A pulse of the Earth: A 27.5-Myr underlying cycle in coordinated geological events over the last 260 Myr

We performed spectral analyses on the ages of 89 well-dated major geological events of the last 260 Myr from the recent geologic literature. These events include times of marine and non-marine extinctions,major ocean-anoxic events, continental flood-basalt eruptions, sea-level fluctuations, global pulses of intraplate magmatism, and times of changes in seafloor-spreading rates and plate reorganizations. The aggregate of all 89 events shows ten clusters in the last 260 Myr, spaced at an average interval of ~ 26.9 Myr, and Fourier analysis of the data yields a spectral peak at 27.5 Myr at the ≥96% confidence level. A shorter period of ~ 8.9 Myr may also be significant in modulating the timing of geologic events.Our results suggest that global geologic events are generally correlated, and seem to come in pulses with an underlying ~ 27.5-Myr cycle. These cyclic pulses of tectonics and climate change may be the result of geophysical processes related to the dynamics of plate tectonics and mantle plumes, or might alternatively be paced by astronomical cycles associated with the Earth’s motions in the Solar System and the Galaxy.

Isotopic chronology and geological events of Precambrian complex in Taihangshan region

There are five major geological events in Precambrian complex, Taihangshan region determined by researching into geology and isotopic chronology of the complex. Basaltic magma erupted and quartz-dioritic to tonalitic magma intruded in earlier neo-Archaean, which formed hornblende-plagiogneiss of Fuping gneiss complex and metamorphic mafic rock enclaves in TTGgneiss complex. Granulite facies metamorphism and emplacement of biotite-plagiogneiss occurred in late neo-Archaean. Extension and uplifting from the end of neo-Archaean to Paleoproterozoic era formed Chengnanzhuang large extensional deformation zones and metamorphic mafic veins emplaced into the deformation zones. Remobilization of Precambrian complex and tectonic uplifting in late Paleoproterozoic era formed Longquanguan ductile shear zone and emplacement of Nanying gneiss. Occurrence of regional granite pegmatite at the end of Paleoproterozoic era means the end of the Lüliang movement. gneiss complex. Granulite facies metamorphism and emplacement of biotite-plagiogneiss occurred in late neo-Archaean. Extension and uplifting from the end of neo-Archaean to Paleoproterozoic era formed Chengnanzhuang large extensional deformation zones and metamorphic mafic veins emplaced into the deformation zones. Remobilization of Precambrian complex and tectonic uplifting in late Paleoproterozoic era formed Longquanguan ductile shear zone and emplacement of Nanying gneiss. Occurrence of regional granite pegmatite at the end of Paleoproterozoic era means the end of the Lüliang movement.

Biotic evolution and its relation with geological events in the Proterozoic Yanshan Basin, North China

The Yanshan Basin,located in northern North China,underwent three primary stages in the Mesoproterozoic,and corresponding biotas have been summarized for each stage in the present study.The three stages are stage A(the lower part of the Changcheng Group which dominated by clastic sediments),stage B(the upper part of the Changcheng Group to the Jixian Group which characterized by carbonate sediments),and stage C(the upper part of the Jixian Group which dominated by clastic sediments).This paper will focus on the evolution of biota during stage B.Microbiota of the stage B exhibits a high level of diversity and abundance.Planktonic microfossils have various forms and complex decorations.Most microfossils are small.In stage B,there was great variation in the biotic abundance and diversity,the average diameter of spherical benthic microfossils,and the maximum diameter of the spherical microfossils.We analyzed these parameters and identified two typical biotic events,and both biotic events were corresponded with geological events.The first event occurred in the third member of the Dahongyu Formation.In this era,the maximum diameter of the silicified microfossils significantly increased,and large,spherical planktonic specimens are abundant.The flourishing of large organisms in the strata is presumably related to volcanic activity.The second event occurred in the third member of the Gaoyuzhuang Formation.During this era,the microfossil assemblage changed significantly.The changes correspond with a decline in stromatolites as well as the transformations of the carbon isotope ratios and the elemental geochemistry.

Indian monsoon drove the dispersal of the thoracica group of Scytodes spitting spiders

We examined the global biogeography of the Scytodes thoracica group of spitting spiders based on 23 years of sampling at the species level(61 species in the thoracica group and 84 species of Scytodes)using DNA data from six loci.Our results indicated that the thoracica group initially dispersed from Southeast Asia to East Africa between 46.5 and 33.0 million years ago,and dispersal events intensified between Southeast/South Asia and East/South Africa from the early to late Miocene.The timing of these events indicates that Asian-African faunal exchange of the thoracica group was driven by the Indian monsoon,and the pattern of dispersal suggests that colonialization took root when the Indian monsoon shifted from a North-South direction to an East-West direction from the middle Eocene.

Cyclic Sequences, Events and Evolution of the Sino-Korean Plate, with a Discussion on the Evolution of Molar-tooth Carbonates, Phosphorites and Source Rocks

This paper gives an account of the research that the authors conducted on the cyclic sequences, events and evolutionary history from Proterozoic to Meso-Cenozoic in the Sino-Korean plate based on the principle of the Cosmos-Earth System. The authors divided this plate into 20 super-cyclic or super-mega-cyclic periods and more than 100 Oort periods. The research focused on important sea flooding events, uplift interruption events, tilting movement events, molar-tooth carbonate events, thermal events, polarity reversal events, karst events, volcanic explosion events and storm events, as well as types of resource areas and paleotectonic evolution. By means of the isochronous theory of the Cosmos-Earth System periodicity and based on long-excentricity and periodicity, the authors elaborately studied the paleogeographic evolution of the aulacogen of the Sino-Korean plate, the oolitic beach platform formation, the development of foreland basin and continental rift valley basin, and reconstructed the evolution

Important Events and Chronological Framework of the Early Precambrian Granulite Terrain,Northwestern Hebei Province

Based on the chronological data and relevant geological evidence, the chronological framework of the major geological events of the granulite terrain in northwestern Hebei Province and its adjacent areas has been established. Basic lava eruption occurred in the span of 2868-2932 Ma, resulting in the formation of the early crust. The TTG magma emplacement took place c.2761 Ma ago. Subsequently basic magma intruded into the supracrustal rocks at 2650 Ma, resulting in crustal thickening. The thickening was enhanced at 2561-2503 Ma by the widespread intrusions of granodioritic magma. In the period of 2477-2461 Ma charnockite intruded, accompanied by regional granulite facies metamorphism. The second stage of granulite facies metamorphism occurred c. 2300 Ma ago, and finally pink granite intrusions at 2144-2087 Ma resulted in the formation of a granite zone.

Major Advances in the Study of the Precambrian Geology and Metallogenesis of the North China Craton:A Review

The North China Craton （NCC） is one of the most ancient cratons in the world and records a complex geological evolution since the early Precambrian. In addition to recording major geological events similar to those of other cratons, the NCC also exhibits some unique features such as multi- stage cratonization （late Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic） and long-term rifting during the Meso- Neoproterozoic. The NCC thus provides one of the best examples to address secular changes in geological history and metallogenic epochs in the evolving Earth. We summarize the major geological events and metallogenic systems of the NCC, so that the evolutionary patterns of the NCC can provide a better understanding of the Precambrian NCC and facilitate comparison of the NCC with other ancient continental blocks globally. The NCC experienced three major tectonic cycles during the Precambrian： （1） Neoarchaean crustal growth and stabilization; （2） Palaeoproterozoic rifting-subduction-accretion-collision with imprints of the Great Oxidation Event and （3） Meso-Neoproterozoic multi-stage rifting. A transition from primitive- to modern-style plate tectonics occurred during the early Precambrian to late Proterozoic and is evidenced by the major geological events. Accompanying these major geological events, three major metallogenic systems are identified： （1） the Archaean banded iron formation system; （2） Palaeoproterozoic Cu-Pb-Zn and Mg-B systems and （3） a Mesoproterozoic rare earth element-Fe- Pb-Zn system. The ore-deposit types in each of these metallogenic systems show distinct characteristics and tectonic affinities.

Why would sea-level rise for global warming and polar ice-melt?

Two major causes of global sea level rise such as thermal expansion of the oceans and the loss of landbased ice for increased melting have been claimed by some researchers and recognized by the IPCC.However, other climate threat investigators revealed that atmosphere-ocean modeling is an imperfect representation, paleo-data consist of proxy climate information with ambiguities, and modern observations are limited in scope and accuracy. It is revealed that global warming and polar ice-melt although a reality would not contribute to any sea level rise. Floating-ice of the polar region on melting would reoccupy same displaced volume by floating ice-sheets. Land-ice cover in the polar region on melting can reduce load from the crust to activate elastic rebound that would raise land for its isostatic equilibrium.Such characteristics would not contribute to sea level rise. Equatorial bulge, polar flattening, elevation difference of the spheroidal surface between equator and pole with lower in the pole, strong gravity attraction of the polar region and week gravity attraction of the equatorial region, all these phenomena would play dominant role in preventing sea level rise. Palaeo-sea level rise and fall in macro-scale(10-100 m or so) were related to marine transgression and regression in addition to other geologic events like converging and diverging plate tectonics, orogenic uplift of the collision margin, basin subsidence of the extensional crust, volcanic activities in the oceanic region, prograding delta buildup, ocean floor height change and sub-marine mass avalanche. This study also reveals that geophysical shape, gravity attraction and the centrifugal force of spinning and rotation of the earth would continue acting against sea level rise.

Variations of calcareous nannofossils of cobalt-rich crusts and geological records at the Eocene-OIigocene transition in western Pacific seamounts

Two records of the crust laminae from the Marcus-Wake Seamounts and the Magellan Seamount were biostratigraphically studied. Based on biological imprints of the calcareous nannofossils, the geological ages of the two records were determined, with CM1D03 from the Marcus-Wake Seamounts being of late Paleocene to Pleistocene and CM3D06 from the Magellan Seamount of Late Cretaceous （more than 70.0 Ma）. There are the obvious temporal-spatial differences in the initial formation period and enrichment characteristics of the cobalt-rich crusts of the two seamount chains and differences in the combination and distribution of microfossils in the inner crust layers between the seamounts. These differences are due to the adaptabilities of oceanic species in different environments. Ecological research was carried out in terms of population size of the calcareous nannofossi｜s preserved in the crustal layers to discern the relation of the geological events at the Eocene-Oligocene （E/O） tran- sition. The results show the transitions and recombination of species in the biotic community during the E/O transition obvi- ously corresponded to 25 mm depth in the CM1D03 crust and 58 mm depth in the CM3D06 crust. The changes in biological species and the formation of particular ecological structures indicate the adaptive response of the paleo-biological community in the western Pacific Ocean to the global cold-climate events and the close correlation between the formation of the crust and the global climate change.

Crustal evolution events in the Chinese continent: evidence from a zircon U-Pb database

The zircon U-Pb chronology database provides a good opportunity to obtain important zircon growth peak periods in the Earth’s history so as to study the origin and evolution of the crust.It should be noted that research preference affects the objectivity of zircon sampling,leading to hot data in the database and age statistics.To evaluate the influence of hot data on statistical results,the W and Y indexes are introduced.Using a Gaussian model of multipeak fitting of zircon U-Pb age frequencies,we identify seven major growth peaks in zircons from the Chinese continental crust,which are 2498.95,1855.82,828.88,444.29,249.46,131.96,and 58.21 Ma.Due to differences in the time scales of zircon growth peaks,these peaks can be divided into two categories:first-order zircon growth peaks(Ⅰ)and second-order zircon growth peaks(Ⅱ),which represent longer and shorter time scales,perhaps due to different kinds of geological dynamics,respectively.In addition,there are clear correspondences between these ages and various geological events recognized by most scholars,namely,the Wutai orogeny,Lvliang orogeny,Jinning orogeny,Caledonian orogeny,Indosinian orogeny,Yanshanian orogeny,and Himalayan orogeny,respectively.

Major geologic events of the Cauvery Basin,India and their correlation with global signaturese——A review

The present review is aimed at correlating major geologic events of the Cauvery Basin with analogous global episodes. The Cauvery Basin came into existence due to Gondwana break up during Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous by taphrogenic rift process. The first marine transgression close to Aptian/Albian boundary at the western margin of the basin terminates the syn-rift tectonic phase, which is also precise in adjoining Krishna-Godavari （KG） Basin. Two regional tectonic episodes are well documented in the basin which have global significance viz. （1） A major basinal uplift during late Turonian caused by Marion hot mantle plume resulted in widespread subaqueous volcanism in the southern part of the Cauvery Basin. This uplift also ted to relative sea level （RSL） fall of about 100 m in Cauvery and KG Basins and an unconformity of a magnitude of 2.3 Ma. The RSL fatt closely correlates with global sea level faU. This volcanic episode also resulted in Madagascar detachment from India. （2） The reunion hot mantle plume that ted to Deccan volcanism in central India resulted in E-SE tilt of the Cauvery Basin during upper Maastrichtian （CFI-CF3 zones）. This tilt caused a sea level fall of about 80 m and lateral withdrawal of sea by about 50 km developing a major erosional unconformity ranging in magnitude of -1.8-30 My. The magnitude of RSL correlates wetl with global sea level fall. This sea level fall caused widespread development of canyon features in the Cauvery Basin resulting in differential subaqueous erosion. The globally significant ocean anoxic events viz. OAE-Ib, OAE-1d, OAE-2 and OAE-3 are fairly discernible in the Cauvery Basin. The new isotopic palaeotemperature data suggests that southern India and Madagascar were located apparently in middle latitudes within the tropical-subtropical climatic zone during Atbian and early Maastrichtian. The magnitude of hiatus across K-Pg boundary varying from 0 to 30 Ma is estimated based on ptanktic foraminifera for subsurface sections. The magnetostratigraphy of outcrop sediments with rich fossil evidences reveals that magnetic polarity reversals consist of 13 mag- netozones in the Late Cretaceous sedimentary strata.