The palaeoenvironment associated with a partial Iguanodon skeleton from the Upper Weald Clay (Barremian, Early Cretaceous) at Smokejacks Brickworks (Ockley, Surrey, UK), based on palynomorphs and ostracods

In 2001 a partial skeleton of an Iguanodon was discovered in the Upper Weald Clay (Barremian, Early Cretaceous) at Smokejacks Brickworks near Ockley, Surrey, UK. When the dinosaur was excavated, a detailed stratigraphic section was logged and 25 samples taken for palynological and micropalaeontological (ostracod and megaspore) analysis, including a detailed sample set of the dinosaur bed itself. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the palynoflora revealed rich and well-preserved non-marine assemblages of pollen and spores, including early angiosperms, and freshwater green algae. Four types of angiosperm pollen are described and assigned to the genus Retimonocolpites Pierce, 1961, but left in open nomenclature. Some marine elements such as dinoflagellate cysts are identified as the result of reworking of Middle and Upper Jurassic sediments. The pollen/spore assemblages depict a vegetational change from principally gymnosperm-dominated assemblages at the base to principally pteridophyte-dominated assemblages at the top of the section. The dinosaur bed shows a pteridophyte-dominated assemblage, with a significantly high amount of the freshwater green alga Scenedesmus novilunaris He Cheng-quan et al., 1992. Samples close to the dinosaur bed yielded the first useful ostracod finds from Smokejacks Brickworks: well-preserved assemblages containing Cypridea clavata (Anderson, 1939), Damonella cf. pygmaea (Anderson, 1941), Stenestroemia cf. cressida Anderson, 1971 and Stenestroemia sp. A, and fragments and damaged valves of a thin-shelled ostracod, possibly belonging to Mantelliana Anderson, 1966. Those identified as Cypridea clavata show a wide range of morphological variety and in opposition to Anderson's (1967, 1985) taxonomic scheme, which would assign them to up to five different taxa, they are considered to be intraspecific variants of a single species. The possibilities and limitations of age determination of the Wealden sediments using palynomorphs and ostracods are discussed; distinct forms of early angiosperm pollen, together with the ostracod fauna, are consistent with an early Barremian age. Pollen and spores are discussed in terms of their parent plants and the reconstruction of vegetation and palaeoclimate. Palynology and ostracods give evidence for temporary freshwater conditions at the time when the Iguanodon died and the carcase was buried.     

First U–Pb SHRIMP age of the Hauterivian stage, Neuquén Basin, Argentina

A high-resolution ion-microprobe (SHRIMP) U–Pb zircon age from a tuff layer intercalated in the ammonoid bearing sedimentary succession of the Neuquén Basin in Argentina provides a robust geochronologic date to add to the absolute ages and to improve the relative chronology of the Early Cretaceous Hauterivian stage. The tuff layer appears interbedded between shales of the upper member (Agua de la Mula) of the Agrio Formation within the Spitidiscus riccardii ammonoid zone (base of the Late Hauterivian) yielding a date of 132.5 ± 1.3 Ma. This date confirms and supports an accurate correlation between the ammonoid biostratigraphy of the Neuquén Basin with the Western Mediterranean Province of the Tethys during the Early Cretaceous and matches with the most recently published time scale. It also casts doubts on the validity of K–Ar ages on glauconite-grains recently reported from the Lower Cretaceous of the Vocontian Basin of France.     

辽东湾凝析气田超压成因及侧向传递机制初探

位于辽东湾西部低凸起北端的JZ20-2超压凝析气田,离供烃中心较远,压力系数却达到1.56~1.7,这在我国东部裂谷盆地比较少见。经过综合分析,作者认为JZ20-2凝析气田异常高压的形成与其所处的特殊地质背景紧密相关,辽中凹陷沙河街组三段超压凝析油气沿不整合面、砂体输导通道向辽东湾西部低凸起的运移、充注和能量的侧向传递是JZ20-2凝析气田异常高压形成的根本原因,而上覆东营组二段下亚段-东营组三段巨厚的强超压泥岩封盖和辽西3号边界断层侧向遮挡共同构成的优越封闭环境是超压保存的必要条件。本文分析了该气田超压特征及其远距离超压侧向传递的成因机制,不仅有助于揭示辽东湾西部低凸起超压流体运移聚集的规律和成藏作用,而且可能提供了一个超压远距离侧向传递的典型实例。     

下辽河平原—辽东湾的新构造运动

通过地质、地貌及地球物理资料分析研究,发现下辽河平原—辽东湾的新构造运动的主要特征除了断裂发育、火山活动早期剧烈而晚期衰弱、现代地震活跃以及地壳差异和反差升降运动明显之外,还显示了:(1)深大断裂的控制性,(2)沉降中心的迁移性,(3)构造运动的阶段性和旋回性.     

川西南周公山及邻区下二叠统碳酸盐岩成岩作用对储集性的影响

川西南周公山及邻区下二叠统的中-低孔、中-低渗碳酸盐岩储层的储集空间以次生成因的溶孔、溶洞和构造裂缝为主.研究认为,多世代方解石胶结、化学充填作用以及埋藏期的压实(溶)作用是孔隙很难得到保存的主要原因;同生-准同生期的混合水云化作用和表生期、埋藏期的流体溶蚀作用则产生了大量的次生溶孔、洞,使储层的孔渗性得到明显的改善;构造破裂作用可以产生新的储集空间,还影响各储集体之间及单一储集体内部空隙的连通.成岩相分为混合水云化-溶蚀-破裂相、溶蚀-胶结相和胶结-压实-压溶相.各种成岩作用的叠加形成了现今下二叠统油气储层的分布格局.     

塔里木盆地塔河地区下石炭统巴楚组沉积演化

以塔里木盆地加里东期和海西两期构造运动为背景,结合现有的岩心、露头、测井、录井和地震资料,对巴楚组可识别出早期的辫状河三角洲沉积,中期的渴湖沉积和盐湖沉积,以及晚期的咸化溻湖沉积。本文分别从横向上和纵向上对塔河地区巴楚组沉积演化进行深入分析;总结了巴楚组构造运动与沉积响应之间的关系,以期为该地区的下石炭统巴楚组的进一步勘探提供科学依据。     

First finds of Late Tithonian and middle-late Albian radiolarian assemblages in volcanogenic-siliceous rocks of the Amur River right lower reaches and their tectonic significance

The lithological-stratigraphic study of volcanogenic-siliceous rocks developed on the left side of the Machtovaya River, a right tributary of the Amur River, yielded the first radiolarian assemblages of the late Late Tithonian, the late Late Tithonian-early Valanginian, and the middle-late Albian age. It is established that the stratigraphic succession of volcanogenic-siliceous rocks in this area is composed of upper Tithonian-Valanginian dark red to red-brown cherts with basalts in the lower part of the section and Albian dark gray clayey cherts, olive-gray siliceous-tuffaceous argillites, and tufaceous siltstones in its upper part. The replacement of cherts by their clayey varieties likely occurred in the Aptian. The composition, structure, and age of these strata and the rocks constituting the Kiselevka-Manoma accretionary complex are different, which indicates their different tectonic origin.     

(ϖμ/ϖT) P of the lower mantle

We estimate (/T) _P of the lower mantle at seismic frequencies using two distinct approaches by combining ambient laboratory measurements on lower mantle minerals with seismic data. In the first approach, an upper bound is estimated for |(/T) _P | by comparing the shear modulus () profile of PREM with laboratory room-temperature data of extrapolated to high pressures. The second approach employs a seismic tomography constraint ( lnV _S / lnV _P ) _P =1.8–2, which directly relates (/T) _P with (K _S /T) _P . An average (K _S /T) _P can be obtained by comparing the well-established room-temperature compression data for lower mantle minerals with theK _S profile of PREM along several possible adiabats. Both (K _S /T) and (/T) depend on silicon content [or (Mg+Fe)/Sil of the model. For various compositions, the two approaches predict rather distinct (/T) _P vs. (K _S /T) _P curves, which intersect at a composition similar to pyrolite with (/T) _P =–0.02 to –0.035 and (K _S /T) _P =–0.015 to –0.020 GPa/K. The pure perovskite model, on the other hand, yields grossly inconsistent results using the two approaches. We conclude that both vertical and lateral variations in seismic velocities are consistent with variation due to pressure, temperature, and phase transformations of a uniform composition. Additional physical properties of a pyrolite lower mantle are further predicted. Lateral temperature variations are predicted to be about 100–250 K, and the ratio of ( lnp/ lnV _S ) _P around 0.13 and 0.26. All of these parameters increase slightly with depth if the ratio of ( lnV _S / lnV _P ) _P remains constant throughout the lower mantle. These predicted values are in excellent agreement with geodynamic analyses, in which the ratios ( ln / lnV _S ) _P and ( / lnV _S ) _P are free parameters arbitrarily adjusted to fit the tomography and geoid data.     

东秦岭中部奥陶系-志留系界线地层及腕足动物群

东秦岭中部晚奥陶世和早志留世地层分布较广,化石较丰富,尤其是腕足类,分为寺岗组、石燕河组、刘家坡组和张湾组。曾庆銮等(1993)根据腕足类及其群落的更替,把石燕河组和刘家坡组归於早志留世,因而引起较大争论。本文据岩性将寺岗组和石燕河组分别改称为石燕河组下段和上段,并据腕足类化石认为石燕河组和刘家坡组应归於晚奥陶世、张湾组为早志留世;另据上述地层生物群落的特征及群落的更替,认为从石燕河组到刘家坡组,以及刘家坡组至张湾组恰好反映了全球冰期引起的晚奥陶世海退和早志留世冰期结束引起的海侵,故本区奥陶系-志留系界线宜划在刘家坡组和张湾组之间。     

含煤层地质环境下地震波场的数值模拟

本文对含低速煤层地质环境下弹性波场多波多分量地震资料进行了二维数值模拟研究,对人工边界反射进行了有效处理,频散效应得到了有效的压制,对几种不同激发与观测排列方式下的弹性波资料进行了模型计算与分析。