Changshanian Maximum Flooding Event in China and Its Global Correlation

Various orders of condensed sections are recognized in the Cambrian of North China Carbonate Platform. Study of comparative sedimentology proves that CS4–CS5 in the Changshanian age is the maximum sea flooding sediments in the Cambrian, regardless of the distribution, thickness, internal structure of the condensed section series and K2O abundance. It is a two-layered composite condensed section series, characterized by the enrichment of such elements as K, P, Mn, Ti, Co, V, Cr, Cu, Zr, Ni, Li, Th, La, Ce, Nd, Dy, Y, Sc and Be. The Changshanian maximum flooding event can be correlated on a global scale, and the corresponding sedimentary records are discovered in 26 intercontinental sections in N. Europe, N. America, and Tarim and the Yangtze Platform of China. Through detailed sedimentological research, meter–scale cycle analysis and Fischer plots, it is concluded that the Changshanian maximum flooding was a composite effect of the second-order eustacy superimposed by the third-and fourth-order eustacy, which lasted for 1.2-3 Ma. An intercontinental model of the Changshanian maximum flooding is proposed at the end of this paper.