疑源类的早期辐射及其意义

通过对元古宙至寒武纪早期疑源类的分析研究表明：新元古代早期和晚期疑源类的辐射分别与全球范围内超级大陆（rodinia)形成及海洋中锶同位素^87Sr/^86Sr值显著上升，陆源物质增加，δ^13C值由负值转为正值的时期相吻合；早寒武世疑源类的辐射与超级大陆（pannotia)的形成、裂解对全球环境的影响有关。认为疑源类在早寒武世的适应辐射，改变了全球生物的营养结构，“中型浮游动物”对小个体棘刺疑源类的有效利用，可能是引发“寒武爆发”的原因之一。     

Oryctocephalops和Ovatoryctocara在我国台江的发现及意义

台江八郎、丹寨岩英等地的中-下寒武统凯里组下部地层中，发现了广泛分布于西伯利亚中寒武统下部的Oryctocephalops Lermontova，1940和Ovatoryctocara Techernysheva 1962.这一发现使Oryctocephalops及Ovatoryctocara分布的时代下限延伸至下寒武统顶部，分布范围扩大至亚洲南部；根据这一发现及原有Oryctocephalops和Ovatoryctocara的报导，推测该两属可能在早寒武世晚期起源于我国西南地区；它们的发现还使早寒武世亚太生物大区和西伯利亚过渡生物大区的差异减小，具有古生物学及古地理意义。     

扬子地台早寒武世早期小壳动物的古生态及其生物分区初探

文章讨论了早寒武世早期小壳动物的生存条件及几类常见软舌螺(Microcornus, Actinotheca, Neogloborilus, Paragloborilus, Adyshevitheca, Sulcavitus等)的生活环境及生存方式,并在古生态分析的基础上,对扬子地台早寒武世早期小壳动物的地理分区进行了探讨,提出扬子地台自西向东可分为三个不同的生物地理区,即底栖生物区;浮游、游泳、底栖生物混生区;浮游、游泳动物区。其分区界线大致与三叶虫的分区界线相吻合。     

亚洲东部的泥盆系

亚洲东部的泥盆系按其发育历史和分布,大致可以分成相对稳定的大陆大区和相对活动的陆间大区两类。亚洲东部共分成7大区(其中3个为大陆大区,4个为陆间大区)、13区、46分区、125小区。 泥盆纪亚洲东部有西伯利亚、华北—塔里木、印度、哈萨克斯坦、华南等大小不等、活动性质各异的13个古板块,当时它们当中的大多数板块都分布于赤道两侧的中、低纬度地区。 亚洲东部泥盆纪有6个古动物地理区,每一个区都与赤道暖流的不同分支相连系,但它们均同属于一个老世界域。 本文还分别对各个板块泥盆纪古地理的演化和10个全球性生物事件作了概要的阐述.     

滇东地区早寒武世磷块岩的藻类化石

滇东早寒武世磷块岩薄片中发现大量藻类化石。本文所讨论的磷质藻类化石主要有:球状藻类、丝状藻类、疑源类、叠层石类、核形石类和花纹石类(凝块石类)等27个属种(或型),它们构成各种颗粒磷块岩、叠层石磷块岩、藻丘磷块岩,是磷块岩富矿的主要组分,P_2O_5可达30—37％。这些多门类的藻类化石,为生物成磷作用和成矿环境提供了主要依据,也为震旦—寒武系界线划分提供了新的资料。     

东北地区早二叠世岩相古地理研究

利用野外地质剖面、关键钻井剖面和区域地质资料,在地层划分对比和构造格局研究基础上,运用沉积相分析的方法,探讨了东北地区早二叠世岩相古地理特征,将早二叠世分为阿瑟尔期-亚丁斯克期、空谷期两个编图单元进行岩相古地理编图,恢复了东北地区早二叠世的岩相古地理面貌。研究表明,早二叠世东北地区主要发育半深海沉积体系、浅海陆棚沉积体系、碳酸盐台地沉积体系、无障壁海岸沉积体系、障壁海岸沉积体系及河流沉积体系;阿瑟尔期-亚丁斯克期存在漠河古陆、松辽古陆、佳木斯古陆及华北北缘高地四个古陆,物源区碎屑物质供应充分,研究区为浅海、海陆交互及河流沉积区,周边古陆的格局;至空谷期,松辽古陆消失,研究区为浅海-半深海沉积,周边古陆的格局。     

鄂尔多斯盆地上三叠统延长组物源分析

根据重矿物组合、古流向和碎屑颗粒粒度等资料，对鄂尔多斯盆地上三叠统延长组物源区的母岩性质、物源方向及演变特征等进行了分析。结果表明：延长组沉积物主要来自两种类型的母岩，即深变质的结晶片岩和片麻岩、浅海相碎屑岩及碳酸盐岩；在延长组沉积早中期，主要物源来自北部和西南两个方向，而延长组沉积晚期，西南方向物源占优势，北部物源的影响明显减弱，而且物源南北分布特征明显。     

甘肃武威寒武纪大黄山组中疑源类的发现及地层意义

甘肃武威寒武纪大黄山组的时代归属一直模糊不清,通过对武威市西小井沟的寒武纪地层实测剖面的详细研究,首次在大黄山组剖面20层二云石英片岩和10层砂质绢云母板岩中采集到疑源类化石:具穴原始导管(Prototracheites porus)、光面球藻(未定种)(Leiosphaeridium sp.)、连球藻(未定种)(Synsphaeridium sp.)、多角片藻(Laminarites polygonalis)和不规则网关残片(Retinarites irregularis).这些化石组合是我国南方震旦纪-早寒武世地层中常出现的有机质碎片,更偏向早寒武世.结合区域地层对比和前人研究成果,认为甘肃武威寒武纪大黄山组的时代应为早寒武世.     

中国北方农牧交错带全新世环境演变与全球变化

从本区发育的古土壤层，泥炭层、古风沙层，冻融褶曲层序列及其交错分布规律，以及湖岸阶地，湖面变化，古植被和介形类化石组合等方面资料都表面本区经历了早全新世冷干，中全新世温湿，晚全新世温凉偏干的气候变化，在千所尺度上表现在２０００ａ左右的气候变化周期区环境演变的干湿冷暖序列，即与中国东部和西部的环境演变具有相似性，也具有与全球变化的同步性特点。．     

东北地区早石炭世岩相古地理研究

利用野外实测剖面资料和区域地质资料,在地层划分对比和构造格局研究的基础上,从点—线—面的沉积相分析入手,将早石炭世分为杜内期、维宪期—谢尔普霍夫期两个编图单元进行岩相古地理编图,恢复了东北地区早石炭世的岩相古地理面貌。研究表明,早石炭世东北地区主要发育台地沉积体系(其中,碳酸盐台地沉积体系主要在杜内期发育)、浅海陆棚沉积体系、障壁海岸沉积体系及河流沉积体系。研究区存在佳木斯、漠河和松辽三个主要的古陆区。杜内期,研究区可分为两个海区,北部称加格达奇—海拉尔海区,南部为东西向的锡林浩特—吉林海区;维宪期,研究区南部的兴安海槽呈一东西向狭窄的海域,海侵方向自东向西,一直可达内蒙古赤峰、敖汉旗一带,仍保持杜内期海域的特征;谢尔普霍夫期,研究区内大兴安岭强烈隆升,北部全部隆起,海域消失。     

The Early Paleozoic paleogeography of the North China block and the other major blocks of China

With the summarization of the Early Paleozoic paleomagnetic data recently obtained from the three major blocks of China, the Early Paleozoic (i.e. Cambrian and Ordovician) paleogeographic positions of the North China, South China and Tarim blocks were discussed in detail. The North China, South China and Tarim blocks were inferred to be located adjacent to East Gondwana in low latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere during the Early Cambrian. During the Early-Middle Ordovician, the South China and Tarim blocks were also located in low latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere with some affinities of the Gondwanaland, whereas the North China block may have episodically separated from the Gondwanaland, and might be sited close to the North America and Siberia. The reestablished paleogeographic configurations are in agreement with the studies on the biogeography, paleoclimate and sedimental facies of the North China and South China blocks.     

New data regarding acritarch biostratigraphy from the Early-Middle Cambrian Kaili Formation in Chuandong, Guizhou Province, China

Previous studies have evaluated acritarchs from the Balang and Pingzhai sections of the Early-Middle Cambrian Kaili Formation in east Guizhou, China. The results of these studies suggest that the acritarchs in these sections have potential biostratigraphic significance. More recently, 34 samples collected from 83m lower part of the Lower-Middle cambrian Kaili Formation in the Jianshan section of Chuandong, Guizhou Province were prepared for palynological analysis. Analysis of these samples revealed a distinct change in the acritarch assemblages at the bed, which was approximately 46m above the bottom of the Kaili Formation. These findings suggest a boundary represented by an important alteration of the ecological environment. In addition, the position of the acritarch biostratigraphic change is somewhat higher than the boundary between Cambrian Series 2 and Series 3 based on trilobites found in the same section. This indicates that the distinct change in acritarch assemblages is similar to the change in trilobite assemblages that occurs around the boundary between Cambrian Series 2 and Series 3. Therefore, acritarch biostratigraphy can provide data that can be used to define the base of Cambrian Series 3 in this region, and possibly worldwide.     

Hydrogen sulphide release to surface waters at the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary

Animal-like multicellular fossils appeared towards the end of the Precambrian, followed by a rapid increase in the abundance and diversity of fossils during the Early Cambrian period, an event also known as the 'Cambrian explosion'. Changes in the environmental conditions at the Precambrian/Cambrian transition (about 542 Myr ago) have been suggested as a possible explanation for this event, but are still a matter of debate. Here we report molybdenum isotope signatures of black shales from two stratigraphically correlated sample sets with a depositional age of around 542 Myr. We find a transient molybdenum isotope signal immediately after the Precambrian/Cambrian transition. Using a box model of the oceanic molybdenum cycle, we find that intense upwelling of hydrogen sulphide-rich deep ocean water best explains the observed Early Cambrian molybdenum isotope signal. Our findings suggest that the Early Cambrian animal radiation may have been triggered by a major change in ocean circulation, terminating a long period during which the Proterozoic ocean was stratified, with sulphidic deep water.     

Sponge fossil assemblage from the Early Cambrian Hetang Formation in southern Anhui

Abundant well-preserved large articulated sponge fossils and isolated spicules have been reported from the Early Cambrian Hetang Formation, southern Anhui Province. This unique epifaunal fossil assemblage dominated by articulated sponge fossils is called the Xidi Sponge Fauna. The sponge fauna lived in a quiet oxygenic environment below the storm wave base. Bloom of phytoplankton and rapid sedimentation rate resulted in the deposition of the black shales. Sufficient food supply, lack of other competitors, abundant ecological niches, and demand for oxygen during early Cambrian were in favor of the diversification and evolution of large sponges in the Early Cambrian.     

Sophisticated particle-feeding in a large Early Cambrian crustacean

Most Cambrian arthropods employed simple feeding mechanisms requiring only low degrees of appendage differentiation. In contrast, post-Cambrian crustaceans exhibit a wide diversity of feeding specializations and possess a vast ecological repertoire. Crustaceans are evident in the Cambrian fossil record, but have hitherto been known exclusively from small individuals with limited appendage differentiation. Here we describe a sophisticated feeding apparatus from an Early Cambrian arthropod that had a body length of several centimetres. Details of the mouthparts resolve this taxon as a probable crown-group (pan)crustacean, while its feeding style, which allowed it to generate and handle fine food particles, significantly expands the known ecological capabilities of Cambrian arthropods. This Early Cambrian record predates the major expansions of large-bodied, particle-handling crustaceans by at least one hundred million years, emphasizing the importance of ecological context in driving adaptive radiations.     

Inter-hemispheric comparison of climate change in the last millennium based on the ECHO-G simulation

The commonality and difference in the variations of temperature and precipitation between the Northern Hemisphere （NH） and Southern Hemispheres （SH） in the last millennium are investigated by analysis of the millennium simulation with the ECHO-G coupled climate model. The NH mean temperature variations are generally consistent with those of the SH counterpart on the interannual, decadal and centennial time scales. But, the transition times between the medieval warm period （MWP）, the little ice age （LIA）, and the present-day warm period （PWP） in the NH leads that in the SH; and the anomaly amplitude in the NH is significantly larger than the SH counterpart. For the precipitation variations, the NH mean precipitation varies in-phase with the SH mean precipitation on decadal and centennial scales （mainly in the mid-high latitudes） but out-of-phase on the interannual scale （mainly in the low latitudes）. During the MWP the warming has comparable amplitude in the NH and SH; however, during the PWP the NH warming is considerably stronger than the SH warming. Further, the present-day temperature rises in the NH high latitudes but decreases in the SH high latitudes, which is very different from the warming pattern during the MWP. Since during the MWP the greenhouse gases （GHG） concentration stayed at a low level, we infer that the present-day opposite temperature tendency in the high latitudes between the two hemispheres may be related to the increase of the GHG concentration.     

Biodiversity of Early-Middle Ordovician acritarchs and sea level changes in South China

Acritarchs are organic-walled cysts of unicellular pro- tists that cannot be assigned to any known group of or- ganisms. Most acritarchs are probably the resting cysts of marine eukaryotic phytoplankton. Because of their small size, abundance and diversity, as well as widespread distri- bution, acritarchs are very useful in biostratigraphic cor- relation, as well as paleobiogeographic and paleoenviron- mental studies. Furthermore, they represent the fossil re- cord of the base of the marine fo…     

Modern freshwater microbialite analogues for ancient dendritic reef structures

Microbialites are organosedimentary structures that can be constructed by a variety of metabolically distinct taxa. Consequently, microbialite structures abound in the fossil record, although the exact nature of the biogeochemical processes that produced them is often unknown. One such class of ancient calcareous structures, Epiphyton and Girvanella, appear in great abundance during the Early Cambrian. Together with Archeocyathids, stromatolites and thrombolites, they formed major Cambrian reef belts. To a large extent, Middle to Late Cambrian reefs are similar to Precambrian reefs, with the exception that the latter, including terminal Proterozoic reefs, do not contain Epiphyton or Girvanella. Here we report the discovery in Pavilion Lake, British Columbia, Canada, of a distinctive assemblage of freshwater calcite microbialites, some of which display microstructures similar to the fabrics displayed by Epiphyton and Girvanella. The morphologies of the modern microbialites vary with depth, and dendritic microstructures of the deep water (> 30 m) mounds indicate that they may be modern analogues for the ancient calcareous structures. These microbialites thus provide an opportunity to study the biogeochemical interactions that produce fabrics similar to those of some enigmatic Early Cambrian reef structures.     

Yangtzedonta and the early evolution of shelled molluscs

The holotype of Yangtzedonta Yu, 1985 and its type species, Y. primitiva Yu, 1985, is an incomplete specimen of Xianfengella prima He et Yang, 1982. Therefore, based on the principle of priority, the names Yangtzedonta and Y. primitiva Yu (1985) should be abandoned. The fact that ventral valve of Xianfengella is bilaterally symmetrical indicates that they are not the left valve of a bivalved mollusc, as originally proposed by Yu. At present, the oldest certain bivalve is Xianfengoconcha elliptica Zhang, which occurs in the Early Cambrian Qiongzhusi Stage in China. The oldest known rostroconch is Heraultipegma yunnanensis He et Yang, which first occurs in the third small shelly fossil assemblage zone of the Early Cambrian Meishucunian Stage. The oldest known monoplacophoran, Maikhanella pristinis (Jiang), first occurs in the first small shelly fossil assemblage zone (Meishucunian Stage). Evidence derived from analyses of shell morphology, mode of growth, histology, and stratigraphic occurrence suggests that bivalves evolved from a branch of rostroconchs, and that rostroconchs in turn evolved from a branch of monoplacophorans. The hypothesis that these three groups originated simultaneously and independently at the beginning of the Cambrian and subsequently evolved in parallel, probably is incorrect.     

阿拉伯半岛中南部上前寒武系至自垩系地层分布及特征

阿拉伯半岛中部和南部结晶基底之上最早的稳定沉积是前寒武纪晚期至早寒武世的断陷盆地沉积,以碳酸岩、碎屑岩和蒸发岩为特征。寒武系至下二叠统地层由陆源碎屑岩及少量碳酸岩组成。晚二叠世开始广泛海侵。以浅海灰岩为主,沉积范围向南扩展。三叠纪晚期至侏罗纪初期地壳上升剥蚀。侏罗系和白垩系地层以浅海碳酸岩为主,其间晚白垩世土伦期再次受到地壳运动影响。