造山带岩相古地理研究与实践--以甘肃省奥陶纪为例

造山带古地理的恢复与重建难度较大且尚无研究方法体系可循。选择地处复杂中央造山带的甘肃省奥陶纪为例,结合前人研究资料首次编制了早、中晚奥陶世的沉积构造格架及沉积盆地类型图,分析了它们之间的空间配置关系。在“构造控盆、盆控相”的思路控制下,以沉积岩性、结构-构造、古生物组合等为基础,以优势相原则,共划分出滨浅海相、浅海陆棚相、开阔台地相、台地边缘浅滩相、潮坪相以及半深海(含斜坡相)-深海相等7类沉积相类型,采用“在同一板块、构造背景下形成的沉积盆地内及空间连续配置的沉积盆地之间采用瓦尔特相律对古地理进行合理的恢复;对不同的板块及构造背景下形成的沉积盆地或者是空间不连续配置的沉积盆地之间,古地理单元的恢复则按现今出露地层所反应出的沉积环境忠实地表现,古地理单元之间可以不遵循瓦尔特相律”的方法恢复与重建了研究区的古地理面貌,编制了相应的古地理图。为造山带岩相古地理的研究提供了一种编图思路,具理论和实践意义。     

Revisiting William Morris Davis and Walther Penck to Propose a General Model of Slope ‘Evolution’ in Deserts

Based on research from slopes on rhyolite domes of known age formed over a million‐year continuum in eastern California, a classic geomorphic debate is reconsidered and a general model of desert slope development proposed. This study examines steep (～25° to ～35°) boulder‐dominated slopes that include well, varnished, vertically oriented colluvial deposits. Such deposits are common throughout the arid southwestern United States. Basic field and isotopic dating methods are combined with two surface‐dating techniques, cosmogenic chlorine‐36 and rock varnish microlaminae, to produce a detailed slope development history with broad implications for geomorphic theory that includes the unresolved geomorphic debate between Walther Penck and William Morris Davis. Slopes in this study are dominated by the on‐going desert slope processes of debris flows and in‐situ grain disintegration as evidenced by active debris flow features, terminal Pleistocene ages of microlaminae, and chlorine‐36 ages progressively younger than potassium‐argon ages for slope genesis. Results also indicate that slopes retreat in a parallel fashion as postulated by Penck. Furthermore, the deposits do not exhibit significant changes in grain size, shape, or angularity from genesis to ～0.6 Ma but change markedly after that time possibly indicating a geomorphic threshold between ～0.6 and ～1 Ma, or episodic erosional events throughout the mid to late Pleistocene.     

The role of the Mediterranean region in the development of sedimentary geology: a historical overview

The Mediterranean region, source of so much knowledge in the world, is the site of major advances in sedimentary geology. In addition to its economic and cultural richness, the geological and geographic diversity of the region, plus its active geological processes, have long stimulated indigenous scholars, along with attracting talented outsiders such as Steno, Lyell, Walther, Kuenen and Bagnold. Since classical Hellenic times, debates about the origin of fossils and the changing positions of sea-level served as catalysts for studies of sediments, sedimentary rocks and ancient life. The presence of geologically young and easily interpreted marine shell beds in many Mediterranean coastal areas adjacent to their modern analogues was a particular stimulus for progress in sedimentary geology, for example, the very advanced stratigraphic ideas of Leonardo da Vinci, expressed solely in his unpublished notebooks. Impeding progress was the geological complexity of facies, faunas and structure in the circum-Mediterranean Alpine belts. Once the secrets of these were unlocked, however, the Mediterranean region became the source of major discoveries about syn-sedimentary tectonics, carbonate platforms, pelagic and anoxic sediments, turbidites, evaporites, aeolian processes, cyclostratigraphy, magnetic stratigraphy and impact events. In many of these Mediterranean discoveries, the critical element is the occurrence of extensive Mesozoic-Cenozoic pelagic successions whose precise age dating was made possible by pioneering biostratgraphic studies using microfossils.