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The sedimentary environment of Early Cretaceous rift basin in eastern China and its response to the Faraoni event

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Abstract

To better understand the sedimentary environment of the rift basin under the influence of a warm global climate, Lingshan Island in eastern Shandong Province (China) was studied. Inorganic geochemical indexes (B, equivalent B, B/Ga, Ga, V, Couch’s palaeosalinity, Adams’s palaeosalinity, Sr/Ba, Sr/Cu, Rb/Sr, Al2O3/MgO, and CaO/MgO·Al2O3) were analyzed and a quantitative calculation of palaeosalinity was carried out based on the Adams and Couch methods. The sedimentary environment of the rift basin at Lingshan Island was determined according to the morphology and distribution of its palaeobiota as well as inorganic geochemical indexes. We demonstrate that eastern China had high-temperature drought-like conditions during the Early Cretaceous, which may have been influenced by the Faraoni event. The dry-hot climate transformed the rift basin at Lingshan Island into saline lacustrine basin. Therefore, the salinization of water was not influenced by seawater but was the response of terrestrial strata to the warm, dry climate. This study helps to understand the sedimentary background of Cretaceous rift basins in eastern China and the influence of a warm climate on China’s terrestrial strata.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their review and suggestions that improved this manuscript extensively. This work is supported by the Fund from the Key Laboratory of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, Ministry of Natural Resources (Grant No. KLSP 190102) and the Graduate Scientific and Technological Innovation Project Financially Supported by Shandong University of Science and Technology (Grant No. SDKDYC 190104) and the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS, No. 123104).

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  1. College of Earth Science & Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong, 266590, China

    Xiangyu Zhang, Shoujun Li, Xiuli Zhao, Geng Geng & Mingming Yan

  2. Key Laboratory of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing, 100037, China

    Xiangyu Zhang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Paleontology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210008, China

    Shoujun Li & Xiuli Zhao

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Zhang, X., Li, S., Zhao, X. et al. The sedimentary environment of Early Cretaceous rift basin in eastern China and its response to the Faraoni event. Geosci J 24, 359–377 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12303-019-0031-x

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