Abstract During the past 30 years(1987-2016),a great progress has been made in researches of soft-sediment deformation structures(SSDS)and seismites in China. However,the research thought of the academic field was not open-minded. It was almost with one viewpoint, i.e., almost all the papers and books of this field published in China considered the beds with SSDS as seismites. In order to change the phenomenon of one viewpoint,Feng et al.(2016)wrote a paper “Researches of soft-sediment deformation structures and seismites in China—A brief review”as “to cast a brick to attract the jade”,emailed this paper to many geologists in China and other countries,and invited them to write papers for the symposium of “Multi-origin of soft-sediment deformation structures and seismites”,to orally present their papers at the symposium,and to discuss the problems of SSDS and seismites. “The seismite problem”by Prof. Shanmugam is the first paper that we have received from those geologists invited by us. It is an excellent paper that covers 153 years researches of geologists worldwide and has 268 references. It is beneficial to the researches of SSDS and seismites in China. The most important contribution of this paper is to challenge and negate the term “seismites”introduced by Seilacher(1969). Chinese geologist translated the term “seismites”into “震积岩”(Zhenjiyan)(the beds induced by earthquake and sedimentation). It is a mistranslated term. Whether the term “seismites”should be obsoleted or not,and whether the term “震积岩”(Zhenjiyan)should not be used any more,these problems should be discussed and determined by numerous geologists in China and other countries,and should be determined by geological practice. Another important contribution of “The seismite problem”is introduction of triggers and emphasis of liquefaction. 21 triggers and 2 types of soft-sediment constitute the theoretical foundation of the formation process of SSDS. If we utilize the method of “On contradiction”by Tse-Tung Mao(Mao,1937),study the formation process of SSDS in which there are many contradictions,and devote every effort to finding its principal contradiction,the SSDS can reveal something about the triggers, i.e., can reveal something about the origin of SSDS.
1 龚一鸣. 1987. 事件沉积. 地质科技情报,6(3): 21-26. [Gong Y M. 1987. Event deposits. Geological Science and Technology information,6(3): 21-26] 2 龚一鸣. 1988. 风暴岩·震积岩·海啸岩: 几个名词含义的商榷. 地质论评,34(5): 481-482. [Gong Y M. 1988. Tempestite,seismite and tsunamite: A discussion of several sedimentological terms. Geological Review,34(5): 481-482] 3 毛泽东. 1937. 矛盾论. 见: 毛泽东选集,第一卷(1966年横排本).北京: 人民出版社,274-312. [Mao T T. 1937. On Contradiction. In: Selected Works of Mao Tse-Tung,Vol.1(1977, fourth Printing). Peking: Foreign Languages Press,311-347] 4 张邦花,田洪水,祝介旺. 2016. 山东郯城麦坡中更新世地震事件记录. 古地理学报,18(5): 799-808. [Zhang B H,Tian H S,Zhu J W. 2016. Records of the Pleistocene seismic events in Tancheng Maipo,Shandong Province. Journal of Palaeogeography(Chinese Edition),18(5): 799-808] 5 Einsele G,Chough S K,Shiki T. 1996. Depositional events and their records: An introduction. Sedimentary Geology,104: 1-9. 6 Feng Z Z,Bao Z D,Zheng X J,Wang Y. 2016. Researches of soft-sediment deformation structures and seismites: A brief review. Journal of Palaeogeography,5(4): 311-317. 7 Seilacher A. 1969. Fault-graded beds interpreted as seismites. Sedimentology,13: 155-159. 8 Shanmugam G. 2016. The seismite problem. Journal of Palaeogeography,5(4): 318-362. 9 Sowers G. 1979. Introductory Soil Mechanics and Foundations: Geotechnical Engineering(4 th ed). New Jersey: Prentice Hall,640.
