Cretaceous Oceanic Redbeds: Implications for Paleoclimatology and Paleoceanography

The Cretaceous is among the most unusual eras in the geological past. Geoscience communities have been having great concerns with geological phenomena within this period, for example carbonate platforms and black shales in the Early and Middle Cretaceous respectively, during the last decades. But few people have paid any attention to the set of pelagic redbeds lying on the black shales, not to mention the applications to paleoclimatology and paleoceanography. It is shown by the sedimentary records of redbeds, that they were deposited around the CCD, with both a higher content of iron and much lower concentrations of organic carbon, which implies conditions with a relatively high content of oxygen. Such redbeds occurred in the global oceans, mainly in the Tethyan realm, with different durations of deposition and a climax from the late Santonian to early Campanian. Global cooling and dramatic changes in ocean currents might help to increase the oxygen flux between the atmosphere and ocean, after the large scale organic carbon burial during the Middle Cretaceous, and therefore lead to the oxygenation of deep ocean and so the occurrence of late Cretaceous oceanic redbeds.

THE PALEOCURRENT PATTERN OF EARLY TERTIARY REDBEDS IN THE HOH XIL BASIN,NORTHERN TIBET PLATEAU:IMPLICATIONS FOR AN EARLY UPLIFT AND UNROOFING

We focus on early Cenozoic uplift, erosion and growth of northern Tibet plateau by reconstructing paleo\|drainage pattern in the Hoh Xil basin. Stratigraphical infilling sequences and lithic type orogenic basins are determined largely by contemporaneous tectonic activity. It is therefore reasonable to infer that paleoflow variability record give useful information about regional tectonic events. We now report paleocurrent data from outcrop measurement of 4 expedition profiles across the basin during 1997—1998.The west\|east trending Hoh Xil basin is the largest redbeds basin in northern Tibet plateau. It is 400km in axial length and has maximum width of 200km, which extends along Jin zone, separated the Qiangtang from the Bayankara block. It accommodates more than 5000m of terrestrial sediments during the Eocene to Oligocene dated by preliminary magnetostratigraphy and minor fossils.Detailed sedimentological observation and lithic facies associations analysis of the Eocene Fenghuoshan Group show to have evolved vertically from alluvial fan system in the lowest part, into stacked megasequences of coarsening\|upward fan\|delta system in the middle and upper part. The braided fluvial conglomeratic deposits occur at intervals along the basin margin and grade basin ward interbedded sandstone and mudstone. The Oligocene Yaxicuo Group is locally present and forms as laterally elongate sub\|basins, which is of a maximum thickness of 2000m, as seen in the Wudaoliang and the Hantaishan area. Alluvial fan associations in this sub\|basin in the proximal part adjacent to the southern faulted border and prograded northward to floodplain in distal part.

PROVENANCE OF LOWER TERTIARY REDBEDS IN HOH XIL BASIN AND UPLIFT OF NORTHERN TIBET PLATEAU

Eocene Fenghuoshan Group and lower Oligocene Yaxicuo Group are represented by mainly fluvial, lacustrine and fan\|deltaic redbeds cropping out in Hoh Xil basin, the largest redbed basin in northern Tibet plateau. Lithic sandstone, lithic quartzose sandstone, conglomerate, as well as siltstone, consist of the major rock composition of the redbeds. The petrography of sandstone and conglomerate reveals the relationship between regional tectonic uplift events and the provenance of lower Tertiary redbeds.The outcrop rock data show that the detritus were derived from sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks, and metamorphic rocks. Phyllite and quartzite rock fragments are most common in the metamorphic rock fragments .The sedimentary rock fragments are composed of chert, limestone, siltstone, and mudstone fragments. But volcanic rock fragments are minor and occasionally occur. In Hantaishan area, the northwestern part of Hoh Xil basin, clastic composition of sandstones and conglomerates testify to mainly southward and northeastward provenances. The metamorphic rock fragments, which are more common than volcanic and sedimentary rock fragments, can be directly correlated with metamorphic rock of Triassic metasedimentary Bayankara Group around the basin. In Fenghuoshan area, the southwestern part of the basin, there are less metamorphic rock fragment composition and more limestone fragments than in Hantaishan area.The limestone fragments were obviously derived from Carboniferous—Permian or Jurassic limestone beds. These limestone strata can not be found in the Bayankara block mass at which Hoh Xil basin locates, thus it is deduced that the limestone detritus were derived from the south, that is, Qiangtang blockmass.

REDBED RELATED GOLD DEPOSIT, LUBIN-SIEROSZOWICE COPPER DISTRICT, SW POLAND

Underground prospecting within the L ubin- Sieroszowice mining area which took place during last5 years,led to a discovery of a new type of Au,Pt and Pd mineralisation located 0 - 0 .5 m below the copper- silver orebody in the south- western part of the Polish Permian Basin.The gold- bearing zone lies mainly in the Weissliegendessandstone (L ower Permian) , butlocally transgresses the stratigraphic sequence into the overlying kupferschieferand Wer- ra limestone(Zechstein) .Gold deposit lies in a secondary red- coloured variety of the above mentioned sedimentary strata.The oxidation in the underlying sandstone is reflected by red spots and dots containing fine grains of hematite dispersed in a carbonate- clay matrix.The secondary oxidation is peneconcordant in relation to the reducing facies which contains cop- per sulphides and to the Rote Faule,thatis early diagenetic.Between redbeds(gold bearing zone) and black,reduced sediments (Kupferschiefer) ,a transition zone has been recognized. This transition zone is characterized by the low grade of copper mineralisation.Thickness of the gold depositvaries from few centimetresto1.5 metres with an average of about0 .2 5 me- tres.The highestthickness of Au- depositis observed in placeswhere oxide fronttransgress- es the copper- silver deposit.Gold content ranges from 0 .5 up to 10 6 ppm with an average grade of(0 .717- 3.491)× 10 -6depending on the counting block.Gold- bearing horizon is peneconcordantand is characterized by the presence of high fineness native gold,electrum, hematite,and minor pyrite,chalcopyrite,digenite,chalcocite,covellite,rammelsbergite, clausthalite and