A recent study, published in Science China Earth Sciences, was led by Dr. Junwen Peng (Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin). Based on thousands of high-resolution elemental composition datasets, Dr. Junwen Peng found that the overall variation ranges of RSTE (especially Mo and U) concentrations largely overlap among sediments deposited from a wide redox spectrum (from oxic to euxinic conditions) in the Cline Shale, restricted Midland Basin, U.S. This finding is, however, contradictory with the traditional theory that RSTE is generally enriched in sediments that deposited from more reducing environments.