Eustasy has commonly been invoked to explain peritidal carbonate cyclicity, but is difficult to explain cycles formed in a greenhouse climate when eustasy is minimal. We propose that peritidal cycles on an Early Triassic isolated carbonate platform in Guizhou, South China, were formed by hierarchical carbonate productivity variations. Most of the 149 shallowing-upward cycles are typically terminated by flooding over intertidal facies and contain rare supratidal facies and no prolonged subaerial exposure. Low-diversity benthos in the platform interior during the post-end-Permian biotic recovery were sensitive to environmental perturbations, which caused variations in benthic sediment productivity in the subtidal carbonate factory. The perturbations may be driven by changes in salinity and degree of eutrophication, or repeated platform mini-drowning by anoxic and/or CO₂-charged deep water upwelled onto the banktop. They were modulated by Milankovitch orbitally-driven climatic and oceanographic factors as suggested by the hierarchical stacking pattern and spectral signals of these cycles. A one-dimensional conceptual model shows that hierarchical productivity variations alone may generate hierarchical peritidal carbonate cycles under conditions of constant subsidence and no sea-level fluctuation.

A stretch of the modern hypersaline coastal plain of the Gulf of Cambay was chosen to examine the distribution of the microbial mat-related structures (MRS) on siliciclastic sediments in the intertidal and supratidal zones. The abundance of MRS increases from the lower intertidal zone to the upper supratidal zone while the type of MRS records a systematic change. While the lower intertidal zone exhibits wrinkle structures, sieve-like surfaces and patchy ripples in places, the upper intertidal zone exhibits diverse MRS related to reduced current activity on the mat layer and intermittent exposure. MRS in the upper intertidal zone include wrinkle structures, sieve-like surfaces, gas domes, reticulated surfaces, multi-directional ripples, patchy ripples, rolled-up mat fragments, setulfs and occasional petee ridges and cracked mat surfaces. The lower supratidal zone is characterized by increased occurrence of petee ridges, gas domes and cracked mat surfaces compared to the upper intertidal zone. The upper supratidal zone is distinguished by the presence of abundant cracked mat surfaces, petee ridges, gas domes and wrinkle structures. The presence of cm-scale, disc-shaped microbial colonies (DMC) with a variety of internal structures is a unique feature of the Gulf of Cambay study area. While wrinkle structures occur in all the coastal zones, setulfs occur close to the boundary between the upper intertidal and lower supratidal zones. An attempt has been made to compare the distribution of MRS in this modern environment with those in the ~1.6 Ga Chorhat Sandstone of the Vindhyan Supergroup for high-resolution palaeoenvironmental interpretation. The upper part of the intertidal segment of the Chorhat Sandstone is distinguished from its lower part by the presence of abundant cracked mat surfaces, petee ridges and gas domes in the former, while wrinkle structures, Kinneyia, rolled-up mat fragments, patchy ripples and multi-directional ripples are equally abundant in both parts. The lower part of the intertidal segment of the Chorhat Sandstone is thus analogous to the upper intertidal zone of the modern Gulf of Cambay environment, while the upper part of the Chorhat intertidal segment reflects prolonged exposure close to the high tide line. The bottom-most part of the intertidal segment of the Chorhat Sandstone with fewer MRS corresponds to the lower intertidal zone at Cambay. Inferred disc-shaped microbial fossils within Vindhyan sandstones are analogous to the DMC found in the modern environment and these features do not have any biostratigraphic implication.

Junggar Basin, located in northern Xinjiang, presents continuous and multi-kilometer-thick strata of the Jurassic deposits. The Jurassic was entirely terrestrial fluvial and lacustrine deltaic sedimentation. Eight outcrop sections across the Jurassic strata were measured at a resolution of meters in southern Junggar Basin. Controlling factors of sedimentary evolution and palaeoclimate changes in Junggar Basin during the Jurassic were discussed based on lithology, fossils and tectonic setting. In the Early to Middle Jurassic, the warm and wide Tethys Sea generated a strong monsoonal circulation over the central Asian continent, and provided adequate moisture for Junggar Basin. Coal-bearing strata of the Badaowan, Sangonghe, and Xishanyao Formations were developed under warm and humid palaeoclimate in Junggar Basin. In the late Middle Jurassic, Junggar Basin was in a semi-humid and semi-arid environment due to global warming event. Stratigraphy in the upper part of the Middle Jurassic with less plant fossils became multicolor or reddish from dark color sediments. During the Late Jurassic, collision of Lhasa and Qiangtang Block obstructed monsoon from the Tethys Sea. A major change in climate from semi-humid and semi-arid to arid conditions took place, and reddish strata of the Upper Jurassic were developed across Junggar Basin.

Soft-sediment deformation structures induced by seismic liquefaction and/or fluidization receive much attention in sedimentological, structural and palaeoseismic studies. The direct record of larger earthquakes is restricted to instrumental and historical data; the recognition of prehistoric earthquakes requires criteria to recognize seismites in the geological record. The areal distribution of seismites can sometimes be related to active faults since distances to the epicenter (for a given magnitude) tend to be related to the liquefaction effects of seismic shocks.
The use of soft-sediment deformation structures for palaeoseismic studies has limitations, however. Hardly anything is known, for instance, about the effects that modern seismic events have on the sediments in most environments. Moreover, criteria for the recognition of seismites are still under discussion. The following characteristics seem, particularly in combination, the most reliable: (1) Soft-sediment deformation structures should occur in laterally continuous, preferably recurring horizons, separated by undeformed beds; (2) These deformation structures should be comparable with structures known to have been triggered by modern seismic activity; (3) The sedimentary basin should have experienced tectonic activity at the time when the deformations were formed; and (4) The intensity or abundance of the soft-sediment deformation structures in a presumed seismite should change laterally, depending on the distance to the epicenter. It turns out that all of these four criteria have important exceptions. (1) Soft-sediment deformation structures occurring over large lateral distances in a specific layer can be triggered also by other processes. Moreover, in environments with a low sedimentation rate, the time between successive earthquakes is often too short to allow accumulation of beds that remain undisturbed. Furthermore, total liquefaction of a sandy bed may result in the absence of deformation features. (2) No truly diagnostic soft-sediment deformation structures exist to prove seismic activity. Moreover, the final configuration of a soft-sediment deformation structure is independent of the type of trigger. (3) Seismites occur frequently in areas where seismic activity is low today. (4) The lateral changes in the intensity of soft-sediment deformation structures in seismites as a factor presumed to depend on the distances to the epicenter, pose a complicated problem. The 2012 Emilia earthquakes, for instance, affected sandy fluvial channels but not the fine-grained floodplains.
It must thus be deduced that specific soft-sediment deformation structures cannot be used without additional evidence to identify seismites. In particular, the magnitude of seismic shocks and the recurrence time of main events (the most important features that allow recognition of seismites) seem to be sedimentological in nature: facies changes in space and time seem the parameters that most strongly control the occurrence, morphology, lateral extent and the vertical repetition of seismites.

The Kutch Basin of western India is famous for its rich assemblages of the Callovian-Oxfordian ammonites. The family Oppelidae Douvillé is the second most diverse ammonite group after perisphinctids during the Middle-Upper Jurassic. Hecticoceratinae is the most diverse subfamily within Oppelidae and has wide palaeobiogeographic (near cosmopolitan) and temporal distributions (Bathonian-Oxfordian). Some species were well time-diagnostic and thus help in interprovincial correlation. The taxonomy of the subfamily Hecticoceratinae of Kutch was in a state of flux until recently. It was not revised since Spath's (1927-1933) great contribution. Many genera and species were morphogenera or morphospecies and they again suffer from excessive subjective splitting. It was therefore badly needed for a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the subfamily with modern aspects of systematics i.e., sexual dimorphism and population dynamics. A lithostratigraphic framework has already been well documented in the Kutch Basin of western India. A high resolution biostratigraphy incorporating stage-intrastage fossil assemblages have been used in interbasinal correlation based on the Callovian-Oxfordian hecticoceratins. Near cosmopolitan distribution of many hecticoceratin genera were widely used for biostratigraphic zonation as well as an understanding of the palaeobiogeographic pattern. The phylogeny of the subfamily Hecticoceratinae has been used to construct the cladograms depicting area relationships among different provinces during the Callovian-Oxfordian.

In this study we analyzed sediment lithology, fallout of 210Pb and 137Cs, and spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) for two short cores, YZE and CX38, obtained by gravity corer from the Yangtze River mouth offshore and adjacent continental shelf, to compare geochronological methods on the recent sediments of this area. Lithology and grain size changes in YZE suggested the re-discharging of the North Channel of the Yangtze River mouth by flood events during 1949-1954 and associated accretion in the offshore area. This event was validated by a remarkable zone of declination in both 137Cs and 210Pb activities and the absolute ages derived from the 137Cs and SCPs. In contrast, 210Pb results show obvious disturbance of grain size by sediment mixing and cannot be interpreted above 100 cm. In CX38, absolute ages for the early- and mid-1950s were derived by the 137Cs and the SCP profile respectively, which occurred in a reasonable sequence. The excess 210Pb distribution shows exponentially decreasing activities with depth, and the mean sedimentation rate agrees roughly with the one inferred from the SCP profile. We suggest that the limitation of the 210Pb method needs consideration while the SCP profile has the potential to provide a useful and independent dating method for recent Yangtze offshore and adjacent shelf sediments.

One main feature of the tectono-paleogeographic evolution of the southern branch of the Paleo-Asian Ocean was that there developed residual marine basins in former backarc/forearc regions after the disappearance of oceanic crust. The paper illustrates the viewpoint taking the evolution of Dalandzadgad and Solonker oceanic basins as examples. The Dalandzadgad ocean subducted southwards during the Silurian-Devonian, created an intra-oceanic arc and a backarc basin in southern Mongolia. In addition, a continent marginal arc formed along the national boundary between China and Mongolia, the south of which was a backarc basin. The oceanic basin closed and arc-arc (continent) collision occurred during the early Early Permian, followed by two residual marine basins developing in the former backarc regions, named the South Gobi Basin in southern Mongolia and the Guaizihu Basin in western Inner Mongolia. The Solonker ocean subducted southwards and finally disappeared during the early Middle Permian. Afterwards, two residual marine basins occurred in northern China, the Zhesi Basin being situated in the former backarc region and the Wujiatun Basin in the former forearc region. The late Middle Permian was the most optimum period for the developing residual marine basins, when they covered a vast area. The basin evolution differentiated during the early Late Permian, with a general trend of uplift in the east and of subsidence in the west. The Upper Permian in the South Gobi Basin was characterized by coal-bearing strata hosting economically valuable coal fields. A transgression invaded westwards and the Chandmani-Bayanleg Basin was created in southwest Mongolia during the middle-late stage of the Late Permian. Correspondingly, the coal formation entered a flourishing time, with thick coal beds and sedimentary interbeds. All of these basins, namely, both the marine and nonmarine residual basins, reversed and closed by the end of Permian.

The 1st Editorial Committee Meeting of the Journal of Palaeogeography in 2014 was held on March 1st, 2014 at the China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing). Prof. Bao Zhidong, the Associate-Editor-in-Chief of the Editorial Committee, chaired the meeting. Ms. Wang Yuan, the Associate-Editor-in-Chief of the Editorial Office, gave a work report. Prof. Feng Zengzhao, the Editor-in-Chief of the Editorial Committee, gave an important address. Meeting attendees include: Profs. Feng Zengzhao and Bao Zhidong from China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Profs. Huang Wenhui, Jiang Zaixing, Mei Mingxiang, Shi Xiaoying (represented by Tang Dongjie), Yu Xinghe and Associate Prof. Liu Hao (represented by Wang Yuan), from China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Prof. Liu Jianbo and Associate Prof. Huang Baoqi from Peking University, Prof. Shao Longyi from China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Profs. Lin Chunming and Hu Xiumian from Nanjing University, Prof. Gong Enpu from Northeast University, Prof. Yan Jiaxin from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), as well as Editorial Office staff, Wang Yuan, Zheng Xiujuan, Liu Min and Hu Xiufang, and Ms. Yang Lei, the Vice Director of Journal Department, China University of Petroleum (Beijing).