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 Xiamaling Formation of 1.4–1.35 Ga in Jixian Section and adjoining areas represents a unique Ectasian Period(Mesoproterozoic)sedimentary sequence in the North China Craton(NCC).Studies carried out during the last...The Xiamaling Formation of 1.4–1.35 Ga in Jixian Section and adjoining areas represents a unique Ectasian Period(Mesoproterozoic)sedimentary sequence in the North China Craton(NCC).Studies carried out during the last decade have contributed significantly in improving our understanding about the Ectasian sedimentation tectonics in the NCC during this transitional interval between the breakup of Supercontinent Columbia and the assembly of Rodinia.The present study reports,for the first time,tuffite beds interlayered with carbonaceous-siliceous slate-phyllite in the upper Baishugou Formation(western Henan Province),at the southern margin of NCC.The LA-MC-ICPMS U-Pb geochronology of zircons from two tuffite samples has yielded almost identical ages of 1330±10 Ma(MSWD=0.43,N=38)and 1332±10 Ma(MSWD=0.90,N=24),that constrain a 1.33 Ga depositional age(Ectasian Period)for the Baishugou Formation.A close similarity in lithological characteristics and their respective superimposed lithostratigraphic relationships of the Baishugou and Xiamaling formations,underline a comparable depositional environment for them.The high-precision geochronology data on the Baishugou Formation would stimulate a relook into the Meso-Neoproterozoic chronostratigraphic framework of the NCC,and further research would lead to a comprehensive understanding of the geological evolution of the NCC during Ectasian Period and its correlation with analogous global events.展开更多
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supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41630211,41872198,41772028&41890834)。
文摘The Xiamaling Formation of 1.4–1.35 Ga in Jixian Section and adjoining areas represents a unique Ectasian Period(Mesoproterozoic)sedimentary sequence in the North China Craton(NCC).Studies carried out during the last decade have contributed significantly in improving our understanding about the Ectasian sedimentation tectonics in the NCC during this transitional interval between the breakup of Supercontinent Columbia and the assembly of Rodinia.The present study reports,for the first time,tuffite beds interlayered with carbonaceous-siliceous slate-phyllite in the upper Baishugou Formation(western Henan Province),at the southern margin of NCC.The LA-MC-ICPMS U-Pb geochronology of zircons from two tuffite samples has yielded almost identical ages of 1330±10 Ma(MSWD=0.43,N=38)and 1332±10 Ma(MSWD=0.90,N=24),that constrain a 1.33 Ga depositional age(Ectasian Period)for the Baishugou Formation.A close similarity in lithological characteristics and their respective superimposed lithostratigraphic relationships of the Baishugou and Xiamaling formations,underline a comparable depositional environment for them.The high-precision geochronology data on the Baishugou Formation would stimulate a relook into the Meso-Neoproterozoic chronostratigraphic framework of the NCC,and further research would lead to a comprehensive understanding of the geological evolution of the NCC during Ectasian Period and its correlation with analogous global events.
