白垩纪世界与大洋红层

Cretaceous world and oceanic red beds

白垩纪代表着地质历史中的一种极端的温室气候,已被国际地球科学界视为研究地球系统科学的典型范例。文中在评述白垩纪沉积作用、古气候、古海洋研究中取得的重要进展基础上,重点介绍推动白垩纪研究核心问题之一的黑色页岩和大洋缺氧事件以及由中国学者提出的白垩纪大洋红层和富氧作用。大洋缺氧事件与大洋红层的研究因其与碳氧循环、古气候和古海洋变化的紧密关系,已经成为国际白垩纪研究中的热点问题,并在今后一段时期内继续引领着白垩纪古海洋、古气候变化研究的不断深入。

The Cretaceous represents one of the extreme greenhouse climate in the geologic history of our planet . As such the Cretaceous is considered as a representative study topic in Earth system sciences. In this paper we firstly review the latest knowledge and new developments in the studies of the Cretaceous sedimentation, palaeoclimatology, and palaeoceanography, and attempt to provide a more realistic picture of the greenhouse Cretaceous world. Secondly, we summarize the Cretaceous anoxic events and the associated deposition of black shale. This is arguably one of the hottest topics in Cretaceous research over the past 30 years. The Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds (CORB) and its oxic processes, brought forward for the first time by Chinese scholars. The Cretaceous anoxic events and CORB are closely related to the carbon and oxygen cycles. These will serve in future as key topics for better understanding the Cretaceous world, especially the palaeoclimatology and palaeoceanography.