Polychaete serpulids are globally distributed tubeworms mostly in marine environments from Late Triassic to modem time. These calcareous tubeworms could be rock-forming, reef-building, or a principal fouling organism in harbor and bays. Car- bonates of the Paleogene Kalatar Formation in southwest Tarim Basin yield abundant serpulid fossils, which, together with oyster fossils, constitute the characteristic fossil assemblage of the Kalatar Formation. Other common fossils include bivalves, gastropods, ostracods, echinoderms, and bryozoans. Lithologies that yielded serpulid fossils are characterized by micritic bio- clastic limestone, sandy limestone, and shelly limestone, indicating a semi-restricted to open shallow marine environment with medium to low water energy. The research data about serpulids and their fossil materials from China are relatively rare. Based on the studies of tbssils taxonomy, community palaeoecology, and fossil taphonomy, this paper analyzed and studied the types, occurrence, distribution, and morphological characteristics of serpulids and their palaeoecological features in the Kalatar For- mation. Two serpulid community compositions were recognized in the Kalatar Formation, including a rock-forming Ditrupa community and a cluster-growth Propomatoceros community. The Ditrupa community was distributed in coastal environment of the west Kunlun piedmont, lived on sandy hard substrates with little mud, and rarely occurred in lagoon and tidal settings. The Propomatoceros community occurred in offshore middle carbonate ramp in the piedmont of the south Tianshan Moun- tains and in offshore shelf in the piedmont of the west Kunlun Mountains. According to the analysis on the host-rock litholo- gies, preservation and symbionts, it is inferred that serpulids in the Kalatar Formation grew on the oyster shell or other hard substrate, and they did not form reefs or bioherms.
YANG HaiJunSHEN JianWeiZHANG LiJuanLI MengHUANG ZhiBinWANG Yue
Fossil corals are widespread on the coast of northwestern Hainan Island, China. Most of these corals are exposed during low tide levels, indicating that a higher sea level may have existed during their life time. The radiocarbon data introduced by this paper in combination with those from other sources show that the corals were alive mainly during the midto late-Holocene. Mid-Holocene sea levels 1-3 m higher than the present level were confirmed for adjacent coasts; however, the emerged corals on the investigated coast are not necessarily indicators of a higher eustatic sea level. They do predict relative sea levels of 1.5-3.4 m when using 1 m below the tidal datum as the upper limit of coral growth. However, using the Mean Lower Low Water as the coral's upper growth limit, the relative sea level on the non-volcanic coast was almost as high as the present level, whereas that on the volcanic coast was 0.4-2.0 m higher than present. Therefore, the exposure of these dead coral heads and their discrepancy in elevation may be the result of tectonic uplift caused by volcanic activities. From these results, the highest sea level of upward coral growth must be defined first when using fossil corals to reconstruct past sea levels. Meanwhile, vertical tectonics have to be taken into account as a significant factor when conducting high-resolution sea level reconstruction, although the South China coast is located in a "tectonically stable" region.
