The Cretaceous System in China

This paper provides an outline of Cretaceous stratigraphy and paleogeography in China, which is based on rich data obtained from recent researches. Cretaceous deposits are widespread in China. Most strata are of nonmarine origin and marine sediments occur only in Tibet, western Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, Taiwan and limited localities of eastern Heilongjiang. AH deposits are rich in fossils and well-constrained biostratigraphically. The stratigraphic successions of different regions are illustrated, and general stratigraphic division and correlation have been introduced. The marine deposits are described in the Tibetan Tethys, Kashi-Hotan Region of Xinjiang, eastern Heilongjiang, western Yunnan and Taiwan; the nonmarine deposits are outlined from northeast China, southeast China, southern interior China, southwest China, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region, and northwestern China intermontane basins. The sedimentary facies and paleogeography are diversified. In Tibet the basin evolution is largely related to the subduction and collision of the Indian Plate against the Eurasian Continent, and shows a tectonic evolution in the Cretaceous. Foraminifera are a dominant biota in the Tibet Tethys. Nonmarine sediments include variegated and red beds, coal- or salt-bearing horizons, and volcanic rocks. These deposits contain diverse and abundant continental faunas and floras, as well as important coal and oil resources. The Cretaceous stratigraphy and paleogeography in China have presented a foundation for geological studies.

Early-diverging Titanosauriform(Dinosauria,Sauropoda)Teeth from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Southeastern Inner Mongolia,Northeast China

Three eusauropod teeth(SDUST-V1064,PMOL-AD00176,PMOL-ADt0005)are reported from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Ningcheng,southeastern Inner Mongolia,China.Two of them(SDUST-V1064,PMOL-AD00176)are assigned to early-diverging titanosauriforms in having slightly mesiodistal expansion at the base of the tooth crown,a slenderness index value>2.0 and<4.0,and D-shaped cross section.Furthermore,SDUST-V1064 and PMOL-AD00176 are referred as an Euhelopus-like titanosauriform on the basis of having a sub-circular boss on the lingual surface and an asymmetrical crown-root margin which slants apically,respectively.CT scan data of SDUST-V1064 reveals new dental information of early-diverging titanosauriforms,for example,the enamel on the labial side thicker than that on the lingual side,an enamel/dentine ratio of 0.26 and a boss present on the lingual side of the dentine of the crown.

Arlenea delicata gen.et sp.nov.,a new ephedroid plant from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation,Araripe Basin,Northeast Brazil

Ephedroid macrofossils have been widely documented in Cretaceous deposits,including numerous from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of NE China.However,few ephedroid macrofossils have been reported from South America.Herein,we describe a new plant of the family Ephedraceae,Arlenea delicata gen.et sp.nov.,from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of the Araripe Basin,Northeast Brazil,based on the vegetative and reproductive structures.It has the typical morphological characteristics of ephedroid plants,including fertile reproductive branches,opposite phyllotaxy,terminal female cones,a sympodial branching system,longitudinally striated internodes,and swollen nodes.Our new finding is unusual in having inner chlamydosperms subtended by two pairs of bracts,reproductive units connected to branches through swollen receptacles and a smooth seed surface.This new ephedroid taxon from the Crato Formation increases our understanding of plant diversity of this group during the Early Cretaceous.Furthermore,the general morphology(fleshy bracts and enlarged receptacles)of this new fossil discovery indicates that seeds of this plant may have been dispersed by animals such as pterosaurs(mainly the Tapejaridae)and birds(Enantiornithes and Ornituromorpha).If true,this would explain the cosmopolitan distribution of Ephedraceae in the Lower Cretaceous.

Hydrocarbon accumulation history in Lower Cretaceous in northern slope of Bongor Basin in Chad,Central Africa

Based on the analysis of the fluid inclusion homogenization temperature and apatite fission track on the northern slope zone of the Bongor Basin in Chad,this paper studied the time and stages of hydrocarbon accumulation in the study area.The results show that:(1)The brine inclusions of the samples from the Kubla and Prosopis formations in the Lower Cretaceous coexisting with the hydrocarbon generally present two sets of peak ranges of homogenization temperature,with the peak ranges of low temperature and high temperature being 75–105℃ and 115–135℃,respectively;(2)The samples from the Kubla and Prosopis formations have experienced five tectonic evolution stages,i.e.,rapid subsidence in the Early Cretaceous,tectonic inversion in the Late Cretaceous,small subsidence in the Paleogene,uplift at the turn of the Paleogene and Neogene,and subsidence since the Miocene,in which the denudation thickness of the Late Cretaceous and after the turn of the Paleogene and Neogene are~1.8 km and~0.5 km,respectively.The cumulative denudation thickness of the two periods is about 2.3 km;(3)Using the brine inclusion homogenization temperature coexisting with the hydrocarbon as the capture temperature of the hydrocarbon,and combining with the apatite fission track thermal history modeling,the result shows that the Kubla and Prosopis formations in the Lower Cretaceous on the northern slope of the Bongor Basin have the same hydrocarbon accumulation time and stages,both of which have undergone two stages of hydrocarbon charging at 80–95 Ma and 65–80 Ma.The first stage of charging corresponds to the initial migration of hydrocarbon at the end of the Early Cretaceous rapid sedimentation,while the second stage of charging is in the stage of intense tectonic inversion in the Late Cretaceous.

Sequence Stratigraphy of the Desert System: A Case Study of the Lower Cretaceous in the Kuqa Basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China

The Lower Cretaceous strata in the Kuqa Basin in Xinjiang are marked by a set of arid red beds. Several types of sedimentary fades can be identified in this set of arid red beds: mudstones of the plaza and intracontinental sebkha, aeolian sandstones, sandy conglomerates of the intermittent river, conglomerates of the pluvial fan, etc. These types of sedimentary facies constitute a typical desert system. Therefore, the Cretaceous strata in the Kuqa Basin provide a favorable condition for studies of sequence stratigraphic divisions of the desert system. With the rise and fall of the base level of the sedimentary basin, cyclicity is clearly revealed in stratigraphic records, which helps the identification of the third-order sequences. Based on the cyclicity in stratigraphic records, 5 third-order sequences can be found in the strata of the Early Cretaceous in the Kuqa Basin. These sequences comprise a second-order tectonic sequence. The primary feature of these third-order sequences is of an upward-fining sedimentary succession formed by a succession of 'coarse sediments of the alluvial system-fine sediments of the lake system'. The result of this study shows that aeolian sandstones are the best reservoirs of natural gas in the Cretaceous strata in the Kuqa Basin, and that the Kela-2 gas field is the first large gas field dominated by aeolian sandstone reservoirs in China.

A New Species of Huaxiapterus (Pterosauria: Pterodactyloidea) from the Lower Cretaceous of Western Liaoning, China with Comments on the Systematics of Tapejarid Pterosaurs

A new species of tapejarid pterosaur, Huaxiapterus coroUatus sp. nov. is erected on the basis of a nearly complete skull and postcranial skeleton from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning Province, China. Huaxiapterus coroUatus sp. nov. is characterized by a hatchet-shaped rectangular process on the premaxilla, whose short axis is perpendicular to the anterior margin of the premaxillae. Except for this process, other characters of the skull such as the breadth of the snout between the anterior margin of the nasoantorbital fenestra and the anterior margin of the premaxilla are similar to that of Huaxiapterus jii. Huaxiapterus and a second Chinese tapejarid, Sinopterus, share several unique cranial characters in common with Tapejara and these three genera appear to be more closely related to each other than to other azhdarchoids. The Chinese tapejarids （Sinopterus and Huaxiapterus） have relatively elongate skulls and weakly developed cranial crests and seem to be less derived than Tapejara, with its shorter, deeper skull and large cranial crest. Tupuxuarids （Tupuxuara and Thalassodromeus） have often been associated with tapejarids in the family Tapejaridae, but this relationship is controversial because some phylogenetic analyses have supported the pairing of tupuxuarids with Azhdarchidae. We propose that Tapejaridae be restricted to Tapejara, Sinopterus and Huaxiapterus.

A Cretaceous Desert-Playa Sedimentary System Controlled the Potash Formation in the Simao Basin

Objective The Simao Basin in Yunnan Province has developed Cretaceous evaporite-bearing clastic deposits, including the Mangang and Mengyejing Formations which were originally interpreted as fluvial and lacustrine deposits. The Mangang Fm. composed of well-rounded quartz sandstones, were commonly considered as the bottom part of the Mengyejing salt series. Dttring last decades,

Sealing Features of Fluid-Rock System and its Control on Acidic Dissolution in Cretaceous Sandstone Reservoirs,Kuqa Subbasin

The Cretaceous Bashijiqike Formation is the main gas-bearing strata in the northern structural deformation zone of Kuqa subbasin. The acidic dissolution of this formation arose at 5-4Ma, which corresponds to the late burial stage of the Bashijiqike Formation. Variability of interlayer due to rock composition is negligible. Differentiation of acidic dissolution in sandstones was controlled by difference in amount of exogenous acid fluid from underlying strata. For the absence of sedimentary and structural carrier system between the isolated sandstone reservoirs, most fluid-rock systems show relative sealing feature during later burial stage by sealing feature of formation pressure, geochemical characteristics of formation water and content of diagenetic products in sandstones. Variation of sealing effects for different fluid-rock systems is obvious. The pressure coefficient is inversely proportional to acidic dissolved porosity of sandstone reservoirs, indicating that the variation of sealing effects for fluid- rock system mainly controls the differentiation of acidic dissolution.

Late Cretaceous Transpressional Fault System: A Case Study of the Yishu Fault Belt, Shandong Province, Eastern China

On the basis of field observations of the structures of three profiles from the Linshu region, deformation characteristics and the tectonic background of the Yishu fault belt in the Late Cretaceous–Early Cenozoic have been discussed in detail.Three structural profiles, whose deformations consist mainly of earlier transpressional faults and later normal faults, were developed for the Mengtuan Formation of the Lower Cretaceous Dasheng Group.Typical positive flower structures, duplex structures, and break-through faults were found in these profiles.On the basis of analyses of the structural deformation and previous geochronological studies, it was concluded that the earlier transpressional faults of the profiles were triggered by the sinistral transpression of the Yishu fault belt in the Late Cretaceous–Early Paleogene, and that the later normal faults, formed during the Late Paleogene–Neogene extension, truncated the earlier transpressional faults.With consideration of the tectonic evolution of the Tan-Lu fault belt and the different drift directions of the Pacific plate since the Cretaceous, we suggest that the major tectonic events of the Late Cretaceous–Neogene in eastern China were mainly controlled by the subduction of the Pacific plate.

The Late Cretaceous source-to-sink system at the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau:Insights from the provenance of the Lanping Basin

The surface uplift of the Tibetan Plateau(TP)and its geomorphology evolution has triggered aridification of Asia's interior and drainage development at the eastern margin of the plateau.However,how the pre-Cenozoic early growth histories of the TP impact the drainage system and climate is poorly constrained.The Late Mesozoic Lacustrine evaporite-bearing basins on the eastern margin of the TP record significant information on the uplift of the source terranes,source-to-sink system development and climate change.In this study,we presented detrital zircon U-Pb ages from the Upper Cretaceous Yunlong Formation in the Lanping Basin,as well as Hf isotopic,petrographic,direct statistical,and multidimensional scaling analyses,and use them to characterize the provenance and reconstruct the drainage system.All of the samples have five major age peaks at 200-290 Ma,400-490 Ma,750-1000 Ma,1750-1950 Ma,and 2400-2600 Ma with mostly negativeε_(Hf)(t)values(81%).We infer the sediments are primarily derived from recycled sediments of the Songpan-Garze terrane,and partly from the Sichuan Basin and the Southern Qiangtang terrane,as well as the exposed magmatic rocks of the Yidun Arc and SongpanGarze terrane.The provenance features of the contemporaneous sediments from the Sichuan,Xichang,Chuxiong,and Simao basins indicate a complex hierarchical drainage pattern on the eastern margin of the TP during the Late Cretaceous.The hierarchical drainage system exhibits a complete gradational cycle of lake-basin types from overfilled freshwater Sichuan Basin through balanced fill saline Xichang Basin and underfilled hypersaline Chuxiong,Lanping,Simao,and Khorat Plateau basins from proximal to distal.The early growth of the TP primarily controlled the drainage and lake-basin evolution by not only causing the uplift and exhumation of the source areas and providing large amounts of clastic material to the proximal sub-drainage areas but also intensifying the aridity and deposition of evaporites.

Early Cretaceous Thrust and Nappe Tectonics in North Qilian Shan,Northern Tibetan Plateau:Evidence from Field Mapping,Geochronology,and Deep Structural Analysis

The North Qilian Shan fold and thrust belt,located at the northern Tibetan Plateau and southern margin of the Hexi Corridor,is a key tectonic unit to decode the formation and expansion of the plateau.Previous studies emphasize the Cenozoic deformation due to the far-field response to the Indo-Asian collision,but the Mesozoic deformations are poorly constrained in this area.We conducted detailed field mapping,structural analysis,geochronology,and structural interpretation of deep seismic reflectional profiling and magnetotelluric(MT)sounding,to address the superposed results of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic deformation.The results recognized the North Qilian thrust and nappe system(NQTS),the root and the frontal belt are the North Qilian thrust(NQT),and the Yumu Shan klippe(YK),respectively.The middle belt is located between the NQT and the YK.Monzonitic granite zircon U-Pb dating from the middle belt yields an age of ca.415 Ma,which is similar to south NQT.The thrusting displacement is estimated at ca.48 km by structural interpretation of deep profiles.The timing is constrained in the early stage of the Early Cretaceous by the formation of simultaneous growth strata.We suggest that the NQTS has resulted from the far-field effect of the Lhasa-Qiangtang collision,and the Yumu Shan is uplifted by the superposed Cenozoic deformation.

Heterogeneity and differential hydrocarbon accumulation model of deep reservoirs in foreland thrust belts: A case study of deep Cretaceous Qingshuihe Formation clastic reservoirs in southern Junggar Basin, NW China

Using the data of drilling, logging, core, experiments and production, the heterogeneity and differential hydrocarbon accumulation model of deep reservoirs in Cretaceous Qingshuihe Formation(K1q) in the western section of the foreland thrust belt in southern Junggar Basin are investigated. The target reservoirs are characterized by superimposition of conglomerates, sandy conglomerates and sandstones, with high content of plastic clasts. The reservoir space is mainly composed of intergranular pores. The reservoirs are overall tight, and the sandy conglomerate has the best physical properties. The coupling of short deep burial period with low paleotemperature gradient and formation overpressure led to the relatively weak diagenetic strength of the reservoirs. Specifically, the sandy conglomerates show relatively low carbonate cementation, low compaction rate and high dissolution porosity. The special stress-strain mechanism of the anticline makes the reservoirs at the top of the anticline turning point more reformed by fractures than those at the limbs, and the formation overpressure makes the fractures in open state. Moreover, the sandy conglomerates have the highest oil saturation. Typical anticline reservoirs are developed in deep part of the thrust belt, but characterized by "big trap with small reservoir". Significantly, the sandy conglomerates at the top of anticline turning point have better quality, lower in-situ stress and higher structural position than those at the limbs,with the internal hydrocarbons most enriched, making them high-yield oil/gas layers. The exponential decline of fractures makes hydrocarbon accumulation difficult in the reservoirs at the limbs. Nonetheless, plane hydrocarbon distribution is more extensive at the gentle limb than the steep limb.

Subaqueous volcanic eruptive facies,facies model and its reservoir significance in a continental lacustrine basin:A case from the Cretaceous in Chaganhua area of southern Songliao Basin,NE China

The conventional lithofacies and facies model of subaerial and marine pyroclastic rocks cannot reflect the characteristics of subaqueous volcanic edifice in lacustrine basins.In order to solve this problem,the lithofacies of subaqueous eruptive pyroclastic rocks is discussed and the facies model is established by taking the tuff cone of Cretaceous Huoshiling Formation in the Chaganhua area of the Changling fault depression,Songliao Basin as the research object.The results indicate that the subaqueous eruptive pyroclastic rocks in the Songliao Basin can be divided into two facies and four subfacies.The two facies are the subaqueous explosive facies and the volcanic sedimentary facies that is formed during the eruption interval.The subaqueous explosive facies can be further divided into three subfacies:gas-supported hot pyroclastic flow subfacies,water-laid density current subfacies and subaqueous fallout subfacies.The volcanic sedimentary facies consists of pyroclastic sedimentary rocks containing terrigenous clast subfacies.A typical facies model of the tuff cone that is formed by subaqueous eruptions in the Songliao Basin was established.The tuff cone is generally composed of multiple subaqueous eruption depositional units and can be divided into two facies associations:near-source facies association and far-source facies association.The complete vertical succession of one depositional unit of the near-source facies association is composed of pyroclastic sedimentary rocks containing terrigenous clast subfacies,gas-supported hot pyroclastic flow subfacies,water-laid density current subfacies and subaqueous fallout subfacies from bottom to top.The depositional unit of the far-source facies association is dominated by the subaqueous fallout subfacies and contains several thin interlayered deposits of the water-laid density current subfacies.The gas-supported hot pyroclastic flow subfacies and the pyroclastic sedimentary rocks containing terrigenous clast subfacies are favorable subaqueous eruptive facies for reservoirs in continental lacustrine basins.

Climate-environmental Deteriorations in a Greenhouse Earth System:Causes and Consequences of Short-Term Cretaceous Sea-Level Changes(a Report on IGCP 609)

Anthropogenic global warming and resulting sea-level rise in response to enhanced atmospheric greenhouse gases and melting of the Earth’s continental ice shields have become issues of continuously growing interest for the scientific community as well as the public,pointing to threads of societies in a future greenhouse Earth System.

Equilibrium modeling of water-gas systems in Jurassic–Cretaceous reservoirs of the Arctic petroleum province, northern West Siberia

To reveal the equilibrium state of oil and gas and water in a petroliferous basin with a high content of saline water, calculations of water-gas equilibrium were carried out, using a new simulation method, for the Arctic territories of the West Siberian oil and gas bearing province. The water-bearing layers in this area vary widely in gas saturation and have gas saturation coefficients(C;) from 0.2 to 1.0. The gas saturation coefficient increases with depth and total gas saturation of the formation water. All the water layers with gas saturation bigger than 1.8 L/L have the critical gas saturation coefficient value of 1.0, which creates favorable conditions for the accumulation of hydrocarbons;and unsaturated formation water can dissolve gas in the existent pool. The gas saturation coefficient of formation water is related to the type of fluid in the reservoir. Condensate gas fields have gas saturation coefficients from 0.8 to 1.0, while oil reservoirs have lower gas saturation coefficient. Complex gas-water exchange patterns indicate that gas in the Jurassic–Cretaceous reservoirs of the study area is complex in origin.

Geochronology and Geochemistry of Early Cretaceous A-type Granites in Central-Eastern Inner Mongolia,China:Implications for Late Mesozoic Tectonic Evolution of the Southern Great Xing'an Range

The southern Great Xing'an Range is the most critical Sn-polymetallic metallogenic belt in northeast China.However,the tectonic setting of the Early Cretaceous magmatic-metallogenic”flare-up“event remains uncertain.This paper presents an integrated study on the occurrence,petrology,zircon U-Pb ages,whole-rock geochemistry,and in situ zircon Hf isotopes for Wenduerchagan granites of Xi Ujimqin Banner,central-eastern Inner Mongolia.These granites consist primarily of granite porphyry(with ages of 137±1 Ma and 138±1 Ma)and(porphyritic)alkali feldspar granite(with an age of 141±2 Ma),corresponding to the early Early Cretaceous.They are A-type granites characterized by high silicon,alkali,and TFeO/MgO contents while being depleted of Ba,Nb,Ta,Sr,P,and Ti.They show right-dipping trend rare-earth element distribution characteristics with negative Eu anomalies(Eu/Eu^(*)=0.01-0.20)and weak heavy rare-earth element fractionation((Gd/Yb)_(N)=0.77-2.30).They demonstrate homogeneous zircon Hf isotopic compositions(positiveε_(Hf)(t)values from+5.3 to+7.1 and young two-stage Hf model ages of 851-742 Ma)and high zircon saturation temperatures(av.810℃).These geochemical characteristics indicate that Wenduerchagan granites originated from the partial melting of juvenile crust under high-temperature and low-pressure conditions.Wenduerchagan granites most likely formed in a post-collisional compression-extension transition regime caused by the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean,when combined with regional geology.Such a transition regime can probably be attributed to the upwelling of the asthenospheric mantle caused by the break-off of a subducted Mongol-Okhotsk oceanic slab.Upwelling asthenospheric mantle provided sufficient energy and favorable tectonic conditions for magmatism and mineralization of the Early Cretaceous.

Petroleum exploration breakthrough and geological significance in Cretaceous Yingcheng and Denglouku formations of Shuangcheng area, northern Songliao Basin, NE China

Based on drilling geological,geochemical,geophysical and production test data,the characteristics of source rocks,reservoir rocks and caprocks,as well as the process of hydrocarbon generation,trap evolution and oil accumulation of the oil-bearing assemblage composed of the Cretaceous Yingcheng Formation(K1yc)and Denglouku Formation(K1d)in the Shuangcheng area,northern Songliao Basin,NE China,were analyzed by using the research methods for petroleum systems.The source rocks mainly exist in K1yc,with the organic matters mainly originated from lower aquatic organisms and algae,and reaching the grade of high-quality source rock in terms of organic abundance.The crude oil,which is characterized by low density,high freezing point and high wax content,is believed to have generated by the K1yc source rocks.The reservoir rocks include K1d sandstones and K1yc glutenites.The mudstone in the fourth member of K1d serves as the direct caprock of the oil reservoir.The oil was generated during the period between Yaojia Formation and Nenjiang Formation,and then accumulated during the periods of Nenjiang Formation and Paleogene–Neogene.The traps evolved in three stages:the late Yingcheng Formation,the late Quantou Formation and the late Nenjiang Formation,forming structural and structural-lithologic reservoirs.It is concluded that good source-reservoir-caprock assemblage,late hydrocarbon charging,short migration distance and stable tectonic setting are favorable factors for the formation of oil reservoirs.

The sedimentary record of the Sanshui Basin:Implication to the Late Cretaceous tectonic evolution in the northern margin of South China Sea

Whether the South China continental margin had shifted from active subduction to passive extension in the Late Cretaceous remains controversial.Located in the northernmost of the South China Sea continental margin,Sanshui Basin developed continuous stratigraphy from Lower Cretaceous to Eocene and provides precious outcrops to study the regional tectonic evolution during the Cretaceous.Therefore,we conducted field observations,petrology,clay mineralogy,geochemistry,and detrital zircon chronology analyses of sedimentary rocks from the Upper Cretaceous Sanshui Formation in Sanshui Basin.Results suggest that the Sanshui Basin is characterized as an intermoutane basin with multiple provenances,strong hydrodynamic environment,and proximal accumulation in the Late Cretaceous.An angular unconformity at the boundary between the Lower and Upper Cretaceous was observed in the basin.The sedimentary facies of the northern basin changed from lacustrine sedimentary environment in the Early Cretaceous to alluvial facies in the Late Cretaceous.The zircon U-Pb ages of granitic gravelly sandstone from Sanshui Formation prominently range from 100 Ma to 300 Ma,which is close to the deposition age of Sanshui Formation.The major and trace elements of the Late Cretaceous sedimentary samples show characteristics of active continental margin,and are different from the Paleogene rifting sequences.Hence,we propose that the northern South China Sea margin underwent an intense tectonic uplift at the turn of the Early and Late Cretaceous(around 100 Ma).Afterward,the northern South China Sea margin entered a wide extension stage in the Late Cretaceous(~100 to~80 Ma).This extensional phase is related to the back-arc extension in the active continental margin environment,which is different from the later passive rifting in the Cenozoic.The transition from active subduction to passive extension in the northern South China Sea may occur between the late Late Cretaceous and the Paleogene.

Restoration of reservoir diagenesis and hydrocarbon accumulation process by calcite in-situ U-Pb dating and fluid inclusion analysis: A case study on Cretaceous Qingshuihe Formation in Gaoquan Structure, southern Junggar Basin, NW China

The complexity of diagenesis and hydrocarbon accumulation in the deep reservoirs in southern Junggar Basin restricts hydrocarbon exploration in the lower reservoir assemblage. The lithofacies and diagenesis of reservoirs in the Cretaceous Qingshuihe Formation in the Gaoquan structure of the Sikeshu Sag, southern Junggar Basin were analyzed. On this basis, the thermal history was calibrated using calcite in-situ U-Pb dating and fluid inclusion analysis to depict the hydrocarbon accumulation process in the Gaoquan structure. The results show that the Qingshuihe reservoir experienced two phases of calcite cementation and three phases of hydrocarbon charging. The calcite cements are dated to be (122.1±6.4) Ma, (14.4±1.0) Ma - (14.2±0.3) Ma. The hydrocarbon charging events occurred at around 14.2-30.0 Ma (low-mature oil), 14.2 Ma (mature oil), and 2 Ma (high-mature gas). The latter two phases of hydrocarbon charging contributed dominantly to the formation of reservoir. Due to the S-N compressive thrust activity during the late Himalayan period since 2 Ma, the traps in the Gaoquan structure were reshaped, especially the effective traps which developed in the main reservoir-forming period were decreased significantly in scale, resulting in weak hydrocarbon shows in the middle-lower part of the structure. This indicates that the effective traps in key reservoir-forming period controlled hydrocarbon enrichment and distribution in the lower reservoir assemblage. Calcite U-Pb dating combined with fluid inclusion analysis can help effectively describe the complex diagenesis and hydrocarbon accumulation process in the central-west part of the basin.

Identification, evolution and geological indications of solid bitumen in shales: A case study of the first member of Cretaceous Qingshankou Formation in Songliao Basin, NE China

On the basis of sorting out current understanding of solid bitumen (SB) in shales and taking organic-rich shales in the first member of the Cretaceous Qingshankou Formation in the Songliao Basin as an example, the definition, classification, occurrence and evolution path of SB are systemtically studied, and the indicative significance of SB reflectance (Rob) on maturity and its influence on the development of reservoir space are discussed and summarized. The results show that the difference of primary maceral types is primarily responsible for the different evolution paths of SB. Most of the pre-oil bitumen is in-situ SB with only a small amount being of migrated SB, while most of the post-oil bitumen and pyrobitumen are migrated SB. From the immature to early oil maturity stage, bituminite, vitrinite, and inertinite can be distinguished from SB based on their optical characteristics under reflected light, and alginite can be differentiated from SB by their fluorescence characteristics. Under scanning electron microscope, in-situ SB and migrated SB can be effectively identified. Rob increases linearly with increasing vitrinite reflectance (Ro), as a result of a decrease of aliphatic structure and the enhancement of aromatization of SB. Within the oil window three types of secondary pores may develop in SB, including modified mineral pores, devolatilization cracks and bubble holes. At a high maturity stage spongy pores may develop in pyrobitumen. Scanning electron microscopy combined with in-situ SEM-Raman spectroscopy can further reveal the structral information of different types of SB, thus providing crucial data for understanding for understanding OM migration paths, dynamics, and distances at micro-scale.