Coupling of the Earth Surface System: Inferring from the Cretaceous Major Geological Events

Abstract

With the relationship of major geological events related to the carbon cycle and greenhouse climate change as the critical scientific issue,and with transitional process and mechanism from OAE to enhanced oxic effect as the breakthrough point,in our project,we conduct an ocean-land combination research,put emphasis on ascending the major geological events records of Cretaceous Earth Surface System in eastern Tethys ocean and mainland of China,and explore the positive and negative feedbacks among geological events,carbon cycle and rapid climate change.The project will make full use of Cretaceous marine,terrestrial strata and paleontological records.A scientific drilling core will be conducted in the Songliao basin with about 2000 m in depth full core recovery.This will allow high precision resolution in the correlation of marine and ocean events and facilitate our understanding of environmental and paleoclimatic controls on the geographical distribution of biota.Continental and oceanic response to the same event will be studied to re-construct the processes and reasons of major geological events in the Cretaceous earth surface system,and to explore the mechanisms among genesis of large terrestrial hydrocarbon source rock,terrestrial biota radiation and evolution,greenhouse climate change,carbon cycle,which will give scientific evidences for predicting future trends of long time scale climate change.