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The Qiongdongnan Basin is one of the target areas for marine gas hydrate exploration in the northern margin of the South China Sea. In this study, major anion (e.g., SO4−2, Cl, Br, I), cation (e.g., Ca, Mg, K, Na), and trace element (e.g., Sr, Ba) concentrations of pore water samples collected from site HQ-1PC in the Qiongdongnan Basin were analyzed. These geochemical data suggest that the process of AOM (Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane) is dominant in sulfate-reduction zone in this site due to high upwelling iodine flux and strong microbial activities. The iodine-rich fluids, which may carry methane for the gas hydrate formation, pass through the gas hydrate stability zone, mix with brine released during gas hydrate formation, and cause the geochemical anomalies observed at site HQ-1PC. The pore water geochemical characteristics and anomalies in the Qiongdongnan Basin are quite similar to those found in other gas hydrate locations in the Shenhu area in the northern South China Sea, and a genetic link is suggested with the possibility of gas hydrate occurrence in the study area.

Series of sedimentary hydrothermal-diplogenetic copper deposits have been found scattering in the region along the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and their metallogenetic mechanism is still in hot debate. In order to reveal the ore-forming kinetics of sedimentary process and hydrothermal superimposition, and evaluate the role of sedimentary pyrite in the enrichment and precipitation of copper, a set of simulating experiments on the reaction between pyrite and CuCl2 solution were conducted. According to the physicochemical characteristics of the ore-forming fluid of the Dongguashan copper deposit, Anhui Province, 100 MPa was selected as the experimental pressure, and the experimental temperatures were set at 450, 350, 250 and 150°C, respectively. The reactions between pyrite grains isolated from the Shimenkou strata-bound pyrite deposit and the solution with 0.2 mol/L CuCl2 and 1.0 mol/L NaCl were experimentally simulated. Then, variations in surface topography and surface chemistry of the experimental pyrite grains were documented using scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Auger electron spectrometry (AES) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the solution and newly formed minerals were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma (ICP-AES) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Desulphurization of pyrite surface was observed and new copper minerals were detected. It is proposed that pyrite can act as a geochemical barrier for the enrichment and precipitation of copper from the solution under the experimental conditions. Furthermore, the ore-forming mechanism of sedimentary hydrothermal-diplogenetic copper deposits was discussed.

There exists an E-W trending Middle Jurassic volcanic zone in southern China. The Fankeng basalts in the Yongding basin of Fujian Province are considered to be a typical example. The Fankeng basalts have TiO 2 contents in the range of 1.92%－3.21%. They are classified as high-Ti basalts. They also have higher total Fe (averaging FeO * = 11.09%). The Middle Jurassic Fankeng basalts from southwestern Fujian have obvious distinctive lithogeochemical features from early Cretaceous basalts from southeastern coast of China. They have higher HFSE, such as Th, Nb, Ta, Zr and Ti. Their element ratios related with HFSE, such as Zr/Ba, La/Nb, La/Ta ,Zr/Y, Ti/Y, Ba/Nb, K/Ti and Rb/Zr are similar to those of OIB. The most samples have e Nd( T ) of -0.70－0.24, which are near chondrite. Some samples have higher e Nd( T ) of 1.87－3.55.Therefore, these basaltic magmas might be derived from depleted asthenospheric mantle. The lithogeochemical characteristics of the Fankeng basalts may be caused by interaction between asthenosphere and lithosphere at the time. The (Early-) Middle Jurassic basalts and gabbros from southeastern Hunan, southern Jiangxi and northern Guangdong provinces show similar geochemical features to those of the Fankeng basalts from the Yongding of Fujian. Occurrence of these OIB-type basalts in the area may be regarded as the petrological mark of upwelling of asthenosphere at the time. Upwelling of asthenosphere has led to tectonic extension and the formation of rifted basin in the area.

Magmatism in SE China was dormant during 204–180 Ma, but was reactivated in 180–170 Ma (early J2), and then became more and more intensive towards the end of early Cretaceous. The small-scale early J2 magmatism is the incipience to long-term and large-scale magmatism in this region. A near east-west (EW) trend volcanic belt was distributed across south Hunan, south Jiangxi and southwest Fujian was formed during early J2 time. Along this belt from the inland toward the coast, the lithology of basalts changes from alkali into tholeiite, and the amount of erupted volcanic rocks and the proportions of rhyolites coexisting with the basalts increase. On the basis of geochemical characteristics of these basalts, we infer that the melting degree of source rocks and the extent of fractional crystallization and crustal contamination all increased whereas the depth of mantle source decreased from the inland to the coast, which led to the variations of geological characteristics of the volcanic belt. In early J2, the western spreading Pacific plate began to subduct underneath SE China continental block, reactivating near EW trend deep fault that was originally formed during the Indosinian event. The stress of the western spreading Pacific plate and the extent of asthenosphere upwelling increased from the inland to the coast, which is consistent with the generation and evolution of early J2 basalts.