Jurassic sedimentary evolution of southern Junggar Basin:Implication for palaeoclimate changes in northern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,China

Junggar Basin,located in northern Xinjiang,presents continuous and multikilometer-thick strata of the Jurassic deposits.The Jurassic was entirely terrestrial fluvial and lacustrine deltaic sedimentation.Eight outcrop sections across the Jurassic strata were measured at a resolution of meters in southern Junggar Basin.Controlling factors of sedimentary evolution and palaeoclimate changes in Junggar Basin during the Jurassic were discussed based on lithology,fossils and tectonic setting.In the Early to Middle Jurassic,the warm and wide Tethys Sea generated a strong monsoonal circulation over the central Asian continent,and provided adequate moisture for Junggar Basin.Coal-bearing strata of the Badaowan,Sangonghe,and Xishanyao Formations were developed under warm and humid palaeoclimate in Junggar Basin.In the late Middle Jurassic,Junggar Basin was in a semi-humid and semi-arid environment due to global warming event.Stratigraphy in the upper part of the Middle Jurassic with less plant fossils became multicolor or reddish from dark color sediments.During the Late Jurassic,collision of Lhasa and Qiangtang Block obstructed monsoon from the Tethys Sea.A major change in climate from semi-humid and semi-arid to arid conditions took place,and reddish strata of the Upper Jurassic were developed across Junggar Basin.

Linking evolutionary mode to palaeoclimate change reveals rapid radiations of staphylinoid beetles in low-energy conditions

Staphylinoidea(Insecta:Coleoptera)is one of the most species-rich groups in animals,but its huge diversity can hardly be explained by the popular hypothesis(co-radiation with angiosperms)that applies to phytophagous beetles.We estimated the evolutionary mode of staphylinoid beetles and investigated the relationship between the evolutionary mode and palaeoclimate change,and thus the factors underlying the current biodiversity pattern of staphylinoid beetles.Our results demonstrate that staphylinoid beetles originated at around the Triassic-Jurassic bound and the current higher level clades underwent rapid evolution(indicated by increased diversification rate and decreased body size disparity)in the Jurassic and in the Cenozoic,both with low-energy climate,and they evolved much slower during the Cretaceous with high-energy climate.Climate factors,especially low 02 and high C02,promoted the diversification rate and among-clade body size disparification in the Jurassic.In the Cenozoic,however,climate factors had negative associations with diversification rate but little with body size disparification.Our present study does not support the explosion of staphylinoid beetles as a direct outcome of the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution(KTR).We suppose that occupying and diversifying in refuge niches associated with litter may elucidate rapid radiations of staphylinoid beetles in low-energy conditions.

The Palaeoclimate Variations in the Central Plains Since the Interstade of the Last Glacial Stage

Through the study of a high-resolution loess record in the Central Plains, the short—term palaeoclimatic variations since the interstade of the last glacial stage have been discussed in this paper. The palaeoclimate in the East Asian monsoon areas shows different variation patterns in summer and winter. A correlation of the palaeomonsoon records of loess with the δ18O records of the ice core and deep sea is made, and some of the causes for their differences are also discussed.

Flood basalt hosted palaeosols:Potential palaeoclimatic indicators of global climate change

Since continental sediments （in addition to the marine geological record） offer important means of deciphering environmental changes, the sediments hosted by the successive flows of the continental flood basalt provinces of the world should be treasure houses in gathering the palaeoclimatic data. Palaeosols developed on top of basalt flows are potentially ideal for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions because it is easy to determine their protolith geochemistry and also they define a definite time interval. The present paper summarizes the nature of the basalt-hosted palaeosols formed on the flood basalts provinces from different parts of the ~lobe havin~ different ages.

Formation and evolution of sand deserts in Xinjiang, Northwest China：II. The palaeo-environmental reconstruction

Based on the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental evidences of geological history and human history periods, this paper reviews the researches and progresses on the development of the sandy deserts in Xinjiang. It pointed out that the features of tectonic structure in Xinjiang had made both the Tarim Basin and the Junggar Basin being influenced greatly by the foehn effects originated from the planetary wind system of westerly, the East Asian ocean-continental monsoon and the topographical mountain-valley winds. The regional patterns of climate and environment since the Quaternary were characterized by the overall persistent drought accompanied by fluctuations in the secondary scale. Formations of aeolian sediments in the basins and at the margins are a potential response to global climate change, particularly the aridification of the Asian hinterland deduced by the uprising of the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding highlands. For the question about the formation time of the Tak- lamakan Desert, because the research methods, objects and information carriers used in previous studies are different, there are many disputes in the academic circles at present. Evidences from aeolian deposits/rocks at the edge and in the hinterland of these sandy de- serts and their chronological data indicate that an arid climate and land surface aeolian processes have occurred at the edge of the Tarim Basin and its hinterland areas since the Tertiary period. However, the duration time of these processes at mass scale should have begun after the middle Pleistocene and lasted to the Holocene. Occurrence of dune fields in recent 2000 years in the oasis areas should be greatly influenced by human factors.