Past and present geotectonic position of Sulawesi, Indonesia

Sulawesi with its peculiar K-shaped pattern is situated in an area where the Eurasian, Indian—Australian and Pacific plates interact and collide.Complex geological processess in this area resulted in the transformation of a normal island-arc structure into an inverted one, deformation of an already tectonized belt, sweeping of fragments against unrelated terrain, thrusting of oceanic and mantle material over the island arc, closing of deep-sea basins behind the arc, trapping of old oceanic crust caused by the rolling up of an island arc, formation of a marginal basin by the spreading of the sea floor behind the arc, development of small subduction zones with reverse polarities etc.Small deep-sea basins surrounding Sulawesi such as the Gulf of Bone and the Gulf of Gorontalo originally formed the arc—trench gap of the Sulawesi island arc.The Banda Sea is considered as an oceanic crust trapped by the bending of the east—west trending Banda arc due to the northward drift of Australia combined with the westward movement of the Pacific plate. Similarly the Sulawesi Sea consists of an old Pacific crust trapped by the westward bending of the Sulawesi island arc, caused by the spearheading westward thrust along the Sorong transform-fault system, in which later a minor spreading center became active in its central part. The Molucca Sea comprises tectonic mélange in which presumably a small spreading center developed between the two colliding arcs of northern Sulawesi and western Halmahera. While the Benioff zones dip under the northern Sulawesi and Halmahera arcs in normal fashion, the mélange thrusts over them. The Strait of Makassar is a marginal basin which was brought into existence by the spreading of the sea floor between Kalimantan and Sulawesi.The evolution of Sulawesi started in Miocene time or even earlier when 800 km east of Kalimantan a north—south trending east-facing island arc came into existence, originating from a spreading center located in the Pacific Ocean. Volcanism and plutonism accompanied this subduction process.Collision between Sulawesi and the Australian—New Guinea plate which occurred in early Pliocene time severely transformed Sulawesi into an island with its convex side turned towards the continent, at the same time causing obduction of ophiolite in the eastern arc of this island.The movement of the Pacific plate continued and gradually pushed Sulawesi towards the Asian continent, resulting in the closing of the sea between Kalimantan and Sulawesi islands separated by small straits and deep seas resembling the complicated pattern of the Philippine Archipelago, in which the original double island-arc structure can no longer be recognized.     

The Makassar Strait Tsunamigenic Region,Indonesia

The Makassar Strait region has had the highest frequency of historical tsunamievents for Indonesia. The strait has a seismic activity due to the convergenceof four tectonic plates that produces a complex mixture of structures. The maintsunamigenic features in the Makassar Strait are the Palu-Koro and Pasternostertransform fault zones, which form the boundaries of the Makassar trough.Analysis of the seismicity, tectonics and historic tsunami events indicatesthat the two fault zones have different tsunami generating characteristics.The Palu-Koro fault zone involves shallow thrust earthquakes that generatetsunami that have magnitudes that are consistent with the earthquakemagnitudes. The Pasternoster fault zone involves shallower strike-slipearthquakes that produce tsunami magnitudes larger than would normallybe expected for the earthquake magnitude. The most likely cause for theincreased tsunami energy is considered to be submarine landslidesassociated with the earthquakes. Earthquakes from both fault zonesappear to cause subsidence of the west coast of Sulawesi Island.The available data were used to construct a tsunami hazard map whichidentifies the highest risk along the west coast of Sulawesi Island.The opposite side of the Makassar Strait has a lower risk because it isfurther from the historic tsunami source regions along the Sulawesicoast, and because the continental shelf dissipates tsunami wave energy.The greatest tsunami risk for the Makassar Strait is attributed tolocally generated tsunami due to the very short travel times.     

Seismotectonics and tectonic history of the andaman sea

The Andaman Sea is considered as an actively spreading back-arc basin. Seismicity and newly determined focal-mechanism solutions in the Andaman Sea area support this view. The tectonic history of the region is inferred from magnetic lineations in the northeastern Indian Ocean and the northward motion of Greater India. The mid-oceanic ridge which migrated northward along the east side of the Ninetyeast Ridge collided with the western end of the “old Sunda Trench” in the Middle or Late Miocene (10–20 m.y. B.P.). This ridge—trench collision released much of the compressional stress in the back-arc area and the continued northward movement of India that collided with Eurasia exerted a drag on the back-arc region, causing the opening of the Andaman Sea. In appearance, the subducted ridge jumped to the back-arc area. Thus, the Andaman Sea is not an ordinary subduction-related back-arc basin, but probably a basin formed by oblique extensional rifting associated with both ridge subduction and deformation of the back-arc area caused by a nearby continental collision.     

Implications of gravity data from East Kalimantan and the Makassar Straits: a solution to the origin of the Makassar Straits?

Recent free-air gravity data covering the Makassar Straits is integrated with Bouguer gravity data from onshore East Kalimantan to provide new insights into the basement structure of the region. Onshore Kalimantan, gravity highs on the northern margin of the Kutai Basin trend NNE–SSW and N–S and correspond with the axes of inverted Eocene half-grabens. NW–SE trending lows correspond to deep seated basement weaknesses reactivated as normal faults during the Tertiary. An intra-basin gravity high trending NNE–SSW, the Kutai Lakes Gravity High, is modelled as folded high density Paleogene sediments flanked by syn-inversion synclines infilled with low density sediments. Offshore Kalimantan, the Makassar Straits include two basins offset by an en-echelon fault zone, suggestive of an extensional origin. The regional signature of the free-air anomaly data mirrors the bathymetry, but this effect can be reduced by the use of filters in order to examine the basin architecture. The free-air gravity minimum in the Makassar Strait is only −20 mGal, much smaller than that appropriate for a foreland basin, and more indicative of an extensional basin. The steepness of the gradients on the flanks of the basins indicates fault control of their margins. A regional 2D profile across the North Makassar Basin suggests the presence of attenuated crust (<14 km) in the basin axis at the present day, whereas flexural backstripping implies the presence of oceanic crust of middle Eocene age. The presence of oceanic crust in the North Makassar Straits Basin has implications for regional plate tectonic models.     

南海西缘新生代沉积盆地形成动力学探讨

通过对南海西缘新生代沉积盆地伸展作用、沉降、构造变形等特征分析,检查印支地块多条近北西向走滑断裂时间、幅度等特征以及与盆地之间联系,结果表明印度-欧亚碰撞引起的逃逸作用与南海西缘新生代盆地没有直接的成因联系;两个与俯冲有关的不同扩张机制与南海西缘新生代盆地有成因联系,即(1)太平洋板块在古新世到始新世的滚动后退,太平洋-欧亚板块汇聚速率的降低驱使这些盆地产生初始伸展作用;(2)渐新世到中中新世古南海南倾俯冲板块的拖曳力,进一步驱使这些盆地的伸展及接着的南海扩张.     

The dynamics of big mantle wedge,magma factory,and metamorphic–metasomatic factory in subduction zones

The East Asian continental margin is underlain by stagnant slabs resulting from subduction of the Pacific plate from the east and the Philippine Sea plate from the south. We classify the upper mantle in this region into three major domains: (a) metasomatic–metamorphic factory (MMF), subduction zone magma factory (SZMF), and the ‘big mantle wedge’ (BMW). Whereas the convection pattern is anticlockwise in the MMF domain, it is predominantly clockwise in the SZMF and BMW, along a cross section from the south. Here we define the MMF as a small wedge corner which is driven by the subducting Pacific plate and dominated by H₂O-rich fluids derived by dehydration reactions, and enriched in large ion lithophile elements (LILE) which cause the metasomatism. The SZMF is a zone intermediate between MMF and BMW domains and constitutes the main region of continental crust production by partial melting through wedge counter-corner flow. Large hydrous plume generated at about 200 km depth causes extensive reduction in viscosity and the smaller scale hydrous plumes between 60 km and 200 km also bring about an overall reduction in the viscosity of SZMF. More fertile and high temperature peridotites are supplied from the entrance to this domain. The domain extends obliquely to the volcanic front and then swings back to the deep mantle together with the subducting slab. The BMW occupies the major portion of upper mantle in the western Pacific and convects largely with a clockwise sense removing the eastern trench oceanward. Sporadic formation of hydrous plume at the depth of around 410 km and the curtain flow adjacent to the trench cause back arc spreading. We envisage that the heat source in BMW could be the accumulated TTG (tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite) crust on the bottom of the mantle transition zone. The ongoing process of transportation of granitic crust into the mantle transition zone is evident from the deep subduction of five intra-oceanic arcs on the subducting Philippine Sea plate from the south, in addition to the sediment trapped subduction by the Pacific plate and Philippine Sea plate. The dynamics of MMF, SZMF and BMW domains are controlled by the angle of subduction; a wide zone of MMF in SW Japan is caused by shallow angle subduction of the Philippine Sea plate and the markedly small MMF domain in the Mariana trench is due to the high angle subduction of Pacific plate. The domains in NE Japan and Kyushu region are intermediate between these two. During the Tertiary, a series of marginal basins were formed because of the nearly 2000 km northward shift of the subduction zone along the southern margin of Tethyan Asia, which may be related to the collision of India with Asia and the indentation. The volume of upper mantle under Asia was reduced extensively on the southern margin with a resultant oceanward trench retreat along the eastern margin of Asia, leading to the formation of a series of marginal basins. The western Pacific domain in general is characterized by double-sided subduction; from the east by the oldest Pacific plate and from the south by the oldest Indo-Australian plate. The old plates are hence hydrated extensively even in their central domains and therefore of low temperature. The cracks have allowed the transport of water into the deeper portions of the slab and these domains supply hydrous fluids even to the bottom of the upper mantle. Thus, a fluid dominated upper mantle in the western Pacific drives a number of microplates and promote the plate boundary processes.     

The dynamics of big mantle wedge, magma factory, and metamorphic–metasomatic factory in subduction zones

The East Asian continental margin is underlain by stagnant slabs resulting from subduction of the Pacific plate from the east and the Philippine Sea plate from the south. We classify the upper mantle in this region into three major domains: (a) metasomatic–metamorphic factory (MMF), subduction zone magma factory (SZMF), and the ‘big mantle wedge’ (BMW). Whereas the convection pattern is anticlockwise in the MMF domain, it is predominantly clockwise in the SZMF and BMW, along a cross section from the south. Here we define the MMF as a small wedge corner which is driven by the subducting Pacific plate and dominated by H₂O-rich fluids derived by dehydration reactions, and enriched in large ion lithophile elements (LILE) which cause the metasomatism. The SZMF is a zone intermediate between MMF and BMW domains and constitutes the main region of continental crust production by partial melting through wedge counter-corner flow. Large hydrous plume generated at about 200 km depth causes extensive reduction in viscosity and the smaller scale hydrous plumes between 60 km and 200 km also bring about an overall reduction in the viscosity of SZMF. More fertile and high temperature peridotites are supplied from the entrance to this domain. The domain extends obliquely to the volcanic front and then swings back to the deep mantle together with the subducting slab. The BMW occupies the major portion of upper mantle in the western Pacific and convects largely with a clockwise sense removing the eastern trench oceanward. Sporadic formation of hydrous plume at the depth of around 410 km and the curtain flow adjacent to the trench cause back arc spreading. We envisage that the heat source in BMW could be the accumulated TTG (tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite) crust on the bottom of the mantle transition zone. The ongoing process of transportation of granitic crust into the mantle transition zone is evident from the deep subduction of five intra-oceanic arcs on the subducting Philippine Sea plate from the south, in addition to the sediment trapped subduction by the Pacific plate and Philippine Sea plate. The dynamics of MMF, SZMF and BMW domains are controlled by the angle of subduction; a wide zone of MMF in SW Japan is caused by shallow angle subduction of the Philippine Sea plate and the markedly small MMF domain in the Mariana trench is due to the high angle subduction of Pacific plate. The domains in NE Japan and Kyushu region are intermediate between these two. During the Tertiary, a series of marginal basins were formed because of the nearly 2000 km northward shift of the subduction zone along the southern margin of Tethyan Asia, which may be related to the collision of India with Asia and the indentation. The volume of upper mantle under Asia was reduced extensively on the southern margin with a resultant oceanward trench retreat along the eastern margin of Asia, leading to the formation of a series of marginal basins. The western Pacific domain in general is characterized by double-sided subduction; from the east by the oldest Pacific plate and from the south by the oldest Indo-Australian plate. The old plates are hence hydrated extensively even in their central domains and therefore of low temperature. The cracks have allowed the transport of water into the deeper portions of the slab and these domains supply hydrous fluids even to the bottom of the upper mantle. Thus, a fluid dominated upper mantle in the western Pacific drives a number of microplates and promote the plate boundary processes.     

中国东南地区岩石圈热结构特征及其构造意义

中国东南地区地质演化复杂,中—新生代构造变形强烈,岩石圈深部热力学状态及其对构造活动的影响有待深入。文章结合最新的大地热流数据与地壳结构Crust 1.0模型,利用稳态热传导方程,以岩石捕虏体温压数据和地震学观测为约束,构建了华南地区扬子克拉通、华夏地块以及南海北缘等不同单元的岩石圈热结构。结果表明该区岩石圈热结构存在强烈的不均一性：除了上扬子地区（四川盆地）为“温壳温幔”的热结构,华南其他大部分地区都表现为“热壳热幔”的特征;同一深度下,华夏地块与南海北缘的深部温度显著高于扬子克拉通;热岩石圈厚度从克拉通内部向沿海地区（NWSE）逐渐降低,也即由四川盆地的~200 km减少到华夏地块的~110 km,再到南海的~70 km。此外,我们还发现陆内地震的分布与岩石圈温度密切相关,地震活动集中分布于600℃等温线以内。总体而言,扬子克拉通中西部岩石圈热结构具有冷而厚的特征,而华夏地块和南海北缘受古太平洋平板俯冲和新生代大陆边缘构造—岩浆作用的改造,表现为热且薄的特征,岩石圈的热弱化进而加速了华南大陆边缘的裂解及随后的南海扩张过程。     

珠江口盆地成盆‒成烃‒成藏:代序

珠江口盆地位于太平洋俯冲的东部动力系统、印度?澳大利亚板块与欧亚碰撞或新特提斯洋俯冲的西部动力系统相互作用的中间地带,因此其构造成因及南海海盆打开机制一直存在争论;且构造对南海北部陆缘盆地群的油气成藏有何作用也不甚清晰.本专辑以珠江口盆地为例,特别是以阳江东凹为精细解剖区,结合中国东部新生代盆地的研究成果,展开了以下问...     

The Krakatau islands: The geotectonic setting

The Sunda Strait is located in a transitional zone between two different modes of subduction, the Java frontal and Sumatra oblique subductions. Western Java and Sumatra are, however, geologically continuous.The Krakatau complex lies at the intersection of two graben zones and a north-south active, shallow seismic belt, which coincides with a fracture zone along this seismic belt with fissure extrusion of alkali basaltic rocks commencing at Sukadana and continuing southward as far as the Panaitan island through Rajabasa, Sebuku and Krakatau.Paleomagnetic studies suggest that the island of Sumatra has been rotating clockwise relative to Java from at least 2.0 Ma to the present at a rate of 5–10h/Ma, and therefore the opening of the Sunda Strait might have started before 2 Ma (Nishimura et al. 1986).From geomorphological and seismological studies, it is estimated that the western part of Sumatra has been moving northward along the Semangko fault and the southern part of Sunda Strait has been pulled apart.Assuming that the perpendicular component (58 mm/yr; Fitch 1972) of the oblique subduction has not changed, we can estimate that the subduction started at 7–10 Ma. Huchon and LePichon (1984) also estimated that the subduction started at 13 Ma.Recent crustal earthquakes in the Sunda Strait area are clustered into three groups: (1) beneath the Krakatau complex where they are typically of tectonic origin, (2) inside a graben in the western part of the strait, and (3) in a more diffuse zone south of Sumatra. The individual and composite focal mechanisms of the events inside the strait show an extensional regime. A stress tensor, deduced from the individual focal mechanisms of the Krakatau group shows that the tensional axis has a N 130°E orientation (Harjono et al. 1988).These studies confirm that the Sunda Strait is under a tensional tectonic regime as a result of clockwise rotation along the continental margin and northward movement of the Sumatra sliver plate along the Semangko fault zone.     

A model for the state of brittle failure of the western Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) is an igneous arc built above the Middle America subduction zone. Its western section is being extended orthogonally to its axis by several arrays of active normal faults with a combined length of 450 km and including up to 1.5 km of throw. Until now, intra-arc extension in the TMVB has been considered the result of either rifting or retreat of the Rivera and Cocos plates. Observations worldwide and numerical models, however, appear to contradict these ideas. Continental extension in convergent margins takes place where the upper plate moves away from the trench, and the subduction zone is only weakly coupled with the overlying plate. In western Mexico, neither of these relationships applies. A new numerical model presented here is able to explain satisfactorily the state of brittle failure of the TMVB. The model embodies the first-order physics of the northern Middle America subduction zone, and its boundary conditions are consistent with the convergence history of the Rivera and North America plates. Modelling results show that periods of accelerated subduction between the Rivera and North America plates give rise to an increase in suction force under the fore arc. The over-riding plate then bends downwards, building up tensional stress inside the volcanic arc. Failure of the arc follows within 1 million years of pulse initiation. Analysis of the results shows that the steep subduction angle of the Rivera slab, the relief of the volcanic plateau, and the thermal weakening of the lower crust facilitated the failure of the arc. The model demonstrates that a highly coupled subduction zone can cause extension, albeit limited, in the over-riding plate.     

南沙海区及其周缘中-新生代岩浆活动及构造意义

通过对南沙海区及其周缘地区中-新生代以来4个主要地质时期即燕山期、喜山早期、喜山晚期一幕和二幕各种类型岩浆岩的发育特征(包括时空分布、地球化学及构造环境)的综合分析,重构了研究区中-新生代岩浆活动的演化历程:燕山期(侏罗纪到白垩纪)在南沙西面和西南面陆区以中酸性岩浆活动为主,代表中生代东亚陆缘火山岩带的南段。同时在南沙与加里曼丹之间广泛发育的是基性-超基性岩,是在俯冲过程中折返到浅部的古南海洋壳碎片。喜山早期(古新世至始新世)岩浆活动微弱。喜山晚期一幕(晚渐新世至中中新世)在加里曼丹—卡加延一带岩浆活动相对重新活跃,西段主要有英安岩、花岗闪长岩、安山岩、闪长岩等,东段主要为玄武安山岩,但规模较小,似乎不足以构成与古南海俯冲伴生的火山岩带。喜山晚期二幕(晚中新世至第四纪)岩浆活动出现高峰,为大规模的中基性火山喷发,与燕山期及喜山早期截然不同,在中南半岛南部和加里曼丹岛中-北部尤为广泛,可能是该区出现上涌的地幔热团的指示。     

A Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic reconstruction of the Southwest Pacific region: Tectonics controlled by subduction and slab rollback processes

A Cenozoic tectonic reconstruction is presented for the Southwest Pacific region located east of Australia. The reconstruction is constrained by large geological and geophysical datasets and recalculated rotation parameters for Pacific–Australia and Lord Howe Rise–Pacific relative plate motion. The reconstruction is based on a conceptual tectonic model in which the large-scale structures of the region are manifestations of slab rollback and backarc extension processes. The current paradigm proclaims that the southwestern Pacific plate boundary was a west-dipping subduction boundary only since the Middle Eocene. The new reconstruction provides kinematic evidence that this configuration was already established in the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleogene. From ∼ 82 to ∼ 52 Ma, subduction was primarily accomplished by east and northeast-directed rollback of the Pacific slab, accommodating opening of the New Caledonia, South Loyalty, Coral Sea and Pocklington backarc basins and partly accommodating spreading in the Tasman Sea. The total amount of east-directed rollback of the Pacific slab that took place from ∼ 82 Ma to ∼ 52 Ma is estimated to be at least 1200 km. A large percentage of this rollback accommodated opening of the South Loyalty Basin, a north–south trending backarc basin. It is estimated from kinematic and geological constraints that the east–west width of the basin was at least ∼ 750 km. The South Loyalty and Pocklington backarc basins were subducted in the Eocene to earliest Miocene along the newly formed New Caledonia and Pocklington subduction zones. This culminated in southwestward and southward obduction of ophiolites in New Caledonia, Northland and New Guinea in the latest Eocene to earliest Miocene. It is suggested that the formation of these new subduction zones was triggered by a change in Pacific–Australia relative motion at ∼ 50 Ma. Two additional phases of eastward rollback of the Pacific slab followed, one during opening of the South Fiji Basin and Norfolk Basin in the Oligocene to Early Miocene (up to ∼ 650 km of rollback), and one during opening of the Lau Basin in the latest Miocene to Present (up to ∼ 400 km of rollback). Two new subduction zones formed in the Miocene, the south-dipping Trobriand subduction zone along which the Solomon Sea backarc Basin subducted and the north-dipping New Britain–San Cristobal–New Hebrides subduction zone, along which the Solomon Sea backarc Basin subducted in the west and the North Loyalty–South Fiji backarc Basin and remnants of the South Loyalty–Santa Cruz backarc Basin subducted in the east. Clockwise rollback of the New Hebrides section resulted in formation of the North Fiji Basin. The reconstruction provides explanations for the formation of new subduction zones and for the initiation and termination of opening of the marginal basins by either initiation of subduction of buoyant lithosphere, a change in plate kinematics or slab–mantle interaction.     

Mantle diapirism at convergent boundaries (Sea of Japan)

New data on geology, geochemistry, and isotope systematics of lavas in the East Sikhote-Alin area, along with earlier published evidence for the Sea of Japan, provide insights into the dynamics of back-arc basins and their role in the tectonic and magmatic history of continental margins. Right-lateral strike-slip faulting, the key event in the Cenozoic history of East Sikhote-Alin, apparently had no relation with the subduction in post-Eocene time. At that time, the Late Cretaceous subduction ended and oceanic asthenosphere with Pacific-type MORB isotope signatures injected into the subcontinental mantle through slab windows. The Sea of Japan opening began in the Eocene with formation of small rift basins in the Tatar Strait, which accumulated coastal facies. During the main Miocene phase of activity, the zone affected by oceanic asthenosphere moved eastward, i.e., to the modern deepwater Sea of Japan. The effect of oceanic asthenosphere on the continental margin ended in the Late Miocene after the Sea of Japan had opened and new subduction initiated east of the Japan Islands.     

Structural and geomorphic features accommodating groundwater of Al-Madinah City, Saudi Arabia

Al-Madinah City is located in the western part of Saudi Arabia on the Arabian Shield. The area underwent several tectonic events that developed its structural and geomorphic features, such as the Infracambrian Najd strike-slip faults, development of the Cenozoic basaltic flows of Northern Harrat Rahat, and Cenozoic N–S and E–W transtensional faults, related to the Red Sea rifting. These successive events formed a deltaic-shaped basin of Al-Madinah. The Al-Madinah basin is part of a 400?×?150-km² Wadi Qanah–Al-Hamd watershed, which exhibits mainly parallel drainage pattern. Sub-basins, within the main basin, exhibit trellised and radial drainage patterns. The trellised drainage pattern reflects control of the Cenozoic faults, whereas the radial drainage pattern reflects volcanic-related system. Rotation of the Arabian Plate after several extensional events that lead to the opening of the Red Sea influenced the drainage flow to be going from east to west. This geological history that include eruption, normal faulting, and erosion prior to and during the Red Sea rifting formed relief inversion geomorphology of Tertiary basalts that cap Precambrian rocks of the Ayr and Jammah Mountains in western Al-Madinah. The groundwater in the central area is part of the northern Harrat Rahat basaltic aquifer in which the groundwater level rises up in the central area due to the blocking of groundwater flow by constructions below the central area and due to reduced groundwater abstraction. Building a dam 60 km northwest of Al-Madinah would preserve more surface water than the Al-Bayda dam, in which all main valleys join in at the suggested location.     

Seismicity of the Hellenic subduction zone in the area of western and central Crete observed by temporary local seismic networks

Temporary local seismic networks were installed in western Crete, in central Crete, and on the island Gavdos south of western Crete, respectively, in order to image shallow seismically active zones of the Hellenic subduction zone.More than 4000 events in the magnitude range between −0.5 and 4.8 were detected and localized. The resulting three-dimensional hypocenter distribution allows the localization of seismically active zones in the area of western and central Crete from the Mediterranean Ridge to the Cretan Sea. Furthermore, a three-dimensional structural model of the studied region was compiled based on results of wide-angle seismics, surface wave analysis and receiver function studies. The comparison of the hypocenter distribution and the structure has allowed intraplate and interplate seismicity to be distinguished.High interplate seismicity along the interface between the subducting African lithosphere and the Aegean lithosphere was found south of western Crete where the interface is located at about 20 to 40 km depth. An offset between the southern border of the Aegean lithosphere and the southern border of active interplate seismicity is observed. In the area of Crete, the offset varies laterally along the Hellenic arc between about 50 and 70 km.A southwards dipping zone of high seismicity within the Aegean lithosphere is found south of central Crete in the region of the Ptolemy trench. It reaches from the interface between the plates at about 30 km depth towards the surface. In comparison, the Aegean lithosphere south of western Crete is seismically much less active including the region of the Ionian trench. Intraplate seismicity within the Aegean plate beneath Crete and north of Crete is confined to the upper about 20 km. Between 20 and 40 km depth beneath Crete, the Aegean lithosphere appears to be seismically inactive. In western Crete, the southern and western borders of this aseismic zone correlate strongly with the coastline of Crete.     

琼州海峡及周边海域沉积环境及近万年以来沉积演化

对琼州海峡及周边海域约600个表层样品进行粒度分析后发现,琼州海峡内沉积物以粗粒的含砾砂及砂为主,自海峡内向口外则由砂向粉砂过渡,最外侧分布有更细粒的粘土质粉砂,东口砂质沉积物边缘以弧形分布为主,西口呈指状分布.按峰态类型可将粒度频率曲线分布划分为海峡东单峰态、海峡东双峰态、海峡内单双峰态、海峡西单峰态及海峡西双峰态5个区域.采用GSTA模型对沉积物运移趋势分析后发现,沉积物在海峡内主要由南北两侧向中间运移,海峡东口沉积物具有比较明显的由口内向口外输运的趋势,海峡西部沉积物出海峡口后显示了向北输运的趋势,沉积物粒度特征分布及运移趋势说明海峡内及两侧三角洲内沉积物主要来自于海峡底部及南北两岸的潮流冲刷物.根据琼州海峡现代沉积环境,结合周边4个柱状沉积物粒度及14C测年分析,发现琼州海峡的最终形成大约开始在距今8 000 a前,由于海平面的上升,潮流作用塑造了海峡初期的地貌,直到距今约5 000 ~4 600 a前,琼州海峡一直处于快速发展阶段,潮流三角洲发育也最广,之后由于暖期的结束,海平面下降,随着潮流作用的减弱,琼州海峡趋于稳定状态,逐渐形成今天的海峡及口外水下三角洲地貌.      

Structural controls on the evolution of the Kutai Basin,East Kalimantan

The Kutai Basin formed in the middle Eocene as a result of extension linked to the opening of the Makassar Straits and Philippine Sea. Seismic profiles across the northern margin of the Kutai Basin show inverted middle Eocene half-graben oriented NNE–SSW and N–S. Field observations, geophysical data and computer modelling elucidate the evolution of one such inversion fold. NW–SE and NE–SW trending fractures and vein sets in the Cretaceous basement have been reactivated during the Tertiary. Offset of middle Eocene carbonate horizons and rapid syn-tectonic thickening of Upper Oligocene sediments on seismic sections indicate Late Oligocene extension on NW–SE trending en-echelon extensional faults. Early middle Miocene (N7–N8) inversion was concentrated on east-facing half-graben and asymmetric inversion anticlines are found on both northern and southern margins of the basin. Slicken-fibre measurements indicate a shortening direction oriented 290°–310°. NE–SW faults were reactivated with a dominantly dextral transpressional sense of displacement. Faults oriented NW–SE were reactivated with both sinistral and dextral senses of movement, leading to the offset of fold axes above basement faults. The presence of dominantly WNW vergent thrusts indicates likely compression from the ESE. Initial extension during the middle Eocene was accommodated on NNE–SSW, N–S and NE–SW trending faults. Renewed extension on NW–SE trending faults during the late Oligocene occurred under a different kinematic regime, indicating a rotation of the extension direction by between 45° and 90°. Miocene collisions with the margins of northern and eastern Sundaland triggered the punctuated inversion of the basin. Inversion was concentrated in the weak continental crust underlying both the Kutai Basin and various Tertiary basins in Sulawesi whereas the stronger oceanic crust, or attenuated continental crust, underlying the Makassar Straits, acted as a passive conduit for compressional stresses.     

Plate tectonic evolution of the southern margin of Eurasia in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic

Thirteen time interval maps were constructed, which depict the Triassic to Neogene plate tectonic configuration, paleogeography and general lithofacies of the southern margin of Eurasia. The aim of this paper is to provide an outline of the geodynamic evolution and position of the major tectonic elements of the area within a global framework. The Hercynian Orogeny was completed by the collision of Gondwana and Laurussia, whereas the Tethys Ocean formed the embayment between the Eurasian and Gondwanian branches of Pangea. During Late Triassic–Early Jurassic times, several microplates were sutured to the Eurasian margin, closing the Paleotethys Ocean. A Jurassic–Cretaceous north-dipping subduction boundary was developed along this new continental margin south of the Pontides, Transcaucasus and Iranian plates. The subduction zone trench-pulling effect caused rifting, creating the back-arc basin of the Greater Caucasus–proto South Caspian Sea, which achieved its maximum width during the Late Cretaceous. In the western Tethys, separation of Eurasia from Gondwana resulted in the formation of the Ligurian–Penninic–Pieniny–Magura Ocean (Alpine Tethys) as an extension of Middle Atlantic system and a part of the Pangean breakup tectonic system. During Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous times, the Outer Carpathian rift developed. The opening of the western Black Sea occurred by rifting and drifting of the western–central Pontides away from the Moesian and Scythian platforms of Eurasia during the Early Cretaceous–Cenomanian. The latest Cretaceous–Paleogene was the time of the closure of the Ligurian–Pieniny Ocean. Adria–Alcapa terranes continued their northward movement during Eocene–Early Miocene times. Their oblique collision with the North European plate led to the development of the accretionary wedge of the Outer Carpathians and its foreland basin. The formation of the West Carpathian thrusts was completed by the Miocene. The thrust front was still propagating eastwards in the eastern Carpathians.During the Late Cretaceous, the Lesser Caucasus, Sanandaj–Sirjan and Makran plates were sutured to the Iranian–Afghanistan plates in the Caucasus–Caspian Sea area. A north-dipping subduction zone jumped during Paleogene to the Scythian–Turan Platform. The Shatski terrane moved northward, closing the Greater Caucasus Basin and opening the eastern Black Sea. The South Caspian underwent reorganization during Oligocene–Neogene times. The southwestern part of the South Caspian Basin was reopened, while the northwestern part was gradually reduced in size. The collision of India and the Lut plate with Eurasia caused the deformation of Central Asia and created a system of NW–SE wrench faults. The remnants of Jurassic–Cretaceous back-arc systems, oceanic and attenuated crust, as well as Tertiary oceanic and attenuated crust were locked between adjacent continental plates and orogenic systems.     

志留纪以来的云开地块

桂南－粤西的云开地块,位于特提斯构造带和环太平洋构造带的交汇处。其变质基底仅出露于两广边境的云开大山地区,但古生代海相沉积盖层分布广泛,甚至跨越北部湾。地块北缘的古生代深水沉积带,也延展到越南东北沿海地区。云开地块的范围,可能西起红河三角洲,东达珠江三角洲。晚古生代时,它可能为地处南纬低纬度海域的碳酸盐台地。古南海于中晚二叠世开始张开,使云开地块北移,与大明山地体碰撞,形成云开北缘的造山带。中晚三叠世,古南海的进一步扩张和桂西－越北的古特提斯向南消减,又形成晚二叠世造山带以北的印支期岩浆弧和磨拉石。也是东古特提斯闭合过程的重要部分。新生代早期南海张开前,古南海北侧的南沙地块可能和云开地块相接,总面积可能超过50万km2,在东南亚地质演化中起重要作用。