Chengshan Wang’s research while affiliated with China University of Geosciences and other places

Plain Language Summary Topography plays a pivotal role in climate systems, particularly in East Asia, where diverse mountain ranges significantly influence regional climate dynamics. The Late Cretaceous period was characterized by a complex topography, including Coastal, Taihang, and Yanshan Mountains, which contributed to distinct climatic regimes. However, the specific climatic impacts of these inland mountain ranges and their interactions with adjacent coastal features remain inadequately characterized. This study aims to bridge this knowledge gap by employing paleoclimate modeling to assess the effects of these mountain configurations on temperature and precipitation patterns. We use two model‐proxy comparison strategies, revealing that the combination of Coastal, Taihang, and Yanshan Mountains had slightly higher accuracy than other configurations. Combined with geological evidence, we propose this mountain configuration for East Asia during the Late Cretaceous. Our results indicate that the joint influence of coastal and inland mountain ranges significantly modifies temperature and precipitation, impacting clouds, atmospheric circulation processes, and monsoon systems. These findings underscore the necessity of integrating topographical influences in paleoclimate simulations, refining our understanding of the intricate interactions between ancient landscapes and climate systems.

The Aptian Dariyan (Shuaiba) Formation, a major Cretaceous reservoir in the Middle East, remains poorly understood regarding the influence of depositional facies and diagenetic processes on reservoir quality. This research addresses the gap through an integrated analysis of facies, petrophysics and geochemistry on a continuous, 104.5 m-long core from the Salman oil/gas field in the eastern Persian Gulf. Employing fully automated techniques, we identified hydraulic flow units (HFUs). We classified nine carbonate facies into three distinct facies associations, arranged from shallowest to deepest: inner ramp (lagoon and shoals), shallow open-marine mid-ramp and deep open-marine (outer ramp and intrashelf basin). These facies associations exhibit a stacking pattern delineating five third-order transgressive–regressive sequences. The identified HFUs include the barrier unit (HFU1), the baffle unit (HFU2) and the normal unit (HFU3), assessed based on lithological and petrophysical attributes. The normal unit, characterized by good storage capacity but poor to moderate flow capacity, highlights the complexity of reservoir quality. The Dariyan Formation is predominantly composed of mud-supported textures formed in warm, tropical waters. Additionally, late diagenetic cementation severely obstructed pore spaces, altered primary rock characteristics and reduced effective flow capacity.

An early Late Cretaceous NW-SE compressional event that induced the uplift of the coastal mountains was recognized among the overall extensional regime in east China. While previous studies have explored the paleoelevation, paleogeographical extent, and possible climatic effects of coastal mountains, the exact timing of initial uplift has remained elusive. In this study, we applied detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology to sandstones from the Dasheng Group in the Yishu Rift Basin, east China. Our results suggest that the primary provenance of the Dasheng Group is intermediate-basic volcanic rocks (800–500 Ma, 330–215 Ma, and 150–122 Ma) derived from the Luxi Uplift and Sulu Orogenic Belt, and the secondary provenance is Mesoproterozoic-Paleozoic metamorphic rocks (2500–2300 Ma and 1850–1600 Ma) derived from the Jiaobei Terrane. The zircon age peaks of the Dasheng Group in the Yishu Rift Basin are nearly the same as those of the Lower Cretaceous Laiyang Group in the Jiaolai Basin. However, the proportion of pre-Mesozoic zircons decreases. For the Mesozoic zircons, although their main age peak is close to that of the Laiyang Group, their secondary age peak is similar to that of the Wangshi Group. We infer that the transitional characteristic of the Dasheng Group was caused by the initial uplift of the coastal mountains. Therefore, we speculate that the initial uplift of the coastal mountains occurred during the deposition of the Dasheng Group, and limit the maximum depositional age (MDA) of the Dasheng Group to 100–95 Ma.

The timing and magnitude of deformation across Central Tibet is essential for understanding the uplift history and geomorphic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau; however, the process and geodynamics for crustal shortening and surface uplift remain controversial. Located in the core of Central Tibet, the southern Qiangtang terrane is an ideal area to clarify the above problems. Here we report new geological mapping, geochronological, and thermochronological data in the Duoma-Eyacuo area of the southern Qiangtang terrane. Deformation, balanced cross section, and geochronological constraints show the research area accommodated at least 60 km (29%) and 63 km (31%) of shortening during the Mid-Cretaceous (ca. 125−96 Ma) and early Eocene (ca. 55−40 Ma), respectively. Apatite fission-track results indicate that the southern Qiangtang terrane experienced two stages of rapid exhumation at ca. 115−95 Ma and ca. 55−40 Ma. Correlations of the deformation and thermochronology demonstrate that the southern Qiangtang terrane underwent two-stage crustal thickening and surface uplift during the Mid-Cretaceous and early Eocene owing to the Lhasa-Qiangtang and India-Asia collision, respectively. Our results, together with previous studies, suggest that the extension and collapse of thickened crust after the Lhasa-Qiangtang collision resulted in the formation of the Central Tibetan Valley. The geomorphic evolution of the Central Tibetan Valley involved three significant stages: the broad valley (pre-55 Ma), the narrow valley (ca. 55−40 Ma), and the final extinction (ca. 40−30 Ma). The rise and demise of the valley can be attributed to the India-Asia collision and related intercontinental convergence, and subsequent magma underplating triggered by breakoff (or rollback) of the subducted Lhasa slab.

Oolitic ironstones in Lower (Toarcian) and Middle (Bajocian) Jurassic strata of the Indus Basin, Pakistan, were deposited in the eastern part of Tethys and are similar to those from India. Both units are represented by shallow-marine iron ooidal-siliciclastic wacke-packstone carbonates with sedimentary structures including ripple marks, cross lamination and trace fossils. Both the Toarcian and Bajocian iron ooids are mainly composed of goethite, the Toarcian ones have a higher Fe content than those in the Bajocian but the older unit has fewer silicate grains and lower contents of Si, Al, K and Sr. Thin to thick carbonate laminae occur between the Fe-rich laminae in the Bajocian iron ooids. The iron ooids in the Toarcian unit are related to phases of relative sea-level fall and represent deposition in a nearshore lagoonal setting whereas the Bajocian unit was deposited in a relatively broad spectrum of environments. The Fe itself was sourced from weathering of ferruginous soils and higher contents of K, Na, Ti and Ti/Al indicate a continental source. The cortical growth of the iron ooids in the Toarcian unit mainly took place under oxic conditions whereas conditions were more oxic to suboxic and anoxic in the Bajocian unit. The occurrence of spastoliths indicates the former presence of berthierine and the alternation of Fe-rich and carbonate-rich laminae within the Bajocian iron ooids suggests frequent burial and reworking of ooids in the near subsurface sub-oxic to anoxic environment. The subsequent exposure to oxic conditions on the seafloor likely altered the berthierine to goethite, which is stable in oxidizing conditions.