Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 385 (2013) 17–30

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Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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Cretaceous paleogeography and paleoclimate and the setting of SKI borehole sites inSongliao Basin, northeast China

Chengshan Wang a,b,⁎, Zhiqiang Feng c, Laiming Zhang a,b, Yongjian Huang a,b, Ke Cao d,Pujun Wang e, Bin Zhao a,b

a State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, Chinab School of the Earth Science and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, Chinac Institute of Exploration and Development of Daqing Oil field Company Ltd, Daqing, 163712, Chinad The Key Laboratory of Marine Hydrocarbon Resources and Environment Geology, Qingdao institute of marine geology, Qingdao 266071, Chinae School of Earth Sciences; Jilin University; Changchun, 130061, China

⁎ Corresponding author at: State Key Laboratory of BGeology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 10001612; fax: +86 10 8232 2171.

E-mail address: chshwang@cugb.edu.cn (C. Wang).

0031-0182/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. Alldoi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.01.030

a b s t r a c t

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 20 September 2011Received in revised form 15 January 2012Accepted 21 January 2012Available online 10 February 2012

Keywords:CretaceousPaleogeographyPaleoclimateSongliao BasinSKI borehole

As a paradigm of greenhouse climate in Earth's history, the Cretaceous provides significant rock records ofglobal climate changes under conditions of greenhouse climate. The Songliao Basin, among the longest dura-tion (85–90 m.y.) of continental sedimentary basins, provides an excellent opportunity to recover a nearlycomplete Cretaceous terrestrial sedimentary record. Extensive lake deposits, ten-kilometers deep and cover-ing an area of 260,000 km2 of the Songliao Basin, provide unique, detailed records that can be tied to the glob-al stratigraphic time scale, thereby improving our understanding of the continental paleoclimate andecological system. The two coreholes at SKIs and SKIn sites were drilled into this basin and completed witha total length of 2485.89 m of recovered core that spanned the complete middle-to-Upper Cretaceous stratain the basin. The unique geological setting of long-term continuous subsidence within the largest Cretaceouslandmass in the world — makes the Cretaceous Songliao Basin of northeastern China an ideal place to studyCretaceous climate change on the continent. This paper reviews the literature on the paleogeography andpaleoclimate of the northern East Asia and the Songliao Basin during the Cretaceous. Based on the climatolog-ically sensitive deposits, oxygen isotope studies, and paleontology, the climate during the Cretaceous in theSongliao Basin was temperate and humid with relatively abundant rainfall. During the period, significantchanges – four cooling, three warming, and three semiarid events – are generally consistent with the oxygenisotope data from East Asia, and the four cooling events, in Berriasian–Valanginian, Aptian–Albian, earlySantonian, and Campanian–Maastrichtian, may be related to potential glaciations in Cretaceous.

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1. Introduction

In contrast to the oscillating glacial–interglacial climates of thepast few million years, the Cretaceous Period was a time of long-term climate stability with warm equable climates resulting from ahigher atmospheric greenhouse gas content (Skelton et al., 2003;Bice et al., 2006), punctuated by rapid climate change events relatedto perturbations in the global carbon cycle such as ocean anoxicevents (OAEs, Schlanger and Jenkyns, 1976; Leckie et al., 2002;Jenkyns, 2003) and the deposition of ocean red beds (Hu et al.,2005; Wang et al., 2005; Hu et al., 2006a, 2006b; Hu et al., 2009;Wang et al., 2009), or to global hydrological cycle disturbances suchas possible glaciation in polar or mountain areas (Wang et al., 1996;

iogeology and Environmental83, China. Tel.: +86 10 8232

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Miller et al., 2005; Bornemann et al., 2008). A detailed record of Cre-taceous climate change has the potential to improve our understand-ing of modern global warming. However, although the oceanicresponse to Cretaceous climate change is relatively well knownfrom oceanic scientific drilling (DSDP, ODP and IODP), knowledge ofCretaceous terrestrial climatic change is at best fragmentary(Hasegawa, 1997; Gröcke et al., 1999; Hasegawa, 2003; Heimhoferet al., 2005). In this respect, the long-lived Cretaceous SongliaoBasin, covering roughly 260,000 km2 in Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liao-ning provinces of NE China (42°25′N to 49°23′N, 119°40′E to128°24′E), and located on one of the largest landmasses of this period(Scotese et al., 1988), is an excellent candidate from which to recovera nearly complete Cretaceous terrestrial sedimentary record of basin-filling history (Chen, 1987; Chen and Chang, 1994).

In addition, the Songliao Basin contains rich petroleum reserves;the proven oil reserves are over 40 billion barrels, and proven gasover 300 billion m3 (Hou et al., 2009). Daqing oilfield, located inthe Songliao Basin, is the biggest oilfield of China, with total oil

18 C. Wang et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 385 (2013) 17–30

production up to 14 billion barrels over the past 50 years. In recentyears, large gas fields have been found in synrift volcanic reservoirswith proven reserves of more than 200 billion m3 (Feng, 2008; Fenget al., 2010a).

In order to better understand Cretaceous continental climate, weimplemented continental scientific drilling in the Songliao Basin in2006 under the framework of the International Continental ScientificDrilling Program. This drilling was divided into two stages; the firststage drilling of the SKI has been completed and has recovered nearly2500 m of cores (Huang et al., 2008). The purpose of this paper is tointroduce the basic paleogeographic and the paleoclimatic frameworkduring Cretaceous deposition in the Songliao Basin, and to provide anopportunity for the international earth scientific community to gain athorough understanding of the research results (papers in this vol-ume) based on cores acquired.

Scientific deep drilling provides unique opportunities for the geosci-ence community to understand the response of terrestrial environ-ments to geological events related to the carbon cycle and greenhouseclimate change, based on continuous high-resolution sedimentary re-cords derived from core and from other Cretaceous terrestrial sedimen-tary and paleontological records (Wang et al, 2008). It will also addressimportant problems, such as the identification of important stratigraph-ic boundaries and marine-terrestrial stratigraphic correlation (Wang etal., 2002), possible reasons for the biotic response to the terrestrial en-vironmental change (Coolen and Overmann, 2007), terrestrial responseto Cretaceous oceanic anoxic events (Herrle et al., 2003; Cohen et al.,2004; Beckmann et al., 2005; Bornemann et al., 2005), formation of ter-restrial petroleum source rocks (Wan et al., 2005), and mechanisms forthe Cretaceous magnetic Normal Super-Chron (CNS) (McFadden andMerrill, 2000; Hulot and Gallet, 2003).

2. Geographic location and tectonic setting

2.1. Geographic location

The Songliao Basin covers roughly 260,000 km2 in Heilongjiang,Jilin, and Liaoning provinces of NE China. It is approximately820 km long in the north–south direction and approximately

Fig. 1. Location and tectonic map of the Songliao Basin. This area is separated from Siberia bygolia and northern and northeastern China terranes, and is marked by the Yinshan–Yanshaclosed dotted yellow lines are Mesozoic–Cenozoic basins; blue represents flooded areas; yTamsag Basin; BHB, Bohai Basin; HB, Hailar basin; GB, Genhe Basin; MWB, Mohe Baisn; SLBLB, Boli Basin. DMF, Dunhua–Mishan Fault; MF, Mudanjiang Fault; DF, Derbugan Fault; YYFture cross section (Fig. 3).Modified after Zhou et al., 2009 and Meng et al., 2010.

350 km wide in the east–west direction; geographically the basinis located between 119°40′E to 128°24′E, and 42°25′N to 49°23′N.The basin trends in a NNE direction and the basin floor isdiamond-shaped (Wang et al., 1994; Fig. 1). Transportation condi-tions and geologic knowledge of the area have increased dramati-cally since the discovery of Daqing oilfield in the late 1950s,allowing for a well-designed scientific drilling program to be initiat-ed and conducted here.

Geomorphologically, the area of the Songliao Basin generally coin-cides with the modern Songliao Plain. The Songliao Basin underliesthe Songnen Plain to the north and Liaohe Plain to the south, itsmain area is beneath the Chinese Dongbei Plain, with an altitude gen-erally lower than 200 m. The basin is surrounded by mountain rangesand hills, is bordered by the Zhangguangcailing Mountains to the east,the Daxinganling Mountains to the west, the Xiaoxinganling Moun-tains to the north, and by the mountainous lands in Liaoning provinceto the south (Wang et al., 1994; Hou et al., 2009; Fig. 1). Currently thebasin includes large scale plains and marshes of two river systems,the Songhua River-Nen River and the Liao River. However, the Creta-ceous sedimentary basin may be much larger than the Songliao Plain,therefore its measured area of 260,000 km2 likely is a minimum esti-mate. Consequently, it would be reasonable to believe that the Son-gliao Basin, with an area more than fifty times that of China'sbiggest lake (Qinghai Lake), played a significant role in regulating cli-mate of East Asia during the Cretaceous.

2.2. Tectonic setting

East Asia, where the Songliao Basin is located, is a complex com-bination of discontinuous and amalgamated landmasses. This tec-tonic complex is subdivided by suture zones and fold belts, whichwere formed during continuous continental collisions during thePaleozoic and Mesozoic (Fig. 1) (Şengör and Natal'in, 1996; Yinand Nie, 1996; Hendrix and Davis, 2001). Hence, East Asia is an ex-cellent area to study continental development and associated defor-mation processes. An extensional rift valley system as large as theBasin and Range province in North America developed in NE Chinaand southern Mongolia from Late Jurassic to Cretaceous time

the Mongol–Okhotsk suture zone, consists primarily of eastern and south-central Mon-n belt on the south and by the Daxinganling belt on the east. B=basin; F=fault. Theellow is the modern ocean. YGB, Yinggen Basin; OB, Ordos Basin; EB, Erlian Basin; TB,B, Songliao Basin; SW-JYB, Sunwu-Jiaying Basin; HLB, Hulin Basin; SJB, Sanjiang Basin;, Yilan–Yitong Fault; NKF, Nenjiang–Kailu Fault; TF, Tanlu Fault. A-A’ Location of struc-

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(Graham et al., 1996, 2001; Ren et al., 2002). This rift valley systemoverlapped onto several interior contractile orogenic zones, leadingto three groups of rift basins in the western, the central and theeastern areas. Geomorphologically, the modern western basingroup is represented by the Erlian Basin and the Hailaer Basin,which are separated from the central basin group represented bythe Songliao Basin by Great Khingan Mountain and Taihang Moun-tain. The eastern basin group is represented by the Sanjiang Basin,which is separated from the central group by the Tanlu fault(Fig. 1). These three basin groups are not only separated by moun-tains and structural belts, but also in terms of their developmentalstages, sedimentary patterns, and subsequent intensity of tectonicdeformation (Chi et al., 2002), implying that this geomorphologymay have existed before the formation of the basin floors.

Extensional zones commonly develop upon the contractile oro-genic belts. An important phenomenon of this environment is anolder thrust-fault plane reactivated as a normal fault during extension(Gries, 1983; Williams and Powell, 1989; Axen et al., 1993) and theemergence of a high strain extensional zone characterized by a meta-morphic core complex (Coney and Harms, 1984; Constenius, 1996).Gravitational collapse is considered to be the driving force for the ex-tensional process, and this process occurred where the crust thick-ened simultaneously or soon afterwards, as for example in the Basinand Range province in western North America (Coney and Harms,1984; Wust, 1986; Constenius, 1996), the Caledonian orogenic beltin Norway (Seguret et al., 1989), and Southern Tibet (Burchfiel andRoyden, 1985; Royden and Burchfiel, 1987; Hodges et al., 1992). Al-though the three East Asia Cretaceous rift basins were developed onolder orogenic belts, their origins have long been controversial, espe-cially the mechanism for formation of the single largest and mostlong-lived basin, the Songliao Basin. Much evidence indicates thatits origin was related to back-arc extension associated with west-directed subduction of the paleo-Pacific beneath the Asian margin,but because 2000 km separate the Songliao Basin from the Japan Is-land Arc, the role of plate subduction there is difficult to rationalize(see discussion in Graham et al., 2001). Alternatively, extensionsmay have been related to upwelling of a mantle plume (Okada,2000), or related to the composite subduction of paleo-Pacific andOkhotsk Sea (Feng et al., 2010a).

3. Strata and basin structure

Cretaceous deposits in China are mostly of non-marine origin;marine sediments occur only in parts of Tibet and Xinjiang (Chen,1987; Chen and Chang, 1994). During the Cretaceous, the SongliaoBasin in northeastern China was a large rift basin that hosted along-lived deep lake (Chen, 1987). This history caused the basinto become the largest oil and gas producing basin in China, withChina's largest oilfield, Daqing, situated in the central part of thebasin (Zhou and Littke, 1999). Large-scale geological investigationof the Songliao Basin for petroleum began in 1956, and on Sept.26, 1959, the first highly productive oil well (known as the Songji-3 Gusher) was successfully drilled, initiating the history of DaqingOilfield. Since then, extensive exploration has been conducted inthe Songliao Basin. By the end of 2000, over 250,000 km of seismicreflection profiles had been completed. The block scale for the seis-mic network is 0.5×0.5 to 2×4 km, and some 3-D seismic reflectiondata have been acquired. About 50,000 wells have been drilled, withcumulative drill penetration of about 40 million meters (Wang etal., 2008). In recent years, more wells have been drilled to theLower Cretaceous, which offer reference points for the proposeddeeper drilling program, and which form the basis for detailedstratigraphic correlation and derivative reconstructions of Creta-ceous paleoenvironment, and permit identification of an optimumdrilling location for scientific objectives.

3.1. Strata and ages

The Songliao Basin is filled predominantly with volcaniclastic, al-luvial fan, fluvial and lacustrine sediments of Late Jurassic, Creta-ceous and Paleogene ages resting on a pre-Mesozoic basement(Chi et al., 2002; Figs. 2 and 3). The oldest sedimentary cover withinthe basin is the Upper Jurassic Huoshiling Formation (J3h). Overly-ing the Jurassic strata are the Lower Cretaceous Shahezi (K1sh),Yingcheng (K1y), Denglouku (K1d) and Quantou (K1q) formations;these are overlain by the Upper Cretaceous Qinshankou (K2qn),Yaojia (K2y), Nenjiang (K2n), Sifangtai (K2s), and Mingshui (K2m)formations. The sedimentary sequence is capped by an unconformi-ty between the Cretaceous and Cenozoic, overlain by the Paleogene–Neogene Yi'an (E2-3ya), Da'an (N2da) and Taikang (N2tk) forma-tions (Hou et al., 2009).

The age of Huoshiling Formation is still controversial, with uncer-tainty as to whether it spans the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary in theSongliao Basin. We place the formation in the Late Jurassic TithonianStage because the majority of radiometric ages are between 150 and155 Ma (Hou et al., 2009). The sedimentary thickness is 500–1600 m,and strata include volcanic flows (mainly andesitic) and volcaniclasticsintercalated with clastic fluvial, flood-plain and swamp or mire facies(Feng et al., 2010a). Seismic horizon T5 at the base of the formationclearly demonstrates that this formation onlaps the underlyingbasement.

With typical fossils of the Jehol Biota, the Shahezi Formation over-lies the Huoshiling Formation. Because the age of this biota is stillcontroversial, we provisionally place this formation in the Berria-sian–Valanginian (Hou et al., 2009). The formation is typically400–1500 m thick, and consists of gray to black lacustrine and flood-plain mudstone and siltstone interbedded with gray sandstone andconglomerate. A thin layer of felsic tuff and tuff breccia occurs at thebase of the formation (Feng et al., 2010a).

Overlying the Shahezi Formation is the Yingcheng Formation,which comprises mainly felsic volcanics, which are the main petro-leum reservoirs, and are interbedded with clastic strata and severaldiscontinuous coal beds, and normally 500–1000m thick (Feng etal., 2010a). The zircon U–Pb ages show that the extensive volcanic se-quences found in the northern the Songliao Basin were emplaced be-tween ca. 115 and 109 Ma in the Early Cretaceous (Zhang et al.,2011). As a result, we suggest that the age of Yingcheng Formationis Hauterivian–Barremian. Of the ten reservoir levels in the SongliaoBasin from shallow to deep (Fig. 2, Hou et al., 2009), the volcanicsin this formation (known as the Xingcheng gas layer) are the maintarget for gas exploration (Fig. 2). Notably, the top of Yingcheng for-mation is bounded by an unconformity, equivalent to seismic horizonT4 (Feng et al., 2010a; Figs. 2 and 3).

The Denglouku Formation unconformably overlies the YingchengFormation, and comprises interbedded gray to white structurelesssandstone, dark sandy mudstone, mixed-color sandstone and mud-stone, conglomerate and a thick argillite (Feng et al., 2010a). Thethickness of this formation is typically 500–1000 m. The charophytefossils in the formation are worldwide Aptian fossils (Hou et al.,2009), thus we suggest that the age of Denglongku Formation isAptian. The formation can be divided into 4 members according tothe lithology, and the 3rd and 4th members comprise the Changdegas layer (Fig. 2).

Above the Denglouku Formation is the Quantou Formation,which overlaps the eastern and western basin margins and extendsacross the whole basin. Quantou strata are characterized by red-brown, purple and purple-brown mudstone, coarse grayish-whitesandstone and conglomerate of fluvial and floodplain origins depos-ited in arid or semi-arid conditions (Feng et al., 2010a). Although,this formation has few fossils, previous studies allocated this forma-tion to the Albian Stage (Hou et al., 2009). The Quantou Formationis Albian–Cenomanian-lowermost Turonian in age (see Wan et al.,

20 C. Wang et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 385 (2013) 17–30

2013–this volume; Deng et al., 2013–this volume). The thickness ofthe sequence is typically 550–1200 m, with a maximum of 1650 m.It can be divided into 4 members according to the lithology, and the

Fig. 2. Stratigraphic column of Songliao Basin modified from Wang et al. (2008). 1, Volc

3rd and 4th members belong to the Changde and Fuyu oil layers(Fig. 2), which also are called the lower oil-bearing assemblage(Hou et al., 2009).

anic; 2, Mudstone; 3, Muddy Siltstone; 4, Siltstone; 5, Sandstone; 6, Conglomerate.

Fig. 3. Structural cross section across the central part of the Songliao Basin based on regional seismic analyses; lithologies and formations derived from geophysical logs and corestied to seismic sections. Q-Ey, Quaternary/Neogene; K2s, Sifangtai Formation; K2m, Mingshui Formation; K2n, Nenjiang Formation; K2y, Yaojia Formation; K2qn, Qingshankou For-mation; K1q, Quantou Formation; K1d, Denglouku Formation; K1yc,Yingcheng Formation; K1sh, Shahezi Formation; K1h, Houshigou Formation. T03–5, seismic horizons. The redregions indicate oil reservoirs. The yellow bars in SK-In , SK-Is, SK-IIw and SK-IIe are coring intervals and the white bars are un-cored intervals.Modified after Feng et al., 2010a.

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The Qingshankou Formation consists of gray, dark gray and blackmudstone interbedded with oil shale and gray sandstone and silt-stone. Deltaic and shallow lacustrine facies dominate this formation.During early deposition of the Qingshankou deep-water, lacustrine,black mudstone with a thickness of 60–100 m was deposited acrossthe entire central downwarp, forming the most important petroleumsource rocks in the Songliao Basin (Feng et al., 2010a). Based on abun-dant aquatic fossils found in the formation, such as conchostraca, os-tracode, bivalve, and fish, the most recent research determines theage to be late Turonian–Coniacian (see Wan et al., 2013–this volume;Deng et al., 2013–this volume). It can be divided into 3members accord-ing to lithology, and the 2nd and 3rd members belong to the Gaotaizioil layer (Fig. 2).

The seismic marker T11 at the base of the Yaojia Formation (Figs. 2and 3) is anunconformity and in thewestern and southeastern and cen-tral zones of the basin (Fig. 3), which shows clear evidence of long sub-aerial exposure and weathering, including mud cracks, caliche, redpalaeosol, calcareous nodules and plant roots (Feng et al., 2010a). TheYaojia Formation comprises red, gray, grayish green and black mud-stone, siltstone and sandstone of lacustrine, fluvial and deltaic origins(Feng et al., 2010a). Like the Qingshankou Formation, the Yaojia isalso rich in fossils, and based on the regional correlation of these fossils,the age is Coniacian–Santonian (seeWan et al., 2013–this volume; Denget al., 2013–this volume). It can be divided into 3members according tothe lithology, and the 1st member is the Putouhua oil layer (Fig. 2).

The Nenjiang Formation is dominated by deep-water lacustrinegray to black mudstone, marl, shelly limestone, and oil shale inter-bedded with gray siltstone and fine sandstone. During deposition ofthe first member of the Nenjiang Formation (K2n1), the lake expand-ed rapidly and reached its maximum extent of 20×104 km2, coveringalmost the entire basin (Feng et al., 2010a). The Nenjiang Formationhas the most abundant and diverse fossils of every kind in the Son-gliao Basin (see Section 5 for details). The age is Late Santonian-early-to-middle Campanian (see Wan et al., 2013–this volume; Denget al., 2013–this volume). It can be divided into 5 members accordingto the lithology, and the 3rd and 4th members belong to the Hetimiaooil layer (Fig. 2), which is the shallowest oil layer in the SongliaoBasin.

The Sifangtai and Mingshui formations are the uppermost Creta-ceous units in the Songliao Basin, and because they have very similarbiota, we discuss them together. The Sifangtai Formation consists ofbrick-red pebbly sandstone and shale interbedded with brown, gray

and gray-green sandstone and muddy siltstone. The middle part ofthe formation consists of gray fine sandstone and siltstone inter-bedded with brick-red and mauve shale. Fine clastics dominate theupper part of the formation and comprise red and mauve shale inter-bedded with gray-green mudstone. The Mingshui Formation is com-posed of gray-green, gray, black and brown-red shale and gray-green sandstone (Feng et al., 2010a). Various lines of new evidence,including comprehensive palynological research in SKI (Li et al.,2011), show that the Mingshui is middle Campanian–Maastrichtian,but also clearly indicate that the top of Mingshui Formation is Paleo-cene in age (see Wan et al., 2013–this volume; Deng et al., 2013–thisvolume). Seismic horizon T02 is a significant regional unconformityseparating the Cretaceous and Cenozoic deposits (Figs. 2 and 3), indi-cating strong structural inversion, including folding and uplift (Fenget al., 2010a).

The drilling of the first stage of the SKI has already achieved a con-tinuous sedimentary record from the 3rd member of Quantou Forma-tion to the Mingshui Formation (Fig. 2). The second stage of thisprogram is about to begin, and plans to recover a continuous sedi-mentary record from the basement to the 2nd member of QuantouFormation (Fig. 2).

In summary, the Songliao Basin was filled mainly with lacustrinedeposits beginning about 155–150 Ma and possibly ending in theearly Danian at 64 Ma, with a time span of up to 85–90 m.y.. Thus,the Songliao Basin is likely the longest-lived lacustrine-dominatedsedimentary basin known in the rock record.

3.2. Basin structure

The Songliao Basin is an intra-cratonic Cretaceous rift basin, asdemonstrated by an abundance of data generated by the petroleumindustry, including its subsidence and geothermal history, sedimenta-ry facies, crustal underpinnings, and structural style (Song, 1997;Khudololey and Sokolov, 1998; Einsele, 2000). The evolution of theSongliao Basin consists involves 4 stages and 5 structural units: (1)a pre-rift doming stage during the pre-late Jurassic (before 155 Ma).Uplift and erosion resulting from mantle doming precluded accumu-lation of Triassic to Middle Jurassic sediments. (2) A synrift stage dur-ing the latest Jurassic–earliest Cretaceous, forming the structurallydeepest unit (T5–T4, Huoshiling, Shahezi and Yingcheng formations).During this time interval, over thirty isolated faulted sub-basins wereformed (Feng et al., 2010a; Liu et al., 2011). (3) Downwarping was

Table 1Late Cretaceous lithofacies and rock colors in Songliao Basina.

Fomation Area(km2)

Color Special rocks

Sifangtai–Mingshui

83,492 Western: black eastern: red

the 3rd–5thmembers ofNenjiang

89,646 Black and red

the 1st–2ndmembers ofNenjiang

>180,343 Black Oil shale andbiogeniclimestone

Yaojia 144,666 80% of the area are red Gypsumthe 2nd–3rdmembers ofQingshankou

162,458 Black and red Gypsum

the 1st memberof Qingshankou

162,458 Black Oil shale andbiogeniclimestone

Quantou 155,663 Major in red sandstone,interbedded by grayish-greensiltstone and mudstone

Denglouku 62,690 Major in grayish-green and black,and great deal of red mudstone

Huoshiling–Yingcheng

90,367 Gray-black conglomerate,sandstone, siltstone and mudstone

Coal

a Modified after Zhang and Ren, 2003.

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driven by thermal subsidence during the late Early Cretaceous andLate Cretaceous. From a petroleum perspective, this is the most im-portant stage among the four, for up to 4500 m of sediments, includ-ing two main oil-prone black shale units (the Qingshankou andNenjiang formations), were deposited. A regional unconformity oc-curs near the base of Upper Cretaceous strata, equivalent to seismichorizon T2 (Figs. 2 and 3). This unconformity divides the thermal sub-sidence tectonostratigraphic unit into two parts, each with distinctarchitecture and depositional features (Feng et al., 2010a), includinglower unit (T4-T2, Denglouku and Quantou formations) and middleunit (T2-T03, Qingshankou, Yaojia and Nenjiang formations). (4)Basin shrinkage and regional compression. After the late Late Creta-ceous, regional stress became compressional. During this period theupper unit (T03-T02, the Sifangtai and Mingshui formations) formed.

Based on the structural cross section (Fig. 3) across the SongliaoBasin, the basin-filling geometric pattern is a typical ‘steer's-head’ ge-ometry. The lower unit is limited to the grabens controlled by faults inthe synrift stage, and in the upper part the Yingcheng Formation(K1yc) locally truncates underlying strata and onlaps the basin-margin faults. The middle and lower stratigraphic units typically ap-pear to have a downwarping sedimentary pattern, their depositsoverlap on all the graben basins, and the east and west sides of thebasin overlap in an onlap pattern. The change from the lower to theupper stratigraphic units, which occurs between the Denglouku For-mation and the Nenjiang Formation, results in extensive overlapthat exceeds the present extent of the Songliao Basin. The upper strat-igraphic unit only crops out at the western side of the basin, becausestress from the east during this period not only led to the westwardmigration of depocenter, but also resulted in continuous uplift anderosion on the east.

4. Paleogeography and evolution of basins

4.1. Cretaceous paleogeography of China

Previous paleomagnetic data showed that the North China plate,the Yangtze plate and the Korean plate formed a single block begin-ning in the Late Jurassic (Gilder and Courtillot, 1997). According topaleomagnetic studies of fifty-five Cretaceous lavas in western Liao-ning Province, this area did not move relative to Eurasia (Zhu et al.,2002), which suggests that the Songliao Basin was located at middlelatitude similar to where it is now, although a previous study sug-gested that it moved about 2–4 degrees southward migration (Fanget al., 1988).

A paleogeographic map of China compiled by Wang et al. (1985a)reveals that eastern China and adjacent areas were dominated by ex-tensional basins during the Mesozoic (e.g., Chen and Dickinson,1986). The paleoclimate and paleogeography of the Songliao Basinchanged over its long life as a sedimentary basin. Understandingthese changes helps to realize the process of its evolution.

Early Cretaceous rift basins mainly occurred in northeasternChina, viz. basin group referred in Section 2.2, many isolated half-graben basins also occurred in North China and southeasternChina. They are volcano-sedimentary basins and have similar fillingsequences. No sediment was deposited during the Early Cretaceousin the hinterland of South and North China, which Wang et al.(1985a) termed the North China highland and South China high-land. The basin group in northeastern China obviously changed inthe Late Cretaceous. The Songliao Basin entered the stage of thermal

Fig. 4. Late Cretaceous lithofacies and rock colors in the Songliao Basin. K2s, Sifangtai FormaK2qn, the Qingshankou Formation. 1, Mudstone; 2, Siltstone; 3, Sandy conglomerate; 4, InteInterbedded siltstone and sandy conglomerate; 7, Mudstone interbedded by siltstone and cbedded with conglomeratic mudstone and siltstone. The gray color represents regions of resents regions of transitional conditions, which include lithofacies of grayish green color, tbetween red and black, black intermixed with red-green, green intermixed with black-red,Modified after Wang et al., 1994.

subsidence while the western basin group stopped filling and theeastern basin group rifted and was eroded. The distribution of de-tachment extensional structures extended westward and rift basinsoccurred abroad in North China and southeastern China. At thesame time, westward subduction of the Izanagi plate caused a3000–4000 m high coastal mountain chain along the eastern mar-gin of East Asia (Yano and Wu, 1995; Chen, 1997; Okada, 1997;Yano and Wu, 1997; Okada, 2000), which influenced deposition ofmany distinctive types of sedimentary facies, including aeoliansandstone, gypsum and calcareous concretions (Xiang et al.,2009), in basins in the rain shadow of the coast ranges.

4.2. Sedimentary facies and environmental evolution of the SongliaoBasin

During the depositional of the Huoshiling Formation through theYingcheng Formations, the Songliao Basin entered a faulted phase.More than 30 isolated rift basins composed the Songliao Basin, allhaving similar filling sequences and facies combinations. Two sedi-mentary sequences developed, consisting of volcanic-alluvial fan fa-cies and fan delta-shallow lake-fan delta facies. They formed thefirst complete cycle from lake transgression to regression. The totalarea of these 30 basins was 90,367 km2, which included a lake areaof 36,898 km2 (Table 1; Zhang and Ren, 2003).

The Songliao Basin entered a fault-subsidence transition stageduring the deposition period of the Denglouku Formation (Guo etal., 2005), when the basin was fully integrated and had several cen-ters of sediment and subsidence (Feng et al., 2010a). The DengloukuFormation is the second complete cycle, which was filled base totop by a succession of alluvial plain-delta-shore to shallow lake–deeper lake – shore to shallow lake – alluvial plain deposits. Climate con-ditions during this period were hot, when much of the red mudstonereplaced former swamp mudstone. Because of differential subsidence, alarge area of the Songliao Basin was exposed at the surface, and the

tion; K2m, Mingshui Formation; K2n, Nenjiang Formation; K2y, Yaojia Formation; andrbedded mudstone and siltstone; 5, Interbedded mudstone and sandy conglomerate; 6,onglomerate; 8, Siltstone interbedded by mudstone and sandstone; 9, Sandstone inter-ducing conditions; the red color represents regions of oxidation; the gold color repre-ransitional between black and green, transitional between green and red, transitionaland red intermixed with green-black.

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area of sediment deposition in the Songliao Basin was reduced to62,689 km2 (Zhang and Ren, 2003).

The Quantou and Qingshankou formations were deposited duringthe early subsidence phase. They formed the third complete strati-graphic cycle, which was a sequence of alluvial fan–alluvial plain–shore to shallow lake deposits in the Quantou Formation to deeplake–shore to shallow lake-transgressive delta–alluvial plain depositsin the Qingshankou Formation. However, marginal facies are absentin the eastern part of the Songliao Basin, which suggests that duringthis period the eastern boundary of the basin extended beyond thepresent boundary. The Quantou Formation was deposited mainly asred siltstone and mudstone, interbedded with gray greenish siltstoneand mudstone. The Quantou covers 15,5662 km2, including an area oflacustrine sediment of 23,150 km2 (Zhang and Ren, 2003). When thefirst member of the Qingshankou Formation was deposited, the areaof sediment extended to 162,458 km2, which contained a lacustrinearea of 68,134 km2, with a deep water lacustrine area of 40,000 km2

(Fig. 4A), may be influenced by sea-water input during depositionof this member (Xi et al., 2011). Black, gray black shale, limestoneand oil shale are widespread in the middle and eastern parts of theSongliao Basin. They formed the first major hydrocarbon sourcerocks whose content of organic matter reached 0.53%. When the sec-ond and third members of the Qingshankou Formation were deposit-ed, a large delta system occurred in northern and western SongliaoBasin and a small area of salt-bearing mudstone occurred in the east-ern area. The area of lacustrine sediment was reduced to 41,000 km2

(Yang, 1985), with an area of deep-water lacustrine sediment lessthan 20,000 km2 (Zhang and Ren, 2003).

The Yaojia and Nenjiang formations were deposited during a latesubsidence phase. They formed the fourth stratigraphic cycle, whichwas a sequence of alluvial plain–delta-shore to shallow lake in theYaojia to deep lake–shallow lake-delta–alluvial plain in the NenjiangFormation. Marginal facies from the Yaojia to the first and secondmembers of the Nenjiang Formation, missing in the eastern SongliaoBasin, but they are present in the third through fifth members ofthe Nengjiang Formation, which indicates that the lacustrine waterlevel fell during this period. The distribution and sediment sequenceof the Yaojia Formation is similar to that of the Qingshankou, thearea of which is 144,667 km2,with the deep water lacustrine area re-duced to 5719 km2, and the area of salt-bearing mudstone enlargedto 22,041 km2. The Yaojia Formation consisted of red, red-greeninterbedded and red-black interbedded mudstone and siltstone(Fig. 4B). Red layers occupied 43% of total thickness of the secondand third members of Yaojia Formation (Zhang and Ren, 2003).

The subaerial extent of the Nenjiang Formation was much greaterthan is now preserved; its peak extent was during deposition of thefirst and second members of the Nengjiang, which may have been260,000 km2 (Fig. 4C). Both the area and depth of the SongliaoBasin reached peak because of the influence of sea-water input duringdeposition of the first and second members of the Nenjiang Forma-tion (Xi et al., 2011). Only deep water in the central region and shal-low water lacustrine facies occurred in the marginal. Black mudstoneis throughout the basin, with local mudstone and siltstone inter-bedded. Black shale, limestone and oil shale are widely distributedin the whole basin, with the thickest oil shale up to 650 m. The areaof deep water lacustrine facies reached 96,044 km2, or about 53.25%of the area of the basin. Many sub-lacustrine fans and channel sys-tems covered the slope and base of the Songliao Basin (Feng et al.,2010b). The largest channel system is 67 km long, and the widestchannel branch is 600 m, extending southward 11.5 km from itshead. The eastern basin was uplifted during deposition of the thirdthrough fifth members of the Nenjiang, which caused a reduction ofthe lake area. The total area of sediment was reduced to89,646 km2, including deep water lacustrine facies at 2922 km2, shal-low water lacustrine facies at 35,925 km2 and delta facies at16,870 km2 (Zhang and Ren, 2003).

The Sifangtai and Mingshui formations were deposited duringthe waning phase of the basin's life, when the eastern SongliaoBasin was uplifted sharply. This displaced the basin center west-ward and reduced its area to 83,492 km2. These units formed thefifth stratigraphic cycle, which was a sequence of alluvial plain-shore to shallow lake-alluvial plain deposits across most of thebasin, but alluvial plain–alluvial fan occur at the basin margin. Theoverall character during this period was a widespread alluvialplain. Five small but persistent shallow lakes had low accommoda-tion space and frequently fluctuating lake levels (Han et al., 2009).Red siltstone interbedded with mudstone and sandstone dividedthe dark mudstone into two sub-areas (Fig. 4D).

To sum up, five complete stratigraphic cycles formed in four evo-lutionary stages of the Songliao Basin. Tectonic activity and watersupply controlled the changing area of the basin, which controlledthe distribution and character of sediment facies. During the faultedstage, the basin was in the humid and wet climate zone, and abun-dant organic matter yielded dark sediment and coal-bearing strata.During the fault-subsidence transition stage, the basin was integrat-ed, but many residual sediment centers still existed, where darkdeep lacustrine facies were deposited while red strata formed in shal-low water and subaerial environments. During the subsidence stage,the area and depth of the Songliao Basin both reached a peak. An in-flux of sea-water during deposition of the first member of the Qing-shankou Formation and the first and second members of theNenjiang Formation, fostering a productive ecosystem and formationof dark shale, oil shale and limestone. After the withdrawal of theocean, residual deep water lacustrine depositional systems yieldeddark mudstone and red-green interbedded strata in shore, and shal-low water lacustrine facies and alluvial plain facies. During the wan-ing stage, the area and depth of the Songliao Basin both werereduced, the sediment color was controlled by water depth, so thatdark sediment formed in deep water and red sediment formed inshallow water.

5. Paleoclimate and paleoecology

The Cretaceous Period provides significant rock records of globalclimate changes under conditions of greenhouse climate (Skelton etal., 2003; Bice et al., 2006). The Songliao Basin offers a unique oppor-tunity to understand Cretaceous paleoclimate of terrestrial settingsbecause it contains a nearly complete record of lacustrine sedimentsdeposited throughout the Cretaceous (Chen, 1987; Chen and Chang,1994). In the following sections, we review the literature on thepaleoclimate of the Songliao Basin during the Cretaceous, and recon-struct the paleoclimate in the Songliao Basin in spore/ pollen andplant fossils, oxygen isotope data, paleoecology, and climatically sen-sitive deposits.

5.1. Spore/pollen

Fossil spore/pollen from lake deposits provides a record of localand regional vegetation, and indirectly, climate (Cohen, 2003). Thelarge quantities and widespread distribution of spore/pollen fossilspreserved in the different lithology types in the Songliao Basin pro-vide an important proxy for paleoclimate reconstruction. Researchersalways employed percent ratios of pollen and spores taxa, to estimatetemperature (ratio of percent pollen from warm-climate trees to per-cent pollen from cool-climate trees; Liu and Leopold, 1994; White etal., 1997; Liu et al., 2002; Larsson et al., 2010), humidity (ratio of per-cent pollen from humid-climate trees to percent pollen from arid-climate trees; van der Zwan et al., 1985; Liu et al., 2002; Barron etal., 2006), as well as ecological environment (such as ratio of percentshrubs-plus-herbs to trees; Hubbard and Boulter, 1983; Kalkreuth etal, 1993; Larsson et al., 2010).

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In this way, Gao et al. (1999) reconstructed the climate history ofthe Songliao Basin on the basis of more than 20,000 samples frommore than 500 cores in the Songliao Basin (e.g. Classopollis is regardedto indicate warm climate; Parrish, 1998). The vegetation landscape ofthe basin in Cretaceous time was mainly conifer forest, and steppe(Fig. 5). The Cretaceous atmospheric temperature changed relativelyfrequently in the Songliao Basin, but was mainly humid to semihumidsubtropical environments. Four cooling events were in the Early andLate Cretaceous recorded by: (1) the Huoshiling Fomation and the1st and 2nd members of the Shahezi Formation; (2) the 4th memberof the Denglouku Formation; (3) the Nenjiang Formation and (4) the2nd member of the Mingshui Formation. Three warming events were(1) the 1st and 2nd members of the Denglouku Formation; (2) theQingshankou and Yaojia formations; and (3) the Sifangtai Formation.Three semiarid events were (1) the 3rd and 4th members of the Sha-hezi Formation, (2) the 4th member of the Denglouku Formation, and(3) the Sifangtai Formation.

The first two warming periods were characterized by humid andwarm conditions (humid tropical) with the abundant peak ofbroad-leaved evergreens. The last warming event happened duringdeposition of the Sifangtai Formation, when the climate was arid

Fig. 5. Cretaceous paleoclimate evolution of the Songliao Basin. Spore/pollen relative abundclimate-sensitive rock types are derived fromWang et al. (1994). The temperature data (blacoxygen isotope data (red curve) are derived from Chamberlain et al. (2013–this volume). Thdefine the tropical, tropical–subtropical, subtropical, tropical-temperate, and temperate (Apspore/pollen fossils subdivided into xerophyte, mesophyte, hygrophyte, helophyte, and hydhumid (Appendices 1 and 3). The red bar represents warming event and the blue bar repre

and warm (semiarid south subtropical) with the development ofherbs and low broad-leaved evergreens and conifers. The last twosemiarid events both lead to an increase in herbaceous floras anda decrease in broad-leaved evergreens. During the entire sedimen-tary history of the Songliao Basin, intense aridity never character-ized North China and South China (Boucot et al., 2009), whichmay reflect the intense uplift of the Yanshan orogenic belt to thesouth of the Songliao Basin, and climatologically separated the Son-gliao Basin from North China (Haggart et al., 2006). Notably, thetwo major petroleum source rocks in the Daqing oilfield, the 1stmember of the Qingshankou Formation and the 1st and 2nd mem-bers of the Nenjiang Formation represent different climate zonesbecause of the climate zones were shifted during that period(Fig. 5); the former was tropical-southern subtropical, whereasthe latter was northern subtropical.

5.2. Oxygen isotope data

For nearly half a century, themost significant progress of Cretaceousclimate reconstruction came from the reconstruction of paleotempera-ture (Lowenstam and Epstein, 1954; Anderson and Schneidermann,

ances, paleotemperature zones and paleohumidity are derived from Gao et al. (1999),k curve, black dots, diamonds) are derived from Zakharov et al. (1999, 2009, 2011). Thee classification of temperature zones is based on the species of spore/pollen spectra thatpendices 1 and 2). The dryness and humidity are based on species of parent plants ofrophyte, which correspond to arid, semiarid, semihumid and semiarid, semihumid, andsents cooling event, and the yellow bar represents the semiarid event.

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1973; Barrera et al., 1987; Huber et al., 1995;McArthur et al., 2007), yetthere is currently no terrestrial isotopic proxy record similar to the Cre-taceous marine record. Chamberlain et al. (2013–this volume) providethe first reported oxygen isotopic results from the SKI of the SongliaoBasin (Fig. 5), for the most part, diagenesis did not play a major role inthe isotopic results, which can be interpreted in terms of global climaticand regional hydrologic changes (e.g., Carroll and Bohacs, 1999, 2001).We also collected the marine oxygen isotope data from the Far East(Zakharov et al., 1999, 2009, 2011; Fig. 5). The latitudes are approxi-mately similar between the Far East and Songliao Basin; hence we sup-pose these datamight reflect the trend of Cretaceous temperature in theSongliao Basin and would like to make a comparison with other paleo-climate records.

5.2.1. The temperature records from the oxygen isotopes of the Far EastCretaceous climate changed relatively frequently, and mainly in

temperate climate, when the temperature commonly was above5 °C and the highest more than 25 °C, commonly the temperaturerange between warming events and cooling events is 5–10 °C, some-times they ranged up to nearly 15–20 °C (Fig. 5). In the Early Creta-ceous, the data show a cooling trend to as low as 5 °C in theBerriasian–Valanginian (Zakharov et al., 2009, 2011). Then the tem-perature increased in the Hauterivian–early Aptian (Zakharov et al.,2011). In the late Aptian–Coniacian, the temperatures were relativelystable, except the relatively low temperatures in the Aptian/Albianand the relatively high temperatures in the middle Turonian–Conia-cian. Following the relative stable stage, the temperatures decreasedby 5–10 °C in the early Santonian and sharply increased in the lateSantonian–early Campanian. Then the temperatures remained high(20–25 °C) until the decrease in the Maastrichtian (Zakharov et al.,1999, 2011; Fig. 5). A temporary warming event in the middle Maas-trichtian is also documented in the oxygen isotope data of Zakharovet al. (2011).

5.2.2. Oxygen isotopes of the Songliao BasinThe oxygen isotopic data are from ostracods collected from Songliao

Basin that cover an interval that extends from the QingshankouFormation through the Mingshui Formation (Chamberlain et al.,2013–this volume). These data record clearly isotopic trends and oxy-gen isotope shifts. There is a negative oxygen isotope shift within theQingshankou Formation, the δ18O values change from ~−10‰ to aslow as−18‰ (Fig. 5). Following this negative shift, the general oxygenisotopes tend to increase from the Qingshankou Formation through theNenjiang Formations. Then the δ18O values decrease in the SifangtaiFormation, and for the most part are more positive thereafter (Fig. 5).

In the broad sense, the trends in the temperature records from FarEast are similar with the Oxygen data analyzed in Songliao Basin byChamberlain et al. (2013–this volume). There are both the positiveshifts in the Qingshankou and the Sifangtai Formations and negativeshifts in the Nenjiang and the Mingshui Formations (Fig. 5). However,there are several notable differences between the terrestrial isotopicrecord and the marine record. The magnitude of the isotopic valuesis much larger in the Songliao basin than that in the marine sections.This difference may be due to the amplification effects of the changesin the relative humidity and temperature at the site of evaporationover the ocean and changes in temperature in the drainage basin(Horton and Chamberlain, 2006; Chamberlain et al., 2013–thisvolume). In a word, the similarity between the terrestrial isotopic re-cord and the marine record may show that the temperatures derivedfrom the Far East can be used to approximate the paleoclimate of theSongliao Basin.

5.3. Paleoecology

Plants and animals can be exquisitely sensitive to climate, and fos-sils can be excellent paleoclimatic indicators (Parrish, 1998). The

relationship of an organism to its physical and biological environmentcan be controlled principally by climate, and thus the study of paleo-ecology has proved useful (Parrish, 1998). Many significant insightsderive from extensive drilling data (Zhang and Zhou, 1978; Wang etal., 1985b; Cui, 1989; Gao et al., 1992, 1999; Gu and Yu, 1999; Ye etal., 2002), especially the discovery of fossils that provide a substantialbasis for the study of Cretaceous ecosystems.

Plant fossils and spore/pollen are very abundant and coal is widelydistributed (Fig. 5) in deepest stratigraphic units of the Songliao Basinin Lower Cretaceous strata, indicating a relatively well-developedplant ecosystem (Wang et al., 1995; Gao et al., 1999). In addition, bi-valves, conchostraca, ostracode, and fish (Zhang and Zhou, 1978; Cui,1989; Gu and Yu, 1999; Ye et al., 2002) signal the development of thelake system (see Section. 4 in this paper for detail). The floras re-flect a warm and humid temperate climate, as does the lacustrineJehol biota represented by the ostracode Cypridea (Cypridea ) vitimensis,C. ( Ulwellia ) koskulensis, and the conchostraca Eosestheria, Diestheria,and Liaoningestheria (Huang et al., 1999).

As with the deepest stratigraphic unit, a great numbers of plantand spore/pollen fossils occur in the overlying stratigraphic unit(Wang et al., 1995; Gao et al., 1999).

Diverse ecosystems were best developed in the middle strati-graphic unit in the Songliao Basin. The diversity of genera and speciesreached a maximum. Twenty to thirty classes of fossils and 200–300species (Zhang and Zhou, 1978; Wang et al., 1985b; Cui, 1989; Gaoet al., 1992, 1999; Gu and Yu, 1999; Ye et al., 2002; Xi et al., 2011) re-flect very well-developed plant and aquatic ecosystems are character-istics of Sungari biota. Many species of foraminifera, chlorophyta andfish first appeared in this period. Fish fossils in Nenjiang Forma-tion are Hama macrostoma, Jilingichthys rapax, Jilingichthys. sp.,Sungarichthys longicephalus, and Manchurichthys sp. in the Qing-shankou Formation and Plesiolycoptera daqingensis in the YaohjiaFormation (Kong et al., 2006).

During deposition of the upper stratigraphic unit, the Songliaodepocenter migrated westerward because of compression and upliftto the east (Feng et al., 2010a). The fossils are mainly chlorophytaand ostracoda (Wang et al., 1985b; Ye et al., 2002). Compared withthe middle structural unit, the fossil diversity decreased greatly innumbers of classes and species, developed the Mingshui biota in theLate Cretaceous, which implies an associated shrinkage of the basinand a suppression of the whole ecosystem.

5.4. Climatically sensitive deposits

Many researchers have attempted to reconstruct climate zonesover geological time by analyzing the distribution of climatically sen-sitive deposits (Strakhov, 1967; Zharkov, 1981; Bardossy, 1982). Ter-restrial red beds would appear to be indicative of climates that arewarm and dry or seasonal with respect to rainfall (Parrish, 1998; Duet al., 2011), and the distribution of coal indicates a range of humidclimates under different temperature conditions (Meyerhoff andTeichert, 1971; Boucot et al., 2009).

Coal beds occurwidely in the Shahezi and Yingcheng formations andindicate thehumid climates of the Early Cretaceous in the Songliao Basin(Fig. 5). As with the deepest stratigraphic unit, coal is virtually absent(Wang et al., 1995; Gao et al., 1999), implying a less humid climate.These changes may correspond to the northward migration of aridzones in East Asia during mid-Cretaceous (Boucot et al., 2009). Accord-ing to the spore/pollen data, the Cretaceous climate was mainly humidto semihumid, whereas coal beds did not occur during deposition ofthe Denglouku through the Mingshui formations, indicating that thepaleoenvironment of Songliao Basin changed from the fluvial facies tothe lacustrine facies.

Terrestrial red beds (Fig. 5) occur widely in the middle Cretaceousto the Late Cretaceous and appear to correlate with arid climates(Wang et al., 1995; Du et al., 2011). There were four events of large

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scale red beds, in the Quantou Formation, the 2nd to 3rd members ofthe Qingshankou and the Yaojia Formations (Du et al., 2011), theSifangtai Formation, and the 2nd member of the Mingshui Formation,deposits in the Songliao Basin.

5.5. Discussion

Based on all the information above, we conclude that the SongliaoBasin was mainly in humid to semihumid subtropical environments.The general trends of the spore/pollen data and oxygen isotope datafrom the Songliao Basin and Far East are similar. The temperaturecommonly was above 5 °C and the highest more than 25 °C; com-monly the temperature range between warming events and coolingevents was 5–10 °C, sometimes it ranged up to nearly 15–20 °C(Fig. 5). The global paleovegetation simulations (Upchurch et al.,1998; Sewall et al., 2007) provide the same conclusion. The majorvegetation type of the Songliao Basin was a broad-leaved evergreenforest during the Cretaceous, reflecting a temperate and humid cli-mate condition; the southern part was adjacent to arid climateareas, and had a slightly arid climate during some periods of the Cre-taceous. The temperature was above 0 °C throughout the year, andrainfall was relatively abundant.

The conclusion is also supported by the global paleoclimate recon-struction of climatically sensitive deposits (Boucot et al., 2009). EastAsia, including the Songliao Basin, was in the warm temperate zoneduring most of the Cretaceous and did not experience large changes(Boucot et al., 2009). In a greenhouse world without ice caps, ancientocean currents became the primary controls of continental climatechanges (DeConto et al., 1999; Hay, 2008, 2011). The Songliao Basinwas influenced by warm currents flowing northward from the Pacificequatorial regions and cold currents flowing southward from the Arc-tic region (Puceat et al., 2005; Haggart et al., 2006); these currents ap-proximately correspond to the modern Kuroshio and Oyashiocurrents, because of Pacific oceanic circulation patterns offshore ofthe Songliao Basin were broadly similar to those of today, keeping arelative stable state (Gordon, 1973; Klinger et al., 1984).

The Huoshiling Formation is represents a humid temperate envi-ronment, which is also supported by the paleoecology, and this peri-od was part of the first cooling event in the Cretaceous Songliao Basin.Because of lack of oxygen isotope data, the climate is mainly inferredfrom spore/pollen (Gao et al., 1999; Fig. 5). Overlying the HuoshilingFormation is the Shahezi Formation, which was more arid and was ata low temperature based on the spore/pollen and oxygen isotope data(Gao et al., 1999; Zakharov et al., 2009, 2011), with a decrease in co-nifers and an increase in shrubs and herbs. Furthermore, the 3rd and4th members of the Shahezi Formation represent the first semi-aridevent in the Songliao Basin (Fig. 5). However, coal beds also occurredin this period, indicating a humid condition. We suppose that the rea-son may be the semi-arid event was the briefest and slightest amongthe three events. The Yingcheng Formation was a semihumid-humidsubtropical environment, and the temperature trend (mainly 15–20 °C) decreased and became more humid (Gao et al., 1999;Zakharov et al., 2009, 2011). Coal beds occur in this formation, witha decrease in conifers and increase in shrubs and herbs.

The climate of the Denglouku Formation changed rapidly andsharply. Based on the spore/pollen data, the 1st and 2nd membersof the Denglouku Formation record the first warming event, whilethe 4th member of the formation indicates the second cooling eventand the second semi-arid event (Gao et al., 1999). There was asharp decrease in conifers and sharp increase in broad-leaved ever-greens and herbs. However, the isotope data does not show thesame trend, which may be due to the insufficiency of the data.Above the Denglouku Formation is the Quantou Formation, duringwhich the temperature and humidity were relatively stable asshown by the spore/pollen data and oxygen isotope curve (Gao etal., 1999; Zakharov et al., 2011), and it was a semihumid subtropical

environment. The occurrence of red beds and the absence of coalbeds may indicate a more arid environment than the deepest strati-graphical unit and the transition from fluvial to lacustrine facies.

The Qingshankou Formation records part of the second warmingevent in the Songliao Basin, which was a humid subtropical-tropicalenvironment. There was a sharp decrease in conifers and a sharp in-crease in broad-leaved evergreens and herbs in the Yingcheng Forma-tion (Gao et al., 1999). The occurrence of red beds suggests that theclimate changed rapidly. Chamberlain et al. (2013–this volume) ob-serve that the decrease in δ18O values at the base of the TuronianQingshankou Formation is different from the marine record of theNorth Atlantic (Huber et al., 2002), and argue that this interval mostlikely reflects lake evolution as a result of global changes in the hy-drologic/carbon cycle. We suggest that the same trend of the oxygencurve in the Far East (Zakharov et al., 1999, 2011) may be also the re-sult of global changes in the hydrologic/carbon-cycle and both can beused to reflect the climate of Songliao Basin approximately. The cli-mate of the Yaojia Formation was cooler and more arid than the Qing-shankou Formation, which is reflected by the spore/pollen data andoxygen isotope curves. The Nenjiang Formation was the third coolingevent of the Songliao Basin, and the temperature was about 5–10 °C(Zakharov et al., 1999).

The Sifangtai Formation was a semi-humid subtropical environ-ment (Gao et al., 1999; Zakharov et al., 1999, 2011; Chamberlain etal., 2013–this volume), which was the last warming event and semi-arid event, with the occurrence of the red beds. The temperaturewas around 20 °C and we can observe a decrease in conifers and in-crease in broad-leaved deciduous and herbs. The Mingshui Formationwas a semihumid temperate environment (Gao et al., 1999; Zakharovet al., 1999, 2011; Chamberlain et al., 2013–this volume), which wasthe last cooling event in the Songliao Basin. The δ18O values in thelower portion of the 2nd member of the Mingshui Formation aremuch more variable than the marine record, and Chamberlain et al.(2013–this volume) attribute this difference to be the result of localdrainage reorganization within the basin. The same trend of the oxy-gen curve in the Far East (Zakharov et al., 1999) may suggest thatthemore variable continental record can be used to reflect the climateof Songliao Basin approximately.

Interest in the hypothesis of Cretaceous glaciations has grown inrecent years. Price (1999) summarized the evidence for polar icesheets during the Mesozoic in detail, concluding that there weresmall and ephemeral glaciations in the Cretaceous. Through com-plied evidence from previous publications including dropstone, til-lite, glendonites, eustasy fluctuations and δ18O values, Chen et al.(2011) suggested 13 potential glaciation intervals in the Creta-ceous. Based on spore/pollen data (Gao et al., 1999) and oxygendata (Zakharov et al., 1999, 2009, 2011; Chamberlain et al., 2013–this volume), we conclude that the four Asian cooling events areconsistent with the potential glaciations periods: Berriasian–Valan-ginian evidenced by tillite in Australia (Alley and Frakes, 2003);Aptian–Albian evidenced by glendonites in Canada and Norway(Kemper, 1983), glacial freeze/thaw structure in Australia(Constantine et al., 1988), and δ18O (Clarke and Jenkyns, 1999);early Santonian evidenced by eustatic fluctuations (Haq et al.,1987); and Campanian–Maastrichtian evidenced by eustatic fluctu-ations (Haq et al., 1987; Miller et al., 2005), frost and floating ice inthe Arctic (Falcon-Lang et al., 2004; Davies et al., 2009). These po-tential glaciation events generally correspond to the cooling events,but we lack the resolution to determine the relative order of coolingbetween continental and marine environment. In order to work outthis relationship, we need more deep-time paleoclimate research.

6. Conclusions

The long-lived Cretaceous Songliao Basin, covering roughly260,000 km2 of NE China is an excellent candidate from which to

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recover a nearly complete Cretaceous terrestrial sedimentary record,which will provide unique opportunities to understand the responseof terrestrial environments to geological events related to the carboncycle and greenhouse climate change. We revised the chronostrai-graphic framework of the Songliao Basin with the latest isotope chro-nology and biostratigraphy. The mainly lacustrine deposition beganin the Songliao Basin about 155–150 Ma, and ended in 64 Ma; the85–90 m.y. duration of continental sedimentation likely places theSongliao Basin among the longest long-lived continental sedimentarybasins.

In the Songliao Basin, five stratigraphic cycles formed in four evo-lutionary stages, which include the faulted stage, the fault-subsidencetransition stage, the subsidence stage, and the waning stage. Tectonicactivity and water supply controlled the changing area of the basin,which controlled the distribution and character of sediment facies.A structural cross section across the Songliao Basin reveals that thebasin filling pattern forms typical ‘steer's-head’ geometry. The lowerstratigraphic unit is limited to the grabens controlled by faults inthe synrift stage. The middle and lower stratigraphic units typicallyappear to have a downwarping sedimentary pattern, their depositsoverlap all the graben basins, and the east and west sides of thebasin overlap in an onlap pattern. The upper stratigraphic unit onlyappears at the western side of the basin, because stress from theeast during this period not only led to the westward migration ofdepocenter, but also resulted in continuous uplift and erosion onthe east.

East Asia, including the Songliao Basin, was in the warm temper-ate zone throughout the Cretaceous, without large changes. Basedon the spore/pollen fossil data, the vegetation landscape of the Son-gliao Basin in Cretaceous was mainly conifer forest, steppe andgrass, suggesting diverse topography. We find four cooling events:(1) the 1st and 2nd members of the Huoshiling and the Shahezi for-mations, (2) the 4th member of the Denglouku Formation, (3) dur-ing the Nenjiang Formation and (4) the 2nd member of theMingshui Formation; three warming events: (1) the 1st and 2ndmembers of the Denglouku Formation, (2) the Qingshankou andYaojia formations, and (3) the Sifangtai Formation; and three semi-arid events: (1) the 3rd and 4th members of the Shahezi Formation,(2) the 4th member of the Denglouku Formation, and (3) theSifangtai Formation. The mainly humid to semihumid subtropicalenvironment and the four cooling, three warming and three semiar-id events are relatively consistent with the oxygen isotope datafrom the Songliao Basin and East Asia. The four cooling events inBerriasian–Valanginian, Aptian–Albian, early Santonian, and Cam-panian–Maastrichtian may be related to potential glaciations inthe Cretaceous.

Acknowledgments

This study was financed by the National Basic Research Programof China (973 Program) 2006CB701400 (to CW). We especiallythank R.W. Scott, who reviewed the earlier manuscript versionand helped improve the English. We also would like to thank JudithTotman Parrish and the editor Dave Bottjer, who reviewed ourmanuscript and gave us many useful comments.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.01.030.

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