Origin of chert in the Upper Ordovician–Lower Silurian: implications for the sedimentary environment of North Qilian Orogen

ABSTRACT During the Upper Ordovician–Lower Silurian, chert was widely distributed in the Zhongbao Formation in the eastern part of the North Qilian Orogen. The origin and the tectonic setting of these chert were largely unknown. In order to analyse the material provenance, sedimentary environment, their formation and the tectonic setting, we present petrology and geochemical research on chert samples collected from Shihuigou Section. The evidence provided by radiolarite occurrences, Aluminium (Al)–iron (Fe)–manganese diagram and the silicon(Si)/Si + Al + Fe + calcium ratios suggesting a non-hydrothermal input and the biogenic origin chert. The geochemical features and the petrographic signatures have shown that the chert was also influenced by a terrigenous origin. It is considered that the deposition of the Late Ordovician chert is mainly affected by tectonic collision and volcanic ash events. During the Late Ordovician–Early Silurian transition, huge amounts of volcanic ash were released by massive volcanic activity that fell into the ocean, triggering the proliferation of radiolarians. Finally, in the Late Ordovician–Lower Silurian the tectonic setting of the North Qilian Orogen was not a typical deep-water basin, nor a typical continental margin, but a multi-island deep-water basin, which is closed to the mainland.

About the mechanism of the granite-free zones formation in the Black Sea

One of the important unsolved problems related to the evolution of living conditions on Earth is the mechanism of the rapid transformation of the Black Sea from a shallow lake-type sea into a deep-water basin, the earth's crust in the central part of which does not have a granite layer. There is no explanation as to how “granite-free depressions” were formed at the bottom of the sea, which are currently covered by sediment. Investigations of these processes were started in the middle of the last century by scientists-geologists of the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and its South. In this article, the authors propose a mechanism for the destruction of the earth's crust and the formation of depressions in the inner seas during the Messinian crisis.

The behavior of trace elements in the interstitial water and sediments of the Black Sea

Generalization of the results of years of research on the geochemistry of trace elements in the interstitial waters and sediments of the Black sea. The works were carried out in different areas, but in more detail described the material on the deep-water basin and facies profiles Yalta, Sochi landfills and profile directed from the Kerch Strait to SE. The behavior of biogenic elements (N, P, Si), B, J, Br and 18 metal elements according to ISP and ISP-MS is studied. Average concentrations of elements for 3 stratigraphic horizons are calculated. Factor analysis was used to process the results.

PETROLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF CARBONATE ROCKS FROM THE IONIAN ZONE (ETOLOAKARNANIA, WESTERN GREECE)

The petrographic features of the carbonate rocks from the Ionian Zone in the Etoloakarnania Prefecture are presented. They are represented by limestones with minor dolomite. The limestones include: (i) wackestones (or sparse micrites), with poor presence of allochems within a mud matrix; (ii) packstones (or packed micrites) with increasing levels of carbonate grains that are still surrounded by micrite matrix, and (iii) grainstones (or sparites) containing allochems that are cemented with sparry calcite crystals, while the mud matrix is absent. Bioclasts are the dominant carbonate components in most of the samples accompanied by infrequent pelloids, intraclasts, lithoclasts and ooids. Crystalline limestones were not identified. Quartz, apatite, barite, anhydrite, halite, clay minerals, magnetite and ilmenite have been determined as accessory phases. The results show that mineralogical and petrographic features of the analyzed carbonate rocks are related to their evolution during the development of the Ionian Zone from a shallow-marine platform to a deep water basin.