The Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Xiong’er volcanic rocks along the southern margin of the North China Craton are lithologically and geochemically similar to those formed in subduction-related, continental margin volcanic arcs. The volcanic rocks are primarily composed of basaltic andesites and andesites, with minor dacites and dacitic rhyolites. Traditionally, the Xiong’er volcanic rocks have been divided from lower to upper into the Xushan, Jidanping and Majiahe Formations, but the ages of volcanic rocks in these formations have not been well constrained, which has hindered further understanding the tectonic significance oftheXiong’er volcanicbeltatthe southern marginofthe NorthChina Craton.

This chapter reviews the geological occurrences, structures, and phase transitions of the low-pressure silica polymorphs-quartz, tridymite, and cristobalite. All these phases experience displacive transformations that involve structural contraction with decreased temperature, and research over the past three decades has sought out the mechanisms that control these transitions. The passage from ~- to a-quartz is associated with an intermediate phase that is stable over a 1.3°C temperature interval. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy have revealed that this phase consists of Dauphine microtwins that are incommensurately modulated. Meteoritic and synthetic tridymite experience a series of structural alterations with decreasing temperature during which the symmetry changes from hexagonal (HP) to orthorhombic (OC, OS, and OP) to monoclinic (MC). Phase transition behavior in terrestrial tridymite (PO-n and MX-1) is more complex, probably due to a greater degree of structural disorder. The transformation from cubic ~- cristobalite to tetragonal a-cristobalite is marked by a high spontaneous strain and a large hysteresis in the transition temperature. The three high-temperature polymorphs-s-bquartz, HP-tridymite, and ~-cristobalite-exhibit evidence for dynamical disorder, but the nature of the atomic oscillations in these phases remains an active area of investigation. <...>

Applying depositional sequence stratigraphic concepts to the interpretation of siliciclastic depositional systems is becoming an increasingly important tool in petroleum geology. After a succession of breakthroughs during the 1970s and 1980s, sequence stratigraphic concepts now have entered a phase of intense application and documentation, especially with regard to successful implementation in the field of petroleum geology. Workers have applied these concepts to a variety of data bases ranging from outcrop to cores to electric logs to multifold seismic data. Clearly, sequence stratigraphic concepts embody not a rigid model or template, but rather a way of looking at geology.