Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261

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Sedimentary Geology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/sedgeo

Astronomical forced sequence infill of Early Cambrian Qiongzhusi

organic-rich shale of Sichuan Basin, South China
Sibing Liu a,b, Siding Jin a,b,⁎, Yan Liu a,b, Anqing Chen b,c
a
College of Energy, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
b
State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
c
Institute of Sedimentary Geology, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Early Cambrian Qiongzhusi Formation has attracted great attention due to shale gas finding. However, this
Received 26 March 2022 organic-rich shale formation is yet no robust high-resolution stratigraphic sequence framework. Here the evi-
Received in revised form 16 September 2022 dence on Milankovitch cycles in three wells drilled through Qiongzhusi (QZS) Formation in Sichuan Basin has
Accepted 17 September 2022
been reported. The logging data made it possible to develop a floating timeline calibrated to stable eccentricity
Available online 22 September 2022
cycles of 405-kyr within ~10.92 and ~7.34 Myr intervals in intracratonic rift and low bulge of Sichuan Basin, re-
Editor: Dr. Massimo Moretti spectively. In this research, astronomical time scale was anchored to the U\\Pb Zircon age of QZS Formation/
Maidiping Formation boundary (526.86 ± 0.16 Ma), developing an absolute timescale for considered intervals
extending from 526.86 to 515.94 Ma. Average spectral misfit and correlation coefficient analyses were applied
Keywords: to quantitatively measure the fitting of the witnessed sedimentary cycles to astronomical periods and provide
Cyclostratigraphy a possible sedimentation rate range. A sedimentary noise model was chosen to detect high-resolution sea-
Sequence framework level variations under the control of orbital forcing and variations of sea-level were linked to obliquity modula-
Orbital modulation cycles tion cycles of about 1.2 Myr. The orbital obliquity modulation cycles witnessed for early Cambrian QZS Formation
Floating astronomical time scale
(~1.2 Myr) were correlated to eustatic variations of sea level generated based on sedimentary noise model
Sea-level variations
(DYNOT and ρ1). Furthermore, correlations between sequence stratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy were dis-
cussed, and the third-order sequence boundaries well corresponded to minima ~1.2 Myr orbital obliquity mod-
ulation curve and high values of DYNOT. The previous sequences framework was demonstrated to be
isochronous and credible.
© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction studied. According to Cohen et al. (2013), Cambrian is subdivided into

Ediacaran to early Cambrian (E-C transition) is considered as a very
important interval in the history of geology recording the explosive ra-
diations of metazoans known as “Cambrian explosion” (Cloud Jr., 1948;
Butterfield, 2009; Shu et al., 2014). All climate, environment, and
marine animal ecosystems dramatically changed during Cambrian
(Zhu et al., 2019). Numerous geological events such as continental reor-
ganization (Cawood et al., 2013), massive glacier melting and sea level
rising (post-snowball event) (Jin et al., 2020a), prominent negative
δ13C excursion (Goldberg et al., 2007; Ishikawa et al., 2013; Feng et al.,
2014), and global accumulation of organic-rich shale (Maloof et al.,
2010; Cremonese et al., 2013; Jin et al., 2016) have been extensively
⁎ Corresponding author at: College of Energy, Chengdu University of Technology,
Chengdu 610059, China.
E-mail address: jinsiding@cdut.edu.cn (S. Jin).
four series (Babcock et al., 2005) and ten stages and GSSPs are con-
firmed for five stages and two series of Cambrian (Landing et al.,
2013). However, boundaries were not defined for series 2 and 3 and
stages 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 of Cambrian (Zhang et al., 2017). The boundaries
of Early Cambrian timeframe were denoted except a few radiometric
ages which showed somehow reliable correlations to the boundaries
of cosmopolitan stage (Ogg et al., 2016). Since there is no high-
resolution temporal framework for Cambrian, critical geological events
are only slightly understood. Therefore, a stronger dating method is
needed for this critical interval.
Identification of orbital forcing climate cycles stated in sedimentary
succession could be applied for refining geological time scale temporal
resolution (Hinnov and Hilgen, 2012). A relative “floating” timescale
could be established after recognizing Milankovitch cycles in strati-
graphic records. This method has been extensively used to analyze Ce-
nozoic and Mesozoic sediments (Hinnov, 2018 and references therein)
and recent research works have further extended their application to

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2022.106261
0037-0738/© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
S. Liu, S. Jin, Y. Liu et al.
Paleozoic, Permian (Fang et al., 2017; Yao and Hinnov, 2019), Carbonif-
erous (Wu et al., 2018; Huang et al., 2021), Devonian (De Vleeschouwer
et al., 2013; Pas et al., 2018), Silurian (Gambacorta et al., 2018; Jin et al.,
2020b), Ordovician (Ma et al., 2019; Rasmussen et al., 2021; Zhong et al.,
2020), and even Neoproterozoic (Minguez and Kodama, 2017; Gong
et al., 2017), Mesoproterozoic (Zhang et al., 2015; Meyers and
Malinverno, 2018), and Paleoproterozoic (Lantink et al., 2019). How-
ever, the application of this method to Cambrian is restricted to late
Cambrian only (Zhao et al., 2022). Osleger (1995) developed putative
Milankovitch scale cyclicity from mid to outer-shelf carbonated deposits
of Laurentia. Fang et al. (2020) performed cyclostratigraphy analyses in
Luoyixi section and identified a ~1.4-Myr interval covering upper
Drumian through lower Guzhangian stages. A ~8.7-Myr interval was de-
tected by Sørensen et al. (2020) across Miaolingian- Furongian bound-
ary. If early Cambrian was characterized by Milankovitch cyclicity,
several predictions on stratigraphic records could emerge.
South Chinese lower Paleozoic strata are considered as critical
sources with economic value such as phosphate, natural gas, oil, and
several metals (Xiao et al., 2015). Sedimentary sequences in early Cam-
brian in South China were continuously developed providing an excel-
lent opportunity for establishing high-resolution chronostratigraphic
standards (Zhu et al., 2021) as well as performing cyclostratigraphy
analyses. Lower Cambrian QZS Formation is considered as a key succes-
sion in terms of production and exploration of hydrocarbon in Sichuan
Basin, South China (Zou et al., 2015). QZS Formation was deposited
from Meishucunian to Qiongzhusian stages (Middle Stage 2 to Middle
Stage 3) developing a shallow shelf to deep shelf clastic deposits in
upper Yangtze (Gao et al., 2021). Several scientists have investigated
QZS Formation in Sichuan Basin and revealed that temporal and spatial
distributions of sedimentary sequences and shale facies in QZS Forma-
tion were mainly under the control of relative oscillations of sea level
which were correlated to sequences division (Xiao et al., 1988; Liu and
Zhang, 2018; Xie et al., 2021). Modulation cycles (~2.4 and ~1.2 Myr)
Fig. 1. (a) Early Cambrian global paleogeography (modified from Li et al., 2014). (b) Paleogeographic map of the Upper Yangtze Block of South China during Early Cambrian (Modified after
Liu et al., 2017; Zhao et al., 2019) showing location of the Sichuan Basin and the sedimentary environment. (c) Structure contour map of the Qiongzhusi Formation in Changning-Ziyang
area showing location of section and wells mentioned in text (Liang et al., 2022).
2
Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261
were demonstrated to be among the main drivers of ice sheet develop-
ment, sea-level fluctuations, and third-order sequences during Cenozoic
and Mesozoic (Zachos et al., 2001; Boulila et al., 2011a). Long-period
modulations were also observed in Paleozoic, and third-order eustatic
sequences were in tune with s4-s3 obliquity modulation term in Middle
Permian.
In the current research, cyclostratigraphic analyses were performed
on early Cambrian QZS Formation organic-rich shales in three wells in
southwest Sichuan Basin, South China. The primary aims of the current
research included: (1) obtaining refined geophysical log data to solve
short and long term astronomical forcing on early Cambrian shale sed-
imentation; (2) building an astronomical timescale for the period of
Middle Stage 2 (~526 Ma) to Middle Stage 3 (~515 Ma) allowing a
more precise isochrono-stratigraphic correlation in QZS Formation and
improving early Cambrian chronostratigraphy with astrochronology;
(3) reconstructing the variations of sea level, describing regional se-
quence frameworks and orbital forcing to developed third-order sedi-
mentary sequences based on astronomically tuned logging series in
Sichuan Basin.
2. Geological background
2.1. Paleogeography in Upper Yangtze platform
In early Cambrian (~520 Ma), South China Block was an equatorial iso-
lated island near western Gondwana coast (Li et al., 2014) (Fig. 1a). South
China covers Cathaysia and Yangtze blocks, and Upper Yangtze platform
which is a large region with approximate area of 3.5 × 105 km2 surround-
ing Sichuan Basin in the center (Liang, 2015) (Fig. 1b). During Sinian
Dengying Formation to early Cambrian Maidiping Formation depositional
period, Tongwan movement took place which was identified based on
uplift and denudation, giving rise to Maidiping Formation local residues
of Maidiping Formation in the center Sichuan Basin (Du et al., 2016;
S. Liu, S. Jin, Y. Liu et al.
Zhao et al., 2019). Then, during QZS Formation, Yangtze platform was in-
curred by water flooding and a deep sandy-muddy shelf formed in Middle
Stage 2 to Middle Stage 3 (Meishucunian-Qiongzhusian Stages, ~526 to
~515 Ma) because of large-scale transgression (Steiner et al., 2001a).
Sandy-muddy shelf was again replaced with carbonate platform at end
of Stage 4. Recently, an intracratonic rift which was identified that devel-
oped during late Sinian to early Cambrian, and contained 500–1000 m
thick argillaceous shelf rocks in Sichuan Basin (Liu et al., 2016; Li et al.,
2019a). High-quality source rocks were deposited during this period,
which was mainly Maidiping and QZS Formation in Ziyang-Changning
area (Fig. 1c). The studied wells were located near or in the intracratonic
rift and lower Cambrian succession included the Maidiping, QZS and
Canglangpu Formations in ascending order (Fig. 1c), which rested un-
comfortably on dolomite of Dengying Formation (Fig. 2). Thick and
Fig. 2. Stratigraphy correlation of the Lower Cambrian in and around the Sichuan Basin (Upper Yangtze plateform) (modified after Zhu et al., 2021).
3
Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261
continuous sedimentary records in QZS Formation provided a unique
condition for cyclostratigraphy analyses in this study.
2.2. Stratigraphy framework
Several geologists have studied the strata preserved in Upper Yangtze
area of Early Cambrian for many years and stratigraphic frameworks have
been built based on litho- and bio-stratigraphic data. Xiaotan section
contained expanded sedimentary records from upper Neoproterozoic to
Cambrian and represented marine sedimentation of more than 40-Myr.
An erosional surface was found to separate bulky grey dolomites of
Dengying Formation from Daibu Member in ZhujiaQing Formation
known by sandy dolomites, dolomite nodules, and chert layers and nod-
ules (on top) and dark siliceous micritic dolomites (at base) (Fig. 3).
S. Liu, S. Jin, Y. Liu et al.
Fig. 3. Comparison and correlation of stratigraphic framework among the section and wells in the Sichuan Basin. The paleontology data in the Xiaotan Section are quoted from Steiner et al.
(2001b) and Steiner et al. (2007). The organic carbon isolate data in the Xiaotan Section are cited from Cremonese et al. (2013).
Zhujiaqing Formation top was very sharp, becoming slightly sandy near
the boundary, alternating from massive carbonates to Shiyantou Forma-
tion organic-rich shales. Shiyantou Formation overlied Zhujiaqing Forma-
tion following a phosphatic carbonate to siliciclastic rock lithological
transformation revealing an obvious boundary throughout Yangtze plat-
form and possibly a significant tectonic event (Zhu et al., 2003). Shiyantou
Formation base was found to have a thin phosphate-rich conglomeratic
layer, and Yuanshan Formation base was consisted of thin black shale
beds after a thin layer with large, rounded crystalline calcite components
in black siltstone with fine lamination representing Shiyantou/Yuanshan
Formation boundary. Yuanshan Formation top presented yellowish-
brownish siltstone with irregular lamination with sandstone lenses and
grey nodules under large cross-stratified sandstones of Canglangpu For-
mation (Fig. 3). Moreover, Watsonella crosbyi Assemblage Zone (SSFA-3)
disappeared starting from black shale base in Shiyantou Formation (Luo,
1981; Li et al., 2001; Steiner et al., 2001a).
In intracratonic rift (Ziyang-Changning area), granular phosphatic
rock assemblage, phosphatic dolomite presented overall thickness of
about 30 m in Well JY1 Maidiping Formation (Changning area) which
could be correlated to Zhujiaqing Formation in Xiaotan Section (Och
et al., 2013; Zhao et al., 2019). Well W207 was located in the low
bulge of Weiyuan (near Changning area) resulting in thinner strata de-
posited in QZS Formation and lack of Maidiping Formation. The lower
part of Maidiping Formation was mainly consisted of argillaceous dolo-
mite and black shale and its upper part was dominated by argillaceous
limestone intercalated with black shale and siliceous shale (chert) in
Well ZY1 (Ziyang area). At Maidiping and QZS Formation boundary,
GR peaks existed in both JY1 and ZY1 Wells which could be recognized
throughout whole intracratonic rift in Sichuan Basin reflecting the exis-
tence of a polymetallic ore layer (possibly highly radioactive U-
4
Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261
enriched) (Jin et al., 2020a; Gao et al., 2021) (Fig. 3). Previous studies
have demonstrated that QZS Formation was subdivided into four
third-order sequences (SQ1, SQ2, SQ3, SQ4, from base to top) based
on lithology, well logs and geochemical analyses (Liu and Zhang,
2018; Zhao et al., 2020; Gao et al., 2021) (Fig. 4).
Early Cambrian time framework in South China was constrained by a
series of radiometric ages mainly obtained from field outcrops such as
Meishucun, Laolin and Xiaolantian sections in Yunnan Province
(Fig. 1b). Several sets of widely distributed volcanic ash provided zir-
cons U\\Pb ages which represented the depositional ages of ash beds
(Jenkins et al., 2002; Compston et al., 2008; Sawaki et al., 2008; Okada
et al., 2014). For basal organic-rich Shiyantou Formation at Meishucun
section, Yunnan Province, a U\\Pb Zircon age of 526.5 ± 1.1 Ma was
found which was about 300 km away from well JY1 (Compston et al.,
2008) (Fig. 1b), which indicated that the deposition of homogeneous
organic-rich shale succession had begun during Cambrian Mid-Stage 2
and equivalents of Tommotian. Recently, Yang (2017) reported two
new CA-ID-TIMS zircon U\\Pb ages of 528.58 ± 0.13 Ma and 526.86
± 0.16 Ma of the first appearance of SSFA-3 in Laolin and Meishucun
sections, respectively. In this study, the last appearance of SSFA-3
began with black shale base in Shiyantou Formation which could be
regarded as the boundary between Maidiping and QZS Formations. Be-
cause both JY1 and ZY1 wells developed continuous sedimentary suc-
cessions during QZS period, the age of 526.86 ± 0.16 Ma was adopted
as anchor point at the base of QZS Formation (Yang et al., 2017). Yang
et al. (2018) also reported a CA-ID-TIMS zircon U\\Pb age of 518.54 ±
0.69 Ma from Maotianshan Shale in Xiaolantian section that repre-
sented maximum age restriction of Chengjiang fauna and could be
regarded as the base of the upper part of Yuanshan Formation (Yang
et al., 2014, 2016).
S. Liu, S. Jin, Y. Liu et al.
Fig. 4. (a) The characteristic of well-logging in Qiongzhusi Formation (3184–3566 m) of
Well JY1. (b) The characteristic of well-logging in Qiongzhusi Formation (2990–3245 m)
of Well W207. (c) The characteristic of well-logging in Qiongzhusi Formation
(4565–5065 m) of Well ZY1.
3. Methods
3.1. Well logs
Natural Gamma-ray (GR) logging series have been demonstrated to
be among the most sensitive paleoclimate proxies in Milankovitch sig-
nal preservation (Li et al., 2019b). GR logs record the intensities of GR
emitted by potassium (K), thorium (Th) and uranium (U) isotopes. Nat-
ural gamma spectral logging (NGS) measures U, Th, and K contents
(Ruffell and Worden, 2000). These radioactive elements could be easily
absorbed onto clay mineral surfaces. Organic substances can also
strongly absorb U (Schnyder et al., 2006). During weathering and clay
mineral diagenesis, U and K were more soluble than Th. In this work,
5
Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261
NGS series from JY1, W207 and ZY1 wells were selected as the most im-
portant paleoclimate proxies in cyclostratigraphic analyses. The evalu-
ated interval of well JY1 presented 384 m overall thickness (depth
3184 to 3566 m) and interval for logging data was 0.1 m. The studied in-
terval of well W207 had 253 m total thickness (depth 2992 to 3245 m),
Well ZY1 had total thickness of 500 m (depth 4565 to 5065 m) and in-
terval of logging data of these two wells was 0.125 m.
3.2. Correlation analysis
Correlation of two logging series was analyzed in a sliding retract-
able window with changing depth and size. The output of this method
was a 2D image (Figs. 5 and S1–2). The vertical axis of image was con-
sidered as depth and the horizontal one was assumed to be window
size. The image showed variations of correlation degree between log-
ging series with thickness and depth (Peng et al., 2020). Correlation
analysis was performed by “R” package “Astrochron” (Meyers and
Sageman, 2007) using the “mwCor” function. The applied scripts are
provided in supplementary material.
3.3. Time series methods
For the elimination of long trends irrelevant to astronomical cycles,
40-m Lowess filter in Acycle v2.4 software (Li et al., 2019c) was used
to detrend logs before analyzing time series. In detrended logging, as-
tronomic signal series such as K channel from GR logging series were
identified by Multitaper method (MTM, Thomson, 1982) and frequency
evolution through succession was studied by evolutionary fast Fourier
transform spectrograms (Kodama and Hinnov, 2014). In power spectra,
peaks with 90, 95, and 99 % confidence intervals were considered
(Mann and Lees, 1996). Along with presenting average power of full
time series, evolutionary fast Fourier transform was applied for repre-
senting continuous frequency variations. Various powers with various
individual cycle frequencies in MTM spectra were identified using
Evolutionary-FFT with sliding window with multiple widths (Weedon,
2003; Kodama and Hinnov, 2014). The recognized peaks in power spec-
tra evaluated by statistical methods were used to predict orbital eccen-
tricity cycles. Gaussian bandpass filters were used for isolating obliquity
and eccentricity cycles in logging data. Then, for obtaining time domain
logging series from depth domain logging data, the obtained character-
istic frequency cycles were tuned and counted.
Correlation coefficient (COCO) analyses (Li et al., 2018a) were per-
formed using Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate different sedimenta-
tion rates (SARs) for proxy data to determine optimal SAR. Variable
SARs were tracked using COCO method with running window. Monte
Carlo simulation technique was applied to study null hypothesis (H0)
significance level of no astronomical forcing (Li et al., 2019a). The SAR
with maximum likeliness corresponded to highest correlation coeffi-
cient and total number of astronomical parameters and lowest H0 (Li
et al., 2018a; Li et al., 2019a). In this study, average spectral misfit
(ASM, Meyers and Sageman, 2007) method in “asm” function of
Astrochron R software was applied to determine optimal SAR and
validate the presence of astronomical cycles in records. Corresponding
null hypothesis significance level revealed the possibility of no orbital
forcing. Early Cambrian target orbital frequencies were applied for
ASM analyses according to Waltham (2015). Optimal SAR and signifi-
cance level of corresponding null hypothesis (H0-SL) were reported as
results which represented no orbital forcing probability. Lower H0-SL
values represented higher compliance between orbital and stratigraphic
frequencies. The applied scripts are presented in supplementary
materials.
Orbital obliquity modulation cycles for fundamental secular fre-
quencies were analyzed using amplitude modulation (AM) method
(Hinnov, 2000; Fang et al., 2018), and orbital signal (obliquity) ampli-
tude envelopes were applied to draw AM curves; spectral analyses
were performed using AM curves.
S. Liu, S. Jin, Y. Liu et al.
Fig. 5. The correlation analysis of natural gamma spectrometry loggings (GR, Th, K, U and Clay content) in Qiongzhusi Formation in Well JY1. The window is from 1 to 50 m. Red indicates a
positive correlation. Blue indicates a negative correlation. The scale indicates window size.
Sedimentary noise modeling was used to evaluate signal-to-noise
ratio dynamics in climate proxy data (Li et al., 2018b). This method
was proved to be a strong tool to reconstruct sea level in Cenozoic and
Mesozoic strata (Li et al., 2018b; Wang et al., 2020). It also involved
two complementary methods: dynamic noise after orbital tuning
(DYNOT) and coefficient of lag-1 autocorrelation (ρ1) analyses.
DYNOT model was developed for extracting water depth data based
on noise in climate and water depth proxies (Li et al., 2018b), such as
GR, colour, depth rank, and K logs. This model relied on signal variance
ratio assessment (i.e. astronomical forcing) in terms of non-orbital var-
iance (i.e. noise) in dataset. The critical assumption was that noise
strength (i.e., variance) relative to astronomical forcing strength was re-
lated to variations of basin water depth (Li et al., 2018b; Wang et al.,
2020, 2022; Jin et al., 2022). Also, shallow water deposition was found
to be related to the conditions of dynamic sedimentation (such as ero-
sion, subaerial exposure, bioturbation, unsteady sedimentation, etc.)
which increased noise. For comparison, deeper water depositions
under more quiescent conditions generally resulted in lower noise.
Low ρ1 values and high DYNOT values corresponded to a noisy dataset
while a less noisy dataset was related to high ρ1 values and low DYNOT
values. Noise measurement was performed by running window method
to track noise level variations through time domain series. Uncertainty
sources in both noise model methods included running window size,
sampling rate and the cutoff frequencies applied for isolating non-
orbital signals. These uncertainties were estimated by Monte Carlo sim-
ulations (Li et al., 2018b).
3.4. Early Cambrian orbital parameters
To calibrate time in strata documenting Milankovitch signals, it is es-
sential to have a reliable astronomical model. Although it is believed
that astronomical solution precision is decreased beyond 60 Ma due to
solar system chaotic behavior (Zeebe and Lourens, 2019), prediction
of astronomical parameter periods (precession, obliquity, and eccentric-
ity) could be performed in deeper time to Precambrian. 405-kyr-long
eccentricity cycles were stable during the whole history of Earth and
has been recognized in Paleozoic strata (Zhong et al., 2018). Short ec-
centricities were anticipated with several components in the range of
131 to 95-kyr (Berger et al., 1992; Laskar et al., 2004). Precession and
6
Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261
obliquity period in ancient times were approximated to be shorter
than their current values due to tidal dissipation (Berger et al., 1992;
Laskar et al., 2004). On the other hand, various models predicted incon-
sistent periods of precession and obliquity for Early Cambrian (~520
Ma). On the basis of La2004 model, main precession periods of 17.5,
16.8 and 15.1-kyr as well as obliquity period of 23.7-kyr were predicted.
Berger and Loutre (1994) estimated several main geological interval
values, which indicated 18.5 and 15.8-kyr for precession and 34.2 and
28.5-kyr periods for obliquity. Waltham (2015) calculated precession
periods of 20.4 ± 1.6, 19.4 ± 1.5, 16.8 ± 1.2 and 16.9 ± 1.2 kyr and
obliquity period of 32.3 ± 4.1 kyr. In the two former models, precession
and obliquity frequencies were calculated by an assumed constant tidal
time lag (Laskar et al., 2004) or moon-recession rate (Berger and Loutre,
1994), which could over- or under-estimate past periods. Hence, the es-
timations of Waltham (2015) could be more accurate due to the lack of
bias. In the current work, periodicity ratios of orbital parameters (405:
125: 95: 36.4: 28.2: 20.4: 16.8) were compared with those of sedimen-
tary cycles in NGS series.
4. Results
4.1. Log response characteristics
NGS logs from QZS Formation in Wells JY1, W207 and ZY1 are
displayed in Fig. 4. Variations of GR and U as well as Th and K channels
from GR logs were the same. Generally, K, Th, and GR channels from GR
logs were increased by the increase of the content of clay mineral. U
channel from GR logs was clearly different from those of Th and K chan-
nels and several intervals with relatively high U values occurred in QZS
Formation and not related to lithology. It was speculated that U element
was mainly formed by diagenesis and the enrichment of authigenic U
developed the reduction conditions leading to high values in several in-
tervals (Myers and Wignall, 1987). Higher emissions of GR are generally
related to clay-rich sediments, and that is why GR logs are useful tools to
digitize stratigraphy for paleoclimate trend and climatic cycle analyses
(De Vleeschouwer et al., 2017). Clay content data obtained from rock
debris in three wells helped us detect the best proxy of NGS logs for
cyclostratigraphy. Correlation analyses between different channels of
U, K, Th, and gamma ray were applied for determining the main factors
S. Liu, S. Jin, Y. Liu et al. Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261

affecting log response in Well JY1 (Fig. 5). The obtained results showed
that different channels of natural gamma spectrometry loggings (Th, K,
U) presented variation correlation with GR logging series (Fig. 5a, b, c).
K and Th channels of natural gamma spectrometry loggings showed
better correlation with GR logging series. GR logging series were
strongly influenced by U in ~3300, ~3400 and ~ 3550 m in Well JY1.
The test between clay content and K, Th in the whole section (QZS For-
mation) showing a very high correlation at nearly all frequencies of the
clay content, and it demonstrated that K, Th series were sensitive to the
accumulation of clay minerals (Fig. 5d, e, f). The correlation of K channel
from GR loggings with clay content was even higher than that of Th
channel with clay content. U channel in the whole section had negative
correlation with clay content. Therefore, K channel of GR loggings were
adopted as optimal proxy for cyclostratigraphy analyses in this paper.
The correlation analysis of natural gamma spectrometry loggings (GR,
Th, K, U and clay content) in Wells W207 and ZY1 are shown in
Figs. S1–2. The obtained results also demonstrated that the K channel
of GR loggings was the best proxy in natural gamma spectrometry
loggings.
4.2. Time series analysis
The evolutionary FFT spectrogram and MTM power spectrum of QZS
Formation K channel of GR logging series revealed significant
wavelengths of 13.64, 4.65, 3.13, 1.47 and 1.38 m in Well JY1 (Fig. 6a),
14.81, 4.16, 3.34 and 1.58 m in Well W207 (Fig. 6b), and 21.73,
5.91,3.54, 2.03 and 1.88 m in Well ZY1 (Fig. 6c) at confidence level of
above 95 %. Sedimentary cycle ratio was almost fit with predicted
Milankovitch periods for Cambrian (Waltham, 2015). When ~14.49,
~14.81 and ~19.73 m cycles were ascribed to 405-kyr eccentricity
cycle, 4.65–3.13, 4.16–3.34 and 5.91–3.54 m approximately
corresponded to ~100-kyr short eccentricity cycles for wells JY1,
W207 and ZY1, respectively. Also, 1.47–1.38, ~1.58 and 2.03–1.88 m
roughly corresponded to obliquity cycles. Limited by sampling resolu-
tion and low SAR in local, sedimentary cycles revealed that precession
(~20 and ~16-kyr by Waltham, 2015) during early Cambrian were not
recognized in wells JY1, W207 and ZY1. Based on the above findings
sedimentary thickness corresponded to orbital periods, and average
SARs were calculated to be 3.37, 3.65, and 4.87 cm kyr−1. Furthermore,
interpretation was verified by COCO analyses and ASM method.
COCO analyses were conducted on the three wells of K series to de-
termine optimal SAR. 2000 Monte Carlo simulations were performed in
these analyses and test SARs ranged from 1 to 6 cm kyr−1 in wells JY1
and W207 and 1–10 cm kyr−1 in Well ZY1 (Fig. 7). It was found that
the mean SARs at 2.8 and 3.3 cm kyr−1 were higher than critical signif-
icance level for Well JY1 (Fig. 7a, b). That is to say, eCOCO analysis re-
sults showed that SAR at 3–4 cm kyr−1 yielded higher correlation
coefficients than those at SAR of 2.8 cm kyr−1 (Fig. 7a, b). In summary,

Fig. 6. 2π MTM spectrum and evolutionary power spectrum of untuned K channel of GR logging series through the (a) Well JY1, (b) W207 and (c) ZY1. The K channel of GR logging series in
Well JY1 was interpolated to 0.1-m sample rate, and the K channel of GR logging series in Well W207 and ZY1 was interpolated to 0.125-m sample rate. All the K channel of GR logging
series were detrended by removing a 40-m LOWESS trend. The blue curves next to the detrended K channel of GR logging series are the filtered ~13.64 m (passband of 0.058 to
0.080 cycles m−1), ~14.81 m (passband of 0.055 to 0.080 cycles m−1) and ~19.73 m (passband of 0.045 to 0.060 cycles m−1) cycles correlated to long eccentricity cycles for Well JY1,
W207 and ZY1 respectively. The purple curves are the filtered ~3.27 m (passband of 0.290 to 0.320 cycles m−1), ~3.47 m (passband of 0.275 to 0.300 cycles m−1) and ~4.76 m (passband
of 0.200 to 0.220 cycles m−1) cycles correlated to short eccentricity cycles for Well JY1, W207 and ZY1 respectively. The orange curves are filtered ~1.36 m (passband of 0.710 to
0.740 cycles m−1), ~1.58 m (passband of 0.610 to 0.650 cycles m−1), and ~1.72 m (passband of 0.560 to 0.600 cycles m−1) cycles correlated to obliquity cycles for Well JY1, W207 and
ZY1 respectively. Evolutionary power spectra using 50 m sliding window, with steps of 0.8 m in three wells.

7
S. Liu, S. Jin, Y. Liu et al. Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261

Fig. 7. Correlation coefficient and eCOCO analysis of untuned K series for (a, b) Well JY1, (c, d) W207 and (e, f) ZY1. The COCO analysis showing that optimal sedimentation rates are 2.8–3.3 cm
kyr−1 in Well JY1, 2.75–3.6 cm kyr−1 in Well W207, and 4.5–4.8 cm kyr−1 in Well ZY1 respectively. For the COCO and eCOCO analyses, tested sedimentation rates range from 1 to 6 cm kyr−1 with
a step pf 0.05 cm kyr−1 for Well JY1 and Well W207, and 1–10 cm kyr−1 with a step of 0.05 cm kyr−1 for Well ZY1, the number of Monte Carlo simulations is 2000 and with 50 m width of sliding
window. Black lines are the sedimentation rate curves based on long eccentricity tuning of the statistically significant cycles in three wells.

these findings suggested that sedimentation rate was most likely 3.3 cm
kyr−1 in QZS Formation in Well JY1. Similarly, the mean SARs at 2.75
and 3.6 cm kyr−1 were higher than critical significance level for Well
W207 (Fig. 7c, d) and SAR at 3–4 cm kyr−1 provided higher correlation
coefficient than that at 2.75 cm kyr−1 (Fig. 7c, d). The optimal SAR in
Well W207 most likely was 3.6 cm kyr−1. The mean SAR at 4.5–4.8
cm kyr−1 was above critical significance level for Well ZY1 and at signif-
icance levels of lower than 0.1 %, no orbital signal null hypothesis was
rejected at 4.5–4.8 cm kyr−1.
ASM method was also used in this study (Fig. 8). Here, broader SARs
between 2 and 6 cm kyr−1 in Well JY1, 3–6 cm kyr−1 in Well W207, and
3–8 cm kyr−1 in Well ZY1 were employed. The optimal SARs of 3.295,
3.624 and 4.875 cm kyr−1 in wells JY1, W207 and ZY1, respectively,
with an excellent H0-SL of 0.5 % were obtained. With this interpretation,
optimal SARs supported the results of COCO analyses and the assump-
tion of 13.64, 14.81, and 19.73 m cycles corresponded to 405-kyr period
in wells JY1, W207, and ZY1, respectively.
4.3. Cyclostratigraphic analyses of QZS Formation
K series in Well JY1, W207 and ZY1 respectively, and the passband were
from 0.058 to 0.08 cycles m−1 in Well JY1, 0.055 to 0.08 cycles m−1 in
W207, and 0.045 to 0.06 cycles m−1 in Well ZY1 (Fig. 6). The Floating
ATSs for the three wells were constructed by tuning filtered 405-kyr
sedimentary cycles to an artificial sinusoid curve of 405-kyr and setting
QZS Formation top time to 0-kyr. Variable SAR in depth dominant K
channel of GR logging series for each well could be witnessed by 405-
kyr tuning of cycles with statistical significance (Fig. 7). MTM method
was applied after transforming K series from stratigraphic domain to
time domain (Fig. 7a–c). Short (~100-kyr) and long (405-kyr) eccentric-
ity orbital cycle signals were detected in all three wells, and obliquity
(~36-kyr) orbital cycles were found in wells JY1 and ZY1. Wavelet trans-
form scalograms of 405-kyr-tuned K channel of GR logging series at
three wells displayed significant orbital forcing signatures with obliq-
uity (~36-kyr), short eccentricity (~100-kyr) and long eccentricity
(405-kyr) (Fig. 9d–f). Lower segment spectra of wavelet transform sca-
lograms revealed low frequency periodicity of ~1.2 Myr orbital obliquity
modulation (s4-s3 term) in QZS Formation in Sichuan Basin, South
China.

According to the average SARs obtained from spectral analyses,
variations of SAR were found by ASM results and COCO/eCOCO analyses
(Figs. 6, 7, and 8). The eccentricity cycle of 405-kyr was stable through-
out geological time and was typically applied as a metronome to de-
velop astronomical time scales (ATS) (Laskar et al., 2004). In this
study, we filtered long eccentricities corresponding to sedimentary cy-
cles of ~13.64, ~14.81 and ~19.73 m cycles as 405-kyr bandpass filtered
4.4. Analysis of amplitude modulation
405-kyr-tuned long-eccentricity K channel of GR logging time se-
ries were applied to draw amplitude modulation envelope curves of
the three wells. Gaussian bandpass filtering gave about six ~1.2 Myr
cycles at well W207 (Fig. 10b) and nine ~1.2 Myr cycles at wells JY1
and ZY1 (Fig. 10a, c). Obliquity amplitude modulation envelope in

Fig. 8. The ASM results of untuned K series and the null hypothesis test in QZS formation of Well ZY1 (3184–3566 m) (a–d), Well W207 (2992–3245 m) (e–h), and Well ZY1 (4565–5065
m) (i–l). (a, e, i) The optimal fit at sedimentation rate of 3.295 cm kyr−1 in Well JY1, 3.624 cm kyr−1 in Well W207 and 4.875 cm kyr−1 in Well ZY1. (b, f, j) Null hypothesis significance
levels, presenting optimal sedimentation rate of 3.295 cm kyr−1 in Well JY1, 3.624 cm kyr−1 in Well W207 and 4.875 cm kyr−1 in Well ZY1. The black dotted lines indicate the critical null
hypothesis significance level (H0-SL) of 0.5 %. (c, g, k) The number of orbital terms that were available for ASM. (d, h, l) The fit of the frequencies above the 90 % confidence level in spectral
analysis with the early Cambrian orbital frequencies (1/405 kyr−1, 1/125 kyr−1, 1/95 kyr−1, 1/36 kyr−1 and 1/28 kyr−1).

8
S. Liu, S. Jin, Y. Liu et al. Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261

9
S. Liu, S. Jin, Y. Liu et al. Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261

Fig. 9. Results of the cyclostratigraphic analysis in time domain. (a–c) The 2π MTM power spectrum of the 405-kyr tuned K channel of GR logging series of Well JY1, W207 and ZY1, re-
spectively. (d–f) The wavelet transform (WT) scalogram of 405-kyr tuned K channel of GR logging series at Well JY1, W207 and ZY1, respectively. Frequency peaks of astronomical cycles
are shown with white dashed lines.

Well JY1 exhibited long-period cycles mainly at 5714, 3571, 2481,
1475 and 1162-kyr (Fig. 10d). Obliquity amplitude modulation en-
velope in Well W207 gave cycles at 9523, 3184, 2424, 1587 and
1282-kyr. In a similar way, at well ZY1, obliquity amplitude modula-
tion envelope highlighted strong spectral peaks at 4166, 2875, 2105,
1388 and 1222-kyr (Fig. 10f). ~1.2 Myr cycles (frequency of
~0.00083) had a relatively high coherence degree and exhibited
similar phases between obliquity modulation and DYNOT median
curves (Section 4.5) for the studied wells (Fig. 10g, h, i).
4.5. Sedimentary noise indicative sea-level change
In stratigraphic domain, sedimentary noise ρ1 modeling approach
reconstructed the history of sea level independent from age model

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S. Liu, S. Jin, Y. Liu et al. Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261

Fig. 10. AM of the obliquity signal in the 405-kyr tuned K channel of GR loggings time series and related strong periodicities in three wells. (a–c) 36-kyr obliquity filter (yellow lines), AM
envelopes of obliquity (light green lines) and ~ 1.2- Myr orbital obliquity modulation filter (purple lines). (a) 36-kyr obliquity filter with bandpass of 0.0275 ± 0.0005 (cycles kyr−1), the
~1.2 Myr modulation filter with bandpass of 0.0008 ± 0.000205 (cycles kyr−1) in Well JY1 (purple line). (b) 36-kyr obliquity filter with bandpass of 0.028 ± 0.0005 (cycles kyr−1), the
~1.2-Myr modulation filter with bandpass of 0.000845 ± 0.000165 (cycles kyr−1) in Well W207 (purple line). (c) 36-kyr obliquity filter with bandpass of 0.0275 ± 0.0005 (cycles kyr−1),
the ~1.2-Myr modulation filter with bandpass of 0.00083 ± 0.0002 (cycles kyr−1) in Well ZY1 (purple line). (d–f) Simple Periodograms of AM envelopes (blue lines) and DYNOT median
curves (red lines) at Well JY1, W207 and ZY1, respectively. (g–i) The coherency and cross-phase analyses between obliquity modulation curve and DYNOT median curve of Well JY1, W207
and ZY1 respectively.

selection (Figs. S3–5). K channel of GR logging series ρ1 modeling of the
three wells showed that large reductions in ρ1 generally complied with
smaller K channel of GR logging series low-pass filter output (blue bars
in Figs. S3–5), and vice versa. In addition, eCOCO was used to estimate
sedimentation stability of the wells (Figs. S3–5). H0 significance level
and COCO variations throughout the successions were associated with
the variations of sedimentary environment. Lower signal to noise ratios
in H0 significance level and eCOCO with repeated discontinuities were
due to relatively shallow water environment and lower sedimentary
stability complied well with smaller values of ρ1. In time domain,
DYNOT sedimentary noise modeling allowed the reconstruction of sedi-
mentary noise curves to tuned K channel of GR logging series in three
wells. Both DYNOT and ρ1 modeling methods of tuning K channel of GR
logging series in each well showed similar patterns with few discrepan-
cies (Figs. S3–5). DYNOT median curve spectral analyses (red lines in
Fig. 10d, e, f) showed cycles with periods of ~2.5 and ~1.2 Myr in Well
JY1, ~2.2 and ~1.3-Myr in Well w207, ~4.2, 1.9 and ~1.3-Myr in Well
ZY1 respectively. ~1.2 Myr cycles had a relatively high degree of coher-
ence and exhibited the same stability and phases between obliquity mod-
ulation and DYNOT median curves for the studied wells (Fig. 10g, h, i).
5. Discussion
5.1. Astrochronology of QZS Formation
Eccentricity cycle of 405-kyr length was stable during the whole
geological time and have been extensively applied for establishing as-
tronomical time scales for Paleozoic Eras. In this research, 405-kyr
long eccentricity tuning method was applied for converting strati-
graphic depth series to time series for QZS Formation in the three
wells. The results showed that there were 27 long eccentricity cycles
(405-kyr) in both wells JY1 and ZY1, and only 18 long eccentricity cycles
were preserved in well W207 in QZS Formation (Fig. 11). The duration
of QZS Formation was calculated to be 10.87 Myr in well JY1, 7.34 Myr
in Well W207 and 10.91 Myr in Well ZY1. Floating ATSs agreed well in
wells JY1 and ZY1 within ATS uncertainty range (~405-kyr long eccen-
tricity period). Well W207 was located in Weiyuan low bulge, the strata
of MDP Formation were not developed and the strata deposited in QZS
Formation were thinner than those in wells JY1 and ZY1. Shorter dura-
tion in well W207 could be due to non-deposition or erosion during
early QZS Formation in Weiyuan low bulge (Fig. 1c). Some previous
studies have assumed that deposition during QZS Formation of well
ZY1 in the intracratonic rift (Ziyang area) was the most complete and
there was a deposition hiatus during early QZS Formation in well JY1
(Changning area) (Liu and Zhang, 2018; Zhao et al., 2019). However,
this study proved that two wells apart from each other, one in Ziyang
(well ZY1) and the other in Changning area (well JY1) preserved the
most continuous sedimentary succession with relatively stable SAR.
Therefore, both wells JY1 and ZY1 had received sediments during the
whole QZS Formation in a same period although well ZY1 was thicker
than well JY1 of QZS Formation, and there was no deposition hiatus or
erosion in well JY1 during QZS Formation. In this study, COCO analyses
and ASM method also demonstrated that SAR in well ZY1 was larger
than that in Well JY1 (Figs. 7, 8). We speculated that sediment source
was mainly west Kangding ancient land in Well JY1 and there were at
least two sediment sources from both west Kangding and north
Motianling ancient lands in Well ZY1 (Fig. 1b).
We chose the age of 526.86 ± 0.16 Ma as the anchor point, and QZS
Formation was calculated from 526.86 to 515.98 Ma in well JY1, and
526.86 to 515.94 Ma in well ZY1. Boundaries of lithologic units in vari-
ous areas might not be isochronous, different time constrains could be
diachronous effects of lithologic unit or subjective definitions of litho-
logic units could contribute. Pan et al. (2021) collected and analyzed
core samples from well JY1 and recognized Tsunyidiscus acutus-
Tsunyidiscus yanjiazhaiensis in the depth of 3295.89 to 3293.40 m.
Tsunyidiscus acutus- Tsunyidiscus yanjiazhaiensis assemblage could be
correlated to Tsunyidiscus armatus-Tsunyidiscus niutitangensis in Jinsha
section which was the earliest Trilobita in Upper Yangtze platform.

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S. Liu, S. Jin, Y. Liu et al. Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261

Fig. 11. Correlation of cyclostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy and sea-level changes of the QZS Formation at the studies wells. (a) Chronostratigraphy based on Geologic Time Scale 2020
(Gradstein et al., 2020). (b) The global sea level curves from ~529 Ma to 515 Ma. (c) The δ13Ccarb curve modified from Zhu et al. (2006) with the major widespread eventsft gear. (d, e, f)
Tuned K channel of GR logging series (black lines) with 405-kyr filtered output (blue lines), ~1.2 Myr AM filtered cycles (purple lines), DYNOT models of tuned K channel of GR logging series
and ~1.2 Myr filter of the DYNOT median curves (orange lines) in Well JY1 (passband of 0.00072 to 0.0009 cycles kyr−1), W207 (passband of 0.00065 to 0.00105 cycles kyr−1) and ZY1
(passband of 0.00065–0.001 cycles kyr−1) respectively.

According to the ATS constructed in the current research, Tsunyidiscus
acutus- Tsunyidiscus yanjiazhaiensis appeared at 519.36 Ma (3293.40
m) to 519.43 Ma (3295.90 m) and which was later than ~521 Ma
which was the base of the Second series of Cambrian and represented
the first appearance of Trilobita (Babcock et al., 2005).
Eoredlichia-Wutingaspis Zone occurred in overlying Maotianshan
Shale member in Xiaolantian section at the depth of 3293.40 m in well
JY1. According to the ATS constructed in the current research, the ap-
pearance age of Eoredlichia-Wutingaspis in well JY1 was approximately
519.51 Ma (3293.40 m) which was older than 518.54 ± 0.69 represent-
ing the maximum age restriction of Chengjiang fauna. In well JY1,
around the depth of ~3290 m (~518.54 Ma based on ATS) was in low
level of water depth according to DYNOT and ρ1 model constructed in
the current research (Figs. 11 and S3), and the base of the upper part
of Yuanshan Formation in Xiaolantian Section was characterized by an
organic-rich shale and represented a sea-level increase (Jin et al.,
2016; Gao et al., 2021).
5.2. Astronomically forced sea-level variations
In order to access the correspondence between sea-level-driven vari-
ations in astronomical cycles and depositional sequences, spectral analy-
ses were adopted for DYNOT median value in time domain (red lines in
Fig. 10g, h, i) and ρ1 median value in time domain (Fig. S6). The results in-
dicated that there were at least two long-term cycles with 2.0–2.3 Myr
and 1.1–1.3 Myr periods presented in sedimentary noise. These could
be due to 2.4-Myr long eccentricity and 1.2 Myr obliquity modulation cy-
cles, presenting a relation between million-year scale sea-level variation
and long-term astronomical force (Fig. 11d, e, f). These ~2.4 and ~1.2
Myr periodicities were found in Cenozoic, Mesozoic (Ikeda and Tada,
2010; Boulila et al., 2011b, 2014; Ma et al., 2017), and Paleozoic (Zhong
et al., 2018, 2020). The ~1.2 Myr cycle originated from Earth and Mars
(s4-s3) orbital inclination variations and appeared as obliquity cycle
modulation. Cycle periodicity was slightly changed through Phanerozoic
in ~1.0 to ~1.2 Myr range (Pälike et al., 2006; Fang et al., 2015). The
~2.4-Myr cycle was originated from orbital perihelia interactions of
Earth and Mars (g4-g3), were relatively stable in most of Cenozoic and
were changed before ~40 Ma (Laskar et al., 2004).
In this study, ~1.2 Myr cycles in sedimentary noise model (DYNOT)
and obliquity amplitude modulation curves were in phase during QZS
Formation in three wells (Fig. 10g–i, Fig. 11). It was demonstrated that
sea-level variations forced by astronomic factors were at ~1.2 Myr scale.
Ice-sheet inception was found to be raised due to long term lack of very
warm summers and not very cold winters (Zachos et al., 2001; Liu et al.,
2019). Under such conditions, the modulation minima of obliquity varia-
tion nodes of ~1.2 Myr coincided with glaciations and their modulation
maximum coincided with deglaciations (sea-level highstand) (Abel
et al., 2005). This high-amplitude obliquity coincidence with the rise of
sea-level was also witnessed in Paleogene icehouse (Liu et al., 2019). Al-
though most of the Cambrian is considered to have “greenhouse” climate
state in Paleozoic (Babcock et al., 2015), astronomically controlled sea
level variation strongly implied glacio-eustasy. The cyclostratigraphic
analyses performed in the current work suggested that ~1.2 Myr obliquity
amplitude cycles paced glacio-eustasy and ice sheets had to exist
(Mattews and Al-Husseini, 2010; Boulila et al., 2011a).
5.3. Correlation between sequence stratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy
Although there was a fundamental difference between
cyclostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy, the cyclicity records

12
S. Liu, S. Jin, Y. Liu et al.
preserved in the sediments were the key research object for both
methods. In sequence stratigraphic analyses, fourth and fifth-order
cycles were attributed to sea-level fluctuations controlled by climatic in-
fluences (Zecchin, 2007; Zecchin et al., 2017). Tectonics and glacio-
eustacy were the main factors influencing the third-order sequences
(Vail et al., 1991). Many cyclostratigraphic studies linked the long-
period astronomical cycles (~2.4 Myr or ~1.2 Myr) to third-order
sequences in sequence stratigraphy (Boulila et al., 2011b, 2014; Cao
et al., 2022). Therefore, the duration and sequences of infill could be
generally considered in both cyclostratigraphic analyses and sequence
stratigraphic results.
According to previous research (Liu and Zhang, 2018; Zhao et al.,
2020; Gao et al., 2021), QZS Formation was subdivided into four third-
order sequences of SQ1, SQ2, SQ3 and SQ4 from the bottom to the top.
The boundaries of QZS Formation and those between each third-order
sequences were named as SB1, SB2, SB3, SB4 and SB5 from the bottom
to the top. SB1 and SB5 were the bottom and the top of QZS Formation
(Figs. 4 and 11). Based on the Floating ATSs developed in this study, the
depths of each boundary could be calculated into ages for all three wells
(Table S1, Fig. 11). The duration of each third-order sequence in three
wells was also calculated (Table S1). Based on cyclostratigraphic analy-
ses in this study and the sequence stratigraphy analyses in previous re-
search works, we estimated the duration for ~2.4 Myr for SQ1 (wells
ZY1 and JY1), ~2.2 Myr for SQ2 (wells ZY1 and JY1), ~2.7 Myr for SQ3
in three wells and ~3.4 Myr for SQ4 in three wells. The sequence bound-
ary ages calculated on Floating ATS showed an isochronous characteris-
tic with small differences of each boundary ages among three wells
(Table S1). The third-order sequence boundaries were proposed by
Liu and Zhang (2018) for JY1, Zhao et al. (2020) for W207 and Gao
et al. (2021) have been demonstrated to be isochronous and credible
by cyclostratigraphy research in this study.
Moreover, third-order sequence boundaries (SB2, SB3, and SB4)
were recognized mainly at the minima of ~1.2 Myr filter amplitude
modulation output and corresponded to high values of DYNOT
(low water depth). Maximum flooding surfaces were recognized
mainly for low values of DYNOT (high water depth) and the maxima
of ~1.2 Myr filtered amplitude modulation curve. Despite little differ-
ences of third-order sequence duration in different wells, both fil-
tered DYNOT curves and 1.2 Myr amplitude modulation cycles
proved the relationship between regional sequence infills and astro-
nomically driven paleoclimatic cycles, and the causal relationship
was explained by long period Milankovitch forcing of third-order
sea-level variations.
Fourth-order sequences were linked to climato-eustatic changes
driven by Earth's orbital parameters which were widely accepted
(Strasser et al., 2006; Boulila et al., 2011a) and there were several well-
documented fourth-order sequences which reflected the astronomically
stable 405-kyr eccentricity cycle (Boulila et al., 2014; Huang et al.,
2010). In this paper, we recognized 27 fourth-order sequences in Well
JY1 and ZY1, and 18 fourth-order sequences in Well W207 based on dom-
inant 405-kyr eccentricity cycles (Fig. 11). Cyclostratigraphy research
could provide a higher precision/resolution sequence stratigraphic frame-
work and building high-resolution astronomical time scales from contin-
uous sedimentary successions.
6. Conclusions
Cyclostratigraphic analyses of K channel of logging series from NGS
logging of QZS Formation in wells JY1, W207, and ZY1 in Sichuan
Basin, Upper Yangtze platform, revealed significant Milankovitch cycles
and potential correlations with sea-level variation and sequence strati-
graphic division. In this research, a floating astronomical time scale was
developed for QZS Formation in Early Cambrian through the extraction
of eccentricity cycles of 405-kyr. Quantitative techniques (COCO, eCOCO
and ASM) were utilized and variable relationships between
13
Sedimentary Geology 440 (2022) 106261
sedimentation and time were used to constrain robust geochronological
frameworks. The following main conclusions were drawn:
(1) The integrated 405-kyr-tuned high-resolution K channel of GR
logging series revealed significant Milankovitch cycles and pro-
vided an astronomical duration and time frame for each well.
The developed floating astronomical time scale indicated that
QZS Formation lasted at least ~10.87 Myr.
(2) Based on recently performed U\\Pb zircon dating on basal QZS
Formation, an early Cambrian age for QZS Formation was fa-
vored. This indicated that the deposition of QZS Formation oc-
curred from 526.86 to 515.94 Ma.
(3) Well-preserved signals of astronomical cycles of ~1.2 Myr orbital
obliquity modulation were observed in QZS Formation, Sichuan
Basin, South China. The ~1.2 Myr orbital obliquity modulation
was almost correlated with sea-level variations which was gen-
erated from sedimentary noise model (ρ1 and DYNOT). Our
study showed that sequence boundaries corresponded well to
minima ~1.2 Myr of orbital obliquity modulation curve and to
high values of DYNOT and demonstrated that previous sequence
frameworks were isochronous and credible.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
ence the work reported in this paper.
The authors declare the following financial interests/personal rela-
tionships which may be considered as potential competing interests:
Astronomical forced sequence infill of Early Cambrian Qiongzhusi
organic-rich shale of Sichuan Basin, South China.
Acknowledgment
This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (No. 41802030; No. 41972158), Everest Scientific Research
Program of CDUT (2021ZF11402). The authors would also like to thank
all the reviewers who participated in the review and MJEditor (www.
mjeditor.com) for its linguistic assistance during the preparation of this
manuscript.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2022.106261.
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