Because literatures about the lipid compositions of modern soils in karst areas are scarce,we have studied the soil horizons overlying the Heshang(和尚) Cave that has provided paleoclimate records from speleothem lipid contents.Our analysis reveals a series of n-alkanes,free fatty acids,n-alkanols and n-alkan-2-ones distribution and relative abundance changing with the depth,and in which the ratios of the lower molecular weight to higher molecular weight n-alkanes,free fatty acids,n-alkanols and n-alkan-2-ones have a peak at a subsurface depth of 5 to 10 cm.An accompanying peak in 17β(H),21β(H)-hop-22(29)-ene(diploptene)and a shift to less negative n-alkane carbon isotopic values also identify this layer in the karst soil.This pattern indicates the existence of a subsurface soil layer in which the microorganisms that produce these compounds are especially abundant.The carbon isotopic values of individual plant wax n-alkanes are about 3‰ greater at the base of the 30-to 40-cm soil profile than in the surface layer,probably as a result of selective microbial degradation of n-alkanes from different primary sources.The lipids and carbon isotopic values of individual plant wax n-alkanes study of the overlying soil show a strong microbial activity in this karst soil and help in interpreting the lipid compositions and specific carbon isotopic value of n-alkanes of the stalagmites of the Heshang Cave for paleoenvironmental reconstructions.
This paper reports LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb ages and REE compositions on detrital zircons (Type 1) and hydrothermal zircons (Type 2) from low-metasedimentary rocks in the Mesoproterozoic Gaoyuzhuang Formation,Pingquan area,Hebei Province that provide important constraints on the tectonic evolution along the northern margin of the North China Block.The detrital zircons are characterized by an oscillatory magmatic core,surrounded by a narrow structureless rim in CL images.They yield 207Pb/206 Pb ages ranging from 1703 to 2543 Ma with two age peaks at 2473 and 1794 Ma,which is consistent with the Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic tectono-thermal events recorded in the NCB basement,indicating that the source of the detritus was locally derived.By contrast,the hydrothermal ones are euhedral,sector zoning or internally structureless.They have relatively higher U and Th contents and Th/U ratios (U=139 2918 ppm,Th=35 1327 ppm,Th/U (average) =0.78 vs.U=15 1044 ppm,Th=8 341 ppm,Th/U (average) =0.57 for detrital zircons).Moreover,they are also enriched in REEs relative to detrital zircons and show a lower positive Ce anomaly (REE=659 2418 ppm vs.231 611 ppm for detrital zircon;Ce/Ce =2 13 vs.33 174 for detrital zircons),similar to known hydrothermal zircons derived from many locations.These characteristics,combined with our field petrographic observations,indicate that the hydrothermal zircons possibly formed from a low temperature aqueous fluid.Twelve concordant or near-concordant analyses on hydrothermal zircons yield weighted mean 206 Pb/238 U ages of 325 327 Ma,which provide unambiguous evidence that the northern NCB underwent late Paleozoic low temperature hydrothermal modification.This timing of this hydrothermal event is compatible with that of the late Paleozoic magmatic and metamorphic-deformational events occurred on the northern margin of the NCB,it appears likely that the hydrothermal activity resulted from southward subduction of the Paleo-Asian Oceanic plate underneath the NCB during late Paleozoic.
Microbialites, often considered as a signal of extreme marine environment, are common in the Lower Triassic strata of South China where they flourished in the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction. Early Triassic microbialite facies are known to vary palaeogeographically, perhaps due to differing climates, ocean chemistry, and water depths. This paper provides the first record of a brief, but spectacular development of microbialites in the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction at Panjiazhuang section, Changxing Region of Zhejiang Province (eastern South China). Here, the Upper Permian Changxing Formation comprises typical shallow platform facies rich in calcareous algae and foraminifera, the development of which was terminated by the major end-Permian regression. A 3.4-m-thick microbialite began to form at the onset of the transgression in the earliest Triassic. The microbialite at Panjiazhuang section is composed of thrombolite that contains abundant calcified cyanobacteria, small gastropods, microconchid tubes and ostracods, representing a low-diversity shallow marine community in the aftermath of the end-Permian crisis. The microbialites are succeeded by thin-bedded micrites bearing thin-shelled bivalves, which record a rapid sea-level rise in the Early Triassic. Abundant populations of small pyrite framboids are observed in the upper part of the microbialites and the overlying thin-bedded micrites, suggesting that dysoxic water conditions developed at that time. The appearance of microbialites near the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) at Panjiazhuang section was the result of peculiar marine conditions following the end-Permian regression, whilst their disappearance was due to the increasing water depth and the development of dysoxia.
Ya-Fei HuangDavid P. G. BondYong-Biao WangTan WangZhi-Xing YiAi-Hua YuanJia-Yuan JiaYu-Qi Su
Microbes not only show sensitive responses to environmental changes but also play important roles in geochemical and geophysical systems. It is well known that microbes have caused major changes in surface environments and biogeochemical cycles through Earth history. Microbial processes can also induce the synthesis of certain minerals under Earth-surface conditions that previously were believed to form only under high temperatures and pressures in the deep Earth. For example, microbes can promote the conversion of smectite to illite, synthesis of authigenic plagioclase, precipitation of dolomite, and biotransformation of geolipids. These effects of microbes are due to their large surface/volume ratios, enzyme production, and abundant functional groups. Microbial catalyzation of chemical reactions proceeds through reaction-specific enzymes, a decrease in Gibbs' s free energy, and/or break through the dynamics reaction thresholds via their metabolisms and physiology. Microbes can lower the surface free energy of mineral nuclei via biophysical adsorption due to their large surface/volume ratios and abundant functional groups. The mineral precipitation and transformation processes induced by microbes are functionally equivalent to geological processes operating at high temperatures and pressures in the deep Earth, suggesting that microbial processes can serve as analogs to deep abiotic processes that are difficult to observe.
