The objectives of the present paper are to restore soil-forming environment of the Vertisols,to reveal their regularities of formation and evolution and to found soil chronology.In regard to formation and evolution of...The objectives of the present paper are to restore soil-forming environment of the Vertisols,to reveal their regularities of formation and evolution and to found soil chronology.In regard to formation and evolution of the Vertisols in the Huaibei Plain,they have undergone 3 cycles of deposition-formation during different geologic time (Q3^3;Q4^2 and Q4^3).Therefore,they are considered as the soils developed on heterogeneous parent material.The Vertisols as a paleosol can be divided into relict Vertisols and buried Vertisols.The former is shajiang black soils called by local people,the latter is shajiang black soils underlying Warp soil or warp soil horizon.展开更多
Setting up the hypostratotype of late Precambrian is the main aim of the research on the Meso- and Neoproterozoic in North China. The chronostratigraphic position is the key in this study. However, many key horizons h...Setting up the hypostratotype of late Precambrian is the main aim of the research on the Meso- and Neoproterozoic in North China. The chronostratigraphic position is the key in this study. However, many key horizons have not been calibrated with the high-quafity isotopic ages. Using the reported new U-Pb age with the Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe （SHRIMP Ⅱ）, a zircon U- Pb age was obtained of the ash bed in the Xiamaling Formation in North China Plate, yielding a weighted mean ^206pb/^238U age of 1368±12 Ma. It is the first SHRIMP U-Pb age from the Xiamaling Formation in the North China Plate, and represents the depositing time of the middle part of the Xiamaling Formation. The zircon age plays an important role to understanding geological evolution of the North China Plate during Meso- and Neoproterozoic.展开更多
The Linxi Formation occupies an extensive area in the eastern Inner Mongolia in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt （CAOB）. The Linxi Formation is composed of slate, siltstone, sandstone and plant, lamellibranch microfo...The Linxi Formation occupies an extensive area in the eastern Inner Mongolia in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt （CAOB）. The Linxi Formation is composed of slate, siltstone, sandstone and plant, lamellibranch microfossils in the associated strata. Major and trace element data （including REE） for sandstones from the formation indicate that these rocks have a greywacke protolith and have been deposited during a strong tectonic activity. LA-ICPMS U-Pb dating of detrital zircons yield ages of 1801 to 238 Ma for four samples from the Linxi Formation. 425-585 Ma, together with the ~500 Ma age for the metamorphism event previously determined for Northeast China, indicates that their provenance is the metamorphic rocks of Pan-African age that have a tectonic affinity to NE China. A few older zircons with U-Pb ages at 1689-1801 Ma, 1307 1414 Ma, 593-978 Ma are also present, revealing the Neoproterozoic history of NE China. The youngest population shows a peak at ca. 252 Ma, suggesting that the main deposition of the Linxi Formation was at late Permain. Moreover, the ca. 250 Ma zircon grains of all four samples yield weighted mean ^206pb/^238U ages of 250 ± 3 Ma, 248 ± 3 Ma, 249 ± 3 Ma, and 250 ± 2 Ma, respectively. These ages, together with the youngest zircon age in the sample ZJB-28 （ca. 238 Ma）, suggest that the deposition of the Linxi Formation extended to the early Triassic. Combining with previous results, we suggest that the final collision of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt （CAOB） in the southern of Linxi Formation, which located in the Solonker-Xra Moron-Changchun suture, and the timing for final collision should be at early Triassic.展开更多
On the basis of petrogeochemical data, the volcanic lavas of the Baimianxia Formation can be classified into two units： high TiO2 and low TiO2. The TiO2 concentration of the former is generally higher than 1%, which ...On the basis of petrogeochemical data, the volcanic lavas of the Baimianxia Formation can be classified into two units： high TiO2 and low TiO2. The TiO2 concentration of the former is generally higher than 1%, which occurs in the lower part with high-grade metamorphism, but the latter is less than 1% and crops out in the upper part with low-grade metamorphism. The high-TiO2 unit is dominated by tholeiitic lavas showing high rare earth element （REE） contents （~REE = 83.4-180.8 pg/ g）, high light/heavy REE （LREE/HREE） ratios （LREE/HREE=2.17-5.85） and weak negative Eu anomaly （Eu=0.79-1.01）. Its trace element patterns display weak Nb-Ta anomalies with respect to Th, K, La, Ce, showing within-plate basalt affinities. In contrast, the low-TiO2 unit is characterized by low REE contents, low LREE/HREE ratios, and pronounced Nb-Ta anomalies, indicating typical arc or continental arc signature. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns of basalts and andesites from the Sanwan Formation are flat or LREE depletion, which is very similar to normal mid-oceanic basalt. Therefore, we suggest that these lavas should be formed in a back-arc basin setting. Sr-Nd isotopic data of the basalt in the lower part suggest that the rocks would have been formed in ~1144 Ma. Based on the geochemical and isotopic features of the basalts, we suggest that these rocks in the low part of the Baimianxia Formation should originate from an asthenospheric oceanic-island basalt-like mantle source, which may be produced by partial melting of garnet lherzolite, and significantly underwent fractional crystallization and crustal or lithospheric mantle contamination en route to the surface. However, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry zircon U-Pb dating of the basalt sample from the upper part of the Baimianxia Formation gives a 437 Ma, indicating a Early Paleozoic age. The geochemical analysis in this paper suggests that they may originate from an arc or continental arc in response to aqueous fluids or melt expelled from a subducting slab, and the partial melting occurred in the garnet stability field. The samples of basalts and andesites in the Sanwan Formation show they are derived from depleted mantle source similar to normal mid-oceanic basalt. Finally, we can conclude that the lavas in the lower part of the Baimianxia Formation represent the geological records of rift-related volcanism in the middle Proterozoic, which is commonly considered to be the precursor of continental breakup and followed by oceanic basin forming from Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic. Whereas, the lavas in upper part of the Baimianxia Formation and Sanwan Formations may have been generated by the oceanic and continental conversion that occurred in the early Paleozoic.展开更多
The Port Island Formation(PIF), a typical Cretaceous red bed in Hong Kong, is dominated by non-fossiliferous, reddish clastic rocks, making it difficult to determine the sedimentary age of PIF precisely. Previous stud...The Port Island Formation(PIF), a typical Cretaceous red bed in Hong Kong, is dominated by non-fossiliferous, reddish clastic rocks, making it difficult to determine the sedimentary age of PIF precisely. Previous studies assigned the PIF to Late Cretaceous provisionally only on the basis of its stratigraphic sequence and lithology. This study identified a tuffite interlayer in the PIF and a zircon UPb age of 128.2±2.7 Ma by LA-ICP-MS method was obtained. It’s the first time to date the depositional age of the PIF with a reliable chronological constraint. With the support of stratigraphic evidence, we concluded that the geological age of PIF should be Early Cretaceous rather than Late Cretaceous. Based on the volcanic history of Hong Kong and Southeast China and the distribution of the PIF in Mirs Bay, it is believed that there was no volcanic activity in Hong Kong in ca. 128 Ma. The tuffite interlayer discovered in PIF was formed by the deposition of volcanic ash, which might originate from remote region outside Hong Kong, in an aquatic environment on Port Island. The identification of the tuffite interlayer, as the response to a volcanic event, has great significance not only to the studies of establishment and regional correlation of the strata system and the geological evolution in Hong Kong,but also to the study of volcanic activities in Southeast China.展开更多
The vast expanse of Mesozoic igneous rocks in Hong Kong contain important geological records of late Mesozoic magmatic events and tectonic processes from the coastal region of Southeast China. Of these,the Ping Chau F...The vast expanse of Mesozoic igneous rocks in Hong Kong contain important geological records of late Mesozoic magmatic events and tectonic processes from the coastal region of Southeast China. Of these,the Ping Chau Formation in the northwestern New Territories is the youngest known stratum. We perform a detailed study of the volcanic rocks of the Ping Chau Formation utilizing zircon U-Pb dating,with major and trace elements geochemistry. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb data reveal Early Cretaceous age from two volcanic rock samples, with zircon crystallization from magmas at 140.3 ± 0.8 Ma and 139.3 ± 0.9 Ma,respectively. These rocks have high contents of total alkalis(Na_2O + K_2O = 5.58-9.45 wt.%), high-field-strength elements and light rare earth elements, conspicuous negative Eu anomalies, and depletions in Nb, Ta, Ti, Sr, Ba and P. Using this data, in combination with previous studies on the late Mesozoic volcanic belt in Southeast China, we propose that the volcanic rocks of the Ping Chau Formation probably originated from deep melting of the crust in a back-arc extensional setting induced by the subduction of the paleo-Pacific Plate. This formation represents the final stages of Early Cretaceous volcanic activity in Hong Kong, as associated with large-scale lithospheric extension, thinning and magmatism. Our results provide new information that can be used in evaluating the significance of Early Cretaceous volcanism and tectonics in Southeast China.展开更多
The Balakot Formation foreland basin sediments, located in the Hazara\|Kashmir syntaxis, Pakistan, consist of a >8km thick succession of clastic red beds and calcrete, interpreted as deposited in a tidal environmen...The Balakot Formation foreland basin sediments, located in the Hazara\|Kashmir syntaxis, Pakistan, consist of a >8km thick succession of clastic red beds and calcrete, interpreted as deposited in a tidal environment. Within this sequence are intercalated four distinct grey fossiliferous marl and silt units, 20～60m thick, dated at Late Palaeocene to Mid Eocene (Bossart & Ottiger 1989). Thus the Balakot Formation has been interpreted as the oldest continental foreland basin deposits and has been used to determine the timing of India\|Eurasia collision (Rowley 1996) which has implications for the degree of diachroneity of collision (Burbank et al. 1996; Uddin and Lundberg 1998) and rapidity of metamorphism (Treloar 1997), to interpret the palaeotectonics and palaeogeography of the mountain belt (Critelli and Garzanti 1994; Pivnik and Wells 1996), understand the relationship between mountain belt evolution and exhumation processes (Treloar et al. 1991) and construct models of foreland basin evolution and geometry (DeCelles et al. 1998; Burbank et al 1996).展开更多
The age of the volcanic rocks of the Mount Bowles Formation (MBF) on the eastern part of Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is redetermined by using 40Ar/39Ar and laser microarea isochron age dating...The age of the volcanic rocks of the Mount Bowles Formation (MBF) on the eastern part of Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is redetermined by using 40Ar/39Ar and laser microarea isochron age dating method with a continuous laser system and mass spectrometer. The isochron ages of an andesite sample and a basaltic andesite sample are (105.62±2.11) Ma and (111.48±2.23) Ma with the 40Ar/36Ar initial ratios of 295.3 and 294.6 respectively, being almost the same as the atmospheric value, which proves that there exists no excess argon in these rocks. The 40Ar/39Ar plateau age of an aplite sample is (96.7±1.6) Ma and the calculated isochron age is 96.6 Ma, which indicates that the aplite occurred after lava eruption. These data suggest that the MBF volcanic rocks were formed during Cretaceous.展开更多
文摘The objectives of the present paper are to restore soil-forming environment of the Vertisols,to reveal their regularities of formation and evolution and to found soil chronology.In regard to formation and evolution of the Vertisols in the Huaibei Plain,they have undergone 3 cycles of deposition-formation during different geologic time (Q3^3;Q4^2 and Q4^3).Therefore,they are considered as the soils developed on heterogeneous parent material.The Vertisols as a paleosol can be divided into relict Vertisols and buried Vertisols.The former is shajiang black soils called by local people,the latter is shajiang black soils underlying Warp soil or warp soil horizon.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.40621002 and Grant No.2006FY120300-1)the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in university(Grant No.IRT0546).
文摘Setting up the hypostratotype of late Precambrian is the main aim of the research on the Meso- and Neoproterozoic in North China. The chronostratigraphic position is the key in this study. However, many key horizons have not been calibrated with the high-quafity isotopic ages. Using the reported new U-Pb age with the Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe （SHRIMP Ⅱ）, a zircon U- Pb age was obtained of the ash bed in the Xiamaling Formation in North China Plate, yielding a weighted mean ^206pb/^238U age of 1368±12 Ma. It is the first SHRIMP U-Pb age from the Xiamaling Formation in the North China Plate, and represents the depositing time of the middle part of the Xiamaling Formation. The zircon age plays an important role to understanding geological evolution of the North China Plate during Meso- and Neoproterozoic.
基金funded by grants from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology(Grant No.2013CB429802)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41390441,41190075, and 41272241)the Chinese Geological Survey(Grant No. 1212011120153)
文摘The Linxi Formation occupies an extensive area in the eastern Inner Mongolia in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt （CAOB）. The Linxi Formation is composed of slate, siltstone, sandstone and plant, lamellibranch microfossils in the associated strata. Major and trace element data （including REE） for sandstones from the formation indicate that these rocks have a greywacke protolith and have been deposited during a strong tectonic activity. LA-ICPMS U-Pb dating of detrital zircons yield ages of 1801 to 238 Ma for four samples from the Linxi Formation. 425-585 Ma, together with the ~500 Ma age for the metamorphism event previously determined for Northeast China, indicates that their provenance is the metamorphic rocks of Pan-African age that have a tectonic affinity to NE China. A few older zircons with U-Pb ages at 1689-1801 Ma, 1307 1414 Ma, 593-978 Ma are also present, revealing the Neoproterozoic history of NE China. The youngest population shows a peak at ca. 252 Ma, suggesting that the main deposition of the Linxi Formation was at late Permain. Moreover, the ca. 250 Ma zircon grains of all four samples yield weighted mean ^206pb/^238U ages of 250 ± 3 Ma, 248 ± 3 Ma, 249 ± 3 Ma, and 250 ± 2 Ma, respectively. These ages, together with the youngest zircon age in the sample ZJB-28 （ca. 238 Ma）, suggest that the deposition of the Linxi Formation extended to the early Triassic. Combining with previous results, we suggest that the final collision of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt （CAOB） in the southern of Linxi Formation, which located in the Solonker-Xra Moron-Changchun suture, and the timing for final collision should be at early Triassic.
基金support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos40872061)National Science Fundamental Project(Grant No 2006BAB01A11)Land and Resources Survey Project of China(Grant Nos1212010611804,1212010610319)
文摘On the basis of petrogeochemical data, the volcanic lavas of the Baimianxia Formation can be classified into two units： high TiO2 and low TiO2. The TiO2 concentration of the former is generally higher than 1%, which occurs in the lower part with high-grade metamorphism, but the latter is less than 1% and crops out in the upper part with low-grade metamorphism. The high-TiO2 unit is dominated by tholeiitic lavas showing high rare earth element （REE） contents （~REE = 83.4-180.8 pg/ g）, high light/heavy REE （LREE/HREE） ratios （LREE/HREE=2.17-5.85） and weak negative Eu anomaly （Eu=0.79-1.01）. Its trace element patterns display weak Nb-Ta anomalies with respect to Th, K, La, Ce, showing within-plate basalt affinities. In contrast, the low-TiO2 unit is characterized by low REE contents, low LREE/HREE ratios, and pronounced Nb-Ta anomalies, indicating typical arc or continental arc signature. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns of basalts and andesites from the Sanwan Formation are flat or LREE depletion, which is very similar to normal mid-oceanic basalt. Therefore, we suggest that these lavas should be formed in a back-arc basin setting. Sr-Nd isotopic data of the basalt in the lower part suggest that the rocks would have been formed in ~1144 Ma. Based on the geochemical and isotopic features of the basalts, we suggest that these rocks in the low part of the Baimianxia Formation should originate from an asthenospheric oceanic-island basalt-like mantle source, which may be produced by partial melting of garnet lherzolite, and significantly underwent fractional crystallization and crustal or lithospheric mantle contamination en route to the surface. However, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry zircon U-Pb dating of the basalt sample from the upper part of the Baimianxia Formation gives a 437 Ma, indicating a Early Paleozoic age. The geochemical analysis in this paper suggests that they may originate from an arc or continental arc in response to aqueous fluids or melt expelled from a subducting slab, and the partial melting occurred in the garnet stability field. The samples of basalts and andesites in the Sanwan Formation show they are derived from depleted mantle source similar to normal mid-oceanic basalt. Finally, we can conclude that the lavas in the lower part of the Baimianxia Formation represent the geological records of rift-related volcanism in the middle Proterozoic, which is commonly considered to be the precursor of continental breakup and followed by oceanic basin forming from Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic. Whereas, the lavas in upper part of the Baimianxia Formation and Sanwan Formations may have been generated by the oceanic and continental conversion that occurred in the early Paleozoic.
基金supported by the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (2017085)geological survey program of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (AFCD/SQ/92/14)
文摘The Port Island Formation(PIF), a typical Cretaceous red bed in Hong Kong, is dominated by non-fossiliferous, reddish clastic rocks, making it difficult to determine the sedimentary age of PIF precisely. Previous studies assigned the PIF to Late Cretaceous provisionally only on the basis of its stratigraphic sequence and lithology. This study identified a tuffite interlayer in the PIF and a zircon UPb age of 128.2±2.7 Ma by LA-ICP-MS method was obtained. It’s the first time to date the depositional age of the PIF with a reliable chronological constraint. With the support of stratigraphic evidence, we concluded that the geological age of PIF should be Early Cretaceous rather than Late Cretaceous. Based on the volcanic history of Hong Kong and Southeast China and the distribution of the PIF in Mirs Bay, it is believed that there was no volcanic activity in Hong Kong in ca. 128 Ma. The tuffite interlayer discovered in PIF was formed by the deposition of volcanic ash, which might originate from remote region outside Hong Kong, in an aquatic environment on Port Island. The identification of the tuffite interlayer, as the response to a volcanic event, has great significance not only to the studies of establishment and regional correlation of the strata system and the geological evolution in Hong Kong,but also to the study of volcanic activities in Southeast China.
基金funded by the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Investigation Program (Grant No. AFCD/SQ/92/14)
文摘The vast expanse of Mesozoic igneous rocks in Hong Kong contain important geological records of late Mesozoic magmatic events and tectonic processes from the coastal region of Southeast China. Of these,the Ping Chau Formation in the northwestern New Territories is the youngest known stratum. We perform a detailed study of the volcanic rocks of the Ping Chau Formation utilizing zircon U-Pb dating,with major and trace elements geochemistry. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb data reveal Early Cretaceous age from two volcanic rock samples, with zircon crystallization from magmas at 140.3 ± 0.8 Ma and 139.3 ± 0.9 Ma,respectively. These rocks have high contents of total alkalis(Na_2O + K_2O = 5.58-9.45 wt.%), high-field-strength elements and light rare earth elements, conspicuous negative Eu anomalies, and depletions in Nb, Ta, Ti, Sr, Ba and P. Using this data, in combination with previous studies on the late Mesozoic volcanic belt in Southeast China, we propose that the volcanic rocks of the Ping Chau Formation probably originated from deep melting of the crust in a back-arc extensional setting induced by the subduction of the paleo-Pacific Plate. This formation represents the final stages of Early Cretaceous volcanic activity in Hong Kong, as associated with large-scale lithospheric extension, thinning and magmatism. Our results provide new information that can be used in evaluating the significance of Early Cretaceous volcanism and tectonics in Southeast China.
文摘The Balakot Formation foreland basin sediments, located in the Hazara\|Kashmir syntaxis, Pakistan, consist of a >8km thick succession of clastic red beds and calcrete, interpreted as deposited in a tidal environment. Within this sequence are intercalated four distinct grey fossiliferous marl and silt units, 20～60m thick, dated at Late Palaeocene to Mid Eocene (Bossart & Ottiger 1989). Thus the Balakot Formation has been interpreted as the oldest continental foreland basin deposits and has been used to determine the timing of India\|Eurasia collision (Rowley 1996) which has implications for the degree of diachroneity of collision (Burbank et al. 1996; Uddin and Lundberg 1998) and rapidity of metamorphism (Treloar 1997), to interpret the palaeotectonics and palaeogeography of the mountain belt (Critelli and Garzanti 1994; Pivnik and Wells 1996), understand the relationship between mountain belt evolution and exhumation processes (Treloar et al. 1991) and construct models of foreland basin evolution and geometry (DeCelles et al. 1998; Burbank et al 1996).
文摘The age of the volcanic rocks of the Mount Bowles Formation (MBF) on the eastern part of Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is redetermined by using 40Ar/39Ar and laser microarea isochron age dating method with a continuous laser system and mass spectrometer. The isochron ages of an andesite sample and a basaltic andesite sample are (105.62±2.11) Ma and (111.48±2.23) Ma with the 40Ar/36Ar initial ratios of 295.3 and 294.6 respectively, being almost the same as the atmospheric value, which proves that there exists no excess argon in these rocks. The 40Ar/39Ar plateau age of an aplite sample is (96.7±1.6) Ma and the calculated isochron age is 96.6 Ma, which indicates that the aplite occurred after lava eruption. These data suggest that the MBF volcanic rocks were formed during Cretaceous.
