Reef exploration in the East Sengkang Basin,Sulawesi, Indonesia

Reconnaissance seismic shot in 1971/72 showed a number of well defined seismic anomalies within the East Sengkang Basin which were interpreted as buried reefs. Subsequent fieldwork revealed that Upper Miocene reefs outcropped along the southern margin of the basin. A drilling programme in 1975 and 1976 proved the presence of shallow, gas-bearing, Upper Miocene reefs in the northern part of the basin. Seismic acquisition and drilling during 1981 confirmed the economic significance of these discoveries, with four separate accumulations containing about 750 × 10⁹ cubic feet of dry gas in place at an average depth of 700 m. Kampung Baru is the largest field and contains over half the total, both reservoir quality and gas deliverability are excellent. Deposition in the East Sengkang Basin probably started during the Early Miocene. A sequence of Lower Miocene mudstones and limestones unconformably overlies acoustic basement which consists of Eocene volcanics. During the tectonically active Middle Miocene, deposition was interrupted by two periods of deformation and erosion. Carbonate deposition became established in the Late Miocene with widespread development of platform limestones throughout the East Sengkang Basin. Thick pinnacle reef complexes developed in the areas where reef growth could keep pace with the relative rise in sea level. Most reef growth ceased at the end of the Miocene and subsequent renewed clastic sedimentation covered the irregular limestone surface. Late Pliocene regression culminated in the Holocene with erosion. The Walanae fault zone, part of a major regional sinistral strike-slip system, separates the East and West Sengkang Basins. Both normal and reverse faulting are inferred from seismic data and post Late Pliocene reverse faulting is seen in outcrop.     

Studies in Neotropical paleobotany. XI. Late Tertiaryvegetation and environments of southeastern Guatemala: palynofloras fromthe Mio-Pliocene Padre Miguel Group and the Pliocene HerreriaFormation

Plant microfossils are reported from the late Tertiary Padre MiguelGroup and the Pliocene Herrería Formation of southeasternGuatemala. The most abundant palynomorphs are cf. Acrostichum(maximum 45%), Cyperaceae (29%), cf. Antrophyum(27%), monolete fern spores (16%), and Pinus(11%). Pollen grains of Picea, Juglans,Quercus, and Ulmus, primarily from the Padre Miguelflora, reveal the presence of a northern cool-temperate element. Theyounger Herrería flora is more lowland and warm temperate. Inthe absence of evidence for substantially higher elevations, thedifferences between the Neogene and modern vegetation are attributedmostly to climate. MAT (mean annual temperature) is estimated2°-3°C cooler than at present for the Padre Miguel flora,and ～3.5°C warmer for the Herrería flora. There islittle evidence for arid vegetation, and the tropical rain forest wasabsent or poorly represented. These data are consistent with those ofother fossil floras in the region and with trends suggested by isotopicpaleotemperature analysis and global sea-level changes. The Guatemalaassemblages further provide evidence that the current version of thetropical rain forest is recent in origin and has undergone considerablechange in its range and composition throughout the lateCenozoic.     

Repeated trans-watershed hybridization among haplochromine cichlids (Cichlidae) was triggered by Neogene landscape evolution

The megadiverse haplochromine cichlid radiations of the East African lakes, famous examples of explosive speciation and adaptive radiation, are according to recent studies, introgressed by different riverine lineages. This study is based on the first comprehensive mitochondrial and nuclear DNA dataset from extensive sampling of riverine haplochromine cichlids. It includes species from the lower River Congo and Angolan (River Kwanza) drainages. Reconstruction of phylogenetic hypotheses revealed the paradox of clearly discordant phylogenetic signals. Closely related mtDNA haplotypes are distributed thousands of kilometres apart and across major African watersheds, whereas some neighbouring species carry drastically divergent mtDNA haplotypes. At shallow and deep phylogenetic layers, strong signals of hybridization are attributed to the complex Late Miocene/Early Pliocene palaeohistory of African rivers. Hybridization of multiple lineages across changing watersheds shaped each of the major haplochromine radiations in lakes Tanganyika, Victoria, Malawi and the Kalahari Palaeolakes, as well as a miniature species flock in the Congo basin (River Fwa). On the basis of our results, introgression occurred not only on a spatially restricted scale, but massively over almost the whole range of the haplochromine distribution. This provides an alternative view on the origin and exceptional high diversity of this enigmatic vertebrate group.     

中国和其他全北界三趾马的头骨和头后骨骼形态比较(英文)

由于地理位置上处于北美和旧大陆西部之间,中国晚中新世的三趾马提供了重要的生物地层与生物地理信息。这些信息反映出晚中新世时期北美和欧亚大陆之间的动物群交流,同时也与当时的古环境变迁相关联。依据面部和牙齿形态以及肢骨比例,将中国的三趾马与欧亚大陆及北美的其他种类进行了对比。中国的三趾马可识别出两个分类类群,其中一个非系统发育意义上的类群包括 Hipparion dermatorhinum,H. weihoense,H. fossatum,H. hippidio-dus 和 H. coelophyes,这一类群与旧大陆西部的三趾马在形态上高度相似; 另一个为本土类群,包括 H. ptychodus,H. platyodus,H. tylodus,H. sefvei 和 H. plocodus,它们与其他地区的种类并无相似之处。前一个类群是中国北方草原型动物群中的典型分子,对欧亚大陆化石地点的生物地层对比相当重要; 后一类群与北美的三趾马( "Cormohipparion"属) 在面部形态上具有相似性,这些本土的三趾马是中国北方森林型动物群的分子。     

Carbon isotopic record of terrestrial ecosystems spanning the Late Miocene extinction of Oreopithecus bambolii, Baccinello Basin (Tuscany, Italy)

Oreopithecus bambolii is a Late Miocene hominoid with an extensive fossil record in the Baccinello Basin (Tuscany, Italy), and was the only western European hominoid to survive a major extinction event ca. 9.6 Ma (millions of years ago). Oreopithecus lived in the insular Tusco-Sardinian paleobioprovince, where it evolved many unique anatomical specializations that make it important for understanding the mechanisms and history of Late Miocene hominoid evolution. The eventual extinction of Oreopithecus and its associated fauna ca. 6.5 Ma has generally been attributed to interaction with species that arrived from continental Europe following tectonic collision of the Tusco-Sardinian province with mainland Italy, but palynological, paleontological, and sedimentological records indicate an environmental shift toward more variable climate across the extinction event.To explore the possibility of environmental change as a contributing factor in the extinction of Oreopithecus, we developed a stable carbon and oxygen isotope record from organic matter in paleosols from the Baccinello Basin. These data show very low temporal and spatial variability (indicating plant ecosystem stability through time and space) and provide no evidence for ecologically significant changes in floral composition spanning the extinction event, suggesting that environmental change was not an underlying cause for the extinction of Oreopithecus and its associated fauna. The carbon isotope values fall entirely within the range of isotopic variability for modern plants following the C₃ photosynthetic pathway (trees, shrubs, cool-season grasses), indicating that C₄ vegetation (warm-season grasses) was not an important component of biomass. When corrected for temporal variation in the carbon isotopic composition of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the paleosol carbon isotope values are consistent with predicted values based on modern plants and the Baccinello palynoflora, supporting the reliability of paleosol isotopic records as paleoecological proxies.     

四棵树凹陷新近系低熟油的形成条件试验分析

准噶尔盆地四棵树凹陷新近系暗色泥岩镜质体反射率R.为0.4%,是一套潜在的低熟烃源岩.该套泥岩不但具备有机质丰度高、类型好、单层厚度大等生成低熟油必备的物质条件以及有利于有机质保存和向烃类早期转化的沉积环境条件,而且其热演化程度正处于生成低熟油的高峰阶段.另外,从生烃机制上也能较好地解释该套烃源岩易于生成低熟油.这一发现有望为该区以后的勘探提供新的思路.     

新疆恒源煤矿新近系水体采动等级评价

指出了恒源煤矿侏罗系煤系地层基本无水,主要充水水源为新近系独山子组的孔隙-裂隙含水层,但是主井筒开拓时,开始涌水量很小,继续向下开拓时,井筒涌水量超过1000m3/h。计算了煤层两带高度和新近系含水层与下覆煤系地层间距,研究表明:煤系地层与新近系水体间并无直接的水力联系,具体的涌水来源尚无定论,估算矿井的最大涌水量为160.74m3/h,正常涌水量为53.58m3/h。