has been 5 years since the Journal of Palaeogeography started publication, congratulations! It is a difficult process. Now the Journal has entered into a developing stage. The reported domains of the journal have enlarged from the traditional lithofacies palaeogeography and sedimentology, tectonopalaeogeography and palaeotectonics, palaeobiogeography and palaeoecology, palaeogeography and mineral resources，to human history palaeogeography，human civilization and environments.The qualities of editorial work and publication are much better than before.The next target is to struggle for being a firstclass journal.

The author initiated and adopted the single factor analysis and multifactor comprehensive mapping method as a new methodology of quantitative lithofacies palaeogeography in order to reconstruct quantitative lithofacies palaeogeography By meaning， single factors are the factors which can independently reflect some characteristics of sedimentary environments of a stratigraphic interval of a section in an area Presence or absence as well as high or low percentage of single factors can all independently and quantitatively reflect some characteristics of sedimentary environments of the interval of the section in the area, such as water depth, water energy, nature of the sedimentary environments, etc The thickness of the interval and its specific rock types, texture constituents, mineral composition, chemical composition, fossils and their ecological assemblages, etc, can all be taken as single factorsThe single factor analysis and multifactor comprehensive mapping method include three steps First, an indepth petrological and lithofacies study of each section, especially fundamental section, should be made in order to obtain various reliable firsthand qualitative and quantitative data, especially quantitative data, and to understand the characteristics of sedimentary environments of each interval of each section Second, according to the mapping units, from the quantitative data of each section, select those factors which can independently reflect the characteristics of sedimentary environments, ie the single factors Then the statistics of the percent contents of various single factors of each mapping unit of each section in the area are made Based on these percentage data, the various quantitative single factor maps, mainly isoline maps， are composed These single factor maps can quantitatively reflect the characteristics of sedimentary environments of the mapping unit of the area from different aspects This is the single factor analysis Third, through superimposition and synthesis of these quantitative single factor maps, combined with other quantitative and qualitative data of this mapping unit of the area, with the dross discarded and the essential selected, with the false eliminated and the true retained, the quantitative lithofacies palaeogeography map of the mapping unit of the area can be composed This is the multifactor comprehensive mappingThe core of this methodology is quantification That is, based on the quantitative single factor data of each section, starting from analysis of various quantitative single factor maps, through superimposition and comprehensive analysis and judgement, finally the quantitative lithofacies palaeogeography map can be composed In such palaeogeography map, the definition of each palaeogeographic unit is based on quantitative data and quantitative single factor maps Therefore, such lithofacies palaeogeography maps are no longer sketchy and qualitative, but quantitative instead Quantification is the most important character of the author's lithofacies palaeogeography maps This makes lithofacies palaeogeography map and lithofacies palaeogeogaphy develop into the quantitative stage This is an important development in palaeogeography

Early Silurian sedimentary rocks in Sichuan area were formed in the foreland basin stage during the period from the Late Ordovician to the Early SilurianIn Longmaxi Age of the Early Silurian，the study area was mainly a restricted deep shelf In Xiaoheba Age，it behaved as the expansion of the shallow shelf and reduction of the deep shelf，and the sedimentary differentiation was intensifiedThe palaeogeographic framework was the coexistence of carbonate platform，shallow and deep shelvesIn Hanjiadian Age，it mainly was the tidal flatshallow shelf environmentsEarly Silurian in the study area showed an evolutionary trend of shallowing fillingup and regression，and was characterized by blending continental shelf with multisourcesThe distribution of sedimentary systems and sedimentary evolution was controlled by the NWdirection squeezing of the foreland upheaval zone including the Qianzhong upheaval from the Late Ordovician to the Early SilurianThe development of the favorable reservoir body was mainly dependent on the sedimentary environmentsThe seashore sand bank and carbonate platform margin were the favorable reservoir body belts such as the“Xiaoheba sandstone”in eastern Sichuan area and the bioherm limestone in southern and northern Sichuan area

Xijiang302 Oil Field is located at the substructural belt in southern Huizhou Depression in the Pearl River Mouth basinThis oilfield is mainly distributed in the Zhujiang Formation and the lower part of the Hanjiang Formation of Miocene of Neogene The sedimentary facies of the studied formation is a delta in Xijiang 302 Oil Field In this area, the types of sedimentary microfacies include distributary channel, interdistributary, natural levee and crevasse splay in the delta plain and underwater distributary channel, mouth bar,distributary bar and sand sheet in the delta front The major sandbodies, such as distributary channel, underwater distributary channel and mouth bar, relatively, are thick and continuous Meanwhile, the studied formation consists of 4 longterm base level cycles and 15 midterm base level cycles in Xijiang 302 oilfield On the basis of these, 4 types of logging models about shortterm and supper shortterm base level cycles are summarized in this areaAs for this area, approximately, shortterm base level cycle, which is equal to the fifth order sequence, can be correlated with reservoir strata,while supper shortterm cycle, which corresponds to the sixth order sequence,corresponds to sand body and sedimentary microfacies When correlating the sand bodies based on high resolution sequence stratigraphy, it is very important to take into account the scale of the work area, the tectonic position,the diversities of the sedimentary microfacies and the well spacingIn Xijiang 302 Oil Field, at the reservoir top, the distributary channel or underwater distributary channel mostly with base level rising half cycle is apt to flood,however, the sand bar(distributary mouth bar or distal bar) or distributary bay mainly with base level falling half cycle is not prone to flood ,among which it is propitious to remaining oil distribution.

radial tidal sand ridge system with an area of more than 20000 km2 in the southern Yellow Sea is fanshaped and stretches from Qianggang toward the sea with a central angle of 160°The marine radial tidal sand ridge system is associated with a convergentdivergent tidal current fieldMore than 60 drilling holes reveal that an area of 3000 km2 of tidal sand strata in exists Jiangsu coastal plain on land,which is adjacent to the marine radial tidal sand ridge system and stretches eastward from Dongtai and is also fanshaped with a central angle of 130° The tidal sand unit lies on a transgressive coastal barrierlagoon unit with an erosional surface between them, and the latter unit is in turn lying on the Late Pleistocene stiff mud, with a longterm hiatus between them  The tidalsand unit is overlain by the littoral tidalflat unit and together they constitute the Holocene regressive succession The erosional surface at the bottom of the tidal sand unit may serve as a surface, below and over which a transgressive succession and a regressive succession exist respectively Paleocurrent study reveals that a paleo current pattern with a convergentdivergent tidal current field similar to the modern marine was present in the Holocene subaerial tidal sand strata Therefore, the subaerial tidal sand bodies may be inferred to be an ancient radial tidal sand ridge system that was formed during the Holocene regression, and gradually exposed and changed into land as the Changjiang and Huanghe deltas prograded Both subaerial and marine radial tidal sand ridge systems were formed in the same tidal depositional environment but at different development stages Thus, the radial tidal sand ridges in southwestern Yellow Sea should have been formed in the process of the Holocene regression  Mineralogical analyses demonstrate that the sediment sources of the subaerial and marine radial tidal sand ridge systems mainly came from the Changjiang River and the Huanghe RiverSediments of the Changjiang River were migrated from south to north in the earlier period,while sediments of the Yellow River were migrated from north to south in the later period.The tendency of mud and sand migrating has continued until today.  As the sealevel rise slowed down, the Jiangsu coastline has prograded seaward as the Changjiang delta expanded and the radial tidal sand ridge system in northern Jiangsu gradually exposed to landThis progradation was accelerated when the Huanghe River debouched in the north of the study area in 1128The convergentdivergent tidal current field has shifted its apex three times since the Holocene maximum transgression, from the apical area of the Changjiang palaeoestuary to Dongtai of the northern Jiangsu tidal sand area, and then to Qianggang It means that the radial tidal sand ridge system has also experienced three stages of development, and has changed its location from Chengdong to Dongtai, and then to Qianggang However, the radial tidal sand ridge system developed in the Changjiang palaeoestuary has not been found so far,which maybe due to the strong reworking of river currents

Shengli Oil Field,the exploration of oil and gas in deeply buried strata has become the main direction of searching reserves,but a great breakthrough has not been made owing to the lower study degree.So it is very necessary to make a foundational study aiming at Kongdian Formation instead of old thought.In this paper,the seismic reflection corresponding to Kongdian Formation in DongyingHuimin Sag is regarded as an integral seismic sequence from the view of seismic stratigraphy,that can be divided into three subsequences corresponding to the three members of the formation.According to the characteristics of seismic reflection such as amplitude,continuity,interior structures and exterior shapes,seven seismic facies,including medium amplitude medium continuity and parallel or subparallel sheet facies,disorderly filling facies,disorderly progradation facies,hummocky facies,weak amplitude and medium continuity wedge facies,weakvariable amplitude and poor continuity wedge facies,and broom progradation facies,are recognized from the seismic reflection corresponding to Member 2 of Kongdian Formation which is prospective for oil and gas exploration.The sedimentary facies in the lake environment,including semideepdeep lake subfacies,shallow lake and shore subfacies,fandelta and subaqueous alluvial fan, etc., are identified from seismic facies.The favorable areas are identified.Some depositional areas of semideepdeep lake are found to be the important target regions.Some beneficial advices are proposed for further exploration.

The time sequence of palaeoclimatic change from 245.20ka BP to 147.90ka BP has been established by the dating ages of the high precision TIMSU series and the analysis of the oxygen isotopes from the stalagmites of Shuinan Cave in Guilin area  The paper also confirms that the boundary ages between stage C and stage B and those between stage B and stage A are 1926±3.9 ka BP(corresponding to the deep sea core oxygen isotope stage 6 and 7),242.5±6.4 ka BP(corresponding to the deep  sea core oxygen isotope stage 7 and stage8) respectively,which is gotten by using TIMSU series dating age at 86.5 cm on the stalagmite section and depositional cycles of the stalagmite section and the sudden change characteristics The result indicates that the paleoclimate (or paleomonsoon) change reflected by the cold and warm events of the stalagmite records during 245.20 ka BP and 147.9 ka BP  can be divided into three stages:(1)the period from 245.20 ka BP to 242.6 ka BP corresponding to the last stage of the deepsea core oxygen isotope(SPECMAP curve) stage 8 ; (2) the penultimate interglacial period from 242.5 ka BP to 192.6 ka BP corresponding to stage 7 of the SPECMAP curve;(3)the penultimate glacial period from 192.6 ka BP to 147.9 ka BP corresponding to stage 6 of the SPECMAP curveThe records of TIMSU series dating ages and stable isotopes from the stalagmite reveals that the evolution history of the East Asian monsoon from 242.6 ka BPto 147.9 ka BP occurred in Guilin area corresponded well with the paleoclimate and paleomosoon changes revealed by the records of the deepsea core oxygen isotope stage 6 and stage 7, sporepollen combination,CaCO3 content from the deepsea core records and loess and paleosol from the North China,and by sea level rise and fall,soil forming,complete iron accumulation degree of loess and paleosol, magnetization rate change and the original crumb CaCO3  content and eluviation intension from the North China and so on These characteristics show that the paleoclimate evolution since the late stage of the Middle Pleistocene Epoch in Guilin area not only has the global characteristics but also has the strong regional characteristics

Researches on environmenal changes and Chinese civilization evolution in recent years has shown that there are really close relationships between the formation and development of Chinese civilization and environment and  its changes in China.According to the new findings in environment change and the evolution of Chinese civilization, following conclusions can be made (1) The unique Chinese civilization is unified from multiplex cultures The continuity of Chinese civilization is profited from various types of environmental and regional differences in environmental changes related to the vast area of life supporting environment in China  (2) Chinese civilization generally flourishes in the warmer periods on various time scales,even the reverse is not always true.(3) The extreme events of environmental changes may strongly change or even interrupt the development course of Chinese civilization The civilization has been created and developed in the course of coping with and adapting to the negative impacts Further researches on the impacts of environmental changes on Chinese civilization should be focused on three aspects:to commence the study with the natural resources changes induced by the environmental changes,to highlight the identification of the magnitude events of environmental changes, and to understand the civilization through the study on the adaptation to the impacts of environmental changes in China

Studies on alluvial pollen from 13 hydrological stations in different river flow periods（low river flow, flood, normal river flow）show that alluvial pollen assemblages are influenced by florescence changes of the plants growing in the Luan he River Basin Arboreal pollen percentage was higher than that of herb pollen during the low river flow period, which corresponded with the flowering period of most trees in spring Herb pollen percentage was higher than that of arboreal pollen during the normal river flow period, which corresponded with the flowering period of most herbs in late summer and autumn Herb pollen percentage was slightly higher than that of arboreal pollen during the flood period Arboreal pollen in alluvium mainly came from the surface pollen fallen on the ground in spring which was carried by sheet flow during the floodsAlluviums in Yanshan area are mainly formed by floodsTherefore, 20%～40% aboreal pollen of alluvial pollen assemblages during the floods represent 20%～25% of forest cover of Yanshan area This is a useful reference to reconstruct forest cover quantitatively

The south coast of Laizhou Bay is one of the most typical areas of saltwater intrusion, which has a close relation with the environmental evolution since the Late Pleistocene This paper deals mainly with the systematic palynological and sedimentologic studies on 25 samples since the Late Pleistocene from a 29 m column core A1 According to the sporepollen diagram, 7 assemblage zones have been distinguished, and the paleovegetation and paleoclimatic fluctuations are discussed There were three warm and wet periods since 120 ka BP， that is 85～76 ka BP, 50～24 ka BP  and 10～4 ka BP, coeval to Yangkou seawater transgression, Guangrao seawater transgression and Kenli seawater transgression respectively  The depositional types were paralic swamp or lake during these periods, and the main vegetational types were coastal steppes with deciduous broadleaved forest or needlebroad leaved mixed forest Two cold and dry periods were 76～50 ka BP  and 24～10 ka P, coeval to early Dali glacial epoch and late Dali glacial epoch, which were dominated by continental environments. The main vegetational types were needleleaved forest steppe and needleleaved forest arid steppe or hungriness steppe The environmental change stages based on sporepollen records on south coast of the Laizhou Bay since the Late Pleistocene are consistent with global climate events as well as the environmental change stages around the Bohai Sea

Historical documents provide many important data for the reconstruction of historical climate Among these documents, ancient diaries are important and contain plenty of climatic information undiscovered This paper studies the climatic information in the Weizhai Diary written in the early 18th century in Wuyuan County,Jiangxi Province The information recorded in the diary includes daily weather record, phenological record, and other related climate record According to the records, the climate from 1700～1703 A.D. in Wuyuan, Jiangxi Province was reconstructedIt is found that the climate was drier than that of the driest year at present and the winter was warmer during the period

The history of  palaeogeography is over 200 years,and its origin and development are closely related with the development of  stratigraphy  and  sedimentology  New palaeogeographic theory and technical progress play very important roles in exploration and development of  sedimentary mineral resourcesDuring the development of sedimentology, the new fields of petroleum exploration  have been found in special sedimentary facies, such as fluvial, delta, slump  turbidite fan ,gravity flow deposit and carbonate buildups A lot of results of the Chinese palaeogeographic researches have been obtained and play important roles in Chinese  petroleum exploration and development Great petroleum resources have been found in different geologic strata and regions in China The practices of Chinese petroleum exploration show that the  different sedimentary environments  control the basic condition of petroleum formation  and oilgas occurrence in ChinaThe development and distribution of  lithologic and stratigraphic  traps are controlled by the changes of the palaeogeographic conditions The 13%, 55.3% and 12.6%  of  Chinese total petroleum geological reserves respectively exist in fluvial, delta and  subaqueous fan  sandbodiesThe paper also discusses the theories, methods,technologies for the future study of Chinese palaeogeography,and  important science problems in palaeogeography we will meet in the future Lastly,it points out that the multiinformation,multisize,multidimension and digital study of sedimentary palaeogeography will play important roles in the future exploration and development and comprehensive exploitation of sedimentary mineral resources.

The biogenic gas resource is hugely enriched in the Quaternary of Sanhu （ three lakes） area in Qaidam Basin At present, the proved and controlled natural gas reserves have reached 290503 billion cubic meters In the Late Pleistocene, the lacustrine sediments were mostly distributed in the Sanhu area of Qaidam BasinFrom the foothill to the center of the basin,alluvial fan,fluvial delta and lake were developed.The lake was gradually formed in the Early Pleistocene, and outspread in the Middle Pleistocene finally The lake shrank and formed the salt lake in the Late Pleistocene The appearance of the glacier and the uplift of the QinghaiXizang(Tibet) Plateau in the Early and Middle Pleistocene made the paleoclimate of the Qaidam Basin dry and cold The water temperature of the depositional lake was low and its salinity was highThe unique depositional environments of this area in the Quaternary are the important conditions for forming the large scale biogenic gas poolsThe water environment with a high salinity slowed down the degradation rate of the organic matter The methane bacteria activity was restrained in cold environment for a long time and the generation peak of the biogenic gas was delayed,so the excessive dissipation of the depositional organic matter was avoided during the shallowburial periodMoreover,the massive Quaternary dark mudstone and frequently developed sandstone in Sanhu area provide abundant gas source and constitute a favorable combination of reservoir。

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)are software systems dealing with spatial data The core modules of GIS include spatial data organization,inquiry, visualization, spatial analysis, and decisionsupport The dominant functions of GIS are spatial data capture, management, analysis, and visualization expression As a very important makeup member, GIS has been widely applied in all fields of social lives The application of GIS has provided us a new assistant tool for processing the information on the study of oil and gas exploration and development, such as palaeotectonic reconstruction, reservoir research, analysis of oil and gas  migration path, and oil and gas resources accessment This paper first gives a brief functional introduction of GIS, and analyzes the action of GIS on oil and gas exploration and development Then, it gives a detailed presentation about the history and actuality of the application of GIS to oil and gas exploration and development Finally, combined with the research hotspots in GIS field and the status of oil and gas exploration and development research, it discusses the application outlook and development trend of GIS in oil and gas exploration and development