Neoproterozoic magmatic activity and global change

Neoproterozoic is a very important time in the history of the Earth, during which occurred supercontinent breakup, low-latitude glaciation, and biotic diversification.These concern a series of interdisciplinary studies involving ancient plate motion, climate change and life evolution, resulting in many forefront topics of general interest in the earth sciences. These include exact ages bracketing the Cryogenian System and glaciations, initial age and lasted duration of supercontinent breakup, dynamic reconstruction of China continents in supercontinental configurations, the nature of rift magmatism and extent of hydrothermal alteration, paleoclimatic implication of water-rock interaction and Iow-^18O magmatism, and relationship between supercontinental evolution and global change. A number of outstanding advances in the above aspects have being made by Chinese scientists, leaving many important issues to be resolved: (1)did the Cryogenian start at either 800 to 820 Ma or 760 to 780 Ma? (2) was South China in the supercontinental configuration located in either southeast to Australia or north to India? (3) are Paleoproterozoic to Archean ages of crustal rocks a valid parameter in distinguishing North China from South China? Available observations suggest that Neoproterozoic mantle superwelling occurred as conspicuous magmatism in South China but as cryptical magmatism in North China. Mid-Neoproterozoic mantle superplume event and its derived rift-magmatism would not only result in the supercontinental demise, but also play a very important role in the generation and evolution of the snowball Earth event by initiating the global glaciation, causing the local deglaciation and terminating the snowball Earth event.     

Lower boundary age of the Nanhua System and the Gucheng glacial stage: Evidence from SHRIMPⅡ dating

After the disintegration of the pro-Sinian System, the choice of the stratotype section of the newly established Nanhua System and determination of its lower boundary age have been one of the most important problems in Neoproterozoic stratigraphy[1—3]. In the Yangtze Gorge area in Yichang of Hubei Province where the standard section of the pro-Sinian System is located, the newly established Nanhua System consists only of the Nantuo formation (tillite) and the Liantuo Formation with tuf-…     

Climatic instability recorded by the mollusk assemblages from the late glacial loess deposits in China

The loess-paleosol sequence in China records abundant and valuable information on the global and regional climate changes. Biological record from the loess sequence is the most direct evidence on variation in pattern of paleo-atmospheric circulation and changes in winter and summer monsoon. A new record of climatic instability, which occurred in the Loess Plateau during the late glacial period, is presented. Through the study of terrestrial mollusks from three loess sequences, the authors intend to characterize the biological response process to rapid climate change and to learn the mechanisms driving the instable climate changes and the possible linkage in different regions. The result shows the striking consistent variability in the ratio records of three mollusk sequences of the late glacial, indicating apparent rapid climate fluctuations. Correlation of our three mollusk records with the oxygen isotopic records from Greenland ice cores and foraminifera1 records from the Northeast Pacific Ocean reveals similar instability climate during the late glacial period, which provides us a new thought probing the climate instability observed in the North Atlantic, the North Pacific and the Loess Plateau. The low-level atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere may be one possible way to link the unstable climate patterns observed in the above three regions.     

帕隆藏布流域（波密-然乌段）冰川动态变化遥感分析

帕隆藏布流域位于中国海洋性冰川最为发育的藏东南地区,近年来随着全球温室效应加剧,帕隆藏布流域冰川变化极为显著。采用多期遥感影像,对1994～2015年间帕隆藏布流域波密至然乌段的冰川变化趋势、原因及其影响进行研究。结果表明:(1)20余年间冰川总面积减少了451. 72 km2,各冰川每年大约退缩2. 48%～2. 95%,气温升高以及降雨量减少是导致冰川面积持续退缩的主要原因。(2)由于帕隆藏布江南岸山坡所接收的太阳辐射热量更少,但降水却更加充沛,使得帕隆藏布江南岸冰川分布面积及覆盖率远大于北岸,而冰川退缩速率远小于北岸。(3)冰川的不断退缩使得沟道上游大量冻融松散物源在冰雪融水的外动力条件下,进入沟道形成松散堆积物源,导致流域内大规模发育冰川泥石流。由于帕隆藏布江南岸冰川规模更大,导致帕隆藏布江南岸冰川泥石流更为发育。(4)冰川变化动态监测对冰川泥石流机理分析以及预警研究工作有着重要的参考指导价值。     

A climatic reversal at the last interglacial-last glacial transition recorded in the loess section at Zhaitang, Beijing

A weakly developed paleosol was identified at S1-L1 transition of the loess section of Zhaitang, Beijing. This paleosol may represent a climatic reversal which is associated with the strengthening in summer monsoon and correlated well with the climatic regression event documented in the paleoclimate records from Greenland ice, marine sediments and European pollen at the last interglacial-last glacial transition.     

神农架大九湖地区更新世冰川遗迹的初步研究

作者通过两次实地调查,发现神农架大九湖地区更新世冰川遗迹有冰斗、槽谷、基岩鼓丘和侧碛等。冰碛砾石砾向组构分析表明砾石a轴走向大多与所在谷地走向平行,倾角18～23°;砾石ab面倾向离散,倾角15—20°。冰碛细粒部分79.1—84.5%由粉砂和砂组成,粒度频率曲线呈双峰态。冰碛石英砂表面电镜扫描成象表明砂粒表面具有典型冰川砂的特征.根据冰川地貌特征和室内分析结果,本文把该地区晚更新世气候期划分为两次冰期和一次冰缘期。     

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.     

Determination of Dimethylallylamine by Titration in Nonaqueous Solvent

The content of dimethylallylamine was determined using glacial acetic acid as solvent, acetic-formic mixture as an anhydrite, perchloric acid-glacial acetic acid as titrant, and 1% crystal violet in acetic acid as indicator in the presence of methylamine and dimethylamine The influences of inert constituents and water on the titration were investigated, and a complete analytical method was determined. The results showed that the determination error of total amines increased with water increasing, while the effect of water on the determination of dimethylallylamine was little when the amount of water was within 5%, the relative error was generally within 1%, and that the end-point was acutely when about 10% chloroform was added. Compared with gas chromatography, this method is simple, convenient and accurate.     

Stratigraphic architecture of the Neoproterozoic glacial rocks in the “Xiang-Qian-Gui” region of the central Yangtze Block, South China

Recently ,theinterestinglowlatitudeandlowaltitudeSnowballEarthhypothesis[1,2 ] iswidelyreco gnized ,and greatlystimulatingthestudyoftheNeoproterozoicglaciations ,whichmaybecloselyre latedtothewell knownEarlyCambrianbio radiationevent.By 1980 ,theNeoproterozoicglaciationinSouthChinaisbelievedtobedividedintotwoglaciationsandoneinterglaciation[3～ 5] ,namely ,theearlyChang’anGlaciation ,lateNantuoGlaciationandFu luInterglaciation .However ,thereweredifferentwaysofcorrelation ,themostobvious…