水城-紫云-南丹裂陷盆地晚古生代硅质沉积物地球化学特征及其地质意义

水城-紫云-南丹裂陷盆地位于右江盆地北缘,晚古生代该盆地内广泛分布包括硅质岩在内的碳酸盐岩台盆相沉积,其沉积组合及地球化学特征不同于大陆架型以及增生杂岩中硅质岩。对盆地内硅质沉积物的地球化学特征研究表明,南丹上泥盆统榴江组底部和河池中下二叠统四大寨组硅质沉积物多为基性火山喷发相关的火山热液成因,其具有较低的Al/(Al+Fe+Mn)值和Al2O3/TiO2值,紫云中下二叠统四大寨组硅质沉积物的Al/(Al+Fe+Mn)值和Al2O3/TiO2值分别为0.62±0.16和11.70±4.30,为含有火山碎屑的非热液成因,其他硅质沉积物多为正常海相沉积。晚泥盆世—早石炭世盆地内硅质沉积物多与泥岩和灰岩共生,硅质沉积物常具有中等Ce负异常(多在0.60～0.85之间)以及较高的Y/Ho值(多在30～45之间),除去SiO2稀释作用的影响后,其具有较低的稀土元素含量(∑REE+Y含量相当于PAAS组成的3倍以下)。而伴随着盆地的裂陷和扩张,到早中二叠世,盆地内硅质沉积物多与深灰色厚层灰岩共生,硅质沉积物常具有明显的Ce负异常(0.06～0.61)以及与开阔洋盆海水相似的Y/Ho值(40～92),除去SiO2稀释作用的影响后,其具有较高的稀土元素含量(∑REE+Y含量相当于PAAS组成的2倍以上)。     

Cross‐shelf colour zonation in northern Great Barrier Reef lagoon surficial sediments

A cross‐shelf colour zonation is observed in Great Barrier Reef lagoon surficial sediments from 12 to 18°S, with colours tending to lighten from inner to outer shelf. The phenomenon is particularly well defined south of Cairns where four zones occur. The colour zonation appears to reflect the abrupt facies changes that occur in the lagoon. Visual estimates of relative optical lightness for the zones are strongly related to carbonate content, and lightness class boundaries broadly follow carbonate contours, indicating that the mechanisms leading to the colour zones are related to those governing carbonate distribution.     

Discussion and Reply: Shaping the Australian crust over the last 300 million years: Insights from fission track thermotectonic imaging and denudation studies of key terranes

Ellis Fjord is a small, fjord‐like marine embayment in the Vestfold Hills, eastern Antarctica. Modern sediment input is dominated by a biogenic diatom rain, although aeolian, fluvial, ice‐rafted, slumped and tidal sediments also make a minor contribution. In areas where bioturbation is significant relict glaciogenic sediments are reworked into the fine‐grained diatomaceous sediments to produce poorly sorted fine sands and silts. Where the bottom waters are anoxic, sediments remain unbioturbated and have a high biogenic silica component. Three depositional and non‐depositional facies can be recognised in the fjord: an area of non‐deposition around the shoreline; a relict morainal facies in areas of low sedimentation and high bioturbation; and a basinal facies in the deeper areas of the fjord.     

Stratigraphy and fluvial sedimentary facies of the Neocomian lower Strzelecki Group,Gippsland Basin,Victoria

The Strzelecki Group incorporates Berriasian to Albian, fluvial sediments deposited in the Gippsland Basin during initial rifting between Australia and Antarctica. Neocomian strata of the lowermost Strzelecki Group are assigned to the Tyers River Subgroup (exposed in the Tyers area) and the Rhyll Arkose (exposed on Phillip Island and the Mornington Peninsula). The Tyers River Subgroup incorporates two formations: Tyers Conglomerate and Rintoul Creek Formation. The latter is subdivided into the Locmany and Exalt Members. Ten fluvial sedimentary facies are identified in the lowermost Strzelecki Group: two gravelly facies; four sandy facies; and four mudrock facies. Associations of these facies indicate: (i) prevalence of gravelly braided‐river and alluvial‐fan settings during deposition of the Tyers Conglomerate; (ii) more sluggish, sandy braided to meandering fluvial systems during Locmany Member sedimentation; and (iii) a return to active, sandy, braided‐river settings for deposition of the Exalt Member. The Tyers Conglomerate and Rhyll Arkose rest on an irregular erosional surface incised into Palaeozoic rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt. The overlying Rintoul Creek Formation incorporates more mature sediments where lithofacies associations varied according to base‐level change, variations in subsidence rates, and/or tectonic uplift of the principal sedimentsource terranes to the northwest.     

The Cainozoic geology of the Middle Shoalhaven Plain

The Middle Shoalhaven Plain is a large, tray‐like depression bounded in the west by the Mulwaree fault and in the east by cliffed Permian sediments. The plain is probably Mesozoic in origin and was partially alluviated during the Early to mid‐Eocene. Much of the plain and sediments were covered by basalts during the Late Eocene. This was followed by an episode of deep weathering, which culminated in the formation of widespread bauxitic and lateritic crusts and manganocrete and silcrete during the mid‐Tertiary. A second minor weathering event is recorded during the latest Tertiary to Early Pleistocene. Two new basalt dates are consistent with earlier ones at about 43 Ma. Palaeomagnetism shows bauxites and ferricretes to be mid‐Tertiary.     

Kenn Plateau off northeast Australia: a continental fragment in the southwest Pacific jigsaw

The submarine Kenn Plateau, with an area of about 140 000 km², lies some 400 km east of central Queensland beyond the Marion Plateau. It is one of several thinned continental fragments east of Australia that were once part of Australia, and it originally fitted south of the Marion Plateau and as far south as Brisbane. It is cut into smaller blocks by east- and northeast-trending faults, with thinly sedimented basement highs separated by basins containing several kilometres of sediment. In the Cretaceous precursor of the Kenn Plateau, Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous basins probably rested unconformably on Palaeozoic to Triassic rocks of the New England Fold Belt. Rift volcanism was common on the northern plateau and was probably of Early Cretaceous age. Late Cretaceous extension and breakup were followed by Paleocene drifting, and the Kenn Plateau moved to the northeast, rotated 30° anticlockwise and left space that was filled by Tasman Basin oceanic basalts. During these events, siliciclastic sediments poured into the basins from the continental mainland and from locally eroding highs. After a regional Late Paleocene to Early Eocene unconformity, siliciclastic sedimentation resumed in proximal areas. In deep water, radiolarian chalks were widely deposited until biosiliceous sediment accumulation ended at the regional Late Eocene to Early Oligocene unconformity, and warming surface waters led to accumulation of pure biogenic carbonates. Calcarenite formed in shallow water on the margins of the subsiding plateau from the Middle Eocene onward. Some seismic profiles show Middle to Late Eocene compression related to New Caledonian obduction to the east. Hotspots formed parts of two volcanic chains on or near the plateau as it moved northward: Late Eocene and younger volcanics of the Tasmantid chain in the west, and Late Oligocene and younger volcanics of the Lord Howe chain in the east. As the volcanoes subsided, they were fringed by reefs, some of which have persisted until the present day. Other reefs have not kept up with subsidence, so guyots formed. The plateau has subsided 2000 m or more since breakup and is now subject solely to pelagic carbonate sedimentation.     

Late Holocene island reef development on the inner zone of the northern Great Barrier Reef: insights from Low Isles Reef

A sedimentological and stratigraphic study of Low Isles Reef off northern Queensland, Australia was carried out to improve understanding of factors that have governed Late Holocene carbonate deposition and reef development on the inner to middle shelf of the northern Great Barrier Reef. Low Isles Reef is one of 46 low wooded island-reefs unique to the northern Great Barrier Reef, which are situated in areas that lie in reach of river flood plumes and where inter-reef sediments are dominated by terrigenous mud. Radiocarbon ages from surface and subsurface sediment samples indicate that Low Isles Reef began to form at ca 3000 y BP, several thousand years after the Holocene sea-level stillstand, and reached sea-level soon after (within ～500 years). Maximum reef productivity, marked by the development of mature reef flats that contributed sediment to a central lagoon, was restricted to a narrow window of time, between 3000 and 2000 y BP. This interval corresponds to: (i) a fall in relative sea-level, from ～1 m above present at ca 5500 y BP to the current datum between 3000 and 2000 y BP; and (ii) a regional climate transition from pluvial (wetter) to the more arid conditions of today. The most recent stage of development (ca 2000–0 y BP) is characterised by extremely low rates of carbonate production and a dominance of destructive reef processes, namely storm-driven remobilisation of reef-top sediments and transport of broken coral debris from the reef front and margins to the reef top. Results of the present study enhance existing models of reef development for the Great Barrier Reef that are based on regional variations in reef-surface morphology and highlight the role of climate in controlling the timing and regional distribution of carbonate production in this classic mixed carbonate–siliciclastic environment.     

A Comparative Analysis of Evaporate Sediments on Earth and Mars：Implications for the Climate Change on Mars

The knowledge of Martian salts has gone through substantial changes during the past decades. In the 70th of last century, Viking landers have noticed the existence of salts on Mars. Several salt species have been suggested from then on, such as sulfates and chlorides. However, their origin was a mystery due to the lack of observations. The recent explorations and related studies at the beginning of this century revealed that the crustal composition of Mars is similar to that of Earth, and it was hypothesized that almost one third of Martian surface was covered by oceans and lakes in the early stage of Mars. The huge water bodies may have dissolved a large quantity of ions from Martian primary rocks during the whole Noachian and Hesperian epoch. After the enormous drought event happened during the late Hesperian and the early Amazonian, these dissolved ions have formed huge salts deposits and most of them were preserved on Mars until today. To date, carbonates, sulfates, chlorides have all been detected by orbital remote sensing and by landers and rovers. However, the salt mineral assemblages on Mars seems to have some differences from those on Earth, e.g., rich in sulfates and lack of massive carbonates. To explain this difference, we propose that most of the surface carbonates precipitated from the ancient oceans may have been dissolved by the later ubiquitous acidic fluids originated from the global volcanism in the Hesperian era, and formed the enormous sulfate deposits as detected, and this hypothesis seems to be supported by the evidence that most of the sulfate deposits distribute around the Tharsis volcanic province while the survived carbonates located far from it. This process can release most of the carbon on Mars to the atmosphere in the form of CO2 and then be erased by the late heavy bombardments, which might have profound influence on the climate change happened in the Hesperian age. The positive correlation between the GRS results of the potassium distributions and the distribution of chlorides on Mars, together with the high Br concentration measured from the evaporate sediments at two Mars exploration rover landing sites, indicate that the brines in the regions where the chlorides deposited may have reached the stage for potassium salts deposition, thus we propose for the first time that potassium salts deposits might be prevalent in these regions.     

云南大理点苍山末次冰期冰碛物石英砂扫描电镜形态特征分析

云南大理点苍山是大理冰期的命名地,保存有确切的末次冰期冰川作用遗迹.对点苍山冰碛物石英砂进行了扫描电镜形态特征分析,获得了其石英砂形态特征及其频率,并在冰川成因的典型特征的频率上取得了新的认识.扫描电镜分析表明,点苍山冰碛物石英砂形态特征主要为：石英砂形状主要为次棱角状、尖棱角状和多棱角状,边缘多可见次棱脊和棱脊磨损,表面起伏度高;机械特征主要有贝壳状断口、平行解理面、裂隙、粘附碎片、擦痕、机械V形坑;化学特征主要有蚀坑和蚀缝、蜂窝状溶蚀表面、无定形硅沉淀和硅质薄膜.在石英砂表面与冰川作用密切相关的擦痕的频率为8%～32%;粘附碎片的频率为16%～40%;裂隙的频率为12%～32%.通过对点苍山冰碛物的石英砂扫描电镜分析,得出该第四纪海洋性冰斗冰川和悬冰川的石英砂形态特征及其频率.该冰碛物石英砂原始形态特征明显,机械特征频率不高,是近源堆积的冰碛物石英砂的典型形态特征.