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The Late Carboniferous–Early Permian strata cropping out in northern Shanxi Province, China contain a continuous and varied fossil record, making this succession a classical locality for the study of palynology during that interval in North China. Abundant, diverse and well-preserved miospores are recorded and illustrated from the Penchi Formation to the Shansi Formation, comprising 191 species assigned to 67 genera, as well as some scolecodonts. Three new species (Neoraistrickia leiclavatus sp. nov., Indospora verrucatus sp. nov., Balteosporites tomentosus sp. nov.) are proposed. According to the first appearance of a few selected species and the changes of palynological abundance in the succession, four miospore assemblage zones have been recognized in ascending order, viz., the Torispora securis–Torispora laevigata (SL) Assemblage Zone, the Torispora verrucosa–Pachetisporites kaipingensis (VK) Assemblage Zone, the Thymospora thiessenii–Striatosporites heyleri (TH) Assemblage Zone and Platysaccus minus–Gulisporites cochlearius (MC) Assemblage Zone. With evidence from microfossils (mainly fusulinids and conodonts), the age of these assemblage zones can be determined approximately. The SL Zone described here is roughly equivalent to the SL Zone established by Clayton et al. (1977) in Western Europe, indicating an age of Westphalian C-D (Moscovian). The VK Zone ranges from Stephanian A-Autunian (Kasimovian-late Gzhelian); however, it only includes the elements of the OT Zone (Clayton et al. 1977) which usually occur from Westphalian D to Stephanian A (late Moscovian-early Kasimovian) in Europe. Microfaunal evidence also shows that the age of the TH and MC zones should be Early Permian, but their components are evidently different from those derived from other coeval assemblage zones around the world. This discrepancy can be explained by environmental differences occurring during that interval, which were brought about by the Hercynian tectonic event. Using biostratigraphical zonations of other microfossil groups, a palynological Carboniferous–Permian boundary in N. China can be located within the miospore succession. The miospore assemblage zones proposed in this paper are also compared with zonations proposed by earlier studies in N. China and other parts of the world. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Wax chloride is an older type of additive which releases free chlorine when it is hydrolysed or when it is in conditions of boundary lubrication. The chlorine forms a protective film of ferro-chloride but, on the other hand, it severely rusts the iron, the main reason for its discontinuance since the 1960s. In this paper, epoxy plant oil is recommended as a means to absorb effectively and fix the free chlorine, then transform it into chlorohydroxyl oil and polyether. Rust corrosion can be controlled, and the absorbent transformed into a ferro-chloride protective film on the frictional surfaces of the iron during rubbing. The free chlorine can thus be transformed directly into a protective film. With a dynamic test for the reaction of absorption HCl, a friction test, an anti-rust test, electron spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy analysis, the underlying principles and effects of chlorine fixation have been confirmed. This method has been applied to cold squeezing, and tested with EP industrial gear oil. The price of wax chloride is much less than the standard additive containing sulphur and phosphorus, and its properties are almost the same. It is concluded that wax chloride could still be viable for use in lubricants.