Palynology of Yanchang Formation of Middle and Late Triassic in Eastern Gansu Province and Its Paleoclimatic Significance
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J ournal of China University o f Geosciences , Vol. 17 , No. 3 , p. 209 - 220 , September 2006 ISS N 1002 - 0705 Printed in China Palynology of Yanchang Formation of Middle and Late Triassic in Eastern Gansu Province and Its Paleoclimatic Significance Ji Liming*(吉利明) Lanzhou I nstitute o f Geology , Chinese Academy o f Sciences , Lanzhou 730000 , China ; Graduate School , China Univ ersity of Geosciences , Wuhan 430074 , China Meng Fanwei (孟凡巍) Nanjing I nstitute o f Geology and Palaeontolog y , Chinese Academ y o f S ciences , Nanjing 210008 , China ABSTRACT :Xifeng (西峰) oilfield was recently found in the southwest of the Ordos basin. The oil source rocks are the Chang 7 Section of Yanchang(延长) Formation. In order to study the paleoclimate that controlled the formation of source rocks, a systemically palynological research on related beds in Yanchang Formation has been carried out. The core samples were analyzed with classical palynological techniques and the organic-walled sporomorphs from these samples were observed, identified and photo- graphed under a light microscopy and a fluorescence microscopy. Abundant sporopollen were found in drilling cores from Chang 8 and Chang 7 sections, and two assemblages were distinguished :the Aratisporites-Punctatisporites assemblage and the Asseretospora-Walchiites assemblage. Their charac- teristics are similar to those of the assemblage of Tongchuan (铜 川) Formation and the assemblage of Yanchang Formation in southeast Ordos basin , respectively. Their geological times are Ladinian of late Middle Triassic and Carnian of early Late Triassic , respectively. The correlation of palynoflora with their parent plants suggests the paleoclimate of eastern Gansu (甘肃) Province in the Middle and Late Triassic was warm and rainy with prosperous vegetation. The palynoflora indicated the area was in a temperate to subtropical zone then. Both the ecological types and differentiation degree curves of sporopollen indicated the period during Chang 8 and Chang 7 sections was warm and wet, and the phase accorded with large-scale lake transgression in Chang 8 Section and the largest lake area in Chang 7 Sec- tion. North China in Middle and Late Triassic was located in a warm and rainy, temperate and subtropi- cal zone. The palynofloras in Chang 8 and Chang 7 sections have the characteristics of North China flo- ra, however they also indicate wetter and warmer climate due to their proximity to the large lakes. The period of Chang 8 to Chang 7 sections is the climax of the expansion of the lake , and the bloom of fresh algae during the period , which helped form the high-quality source rocks in Chang 7 Section. KEY WORDS:Ordos basin, eastern Gansu Province, Yanchang Formation , source rock, sporopollen assemblage, paleoclimate. INTRODUCTION Sea before the Mesozoic. The basin w as fo rmed dur- The Ordo s basin belongs to the m arginal terrace ing the Middle Triassic because o f the e xtrusion from of No rth China ancient land , e xtending to the Qinling w est to east on the w estern margin of the N orth Chi- na plate. It w as g radually depressed into a lake basin This paper is financially su pported by “ Prom inent You ngster in W estern phase in the Middle and Late T riassic , to form the C hina” Science Foundation of Chinese Academ y of S ciences (No. C AS 2002-404-01) and the Gan su Provin ce Young and Middle Scientists deeper so uthwestern part and shallow er no rtheastern S cience Foundation. part lacustrine-delta clastic sediments of o ver 1 000 *C orresp on ding author :jilimin @lzb. ac. cn m , know n as the Yanchang Fo rmatio n , w hich is the m ain oil so urce rock in the Ordo s basin (Edito rial M anu scrip t received March 10 , 2006. M anu scrip t accepted June 25 , 2006. Com mittee o f Petro leum Geolog y of Changqing Oil 210 Ji Liming and M eng F anw ei Field , 1992). SETTING AND MATERIAL Xifeng oilfield w as recently fo und in eastern Geological Setting Gansu Province , in the so uthwest of the Ordos ba- Acco rding to the basin's structure , especially the sin. Studies have indicated that dominant oil sources structural differences since the M esozoic , the Ordos are mudsto ne w ith abundant org anic matter in Chang basin is divided into six units (Editorial Committee o f 7 Section of the Yanchang Formation (Fu et al. , Pe tro leum Geolog y of Chang qing Oil Field , 1992). 2004). A lgite m aceral in m udstones from Chang 8 The middle Yishan slope is the m ain pa rt of the Or- Sectio n to Chang 6 Section in the Yanchang Fo rma- do s basin , and the Yishan slope's no rthern par t and tion w ere found in previo us coal pe trog raphic studies. southern par t are Yimeng hunch and Weibei hunch Authors fo und many acritarchs and Botryococcus. respectively. The slope's western par t is the w estern The abundant alg ae are obviously important biologi- thrust belt and Tianhuan hollo w zone and the eastern cal sources for oil in the area. In order to study the part is the Jinxi flexural fo ld. The study area o f paleoclimate that controlled the formation of the source Xifeng oilfield is in the southw estern part of Yishan rocks , this paper presents sy stematic palynological re- slope , adjacent to Tianhuan hollow zo ne. search on related beds in the Yanchang Formation. Table 1 Stratigraphic divisions of the Yanchang Formation in eastern Gansu Province The Middle and Late Triassic Yanchang Fo rma- and M iddle Triassic sediments are m ainly fluvial and tion o f Ordo s basin is m ainly a series of fluvial and la- lacustrine clastic sediments because the environment custrine clastic sediments formed in a large-scale in- w as arid during that time , how ever in the M iddle and land basin. The base o f the Yanchang Formation lies Late Triassic thick , deep to half-deep lake , oil source unco nform ably over the Middle Triassic Zhifang Fo r- ro ck sedim ents w ere fo rmed because the arid enviro n- m ation , and its top is eroded to different deg rees and ment became w et and entered into a lake development is unco nformably o verlain by the Lo we r Jurassic phase. The uplift of the Ordos basin in the Late Tri- Yanan Formation or Fuxian Fo rmation. The Early assic resulted in the disappearance of the paleo-lake Paly nology of Yanchang F ormation of M iddle and La te T ria ssic in Eastern Gansu and Its Paleo clima tic Significance 211 basin. The co re samples we re analyzed w ith classical Yanchang Form ation can be divided into 5 litho- paly nological techniques , and the o rganic-w alled ho rizons (T 2 y1 - T 3 y 5 ) fro m bottom to top , and in- spo romo rphs fro m these sam ples we re observed , cludes 10 oil laye r sections (Chang 10 Section to identified and photog raphed under a light microscopy Chang 1 Section) (Table 1). Previous studies on and a fluorescence microscopy. 66 sam ples have been plants , fish and bivalves have constrained g eological analy zed , and the results indicate there are abundant time from Chang 10 Section to Chang 8 Section to the spo ropo llen micro fo ssils in Chang 8 Sectio n to Chang Middle Triassic , and from Chang 7 Sectio n to Chang 7 Section. Over 65 % o f sam ples are found to have 1 Section to the Late T riassic (Institute of Geolo gy , spo ropo llen. Over 50 % are suitable fo r statistics Chine se Academy o f Geolo gical Sciences , 1980). (m ore than 100 spo res and po llens in o ne sample), In this paper , the Yanchang Formation includes particula rly sam ples from Chang 8 Section , over 85 % w hat has been previously called the Yanchang Fo ma- of w hich contain fossils , with 75 % suitable fo r sta- tion and the Tongchuan Fo rmatio n. The To ng chuan tistics. Only Chang 7-3 Sectio n co ntains rare fo ssils , Fo rmatio n includes T 2 y 1 - T 2 y2 par ts , namely Chang w ith 20 % of the samples fro m this section suitable 10 Sectio n to Chang 8 Section. N arrow Yanchang for statistics. T he lack of spo ropo llen in Chang 7-3 Fo rmatio n includes T 3 y 3 - T 3 y5 par ts , namely Chang Section is probably due to a half-deep and deep lake 7 Section to Chang 1 Section. environment in the area , w here less spo ropollen w ould have been deposited. T here is also a hig h Materials and Methods abundance o f o rg anic sedimentary rocks that are un- The explo red strata in eastern Gansu Province suitable for the preservation of spo ropollen fo ssils. are fo cused o n Chang 8 Section to Chang 6 Section. Because the cores are limited in w ells , we co llected RESULTS AND DISCUSSION samples fro m different w ells in the region in orde r to Sporopollen Assemblages get mo re complete info rmatio n. The majority of sam- A total of 93 g enera and 131 species of sporopol- ples came fro m wells X17 , X30 , X36 , X44 and N4 len fossils w ere identified from the Chang 8 Sectio n to (Fig. 1), and some key samples from Chang 7-3 Sec- Chang 7 Section in eastern G ansu Province.