Timing of the Nihewan formation and faunas

Magnetostratigraphic dating of the fluvio-lacustrine sequence in the Nihewan Basin, North China, has permitted the precise timing of the basin infilling and associated Nihewan mammalian faunas. The combined evidence of new paleomagnetic findings from the Hongya and Huabaogou sections of the eastern Nihewan Basin and previously published magnetochronological data suggests that the Nihewan Formation records the tectono-sedimentary processes of the Plio-Pleistocene Nihewan Basin and that the Nihewan faunas can be placed between the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal and the onset of the Olduvai subchron (0.78-1.95 Ma). The onset and termination of the basin deposition occurred just prior to the Gauss-Matuyama geomagnetic reversal and during the period from the last interglaciation to the late last glaciation, respectively, suggesting that the Nihewan Formation is of Late Pliocene to late Pleistocene age. The Nihewan faunas, comprising a series of mammalian faunas (such as Maliang, Donggutuo, Xiaochangliang, Banshan, Majuangou, Huabaogou, Xiashagou, Danangou and Dongyaozitou), are suggested to span a time range of about 0.8-2.0 Ma. The combination of our new and previously published magnetostratigraphy has significantly refined the chronology of the terrestrial Nihewan Formation and faunas.     

过渡季节(6—7月)澳大利亚冷高压对赤道辐合带形成的影响

应用车贝雪夫多项式分析过渡季节(6—7月)澳大利亚冷高压与赤道辐合带的关系,得出了对赤道辐合带北移的主要形势以及过程演变特征,最后用合成方法得到它的演变概念模式,为赤道辐合带的北移影响西太平洋及南海地区提供了中期预报的依据。     

渤海湾沿岸泥炭沼泽形成机制与时空分布

渤海湾沿岸的海陆过渡带，优越的水文地理环境有利于泥炭沼泽的形成与发育。海洋海退导致的海岸线变迁，是控制泥炭沼泽发育时间和空间分布的主导因素。间冰期和冰后期的海面上升期间，自海向陆发育了海侵基底泥炭；中全新世高海面期，在山前扇缘洼地和沟谷有泥炭沼泽发育；晚全新世海面下降期，泥炭沼泽主要发育在沿岸的海湾、泻湖、三角洲汊河间洼地及平原上的河滩、阶地、古河道等地。     

Cambrian explosion: Birth of tree of animals

Excluding the sponges the Kingdom Animalia is usually divided into three subkingdoms: Diploblasta, Protostomia and Deuterostomia. The Cambrian Explosion consists of three major episodes, two of which were in the early Early Cambrian (one represented by the small skeletal fossils “SSFs” at the base of the Cambrian and the other represented by the succeeding Chengjiang faunas “CFs”), and the other episode as their prelude took place in the “Eocambrian” (i.e. the latest Precambrian), represented by the Ediacaran faunas. This unique Big Bang of life has been recognized as giving birth to the entire morphological Tree Of Animals (or metazoans), in short the TOA. Its “seed” in the deep Precambrian, represented by some sort of protist from which the complete TOA must have grown, remains unknown paleontologically. However, the fossil evidence suggests that the three major episodes of the Cambrian Explosion are responsible for the earliest radiations of the three subkingdoms of animals respectively. While the observed Ediacaran fauna might constitute only a small part of the whole Ediacaran biota, our evidence supports that it was dominated by diploblasts (the “trunk” of the TOA) with only a few possible stem-group triploblasts. The Early Cambrian in turn in two phases explosively yielded almost all the major triploblastic crown-branches (Bilateria: the huge “crown” of the TOA), which include the other two subkingdoms: first the extremely diverse protostomes in the Meishucunian Age and then followed by a nearly entire lineage of early deuterostomes from the Chengjiang, including even its most derived member – the earliest true vertebrates. Among the four most significant milestones of morphological origins and radiations in animal history, the first one (i.e. appearance of metazoans) took place in the Ediacaran Period or earlier times, and the other three can be seen in the windows available from the Chengjiang and the Meishucunian fossil assemblages. The newly discovered extinct Phylum Vetulicolia, which has primitively segmented body with simple gill slits in its anterior division, most probably represents one of the roots of the deuterostome subkingdom. Showing a mosaic of basic features possessed in both the bilateral vetulicolians and some primitive echinoderms, the soft-bodied vetulocystids are best regarded as one of the roots of the extant pentamerous echinoderms. Standing on the “top” of the deuterostome super-branch in the early Cambrian TOA are the “the first fish” Myllokunmingia and Haikouichthys, which bear paired eyes and salient proto-vertebrae. These animals represent the real root of the remainder of the vertebrates or craniates. On the contrary, yunnanozoans, including Yunnanozoon and Haikouella, possess neither eyes nor unequivocal vertebrae, and may have nothing to do with the craniates, let alone the vertebrates. Those enigmatic creatures share a similar body-plan with vetulicolians and should be treated as a side-branch within the lower deuterostomes.     

新疆绿色电气石颜色成因研究

新疆绿色电气石颜色成因比较特殊,为了更好地了解其颜色的形成,主要采用化学分析、吸收光谱、穆斯堡尔谱等测试手段对绿色电气石颜色成因进行研究。化学分析结果显示每个样品中均含有少量不同过渡元素离子,如Fe2 、Ti4 、Cr3 等,影响着绿色的形成;利用吸收光谱测试方法确定了致色离子的吸收带位置及主要离子的种类、价态,并根据化学成分计算出相应的化学式,利用穆斯堡尔谱确定了铁离子在晶体中的占位。综合运用上述测试方法,确定了绿色电气石的颜色成因。     

Extreme climate events over northern China during the last 50 years

Climate extremes for agriculture-pasture transitional zone, northern China, are analyzed on the basis of daily mean temperature and precipitation observations for 31 stations in the period 1956-2001. Analysis season for precipitation is May-September, i.e., the rainy season. For temperature is the hottest three months, i.e., June through August. Heavy rain events, defined as those with daily precipitation equal to or larger than 50 mm, show no significant secular trend. A jump-like change, however, is found occurring in about 1980. For the period 1980-1993, the frequency of heavy rain events is significantly lower than the previous periods. Simultaneously, the occurring time of heavy rains expanded, commencing about one month early and ending one month later. Long dry spells are defined as those with longer than 10 days without rainfall. The frequency of long dry spells displays a significant (at the 99% confidence level) trend at the value of +8.3%/10a. That may be one of the major causes of the frequent droughts emerging over northern China during the last decades. Extremely hot and low temperature events are defined as the uppermost 10% daily temperatures and the lowest 10% daily temperatures, respectively. There is a weak and non-significant upward trend in frequency of extremely high temperatures from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. But the number of hot events increases as much as twice since 1997. That coincides well with the sudden rise in mean summer temperature for the same period. Contrary to that, the frequency of low temperature events have been decreasing steadily since the 1950s, with a significant linear trend of -15%/10a.     

新疆洛浦县和巴楚县晚石炭世—早二叠世牙形石动物群及其地层意义

本文依据对新疆洛浦县阿其克和巴楚县小海子剖面牙形石动物群研究，详细探讨了塔里木盆地西部石炭－二叠系界线的划分和克孜里奇曼组、南闸组和康克林组上部地层的归属问题；指出从牙形石的发展和演化看，上述地层应属于下二叠统。     

Interpretation of S-wave data from Tai’an-Xinzhou DSS profile and its relationship with Xingtai earthquakes

On the basis of S wave information from Tai’an-Xinzhou DSS profile and with reference to the results from P-wave interpretation, the 2-D structures, including S-wave velocity V _s, ratio γ between V _p and V _s; and Poisson’ s ratio σ, are calculated; the structural configuration of the profile is presented and the relevant inferences are drawn from the above results. Upwarping mantle districts (V _s≈4.30 km/s) and sloping mantle districts (V _s≈4.50 km/s) of the profile with velocity difference about −4% at the top of upper mantle are divided according to the differences of V _s, γ and σ in different media and structures, also with reference to the information of their neighbouring regions; the existence of Niujiaqiao-Dongwang high-angle ultra-crustal fault zone is reaffirmed; the properties of low and high velocity blocks (zones) including the crust-mantle transitionalzone and the boudary indicators of North China rift valley are discussed. A comprehensive study is conducted on the relation of the interpretation results with earthquakes. It is concluded that the mantle upwarps, thermal material upwells through the high-angle fault, the primary hypocenter was located at the crust-mantle juncture 30.0∼33.0 km deep, and additional stress excited the M _S=6.8 and M _S=7.2 earthquakes at specific locations around 9.0 km below Niujiaqiao-Dongwang, the earthquakes took place around the high-angle ultra-crustal fault and centered in the brittle media and rock strata with low γ and low σ values. This subject is part of the 85-907-02 key project during the “8th Five-Year Plan” from the State Science and Technology Commission.     

我国北方农牧交错带的环境演变

中国北方农牧交错带在１０～８．５ｋａＢ．Ｐ．经历了三次阶段性增暖后进入全新世暖期。８．５～８．０ｋａＢ．Ｐ．和４～３．５ｋａＢ．Ｐ．暖期的开始与结束事件中降水变化落后于温度变化３００～５００ａ；暖期盛期时的年均温较现代高２～３℃，降水多１００ｍｍ左右；暖期中存在多次短期寒冷事件，年均温最冷时较现代低３℃以上。３．５ｋａＢ．Ｐ．以来冷干趋势之上叠加着大致由３００ａ稳定与５００ａ波动构成的约８００ａ的周期性变化。全新世暖期原始农业文化的阶段性发展与暖期内环境波动相对应；暖期结束时发生了由农业向牧业文化转换的事件；暖期以后的冷干期为农牧交错文化时期，农业经济随冷干程度的变化而兴衰     

Hydrothermal Mineralization on the Mesoproterozoic Passive Continental Margins of China： A Case Study of the Langshan-Zha＇ertaishan Belt, Inner Mongolia, China

Most ore-forming characteristics of the Langshan-Zha‘ertaishan hydrothermal exhalation belt, which consists of the Dongshengmiao, Huogeqi, Tanyaokou and Jiashengpan large-superlarge Zn-Pb-Cu-Fe sulfide deposits, are most similar to those of Mesoproterozoic SEDEX-type provinces of the world. The characteristics include: (1) All deposits of this type in the belt occur in third-order fault-basins in the Langshan-Zha‘ertaishan aulacogen along the northern margin of the North China Platform; (2) these deposits with all their orebodies hosted in the Mesoproterozoic impure dolomite-marble and carbonaceous phyllite (or schists) have an apparent stratabound nature; ores display laminated and banded structures, showing clear depositional features; (3) there is some evidence of syn-sedimentary faulting, which to a certain extent accounts for the temporal and spatial distribution and the size of the orebodies in all deposits and the formation of intrabed conglomerates and breccias; (4) they show lateral and vertical zonation of sulfides; (5) The Cu/(Pb Zn Cu) ratio of the large and thick Pb Zn Cu orebodies gradually decreases from bottom to top; and (6) barite is interbedded with pyrites and sometimes with sphalerite. However, some characteristics such as the Co/Ni radio of the pyrites, the volcanism, for example, of the Langshan-Zha‘ertalshan metallogenic belt, are different from those of the typical SEDEX deposits of the world. The meta-basic volcanic rock in Huogeqi, the sodic bimodal volcanic rocks in the Dongshengmiao and potassic bimodal-volcanic rocks with blastoporphyfitic and blasto-glomeroporphyritic texture as well as blasto-amygdaloidal structure in the Tanyaokou deposits have been discovered in the only ore-bearing second formation of the Langshan Group in the past 10 years. The metallogeny of some deposits hosted in the Langshan Group is closely related to syn-sedimentary volcanism based on the following facts: most of the lead isotopes in sphalerite, galena, pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite plot on both sides of the line for the mantle or between the lines for the mantle and lower crust in the lead isotope composition diagram; cobalt content of some pyrites samples is much higher than the nickel content (Co/Ni= 11.91-12.19). Some volcanic blocks and debris have been picked out from some pyritic and pyrrhotitic ores. All Zn-Pb-Cu-Fe sulfide orebodies in these deposits occur in the strata overlying metamorphic volcanic rocks in the only ore-bearing second formation. In the Jiashengpan deposit that lacks syn-sedimentary volcanic rocks in the host succession only Pb and Zn ores occur without Cu ore, but in the Dongshengmiao, Tanyaokou and Huogeqi deposits with syn-sedimentary volcanic rocks in the host succession Cu ores occur. This indicates a relatively higher ore-forming temperature. The process of synsedimentary volcanic eruption directly supplied some ore-forming elements, and resulted in secular geothermal anomaly favorable for the circulation of a submarine convective hydrothermal system, which accounts for the precipitation of deep mineralizing fluids exhaling into anoxidic basins along the syn-sedimentary fault system in the Langshan-Zha‘ertai rift. The Dongshengmiao, Tanyaokou, and Huogeqi deposits hosted in the Langshan Group appear to be a transitional type of mineral deposit between SEDEX and VMS-types but with a bias towards SEDEX, while the Jiashengpan deposit hosted in the Zha‘ertai Group is of a characteristic SEDEX type. This evidence, together with other new discoveries of Mesoproterozoic volcanic rocks and the features of lithogeny and metallogeny of the Bayun Obo deposit in the neighborhood emphasize the diversity, complexity and uniqueness of the Mesoproterozoic Langshan-Zha‘ertal-Bayun Obo ore belt.