Ocean anoxic events in the mid-Cretaceous simulated by a 3-D biogeochemical general circulation model

The mid-Cretaceous is well known for its ocean anoxic events. The causal mechanisms are controversial: stagnant deepwater, high biological productivity in the surface waters, and other possibilities have been suggested. Our study simulated the mid-Cretaceous ocean, using general circulation models combined with a marine biogeochemical cycle model to explore the relationship between thermohaline circulation and biogeochemical cycles and investigate the causes of ocean anoxic events. The simulated thermohaline circulation shows an unsteady inactive state. Oxygen concentrations in the deepwater decrease under the inactive state, but a horizontal gradient develops, with higher oxygen concentrations in the Tethys and lower concentrations in eastern Panthalassa. This is not due to the different ages of the deepwater but rather to the differences in biological productivity in the surface water, meaning that the relationship between thermohaline circulation and biogeochemical cycles under the inactive state is different from that in the present ocean. In the standard simulation, assuming the present level of the total amount of phosphate in the ocean, 29% of the bottom water is anoxic. The experiments increasing the amount of phosphate show its high sensitivity for extending the anoxic region with global-scale anoxia simulated under the doubled amount of phosphate. The high amount of phosphate would be reasonable because the inactive state would induce an imbalance of phosphate between riverine input and sediment output. Therefore, both the inactive thermohaline circulation and the increase in the total amount of phosphate in the ocean induce the global-scale anoxic condition in the deepwater.     

Cretaceous black shale and the oceanic red beds:Process and mechanisms of oceanic anoxic events and oxic environment

The Cretaceous is an important period in which many geological events occurred, especially the OAEs (oceanic anoxic events) which are characterized by black shale, and the oxic process characterized by CORBs (Cretaceous oceanic red beds). In this paper, the causative mechanism behind the formation of black shale and the oceanic red beds are described in detail. This may explain how the oceanic environment changed from anoxic to oxic in the Cretaceous period. It is suggested that these two different events happened because of the same cause. On the one hand, the large-scale magma activities in Cretaceous caused the concentration of CO₂, the release of the inner energy of the earth, superficial change in the ocean-land, and finally, the increase of atmospheric temperature. These changes implied the same tendency as the oceanic water temperature show, and caused the decrease in O₂ concentration in the Cretaceous ocean, and finally resulted in the occurrence of the OAEs. On the other hand, violent and frequent volcanic eruptions in the Cretaceous produced plenty of Fe-enriched lava on the seafloor. When the seawater reacted with the lava, the element Fe became dissolved in seawater. Iron, which could help phytoplankton grow rapidly, is a micronutrient essential to the synthesis of enzymes required for photosynthesis in the oceanic environment. Phytoplankton, which grows in much of the oceans around the world, can consume carbon dioxide in the air and the ocean. Meanwhile, an equal quantity of oxygen can be produced by the phytoplankton during its growth. Finally, the oxic environment characterized by red sediment rich in Fe³⁺ appeared. The anoxic and oxic conditions in the Cretaceous ocean were caused by volcanic activities, but they stemmed from different causative mechanisms. The former was based on physical and chemical processes, while the latter involved more complicated bio-oceanic-geochemical processes. __________ Translated from Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2007, 27(3): 69–75 [译自: 海洋地质与第四纪地质]     

Lower Cretaceous paleosols and paleoclimate in Sichuan Basin,China

Abundant Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian–Hauterivian) paleosols have been recognized in the Sichuan Basin, along with the preserved pedogenetic features, e.g., soil horizons, soil structure, root traces and pedogenic nodules. Chemical, geochemical and mineralogical analyses were used to examine the paleosols. These paleosols were classified as Entisols, Inceptisols, Aridisols and Alfisols in terms of the modern soil taxonomic system. Early Cretaceous paleoprecipitation and paleotemperature in the Sichuan Basin were estimated from the degree of chemical weathering for non-calcareous paleosols, and from the depth to the calcic horizon and stable oxygen isotopic composition of pedogenic carbonates in calcareous paleosols, respectively. A temperate semi-arid climate generally prevailed in the Sichuan Basin as a part of the South China Block (SCB) and was controlled by subtropical high-pressure and a rain-shadow effect because the humid air masses from the Paleo-Pacific were impeded by the highlands of the South China Block. Further, several intervals of sub-humid paleoclimate occurred due to strengthened monsoonal circulation in the Early Cretaceous. Using the paleosol barometer, the paleoatmospheric CO₂ levels of the Early Cretaceous are estimated to range from ∼120 to ∼520 ppmv, with a mean of 305 ppmv. Regional temperature is generally coupled with atmospheric CO₂ concentration and is roughly consistent with the sea level fluctuation.     

Early Carnian anoxic event as recorded in the southern Tethyan margin,Tunisia: an overview

Considerable attention has been given to the Carnian (Late Triassic) Pluvial and Reingraben events associated with organic-rich shale accumulation in the Germanic basin, Alps, southern Appenines as well as in northwestern Tethyan margins. Less interest has been shown to the southern Tethyan portion represented by the northern margin of Africa, including Tunisia. Tunisian basins represented by the Tellian domain, Tunisian trough, the ‘Dorsale’, and the North–South Axis (NOSA) belong to the southern Tethyan margin, where northern and central areas record the early Carnian anoxic event within an extensive carbonate platform. This short-lived (~2 million year) period of anoxia ranges within the Aonoides to Austriacum ammonite zones, and corresponds in Tunisia generally to intermediate to shallow water environments marked by organic-rich black limestone, dolomite, and shale. Interestingly, toward the south, the dysaerobic conditions in the Jeffara–southern Dahar basin appear to have prevailed locally also in the early Carnian. Here we review evidence of early Carnian anoxia in Tunisia based on the analysis of more than 17 Triassic sections and wireline logs from several petroleum exploration wells penetrating the black dolomites, limestones, and shales. In addition, biostratigraphic and complete geochemical reviews have been undertaken from published papers and unpublished internal reports to better assess this important and promising hydrocarbon source interval.     

黔北上奥陶统五峰组烃源岩有机地球化学特征及古环境意义

对黔北地区上奥陶统五峰组烃源岩的有机碳、类异戊间二烯烃、萜烷等有机地球化学特征进行研究,发现具有以下特征：①有机碳含量大于3％,且纵向变化小分布稳定;②有机硫碳比值倾向于高值,平均可达0．1;③Pr／Ph比值小于1,具有明显的植烷优势;④伽马蜡烷指数大于0．15;⑤δ^13Corg-30％。普遍偏轻;⑥Ts／（Tm＋Ts）在0;361-0．518之间,平均为0．455。这些特征均指示研究区五峰期的有机物产率高,同时具有有利于有机质保存的还原环境。对比岩性及有机地球化学剖面,认为晚五峰期有机质保存条件优于早期,中五峰期上升洋流活跃。     

陕西省勉县-略阳地区寒武纪含碳岩系的地球化学特征及其成因

勉县-略阳(勉略)地区寒武纪的含碳岩系与磷、锰矿的形成关系密切,是该区重要的找矿标志.通过对研究区含碳岩系常量元素和微量元素的分析测试认为,含碳岩系总体上富亲石元素和亲铜元素,贫亲铁元素.含碳岩系中P、Mn元素相对富集且富集系数较为接近,反映含碳岩系与本区P、Mn矿的成因具有一定的联系.含碳岩系中较低的MnO/TiO2...     

Novel active kinetoplastids associated with hypersaline anoxic basins in the Eastern Mediterranean deep-sea

The combination of nearly saturated salt concentration and corresponding high density, high hydrostatic pressure, absence of light, anoxia, and a sharp chemocline make the deep hypersaline anoxic basins in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea some of the most polyextreme habitats on Earth. Using kinetoplastid-specific primers, we detected kinetoplastid flagellates in some of the harshest deep-sea environments known to date, including some whose small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequences are not closely related to cultured representatives. Kinetoplastids, including presumably novel representatives appear to be specialists of halocline environments in the Eastern Mediterranean, and to comprise a significant fraction of the protist communities in the brines and haloclines of several basins. Fluorescent in situ hybridization data indicate a novel ‘unidentified’ sequence clade of kinetoplastids related to bodonids represents as much as 10% of the total protist community in the Discovery Basin halocline. Different kinetoplastid groups are unevenly represented in the different basins and habitats we sampled, which we discuss as a result of environmental selection.     

中上扬子地区二叠纪缺氧环境

中上扬子地区二叠纪缺氧环境较为发育,缺氧沉积的岩石类型主要有黑色泥页岩、黑色薄层硅岩, 深灰色-灰黑色中-薄层泥晶石灰岩和含泥石灰岩。前 3种岩石类型常形成暗色泥页岩-薄层硅岩-泥晶石灰 岩组合,而含泥石灰岩则主要为眼球状石灰岩的 “ 眼皮”部分。分别对这两种组合的岩石特征、古生物特征及 地球化学特征进行了研究,并分析了各自的沉积环境以及缺氧环境的成因。分析认为暗色泥页岩-薄层硅岩- 泥晶石灰岩组合为盆地、盆地边缘或斜坡环境的产物,其缺氧环境主要为大规模的海侵形成;眼球状石灰岩的 “ 眼皮”部分应为碳酸盐岩台地的产物,其缺氧环境应为上升流作用形成。     

华南中二叠统眼球状石灰岩特征及成因的思考

眼球状石灰岩是华南地区中二叠统常见的一种碳酸盐岩岩石类型,由“眼球”和“眼皮”组成,广泛分布于中二叠统栖霞组下部和茅口组中下部。关于眼球状石灰岩特征和成因的研究,已经取得了较为丰富的成果,笔者对这些成果进行了评述:对眼球状石灰岩的分布特征、岩石学特征及地球化学特征进行了总结;对其各种成因观点进行了讨论。在此基础上,阐述了眼球状石灰岩特征研究存在的争议,指出了下一步研究应关注的方面,尤其是在微观特征及地球化学特征方面,同时认为眼球状石灰岩的石油地质意义应该引起足够的重视。     

Heavy Sulfur-isotope Enrichment in Middle Miocene Onnagawa Mudstones in the Green Tuff Region, Northeastern Japan

Abstract. Sulfur isotope ratios are analyzed for a series of mudstones in a successive section in the Taiheizan area in the central Green Tuff region, northeast Japan. The δ³⁴S values for the Uyashinai Mudstone Member (Nishikurosawa stage), the Onnagawa Formation and the Funakawa Formation range from -45 to -14%, -20 to +4% and -30 to -10%, respectively. There is a marked positive shift in δ³⁴S values at the Nishikurosawa/Onnagawa boundary and an upward δ³⁴S-decreasing trend in the Onnagawa and Funakawa Formations. The present data provides evidence for environmental change in the form of stratification of the seawater, initiated at the Nishikurosawa/Onnagawa boundary and persisting during deposition of the Onnagawa Formation, followed by gradual oxygenation during deposition of the Funakawa Formation.