Clay mineralogy of the first and second members of the Nenjiang Formation, Songliao Basin: Implications for paleoenvironment in the Late Cretaceous

Gao, Yuan; Xi, Dangpeng; Qin, Zuohuan; Ma, Pengfei; Wang, Chengshan

doi:10.1007/s11430-017-9110-9

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…CC BY 4.0 License. continuous, terrestrial sedimentary record of the whole Cretaceous and to study continental climate and environment during the greenhouse period Wang et al, 2013;Gao et al, 2019).…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In its first phase, the SK-1 project, two scientific boreholes (SK-1s and SK-1n) have been conducted to recover rock cores of 2,485.89 m in total length with a recovery ratio of 96.46% Gao et al, 2019).…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Songliao Basin in northeastern China, which was a long-lived lake basin in the Cretaceous Period, preserved up to 10,000 meters of terrestrial sediments (Feng et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2013; Figure 1A). An International Continental Scientific Drilling Project in the Songliao Basin, the SK-1 scientific boreholes, recovered 800-meters of nearly complete and continuous cores of terrestrial strata spanning the latest Cretaceous to the earliest Paleogene, namely the Sifangtai Formation and the Mingshui Formation Wang et al, 2013;Gao et al, 2019). These two geological formations have been precisely age constrained as 76.1 to 65.1 Ma by magnetostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy (Deng et al, 2013;Wan et al, 2013;Wu et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sedimentary clay minerals are phyllosilicates finer than 2 μm that are commonly formed in weathering profiles and soils (Chamley, 1989;Thiry, 2000;Liu et al, 2012). These minerals are useful indicators for paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic evolutions in modern and deep-time sedimentary basins, on the basis that post-depositional processes do not significantly alter the mineralogical composition (Chamley, 1989;Thiry, 2000;Sá ez et al, 2003;Dera et al, 2009;Liu et al, 2010;Gao et al, 2018;Deconinck et al, 2019). Efforts have been made to study the clay mineral assemblages through the SMF in the Songliao Basin and specifically on the SK-1 cores (Gao et al, 2013;2015b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Clay mineralogical evidence for mid-latitude terrestrial climate change from the latest Cretaceous through the earliest Paleogene in the Songliao Basin, NE China

Gao

Ibarra

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. From the latest Cretaceous (late Campanian to Maastrichtian, ~ 76−66 Ma) through the earliest Paleogene, a fluctuating greenhouse climate prevailed and climatic changes were linked to catastrophic geological events and massive biotic extinction. Paleoclimate reconstructions during this time period primarily rely on marine sediments, with limited high-resolution terrestrial records. Here we present a high-resolution clay mineralogical record from the Sifangtai Formation and the Mingshui Formation of the Songliao Basin, northeast China, which are continuously deposited fluvial to lacustrine strata, and have been tightly age constrained as late Campanian to early Danian. Smectite and illite are the dominant clay species, whereas kaolinite and chlorite are minor components. Clay minerals are derived from the weathering of parent rocks and/or paleosols, and their relative weight percentages are primarily controlled by regional paleoclimate and sedimentary environment. We use three clay mineralogical proxies, including the percentage ratio of smectite and illite, illite chemistry index and the percentage ratio of phyllosilicate clay minerals and quartz in clay fractions, for paleoclimatic reconstruction. We correlate these proxy timeseries with basin-scale and global paleoclimate timeseries. Our results show that from the latest Cretaceous through the earliest Paleogene, values of all three clay mineralogical proxies in the Songliao Basin are generally higher during warming intervals than those during cooling intervals. We interpret this dataset to suggest that warming caused strengthened moisture delivery from the Pacific, increasing precipitation and intensified chemical weathering, whereas cooling was accompanied by increasing dryness and physical weathering. Before the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary (approximately 66.4 Ma to 66.0 Ma), the warming likely related to Deccan volcanism and the transient cooling afterwards are characterized by paleosol carbonate stable isotopic excursions and changes in the illite chemistry index recorded in the Songliao Basin sediments, reflecting fluctuations in precipitation and weathering intensity. However, changes in clay mineral assemblages are not clear before and at the K-Pg boundary. This is probably due to the relatively long-response time of terrestrial weathering regimes (up to 500 kyrs) to the short duration of the K-Pg boundary impact and the degassing by the preceding Deccan Traps volcanism (~ 200 kyrs). In the earliest Paleogene, after the K-Pg boundary, all clay mineralogical and stable isotopic proxies indicate a warmer and more humid climate with stronger chemical weathering. Our work demonstrates that terrestrial climate and weathering intensity in the mid-latitude Songliao Basin fluctuated during the latest Cretaceous through the earliest Paleogene and sensitively responded to global climate changes.

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Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Clay mineralogical evidence for mid-latitude terrestrial climate change from the latest Cretaceous through the earliest Paleogene in the Songliao Basin, NE China

Gao

Ibarra

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Scientific RepoRtS | (2020) 10:14363 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71327-wwww.nature.com/scientificreports/ the depositing of the clay minerals. Sedimentary clay minerals derive from the rock weathering in the source area, and are influenced by provenance lithology, paleoclimate, depositional environments and rocks formation (diagenesis)[81][82][83] .In borehole 959D of the DIB, Kennedy and Wagner84 linked the clay mineral properties change observed in the Coniacian-Santonian black shales to the faint precession-driven fluctuations of continental climate. They…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Multifractal characterization of the Coniacian–Santonian OAE3 in lacustrine and marine deposits based on spectral gamma ray logs

Kouamelan

Zou

Wang

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Limited to the Atlantic and its surrounding basins, the expression of the Coniacian-Santonian oceanic anoxic event (OAE3) was discovered in the non-marine Cretaceous Songliao Basin, Eastern Asia not long ago. In this study, based on spectral gamma ray logs data recorded in three basins, the self-similarity of the OAE3 was studied through the analysis of the scaling properties of thoriumpotassium and thorium-uranium distributions both in marine and terrestrial environments using the multifractal detrending fluctuation analysis. The results indicate that, in both marine and terrestrial systems, the OAE3 intervals are characterized by their multifractal nature due to long-range correlation. However, the multifractal features of the studied OAE3 intervals are different in the three basins, although some common trends were observed. By comparing the degree of multifractality of the OAE3 deposits with the clay minerals and the redox conditions, it appears that the changes of the multifractal features are controlled by local changes such as clay mineralogy and redox conditions in both milieus under different sedimentation patterns. At all sites, the left side shortened spectrum of the thorium-potassium distribution suggests the presence of local fluctuations with minor amplitudes during the OAE3. Furthermore, the shortened singularity spectrum of the thorium-uranium distribution reflects the existence of small-scale fluctuations with large amplitudes at marine sites while in the non-marine Songliao Basin, the thorium-uranium distribution suggests the presence of local fluctuations with small amplitudes during the OAE3. Therefore, a more local behavior of the event is considered although the regional character is not neglected. The Cretaceous is the last and longest period of the Mesozoic Era where the Earth experienced some major geological events such as oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) 1-5 , large-scale volcanic activities 5-8 whose footprints are concealed in both marine and continental environments. OAEs have been documented in the geological sedimentary record, particularly in Cretaceous marine sediments, as complex paleoenvironmental phenomena and climatically influenced major geological perturbations of the Earth system, especially the Earth's carbon cycle 4,9,10. These complex geological events are characterized by global deposits of organic shales associated with major carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) 4,11-13. Intensive investigations revealed that the Upper Cretaceous period recorded two important OAEs: (1) OAE2 (Cenomanian-Turonian) known as one of the severest and widespread oceanic anoxic events, and (2) OAE3 (late Coniacian-early Santonian) which represents the youngest Cretaceous oceanic anoxic event and potentially a regional rather than a global phenomenon, but which lasted much longer than OAE2 14-16. Dissimilar to OAE2, the geographical distribution of the OAE3 suggests that the Coniacian-Santonian oceanic anoxic events are restricted to the Atlantic and proximate basins 10 (Fig.

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Fine‐grained gravity flow deposits and their depositional processes: A case study from the Cretaceous Nenjiang Formation, Songliao Basin, NE China

Tian

Gao

et al. 2020

Geological Journal

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The Songliao Basin in NE China is a large rift basin filled with Cretaceous terrestrial sediments. Lacustrine mudstones of the Nenjiang Formation form an important source rock in the Cretaceous Songliao Basin. These shales are commonly thought to have been deposited in deep, quiet, and anoxic environments. Samples obtained from the core of the SK‐2 scientific borehole provide critical insights to understand the hydrodynamic and hydroclimatic environments, which are, however, different from the traditional views regarding the deposition of these rocks. By following a mudstone description guide, five different mudstone lithofacies (LF) transported and deposited by muddy hyperpycnal flows and muddy debris flows were recognized. They are laminated fine mudstone (LF1), laminated medium mudstone (LF2), and laminated coarse mudstone (LF3) showing pairs of inverse grading (Ha) and normal grading (Hb) under the microscope, graded coarse mudstone (LF4) and massive coarse mudstone (LF5). We found that mudstones of the First Member of the Nenjiang Formation are dominated by siliciclastic detritus and argillaceous components and show frequent variations in grain size. Because large‐scale sub‐lacustrine channels travelling long distance (>80 km) were widely distributed in the Songliao palaeolake during the deposition of the Nenjiang Formation, fluctuations in mudstone grain size might have been caused by velocity fluctuations in flows. Sedimentary structures and textures preserved in mudstones of the First Member of the Nenjiang Formation indicate that the majority of these lithofacies were accumulated by muddy hyperpycnal flows and muddy debris flows. Therefore, a depositional model dominantly influenced by muddy hyperpycnal flows and debris flows is proposed. This work not only provides a new view for the depositional process of mudstones of the Songliao Basin, NE China, but also give insights to understand lacustrine palaeoenvironment and terrestrial palaeoclimate.

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Clay mineralogy of the first and second members of the Nenjiang Formation, Songliao Basin: Implications for paleoenvironment in the Late Cretaceous

Cited by 13 publications

References 36 publications

Clay mineralogical evidence for mid-latitude terrestrial climate change from the latest Cretaceous through the earliest Paleogene in the Songliao Basin, NE China

Clay mineralogical evidence for mid-latitude terrestrial climate change from the latest Cretaceous through the earliest Paleogene in the Songliao Basin, NE China

Multifractal characterization of the Coniacian–Santonian OAE3 in lacustrine and marine deposits based on spectral gamma ray logs

Fine‐grained gravity flow deposits and their depositional processes: A case study from the Cretaceous Nenjiang Formation, Songliao Basin, NE China

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