This study presents geochemical characteristics of glauconites in estuarine deposits within the Maastrichtian Lameta Formation in central India. Resting conformably over the Bagh Group, the Lameta Formation consists of ~4-5 m thick arenaceous, argillaceous and calcareous green sandstones underlying the Deccan Traps. The sandstone is friable, medium- to coarse-grained, well-sorted and thoroughly cross-stratified, and contains marine fossils. Detailed petrography, spectroscopy and mineral chemistry indicates unique chemical composition of glauconite with high K₂O, MgO, Al₂O₃ and moderate TFe₂O₃. Glauconite is formed by the replacement of K-feldspars, initially as stringers in the cleavages and fractures of feldspars. Incipient glauconite subsequently evolves fully, appearing as pellets. Fully-evolved glauconite pellets often leave tiny relics of K-feldspar. XRD exhibits characteristic peak of 10 Å from basal (001) reflection of glauconite, indicating the “evolved” character. The K₂O content of glauconites in the Lameta Formation varies from 5.51% to 8.29%, corroborating the “evolved” to “highly-evolved” maturation stage. The TFe₂O₃ content of glauconite varies from 12.56% to 18.90%. The PASS-normalized-REE patterns of glauconite exhibit a “hat-shape” confirming the authigenic origin of glauconites. The slightly-negative to slightly-positive Ce anomaly value and the moderate TFe₂O₃ content of glauconite agree well with a suboxic, estuarine condition. The replacement of K-feldspar by the glauconite contributes towards the high K₂O content. Compositional evolution of glauconites in the Lameta Formation is similar to those observed in many Precambrian sedimentary sequences.

The first SHRIMP zircon U-Pb dates from coal beds close to the end-Permian mass extinction are reported from the C₁ coal seam in the Yantang Mine in Laibin Town, Xuanwei County, eastern Yunnan Province. Zircons were extracted from kaolinite claystone layers, defined as tonsteins (volcanic ash deposits), in the sub-seam B₁ and B₃ of the coal seam C_1. The U-Pb ages are 252.0±2.3 Ma and 250.3±2.1 Ma for the sub-seam B₁ and B₃, respectively. Within analytical uncertainties, these U-Pb ages include the time period of the onset of the mass extinction at 251.941±0.037 Ma, which was obtained from the marine Meishan section in Zhejiang Province, ~1600 km away from the Yantang Mine. These new ages represent not only the first and closest ages to the PTB mass extinction in terrestrial coal beds, but also ages from the nearest site to the Emeishan volcanoes investigated so far. Therefore these new dates provide the most accurate stratigraphic horizon of terrestrial facies of the end-Permian extinction in South China. The Emeishan volcanoes were likely the source of volcanic ash in the coal seams at the Xuanwei County and broader areas in South China. Furthermore, the minerals and geochemistry characteristics of the C₁ coal seam also implied the influences of contemporaneous volcanic activities.

This study reports on the first investigation into the potential of luminescence dating to establish a chronological framework for the depositional sequences of the Sperchios delta plain, central Greece. A series of three borehole cores (20 m deep) and two shallow cores (4 m deep), from across the delta plain, were extracted, and samples were collected for luminescence dating. The luminescence ages of sand-sized quartz grains were obtained from small aliquots of quartz, using the Single-Aliquot Regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol. The equivalent dose determination included a series of tests and the selection of the Minimum Age Model (MAM) as the most appropriate statistical model. This made it possible to confirm the applicability of quartz Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating to establish absolute chronology for deltaic sediments from the Sperchios delta plain.Testing age results of the five cores showed that the deltaic sediments were deposited during the Holocene. A relatively rapid deposition is implied for the top ~14 m possibly as a result of the deceleration in the rate of the sea-level rise and the transition to terrestrial conditions, while on the deeper parts, the reduced sedimentation rate may indicate a lagoonal or coastal environment.

The Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) Dalmiapuram Formation is one of the economically significant constituents in the hydrocarbon-producing Cauvery rift basin, SE India that opened up during the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Gondwanaland fragmentation. The fossil-rich Dalmiapuram Formation, exposed at Ariyalur within the Pondicherry sub-basin of Cauvery Basin, rests in most places directly on the Archean basement and locally on the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian-Aptian) Basal Siliciclastic Formation. In the Dalmiapuram Formation, a facies association of tectonically-disturbed phase is sandwiched between two drastically quieter phases. The early syn-rift facies association (FA 1), records the first carbonate marine transgression within the basin, comprising a bar-lagoon system with occasionally storms affecting along the shore and a sheet-like non-recurrent biomicritic limestone bed on the shallow shelf that laterally grades into pyrite-glauconite-bearing dark-colored shale in the deeper shelf. Spectacular breccias together with varied kinds of mass-flow products comprise the syn-rift facies association (FA 2). While the breccias occur at the basin margin area, the latter extend in the deeper inland sea. Clast composition of the coarse clastics includes large, even block-sized limestone fragments and small fragments of granite and sandstone from the basement. Marl beds of quieter intervals between tectonic pulses occur in alternation with them. Faulted basal contact of the formation, and small grabens filled by multiple mass-flow packages bear the clear signature of the syntectonic activity localized contortions, slump folds, and pillow beds associated with mega slump/slide planes and joints, which corroborates this contention further. This phase of tectonic intervention is followed by another relatively quieter phase and accommodates the late syn-rift facies association (FA 3). A tidal bar-interbar shelf depositional system allowed a transgressive systems tract motif to grow eventually passing upwards into the Karai Shale Formation, whose contact with the Dalmiapuram Formation is gradational.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the 8^th largest oil producing country and is rich in oil and gas resources. By the end of 2015, 68 oil and 23 gas fields had been discovered. The initial proved and probable (2P) oil, gas and condensate reserves amount to 81,135.9 MMb (million barrels), 192.09 Tcf (trillion cubic feet), and 6,496.58 MMb respectively, which are mostly reservoired in the Jurassic and Cretaceous carbonates. With the latest field data, this study attempts to document the salient features of petroleum systems in UAE. Based on depositional facies of source rock intervals, pods of source rocks were delineated. On the basis of an oil- and gas-source correlation, five known petroleum systems were identified and they are Lower Silurian-Upper Permian Khuff gas, northeast foreland Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous gas, Upper Jurassic-Jurassic petroleum, Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous-Lower Cretaceous composite petroleum, and Middle Cretaceous-Middle to Upper Cretaceous/Cenozoic petroleum systems. Of them, the Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous-Lower Cretaceous composite petroleum system contains 73.2% of the total 2P reserves and thus it is the focus of this study. The Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous source rocks consist of argillaceous limestone, mudstone and shale, which were deposited as intrashelf basin facies. The distribution of oil and gas in this system is controlled by the source kitchens and the regional evaporite seal.

The taxonomical position of species of the genus Tamarix (Tamaricaceae) has been criticized because of their gross morphological similarities (such as slender, smooth and reddish-brown branches, grey-green foliage and scale leaves), and their systematic relationships remain unclear. In this paper, the leaf epidermal features of 17 species from China are studied based on the micro-morphological characters of the epidermal cells, stomata, salt glands, papillae and epidermal hairs. According to the studies, the leaf epidermal features, together with the character of the flower, are taxonomically clearly distinct. The establishment of Tamarix albiflonum is consolidated. Tamarix korolkowi and T. ramosissima have minimal differences in epidermal characters, and the former is suggested to be a junior synonym. Tamarix ramosissima, T. tarimensis, T. arceuthoides and T. hohenackeri are most similar with respect to their leaf epidermis; considering the common morphological features, habit, distribution and especially the hybridization, it is suggested that these four species are closely genetically related and that the variations among them are probably intraspecific. The new taxonomical evidence indicates the occurrence of 13 species and four variants in China. Presently, Tamarix is a typical plant of arid and semi-arid regions, but its Eocene ancestors lived in warm and humid climates in the coastal areas of the ancient Mediterranean Sea. Thus, the papillae or epidermal hairs, which are outgrowths of the outer epidermal cells facilitating the leaf to respond to water stress and commonly seen in the plants growing in arid or semi-arid areas rather than the plants in warm and humid climates, are of relatively recent origin in Tamarix. The primitive species lack papillae or epidermal hairs, while in evolved species these structures are abundant. Based on the ecological adaptations of the epidermal features, the palaeogeographic implications of Tamarix in the Late Cenozoic of Northwest China are also discussed.