The Cretaceous in the Kuqa Depression was an arid intracontinental depression，in which only the Lower Cretaceous marked by a set of arid redbed was developed and could be divided into the Yageliemu Formation，the Shushanhe Formation，the Baxigai Formation and the Bashijiqike FormationSeveral types of sediments constitute this set of arid redbediepluvialfan conglomerates，intermittent river sandy conglomerates，aeolian sandstones and desertlake  purple mudstones These sediments of the Cretaceous in the Kuqa Depression made up a typical desert sedimentary systemThe cyclicity in stratigraphic records are reflected by the alternation between the coarse clastic pluvial sediments in the lower part and the fine desertlake sediments in the upper partAeolian sandstones were formed in the initial stage and the regressive stage of the lakeforming periodAccording to the cyclicities in the stratigraphic records represented by the sedimentary facies succession，iethe succession constituted by pluvial coarse clastic sedi ments in the lower part and fine desertlake sediments in the upper part,the Lower Cretaceous in the Kuqa Depression could be divided into five thirdorder sedime ntary sequences，ieSQ1to SQ5Because the top and bottom boundaries of the Lower Cretaceous in the Kuqa Depression are obvious tectonic unconformities，the Lower Cretaceous in the Kuqa Depression makes up a secondorder tectonic sequenceThere is regularly ver tical sacking pattern for thirdorder sedimentary sequences in the secondorder tect onic sequence This feature is reflected by that more coarse pluvial clastic sedi ments were developed in SQ1 and SQ5，and the middle part of the Lower Cretace ous in the Kuqa Depression made up by SQ2 to SQ4 was always developed with more fine d esertlake sedimentsDifferent from marine strata，the cyclicities represented  by sequence sin stratigraphic records in the Lower Cretaceous of the Kuqa Depression are mai nly caused by the episodic tectonic subsidenceDue to a high difference of toporgr aphy，more coarse clastic pluvial sediments were  formed in the initial stage of sedimentary basin subsidence，corresponding to the isostaticsubsidence stage during which the lake was formed and more fine de sertlake sediments were developedOn the basis of sequence stratigraphy，the pala eogeographical visage as well as the evolution process of sedimentary facies and palaeogeography for the Cretaceous of the Kuqa Depression are clearly reflected by a series of the panel diagram of sequence stratigraphic frameworks and their corresponding outline maps of sedimentary facies and palaeogeography

A great thickness of evaporite strata were developed in the Ordovician in eastern Ordos BasinQuite a few researchers have proposed different views about their genesisThis paper presents another point of view in which the evaporites were deposited under the condition of the saline basin's periodical isolation from the open seaThis hypothesis is based on distribution patterns of the microfacies，profile architecture and geochemistry characters of the evaporitesThe idea of “reinfluxing and redissolving",is developed for explaining the origin of the thin black claylayers in thick saline rocks and the origin of various colors of the evaporitesThe lack of sylvitecarnallite layers is also consideredA new concept，“dissloving deposition bed"，is proposed to explain a special mud layer in evaporite strataThe microfacies of the Ordovician in this area show that some biobuildups including reefs or biomounds,grew on the elevated areas underwater along the eastern edge of the basinDuring the period of sea level falling，it acted as a barrier between the halite depression and the open sea that kept the halite depression isolated from the open sea，and brought it into the stage of evaporation drying to form halite bedsThe abrupt event of seawater reinfluxing，as a result of sealevel rising，could make part of the formerly formed halite bed dissolving(reinfluxing and redissolving) At the same time,the undissolved residues,dispersed in halites，gathered to form a bed(dissolving deposition bed),which may prevent the underlying halite from further dissolvationThe process of reinfluxing and redissolving may be the main reason for the lack of evidence of typical evaporation dryingThe sequence distribution style of carbonate and evaporites，weremainly controlled by regional sealevel change cycleCarbonates were formed during transgressive period or highstand period,while evaporites were formed during lowstand period

The Donghe Sandstone is the most important exploration and production strata in Tarim BasinBy exploration and research for many years, it becomes known that the Donghe Sandstone is transgression basal sandstone which was deposited during the Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous while sea level risingIt is obvious that the sandstone is a diachronic sedimentary body, which belongs to the same sedimentary facies but was not deposited at the same timeThe Donghe Sandstone mainly consists of terrigenous clastic rocks in shore and shelf marine environments, and partly consists of terrigenous clastic rocks in transitional environmentsAccording to integrated analysis on lithology, texture and other facies indications ofmore than 100 wells in the basin, the shore, estuary, braided fluvial delta andalluvial fan facies have been recognizedThe highenergy shore facies is the most important facies and is distributed extensivelyThe highenergy clastic shore and shelf sediments were deposited in early to middle sedimentary period of theDonghe SandstoneThe carbonate platform was deposited in late period when transgression reached a maximum, but there is still mixture shore and clastic shore in Lunnan and North areas,which were affected by provenancesThe Donghe Sandstone was deposited with thinning in ramp slope, with thickening in steep slope, and with thinningor outwedgingin the isolated islandsThese features provide a good geologic basis for the formation of nonstructural traps in the Donghe SandstoneIt is hopeful to find oil reservoirs(oilfields)in Manjaer, Lunnan, Tazhong, Mazatag and Caohu areasIn conclusion,there are better prospects in the exploration of nonstructural traps in the Donghe Sandstone

The Neogene and Paleogene sedimentary facies and microfacies inwestern Qaidam Basin were divided into seven types as follows: pluvial，subaqueous alluvial fan，fluvial channels and flood plain，shorelake，shallow lake，relativelydeep lake and delta based on well data of logging，lithology and testing analyses.Types and distribution of sedimentary facies are divided into three zones: (1) pluvialalluvial fanfan deltafluvial channels and flood plainlake facies in the steep zone of western Altun mountain front; (2) pluvialalluvial fanlake facies in the steep zone ofmiddle Altun Mountain front; (3) pluvialfluvial channels and flood plaindelta in the zone of Kunlun Mountain frontSedimentary facies not only influence composition and textureof clastic rock，but also porosity and permeability and hydrocarbon accumulation of clastic rockThe content of stable quartz and cement increases，the content of fragment and matrix decreases from pluvial，subaqueous alluvial fan，fluvial channels and flood plain，delta to lake facies，the sorting and roundness of grain get better and better，size ofgrain gets finer and finerPorosity and permeability of fluvial and delta clastic rocks are best in the shallowburied strata of the west Qaidam BasinIn the deeplyburied strata，porosity and permeability of deltaic clastic rocks are the best，those of alluvialclastic rocks are the second，and those of lacustrine clastic rocks are the worstHydrocarbon accumulation is richest in fluvial and deltaic clastic rocks，and is relatively poor in the deeplyburied strata

Meandering delta sediments were widely developed in the Yanchang Formation of Upper Triassic in Ordos BasinThe main characteristics of meandering delta are as follows:Meandering delta is relatively far away from the source area，and is asedimentary system in which various facies are relatively complete，grown size of sediments is fine and textural and mineral maturity are relatively highMineral composition is similar to that of source areaVarious sediment structures are developed，including trough and planarcross bedding，parallel bedding，smalescale bedding，wavebedding and horizontal bedding，animal and plant fossils and relic structuresIn plain part,submarine distributary channels of meandering deltaic plain have complicated branches and crevasse history which are interrelated.Mouth bar is not well preservedMeandering delta of Ordos Basin was mainly formed during the rebound of lake basin depressionWe studied the division and contract of the Yanchang Formation oil-bearing bed，the characteristic facies association，geometryof the skeletal sand bodies and the palaeogeographic patternIt was concluded that the shallowwater platform delta was gradually transformed into terrestrialplainMeandering delta in this region have great potential for oil and gas reservoirs，and is a favorable facies zone in oil and gas exploration

The Daihai Lake is located in the east margin of semiarid region and thenorth margin of the East Asia summer monsoonThis region is sensitive to the changes of climate and environment，thus being very suitable for the studyof environmental changes The pollen analysis of 65 surface sediment samples from the Daihai Lake and alluvia from its inflow rivers showed the characteristics of modern pollen distribution in the Daihai Lake and different transport vectors fordifferent pollen types Most of the pollen grains in the Daihai Lake came from regionalpollen types，and the pollen assemblages coincided with the regional vegetation However the variance of pollen assemblages in different parts of the lake reflected the changes of local vegetation to some extentAffected by the deposition environment，pollen concentration in the lake surface sediment was lower than that in fresh alluvia of its inflow rivers，and the highest pollen concentration appeared in the central part of the lake Most of the pollen grainsand spores in the Daihai Lake came from their inflow rivers，while the influenceof wind cannot be ignoredInsect，bird and human activities also played a roleMost pollen grains of Artemisia，Chenopodiaceae，Betula，Ostryopsis andsporescame from their inflow rivers，while Pinus，Graminaceae and Cyperaceae pollen grains came from both their inflow rivers and the transport of wind Some other herbs，such as Leguminosae，Crucifereae and so on，may be carried into the lake by insect，bird or human activities DCA analysis supported the conclusions

The huge and spectacular Permian reefs exposed in eastern Kunlun Mountains occur in three stratigraphic horizonsThey are the Lower Permian or AsselianSakmarianArtinskian Stages，the Qixia Stage and Maokou Stage of Middle Permian，in which，the Lower Permian reefs and Middle Permian Qixia reefs are the first discoveries of Permian reefs in China，although some microbial reefs of Lower Permian were discovered in southern Qinling MountainsThe Lower Permian reefs consist of three types of reefs: sponge reefs，bryozoan reefs and  Shamovella Archaeolithoporella cement  reefs  The reefs in the Qixia Stage of Middle Permian are also composed of three types: sponge  bryozoan reefs，  Shamovella  bryozoan reefs and phylloid algal reefs  The reefs in the Maokou Stage of Middle Permian are generally the same as those of Qixia reefsThe Permian reefs in the Aergeshan are regarded asa component part in TadzhikistanKarakoram Terrane which was situated paleolatitudinally to the north of 30°S in the eastern Tethys  The Permian reefs here are composed of various kinds of organisms，including coralline sponges，bryozoans，  Shamovella，Archaeolithoporella  ，phylloid and dasycladacean algae，echinoderms，foraminifers and gastropods，but no   Palaeoaplysina  Thus we could infer that these reefs were formed in warm seawater under temperate and tropical climate，rather than in cool water

A largescale of assemblage reefs is foundin Bianping Village located about 4 km to the west of Houchang Town of Ziyun County in Guizhou Province The reefs lie in the Triticites zone of Maping Formation and formed in the late stage of Late Carboniferous The reefs were divided into 6 communities from lower to upper portions Two of them are reef building communities One is Ivanovia cf manchurica，Eugonophyllum ，cyanophyceae community and another is  Formit  chevella  community  The former grew individually in various environments and formed dotreefs in parallel modeThe latter formed upper major reef by large phacelloid   Formitchevella  These communities represent different developing stages of the reefs and reveal biologicsuccession features of the reefs in the reefbuilding process  There is a consistent and corresponding relation that controlled the growth of distribution of the reefs between the evolution of communities and the reefbuilding process  Their model of growth，development and structure characterized by   Formitchevella  communities are very different from other reefs of Late Carboniferous in China and the world  They compose rare non  algae reef builder of the Late CarboniferousThe discovery of Bianping reefs increases biological types of Carboniferous communities in the worldItoffers a new example for evolution of reefbuilding biocoenose and reef growth as well its dynamic model

The northwestern China is composed of several terranes，where the tectonic movements are complexBecause of the lack of paleontological proof，the recognition and relegation of paleobiogeographical division still remain to be solvedBased on the analysis of fauna characters，the authors studied the Middle  and Late Cambrian and Ordovician fauna nature of different stratigraphic provinces in Qilianand Qinling areas，as well as relegation of paleontological types，and ascertain the distribution of faunas of transitional type in Qilian and Qinling areasAccording to the analyses in geodynamics and paleogeography researches，twopossible reasons，which resulted in the similar faunas of transitionaltypes between the Qilian and Qinling areas and South China during the Middle and Late Cambrian and Ordovician，are discussed One is that Tarim Plate lay to the west of Yangtze Plate,SinoKorean Plate lay to the north of the Yangtze Plate,the Qilian andQinling areas were situated between the Yangtze Plate and Tarim Plate during the Middle and Late Cambrian and Ordovician，and were qualified for interchange between South China fauna and North China fauna，and thus roughly similar faunasemergedAnother is that there were some terranes，which were situated along northern margin of the Yangtze Plate in the Qilian and Qinling areas during the Middle and Late Cambrian and Ordovician，and the faunas or biotic types，which were similar to those in southern margin of the Yangtze Plate，were developed on the terranesBefore the Mesozoic，the slip movement between the main part and the northern margin of the Yangtze Plate caused the mainpart of the Yangtze Plate to shift several hundred kilometres eastwardBut the movement of the terranes of northern margin of the Yangtze Plate，which belonged to the Qilian and Qinling areas，was within a narrow rangeTherefore，the current situation，that the transitional faunas or biotic types appeared in the Qilian and Qinling areas and the transitional zones along the northern margin of the Yangtze Plate were absent，was created

Changbaishan Mountains are one of regions where peatlands are distributed A typical profile of Daqiao peatland in the Changbaishan Mountains is chosen for this study The vertical distribution of major and selected trace elements in the sediments of the profile was determined Its implications for the climatic change in the Holocene are discussed The profile was compared with another standard profile named Jinchuan in this area The results show that most major elements are rich at the depth of 195cm, and decrease upwards and downwards from there The concentration profile of Fe correlates well with that of ash content andbulk density, and this indicates Fe is mainly associated with ash forming minerals The basic characters, such asbulk density, ash content and pH,are different between peat and sandstone；thecontent of trace elements in the peat is higher than that in the sandstone, and is the highest in the subsurface layer of peat The concentration profilesof bulk density, ash content, pH, Ca/Mg, total carbon content and enrichment factors relative to upper continental crust are distinctly consistent The area has gone through the Early Holocene(11880～7600 BP),the Middle Holocene(7600～2 480aBP)andthe Late Holocene(2480～0aBP) according to these indices These results gained from the Daqiao peatland are similar to those obtained by pollen and isotope analyses in the Jinchuan peatland It implies that these indices can be used as indicators of environmental change during the Holocene

Tongwancheng,the capital of the Great Xia King dom during the period of Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms in the Chinese history，wa s situated on the north bank of Wudinghe River in the north of Jingbian County ，Sh aanxi ProvinceThe recent Tongwancheng area has a desert landscape,with only s parse secondary shrub and grass communit yHowever，about 1600 years ago the Tongwancheng area was once a beautiful plac e of dry steppes with the landscape of s parse forestThere was a temperate vegetation F orests of Platycladus orientalis were distributed on the hills and uplands Therm ophilous trees grew along river banks and in gulliesAbundant aquatic plants grew in rivers，lakes and swampsSaltloving shrubs and herbs covered the sali nized soilAt that time，the climate of the Tongwancheng area was as follows:t he annual mean temperature was 7.8℃～9.3℃，the hottest monthly mean tempe rat ure was 23.0℃～24.9℃ and  the coldest monthly mean temperature was -12.0℃ ～-5.6 ℃，the annual mean temperature difference was 28.5℃～38.2℃，the annual prec ipi tation was 403.4～550.0 mm，the monthly maximum precipitation was 83.8～123.9 mm  and the monthly minimum precipitation was 4.4～12.2 mmCompared with the pre sent c limate，the annual mean temperature and annual precipitation were respectively 0.2℃～0.7℃ and 60～100 mm higher It indicates that the clima te in the Tongwancheng area about 1600 years ago was slightly warmer and wetter th an the present timeThe similar vegetative landscape of dry steppes has moved southward  The forests of Platycladus orientalis and forest steppe have moved to the  southern part of Yan'an area It is estimated that the Mau Us Dese rt migrate d southward at a mean rate of 125 meters per year during the past 1600 yearsents in peat from Northeast China.Journal of Northeast Normal University,（4）：99～102

Thirtyfour samples were collected from surface sediments on outer shelf of the middle East China Sea，and 75 samples were collected from two cores of outer shelf of the southern East China SeaThe characteristics of sediments and heavy minerals of these samples have been studied，and grades of valuable heavy minerals in these samples are calculatedThe results show that valuable heavy minerals in relict sediments from the outer shelf of the East China Sea during the Late Pleistocene were derived from the continent of ChinaThe content of valuable heavy minerals is closely related to the content of fine sand and the total heavy minerals，grain size and sorting of the sedimentsHeavy minerals occured in regressivesequence in the littoral zone，and had been reworked and enriched by late transgressive processThey are mostly distributed between 100 m and 200 m of water depthThe highgrade valuable heavy minerals cover an area of about 1.2×10.4 kmThe grades of zircon and garnet have reached the order Ⅰanomaly of marineplacer，and the thicknessof valuable heavy minerals bearing sand in southern cores range from 1.5 to 2 metersZircon has met boundary grade(≥0.5 kg/m)，and the grade of ilmeniteis commonly up to order Ⅱ and above order Ⅱ anomaly in the study areaThe conditions to form marine placer on the outer shelf are favorableThe placer resourceis considered to have a good economic potential and it is worth further investigation on the outer shelf of the East China Sea，especially along southern outer shelf