Geochemical signatures of sedimentary and diagenetic processes in the trace fossil Rosselia from the Pliocene in Taiwan.

Trace fossils are structures left in a substrate as the result of the activities of living organisms. The producer of the spindle-shaped trace fossil Rosselia incorporates fine-grained organic rich material into concentric layers surrounding the central shaft. Because Rosselia is common in stressed shallow marine environments where the preservation potential of organic material is generally poor, these trace fossils may act as natural archives, recording changes in the provenance of organic material.

Salinity indicators in sediment through the fluvial-to-marine transition (Fraser River, Canada).

Many sediment attributes have been proposed as proxies for determining salinity conditions under which sediment is deposited, and six attributes (Sr/Ba-HAc, Sr/Ba-NHAc, δC, C/N, and the relative abundances and concentrations of dinoflagellate cysts) are compared here. In this paper, sediment attributes from the Fraser River Delta, Canada and surrounding coastal areas are compared by depositional position along the fluvial-to-marine transition, by salinity, and by sedimentological characteristics. Along the fluvial-to-marine transition, most attributes exhibit distinct trends between parts of the river that experience sustained marine water (saltwater) influence over seasonal and tidal timeframes, and parts that experience only freshwater or periodic saltwater influence.

Insolation-paced sea level and sediment flux during the early Pleistocene in Southeast Asia.

Global marine archives from the early Pleistocene indicate that glacial-interglacial cycles, and their corresponding sea-level cycles, have predominantly a periodicity of ~ 41 kyrs driven by Earth's obliquity. Here, we present a clastic shallow-marine record from the early Pleistocene in Southeast Asia (Cholan Formation, Taiwan). The studied strata comprise stacked cyclic successions deposited in offshore to nearshore environments in the paleo-Taiwan Strait.

The 20-million-year old lair of an ambush-predatory worm preserved in northeast Taiwan.

The feeding behavior of the giant ambush-predator "Bobbit worm" (Eunice aphroditois) is spectacular. They hide in their burrows until they explode upwards grabbing unsuspecting prey with a snap of their powerful jaws. The still living prey are then pulled into the sediment for consumption.

Resolving the Architecture and Early Evolution of a Forearc Basin (Georgia Basin, Canada) Using Detrital Zircon.

Convergent-margin basins (CMBs) are commonly associated with active arcs, and hence are rich in detrital zircon (DZ) whose ages closely reflect the timing of deposition. Consequently, maximum depositional ages (MDA) from DZ geochronology can be employed to resolve the stratigraphy and evolution of CMBs. Herein, we use DZ to revise the internal architecture of the lower Nanaimo Group, which partially comprises the fill of the (forearc) Georgia (or Nanaimo) Basin.

Study of a novel density well-logging tool using A position-sensitive detector.

Density well-logging tool is an essential instrument used in the petroleum industry for determining formation density, porosity, and lithology of subsurface strata. To improve the vertical resolution and accuracy of density measurements in thin-bedded sedimentary rocks, we proposed an innovative density well-logging tool in which the traditional short- and long-spacing detectors are replaced with a position-sensitive detector (PSD). This replacement enables the measurement of the continuous gamma-ray flux in the area near the PSD.