels, Lepus californicus and Neotoma lepida. The early small-mammal record from Camels Back Cave is similar to the 11,300–6000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. mammalian sequence from Homestead Cave, northwestern Utah, and provides corroborative data on Bonneville Basin paleoenvironments and mammalian responses to middle Holocene desertification.     

A new species of Mirovia (Coniferales, Miroviaceae) from the Lower Cretaceous of the Iberian Ranges (Spain)

The Lower–Middle Albian coaly clay bed of the Escucha Formation, which is exposed at Rubielos de Mora (eastern Iberian Ranges, Spain), contains a diverse fossil plant assemblage. Among the taxa present in this layer, Mirovia gothanii Gomez sp. nov. differs from other species of the genus by its greater leaf length, margins typically overhanging the depressed stomatal groove, a single short, blunt, papilla borne by each subsidiary cell, non-stomatal cells inside the groove and margins, and a higher number of resin ducts in the mesophyll. Morphological study of the well-preserved cuticles demonstrates that the species also occurs in Lower Cretaceous coals of Santa Maria de Meià (Pyrenees, Spain) where Gothan (1954) described it as Sciadopitytes sp. Both localities constitute the southernmost extent of the genus in Laurasia when the family was likely to have reached its climax in terms of abundance and diversity.     

山东省胶莱盆地东北缘宋家沟金矿地质特征及其成因初探

山东省宋家沟金矿位于胶莱盆地东北缘 ,产于莱阳群林寺山组断裂破碎带中。牟—即断裂带为切割莱阳群的断裂 ,对金矿起控制作用。早白垩纪晚期的火山—岩浆活动为深部含金热液的运移提供了通道 ,并在其有利的构造部位沉淀成矿。稀土元素特征和氧、硫同位素特征亦说明宋家沟金矿的物质来源以深源为主 (幔源及下地壳中的金 ) ,是早白垩世晚期的火山—岩浆活动作用的结果。     

New Early Cretaceous paleomagnetic results from Qilian orogenic belt and its tectonic implications

Lower Cretaceous red sedimentary rocks from the depositional basin of East Qilian fold belt have been collected for a paleomagnetic study. Stepwise thermal demagnetization reveals two or three components of magnetization from dark red sandstones. Low-temperature magnetic component is consistent with the present Earth Field direction in geographic coordinates. High-temperature magnetic components are mainly carried by hematite. The mean pole of 19 sites for high-temperature magnetic components after tilt-correction is λ=62.2°N, φ=193.4°E, A95=3.2°, and it passes fold tests at 99% confidence level and reversal tests at 95% confidence level. The paleopole is insignificantly different from that of Halim et al. (1998) from the same sampling area at the 95% confidence level. Compared with paleomagnetic results for North China, South China, and Eurasia, our results suggest that no significant relative latitudinal displacement has taken place between Lanzhou region and these blocks since Cretaceous time. Remarkably, the pole of Lanzhou shows a 20° clockwise rotation with respect to those of North China, South China, and Eurasia. Geological information indicates that the crustal shortening in the western part of Qilian is greater than that in eastern part. In this case, the clockwise rotation of sampling area was related to India/Eurasia collision, and this collision resulted in a left-lateral strike-slip motion of the Altun fault in north Tibetan Plateau after the Cretaceous.     

贵州寒武系底部黑色硅质岩成因及沉积环境探讨

贵州寒武系底部形成的黑色层状硅质岩，岩石展布广，层位稳定，厚度较大。硅质岩的δ^30Si值为—0．1‰～0．9‰，平均0．314‰；δ^18O值为12．8‰～21．2‰，通过δ^18O值计算出该区硅质岩形成温度82．2～162．5℃；硅质岩富含Ba、As、Sb、Bi和U，呈明显的Ce负异常。硅质岩的地球化学特征表明其主要成因是热水沉积作用。同时由于硅质岩主要是热水来源，所以在讨论其形成环境时还结合了岩相古地理的方法，指出该套硅质岩形成于深水缓坡至浅水滞流海环境之中。     

中扬子区寒武纪层序地层研究

笔者建立了中扬子区寒武系层序地层格架，研究了中扬子区层序界面和体系域特点，分析了中扬子区层序样式的基本类型及其特征。共划分出2个二级层序、14个三级层序。寒武系下统划分了1个二级层序(SS3)、6个三级层序(SQ1—SQ6)，平均延时约5．0Ma；体系域颜色普遍较深，泥质含量较高，是一套良好的烃源岩。寒武系中上统划分出1个二级层序(SS4)、8个三级层序(SQ7—SQ14)，平均延时约2．9Ma；体系域颜色普遍较浅，云质含量较高，是一套良好的储集层。总体上H型样式为主，T型样式和TH型样式数量相当，反映寒武纪水体中等。二级层序体系域和三级层序体系域都表现出明显的南北向差异性。     

湘西北慈利大庸地区上震旦统—下寒武统沉积特征及层序地层划分

通过对各类层序界面的识别，以沉积特征、副层序和体系域与结构转换面等层序分析，进行露头层序地层学研究，将湘西北慈利—大庸地区台缘斜坡相区上震旦统—下寒武统划分为11个Ⅲ级层序，其中上震旦统7个、下寒武统4个，主要是Ⅱ型层序。在区域层序地层对比、分析的基础上初步讨论了露头层序地层分析中存在的问题。     

泥盆纪最早期牙形刺带化石在蒙古南戈壁幕使盖(Mushgai)地区"尕屋(Gavuu)"段的首次发现

在蒙古南戈壁的Bayan—Khoshuu Ruins剖面原归入到志留系Mandalovoo组尕屋(Gavuu)段的地层中发现了牙形刺Caudicriodus woschimidti woschmidti，这是泥盆纪最早期牙形刺带化石在蒙古的首次发现。尕屋(Gavuu)段的下部属志留系，但其上部，即采集牙形刺样品M-9～M-12的层位肯定属下泥盆统(下洛霍考夫阶)，而不是下志留统。Mandalovoo组应当改为Mandalovoo群，它的三个段应提升为三个组。     

塔里木板块南缘早古生代沉积特征及构造背景探讨

塔里木板块南缘早古生代时期继承了震旦纪的古地理格局，处于浅海陆棚—半深海环境，沉积了一套海相碳酸盐岩和碎屑岩地层。根据区域地层划分、古生物化石和最新的同位素测年数据，确定了塔里林板块南缘地层时代为早古生代。通过沉积学和地球化学方法初步分析，确定了该地区为早古生代的大地构造背景—具有被动大陆边缘性质。因此，系统研究塔里木板块南缘早古生代沉积地层，对于重塑早生代以来该区板块构造格局及演化历史有重要地质意义。     

Paleoclimate Changes during the Early Oiigocene in the Hoh Xil Region, Northern Tibetan Plateau

Sedimentological, cyclic-stratigraphic, paleomagnetic, and clay-mineralogical studies on the early Oligocene Yaxicuo Group in the Hoh Xil Basin, the largest Cenozoic sedimentary basin in the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau, provide abundant information of paleoclimate changes. A 350-m thick section in the middle-lower Yaxicuo Group was analyzed to reveal the climatic history that occurred in the Hoh Xil region during the early Oligocene interval 31.30-30.35 Ma, dated with the paleomagnetic chronostratigraphy. The results indicate that add and cold climate dominated the Hoh Xil region during the early Oligocene in general, being related to the global cooling and drying events that occurred in the earliest Oligocene. Within this period, relatively warm and wet climate accompanied by strong tectonic activity occurred in the 31.05-30.75 Ma interval; while add and cold climate and relatively inactive tectonics occurred in the 31.30-31.05 and 30.75-30.35 Ma intervals. Furthermore, spectral analyses of high-temporal resolution paleoclimatic records show orbital periods including eccentricity, obliquity, and precession. It is concluded that paleoclimate changes during the early Oligocene in the Hoh Xil region were forced by both tectonic activity and orbital periods.