Constraining the Ediacaran oceanic dissolved organic carbon reservoir: Insights from carbon isotopic records from a drill core from South China

The evolution of the atmospheric oxygen content through Earth’s history is a key issue in paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental research. There were at least two oxygenation events in the Precambrian that involved fundamental changes in both biotic innovation and the surface environment. However, a large dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool maintained in deep oceans during the Neoproterozoic may have extended the time interval between the two oxygenation events. To test the DOC hypothesis, we conducted detailed micro-drilled analyses of carbonate carbon isotopes (δ13C_carb) of a long Ediacaran drill core (the Wangji drill core), for which whole-rock δ13C_carb and organic carbon isotope (δ13C_org) records were available. The micro-drilled δ13C_carb values obtained in this study are consistent with whole-rock δ13C_carb results, precluding the influence of severe authigenic carbonate incorporation. Importantly, the multiple negative δ13C_carb excursions in the Wangji drill core were likely linked with upwelling events, during which DOC was supplied to the surface water and oxidized. Using box models, we estimate that ~3.6 × 1019 mol and ~2.0 × 1019 mol DOC were converted to bicarbonate during two negative δ13C_carb excursions spanning millions of years. The estimations are approximately 1000 times the modern marine DOC reservoir. Our results support a relatively high oxidation capacity (elevated atmospheric pO₂ and/or oceanic [begin{document}${rm{SO}}_4^{2 - }$end{document}]) of the Earth’s surface during the early Ediacaran Period.     

Paleoproductivity records for the past 30 ka in the southern Nansha area, the South China Sea

This note presents productivity variations for the past 30 ka in the southern Nansha area, the South China Sea, from the gravity core 17962 (7°11′N, 112° 5′E, core length: 8 m, water depth: 1 968 m). Estimated surface productivity demonstrates that at the last glacial maximum the productivity was about 1.6 times as much as that in the Holocene, and the change may be ascribed to an increase of terrestrial nutrients as sea level lowered in the glacial time.     

Changes in South Asian monsoon: New high-resolution paleoclimatic records from Tibet, China

High-resolution pollen records from 6 small lakes in the Tibetan Plateau provided the details of evolution of South Asian monsoon since the Last Glacial Maximum. Prior to 16 kaBP, the region was a desert-steppe characterized by cold and dry climates, the January temperature was 7 -10℃lower than that of present and the annual precipitation only accounted for 40% of the present. The temperature and precipitation increased gradually and trees began to live in the region after 12 kaBP, but during the interval from 9.2 to 6.3 kaBP, forest and forest-meadow appeared occasionally. From 8 to 5 kaBP, both January and July temperature was 2-3℃ higher and annual precipitation was also about 200 mm higher than that of the present. After 5 kaBP, temperature and precipitation decreased linearly and steppe vegetation began to degenerate.     

十万大山地区下-中泥盆统白云岩成岩层序地层学研究

以广西十万大山地区下-中泥盆统白云岩为研究对象,在白云岩层序地层划分、白云岩或白云石成因类型认识的基础上,探索了白云岩成因类型发育与层序地层的关系,建立了区内下-中泥盆统层序地层框架内的白云石化作用模式,即高水位体系域晚期发育蒸发泵和渗透回流白云石化作用模式,Ⅰ型层序不整合界面期间发育大气水-海水混合白云石化作用模式;进一步探索了此种背景下,受层序和白云石化作用的控制,白云岩储层的发育分布特征,对于指导油气勘探有重要意义.     

Crustal activities recorded in coral reefs in the northwestern South China Sea

Coral reefs in the northwest of South China Sea have recorded the information from not only the environmental variation but also the crustal activities there during their development. The main crustal activities correlated with the coral reef development include fault, seismic, and volcano activities, etc. The high-resolution spark seismic profiles in the northwestern South China Sea show that the fault activities in the coral reef region have been clearly recorded, and appear as neonatal faults incising reefs. Earthquakes in the coral reef region are rather intense, especially the two occurring on December, 31, 1994, and January, 10, 1995, around the southwest of Leizhou Peninsula, with the magnitude of 6.1 and 6.2, respectively. They have great influence on the growth of the local coral reefs. Quaternary volcanos are active in the northwestern South China Sea, especially around the southwest of Leizhou Peninsula, and they have obvious control of the coral reef development. Some submarine volcanoes form the substrates of coral reef, while a few emerge above the sea surface and form coral islands.     

Petrology, geochemistry and geodynamics of basic granulite from the Altay area, North Xinjiang, China

The basic granulite of the Altay orogenic belt occurs as tectonic lens in the Devonian medium- to lower-grade metamorphic beds through fault contact. The Altay granulite (AG) is an amphibole plagioclase two-pyroxene granulite and is mainly composed of two pyroxenes, plagioclase, amphibole and biotite. Its melano-minerals are rich in Mg/(Mg Fe^2 ),and its amphibole and biotite are rich in TiO2. The AG is rich in Mg/(Mg Fe^2 ), Al2O3 and depletion of U, Th and Rbcontents. The AG has moderate ∑REE and LREE-enriched with weak positive Eu anomaly. The AG shows island-arc pattern with negative Nb, P and Ti anomalies, reflecting that formation of the AG may be associated with subduction. Geochemical and mineral composition data reflect that the protolith of the AG is calc-alkaline basalt and formed by granulite facies metamorphism having peak P-T conditions of 750℃-780℃ and 0.6-0.7 Gpa. The AG formation underwent two stages was suggested. In the early stage of oceanic crustal subduction, calc-alkaline basalt with island-arc environment underwent granulite facies metamorphism to form the AG in deep crust, and in the late stage, the AG was thrust into the upper crust.     

Glycerol ether biomarkers and their carbon isotopic compositions in a cold seep carbonate chimney from the Shenhu area,northern South China Sea

At modern cold seeps,the anaerobic oxidation of methane(AOM)is the dominant pathway for methane consumption in marine sediments.AOM,which is mediated by a consortium of methane oxidizing archaea and sulfate reducing bacteria,is proposed to be responsible for authigenic carbonate formation.A methane-derived carbonate chimney was collected from the Shenhu area, northern South China Sea.The membrane lipids and their very low carbon isotopic compositions(?115‰to?104‰)in the Shenhu chimney suggest the presence of an AOM process.Three specific archaeal and bacterial biomarkers were detected,including Ar,DAGE 1f,and monocyclic MDGD.Their strongly depleted??13C values(?115‰to?104‰),which are lower than those of the normal marine lipids in sediments,reveal biogenic methane as their origin.The carbonate deposits exhibiting a chimney structure indicate that a vigorous methane-rich fluid expulsion may have occurred at the seafloor.We propose that the decomposition of gas hydrates at depth is the likely cause of seepage and cold seep carbonate formation in the Shenhu area.     

Nd isotopic variations and its implications in the recent sediments from the northern South China Sea

The chondrite-normalized REE distribution patterns in recent sediments from the northern South China Sea and surrounding areas are similar, with the HREE values being almost equal to or slightly higher, and the La_N/Lu_N ratio being lower, than PAAS standards. However, samples from the Xijiang River, a major branch of the Pearl River system, show opposite trends, i.e., with slightly lower HREE values and higher La_N/Lu_N ratio than PAAS. The distribution of Nd isotopes in sediments from the northern South China Sea was controlled by the Pearl River and the inshore area of South China, respectively. The volume of ε_Nd(0) from inshore areas of southern China is apparently higher than that from the Pearl River, and ε_Nd(0) values in offshore sediments and Taiwan Island are between these values. The results clearly show that ε_Nd(0) volume in the northeastern South China Sea is higher than in the southwest part of the northern South China Sea, indicating different source rock types. The main source rock of the Pearl River sediment is carbonate types and affects sediment deposition in the southwest of the northern South China Sea, while the source rock in the inshore area of southern China, mainly Mesozoic and Cenozoic granites, contributes to sediments in the northeastern area of the northern South China Sea. Due to different source rock types, the HREE values and the volume of ε_Nd(0) in recent sediments supplied by the inshore area of southern China are higher than those from the Pearl River. Over 80% of the rapidly accumulated sediments on the northern slope of the South China Sea in the southeast of Dongsha Islands area were derived from Taiwan Island and from inshore areas of South China, with only less than 20% from the Pearl River. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40276019, 40238060 and 40621063), and National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2007CB819501)     

Carbon isotopic record of foraminifers in surface sediments from the South China Sea and its significance

Since the 1990s, the papers and data involved withthe South China Sea (SCS) have been emerging in largenumbers in the world as people pay more attention to thepaleoceanography of the SCS. There have been more than100 cores mentioned in papers containing p…     

Hf isotopic composition of zircons from the Huashan-Guposhan intrusive complex and their mafic enclaves in northeastern Guangxi: Implication for petrogenesis

High precision zircon U-Pb dating indicates that main intrusive bodies (Tong'an,Niumiao,Huashan,Lisong),and a mafic microgranular enclave in the Huashan-Guposhan complex were formed at 160-163 Ma.The εHf(t) values of zircons from the Huashan granite vary from -2.8 to +0.3 and those from the Lisong granite vary from -2.3 to +0.3,which are obviously different with those values (+2.6 to +7.4) of the mafic enclaves from the Lisong granite.These Hf isotopic data indicate that the mafic enclaves and host granites...     

Thirty million year deep-sea records in the South China Sea

In the spring of 1999 the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 184 Shipboard Party cored 17 holes at 6 deep water sites in the northern and southern parts of the South China Sea (SCS). Chinese scientists actively participated in the entire process of this first deep-sea drilling leg off China, from proposal to post-cruise studies. More than 30 categories of analyses have been conducted post-cruise in various Chinese laboratories on a large number of core samples, and the total number of analyses exceeded 60 thousand.The major scientific achievements of the Leg 184 studies are briefly reported in three successive papers, with the first one presented here dealing with deep-sea stratigraphy and evolution of climate cycles. This ODP leg has established the best deep-sea stratigraphic sequences in the Western Pacific: the 23-Ma isotope sequence from the Dong-Sha area is unique worldwide because of its continuity; the last 5-Ma sequence from the Nansha area represents one of the best 4 ODP sites worldwide with the highest time-resolution for that time interval, and the sequences of physical properties enable a decadal-scale time resolution. All these together have provided for the first time high-quality marine records for paleoenvi-ronmental studies in the Asian-Pacific region. This new set of stratigraphic records has revealed changes in climate cyclicity over the last 20 Ma with the fluctuating power of the 100 ka, 400 ka, 2000 ka eccentricity cycles, indicating the evolving response of the climate system to orbital forcing along with the growth of the Antarctic and Northern Hemisphere ice sheets.     

Turbidite deposition in the southern South China Sea during the last glacial: Evidence from grain-size and major elements records

High-resolution grain size and major element geochemical measurements were performed on the marine sediments of Core MD05-2895 to help understand the formation of turbidite sequences. Grain-size results show that these turbidite sediments contain more coarse sediment grains than normal marls. The coarse sediment grains are mostly derived from relict sediments on the Sunda Shelf. Relict sediments are composed mainly of quartz, feldspar, tephra and a few titaniferous or ferruginous heavy minerals. Corresponding to the concentration of these minerals, increases in Si/Al, K/Al, Ti/Al and Fe/Al ratios are observed in the turbidite layers. As all the observed turbidite sequences were deposited during the last glacial, the occurrence of these turbidity events is implied to be closely related to instabilities in sea-level-induced sediment supply. We suggest that deposition of sediment particles from a single turbidity current is usually controlled by a counterbalance between gravity and buoyancy, with the interaction of individual grains being of minor importance.     

内蒙古中部宝力高庙组长英质火山岩U-Pb-Hf同位素特征及其地质意义

锆石SHRIMP U-Pb定年结果显示: 内蒙古中部白音乌拉地区原宝力高庙组的流纹岩形成时代为300.0±2.9 Ma, 属晚石炭世; 青格勒宝拉格地区原宝力高庙组的凝灰岩结晶年龄为159.6±1.4 Ma, 并获得 3颗捕获锆石的年龄分别为291.8±3.4, 304.0±3.3和734.7±9.2 Ma, 应属于晚侏罗世满克头鄂博组。锆石LA-MC-ICP-MS Hf同位素分析显示: 流纹岩锆石ε_Hf(t) 值为+10.5~+12.9, T_DM^C值为493~645 Ma; 凝灰岩岩浆锆石ε_Hf(t)值为+10.1~+13.1, T_DM^C值为369~563 Ma。研究结果表明, 流纹岩源于晚古生代新生地壳的重熔并混入少量老地壳物质, 凝灰岩源于晚古生代地壳的熔融。Hf同位素特征显示晚古生代流纹岩和中生代凝灰岩源于相似的源区, 揭示了晚古生代的一次重要的增生事件, 并且在约160 Ma时期发生过地壳的再造。结合前人的研究成果表明, 兴蒙造山带在约300 Ma时处于古亚洲洋演化过程中岛弧向碰撞后伸展环境的转换时期, 在约160 Ma受到蒙古?鄂霍茨克构造域的影响。     

The P2O5 content of feldspars from the Yashan granites, Jiangxi Province, South China

The P₂O₅ contents of feldspars in the Yashan F-rich and P-rich granite yield a maximum value of 0.93% (In albite) and a maximum average value of 0.65% (hereinafter weight percent) (in K-feldspar), and is generally between 0.10% and 0.35%. Most of the distribution coefficient D_p[Ab/Kt] values are greater than 1(1.13–28.9). The study shows that phosphorus could preferably enter the albite structure mainly by PAISi₂ substitution relative to K-feldspar.     

Discovery of granulite from the Fuping area in southern Qinling Mountains and its geological significance

Two-pyroxene-bearing granulites were discovered for the first time in the Hercynian-Indosinian metamorphic belt of the southern Qinling Mountains. The granulites occur in the lower part of the Fuping complex and are dominated by intermediate-acidic rocks intercalated with a small amount of bands and lenses of basic granulites. The main metamorphic minerals include orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, biotite, plagioclase and quartz, and orthopyroxenes are often retrogressively transformed into amphiboles. The metamorphic conditions have been estimated to be %T%=720-780℃ and %P%=0.6 GPa. The granulite-bearing Fuping complex probably belongs to early Proterozoic in age. Whether it occurs as the crystalline basement of the southern Qinling Hercynian-Indosinian orogenic belt or as a thrusted slice in the collisional process needs further study.     

Carbon isotopic records in paleosols over the Pliocene in Northern China: Implication on vegetation development and Tibetan uplift

Carbon isotopic composition of pedogenic carbonate can be used to estimate the proportion of C₄ and C₃ plants. Here we present carbon isotopic data of carbonate in a red earth section at Xifeng, central Loess Plateau. Results show that C₄ vegetation increased in ∼4.4 Ma B.P., stabilized between 4.0 and 3.0 Ma B.P. The character and timing of C₄ expansion on the Loess Plateau are similar, but different with other localities, e.g. Pakistan and Africa, implying that regional climate changes were main factors driving the expansion of C₄ plants. This event is comparable in timing with increased aridity evidenced by Xifeng grain size and North Pacific eolian dust records. Therefore we argue that the Pliocene expansion of C₄ plants in northern China might have been caused by the increased aridity, which in turn might be related to rapid uplift of the Tibetan Plateau.     

南海生物礁碳酸盐台地演化

南海碳酸盐台地分布自早中新世开始发育,至中中新世达到鼎盛,再到晚中新世大量台地被淹没而逐渐消亡。从分布看,南海碳酸盐台地具有南早北晚、东早西晚的发育规律;从堆积速率看,中中新统速率最大。控制这些台地的诞生、发育演化和消亡的因素十分复杂,可能包括构造活动、相对海平面的变化、陆源碎屑物质输入变化、古海洋环境变化。     

Evolution of the South China Sea and monsoon history revealed in deep-sea records

As the third summary report of ODP Leg 184 to the South China Sea (SCS), this paper discusses the evolution of the East Asian monsoon and the SCS basin. A multi-proxy approach, involving geochemistry, micropale-ontology, pollen and other analyses, was adopted for reconstructing the evolutionary history of the East Asian monsoon, which was characterized by a series of paleo-climate events especially at 8, 3.2, 2.2 and 0.4 Ma. The new record indicates similar stages in the development of the East and South Asian monsoons, with an enhanced winter monsoon over East Asia being the major difference. The rich spectrums of monsoon variability from the southern SCS also reveal other characteristic features of the low latitude ocean. Evidence for the evolution of the SCS includes the hemipelagic Oligocene sediments, implying the existence of deep water environments during the early seafloor spreading stage of the SCS basin. The four major unconformities and some remarkabl ediagenetic features in upper Oligocene deposits indicate the strongest tectonic events in the region. From a careful comparison of lithologies and sedimentation rates, we conclude that the prominent differences in sedimentary environments between the southern and northern SCS were established only by ～3 Ma.