Liu, H., Sun, W.-d., Deng, J., 2020. Statistical analysis on secular records of igneous geochemistry: Implication for the early Archean plate tectonics. Geological Journal 55, 994-1002.

https://doi.org/10.1002/gj.3484 In recent years, application of statistical analysis to a sufficiently large geochemical database has become more and more popular to reveal the onset and evolution of plate tectonics as a consequence of the development of computer science and storage technology. Here, we introduce a robust statistical method to process a filtered geochemical dataset including predominantly continental basaltic rocks through Earth's history. The results show that the average Sr concentrations gradually increased from 3.8 to 0 Ga, indicating a progressively growing depth of magma source as a result of secular cooling of the mantle. However, the average La/Yb and ca Sm/Yb ratios only started to increase at . 3.0 Ga. Considering the La - Yb and Sm - Yb fractionations are commonly attributed to the residual garnet crystallization, we interpreted that the geotherm of the magma source of continental basaltic rocks before 3.0 Ga might be higher than the stability limit of garnet. As such, there were little or no garnets in the residue during partial melting of the upwelling asthenospheric mantle or mantle plumes before 3.0 Ga, which also implied a higher continental geotherm during that time. Such a high geotherm could not support the formation of contemporaneous high-pressure or medium-p ressure TTGs (tonalite - trondhjemite - granodiorite) by vertical tectonic models associated with upwelling mantle heating or delaminated lower crust melting in the early Archean. We therefore conclude that the plate tectonics had ca occurred by . 3.8 Ga in a h ot subduction style and contributed to the formations of high- and medium- pressure TTGs subsequently.

Liu, Liu, J., An, Z., 2020. Leaf wax -alkane carbon isotope values vary among major terrestrial plant groups: Different responses to precipitation amount and temperature, and implications for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Earth-Science Reviews 202, 103081.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001282521930635X 13 n Studies focused on field measurements have been conducted to investigate how leaf wax - alkane δ C values vary among photosynthetic pathways (C vs. C ) or plant types (dicots, monocots, gymnosperms, magnoliids), 3 4 13 n and how - alkane δ C values respond to climate factors (precipitation, temperature). However, a systematic 13 n global analysis of plant - alkane δ C values with respect to major plant groups is still lacking, and the 13 n corresponding mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we compiled globally published - alkanes δ C data 13 in modern plants. We find significantly negative correlations between δ C values and mean annual wt 2 2 2 p p p precipitation (MAP) for C plants (R = 0.30; < .05), dicots (R = 0.28; < .05) and magnoliids (R = 0.55; 3 13 2 p < .05), but non- significant correlation between δ C values and MAP for C plants (R = 0.08; = .12) or wt 4 2 13 p monocots (R = 0.01; = .89). However, there are significantly positive correlations between δ C values and wt 2 2 p p mean annual temperature (MAT) in C plants (R = 0.33; < .05) and monocots (R = 0.35; < .05), instead of 4 2 2 2 p p p weak correlations in C plants (R = 0.09; < .05), dicots (R = 0.03; < .05) and gymnosperms (R = 0.06; = 3 13 n .06). These results indicate that - alkane δ C values in C dicots have more potential for paleoprecipitation 3 reconstruction, while those in C monocots are more likely to indicate paleotemperature changes. Our study 4 13 n supports use of leaf wax - alkane δ C values to gain information about paleoprecipitation and paleotemperature, but only in an appropriate paleoecological context.

Liu, P., Wang, X., Lin, Y., Liu, C., Li, X., Liu, W., 2020. Chemical and carbon isotope fractionations of alkane gases desorbed from confined systems and the application toward shale gas reservoir. Marine and Petroleum Geology 113, 104103.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264817219305392 Adsorption and desorption processes of shale gas possess particular characteristics compared to conventional natural gas. Previous studies conducted desorption experiments on fresh core samples to investigate the isotope and chemical fractionations during the desorption process. However, complete chemical and isotope fractionations cannot be obtained due to the loss of gases during the coring process. In this study, we utilized a modified experimental apparatus based on the fixed adsorption bed to conduct systematic desorption