Consag Basin: northern Gulf of California,evidence of generation of new crust,based on seismic reflection data

The Gulf of California is an excellent example of how new ocean basins form. Tectonically, the northern Gulf of California is an incipient ocean basin and studies on it have defined acoustic basement and reveal the presence of new oceanic crust and intrusive bodies. Some recent studies report fundamental differences between the basins of the northern and southern Gulf of California: that the latter have well-developed oceanic crust beneath a thin cover of sediments, whereas the northern basins show proto-ocean basins, which may reflect thermal insulation of the thick sedimentary cover, the presence of low-angle faults, and more diffuse and distributed deformation. During the 1970s, Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) undertook a 2D seismic reflection survey in the northern Gulf of California, over many active rift basins, including the Consag Basin. Through the processing and interpretation of these data, we describe the structural characteristics of the Consag Basin beyond 2 km depths. Using seismic reflection data, we identified an intrusion in the central part of this basin that may represent new oceanic crust buried by more than 4 km of sediments.     

Structure and tectonic evolution of the Southern Eurasia Basin, Arctic Ocean

Multichannel seismic reflection data acquired by Marine Arctic Geological Expedition (MAGE) of Murmansk, Russia in 1990 provide the first view of the geological structure of the Arctic region between 77–80°N and 115–133°E, where the Eurasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean adjoins the passive-transform continental margin of the Laptev Sea. South of 80°N, the oceanic basement of the Eurasia Basin and continental basement of the Laptev Sea outer margin are covered by 1.5 to 8 km of sediments. Two structural sequences are distinguished in the sedimentary cover within the Laptev Sea outer margin and at the continent/ocean crust transition: the lower rift sequence, including mostly Upper Cretaceous to Lower Paleocene deposits, and the upper post-rift sequence, consisting of Cenozoic sediments. In the adjoining Eurasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean, the Cenozoic post-rift sequence consists of a few sedimentary successions deposited by several submarine fans. Based on the multichannel seismic reflection data, the structural pattern was determined and an isopach map of the sedimentary cover and tectonic zoning map were constructed. A location of the continent/ocean crust transition is tentatively defined. A buried continuation of the mid-ocean Gakkel Ridge is also detected. This study suggests that south of 78.5°N there was the cessation in the tectonic activity of the Gakkel Ridge Rift from 33–30 until 3–1 Ma and there was no sea-floor spreading in the southernmost part of the Eurasia Basin during the last 30–33 m.y. South of 78.5°N all oceanic crust of the Eurasia Basin near the continental margin of the Laptev Sea was formed from 56 to 33–30 Ma.     

Observations on the processes of sedimentary basin formation at the margins of Southern Africa

Three variants of Atlantic-type continental margin border Southern Africa. On the west is a rifted margin with a rift phase no more than 50 m.y. in length (180–130 m.y. ago). Sedimentary basin formation was by upbuilding of a sediment terrace during the rift phase and the 30 m.y. following, with outbuilding of the terrace dominant during the Cainozoic. Little downwarping of the oceanic crust occurred but the continent—ocean transition zone appears to be wide.To the south of South Africa is an extensive sheared margin. Basin formation began here in mid-Triassic times with intermontane deposition. Local increase in lower crustal density appears to have accompanied subsidence. Truncation of the basins occurred 130–2100 m.y. ago and in places detrital influx was trapped behind a marginal fracture ridge. No continental rise sedimentary apron and characteristic deep structure were formed in these places. A ‘welding’ of the continental edge appears to have taken place.East of 30° E a complex continental margin with a protracted rift phase exists. From Triassic to Cretaceous times sedimentary basin formation was controlled by an E-W tensional stress regime resulting in N-S horsts and grabens. This was accompanied by vol-canicity and crustal thinning. Other stress systems may have prevailed during continental break-up in the Cretaceous while today the region is seismically active and the tensional stress assumed to be E-W. Following break-up sedimentary basins in Natal Valley and Mozambique Channel encroached southwards.     

Paleozoic and Mesozoic Basement Magmatisms of Eastern Qaidam Basin,Northern Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau: LA‐ICP‐MS Zircon U‐Pb Geochronology and its Geological Significance

The eastern margin of the Qaidam Basin lies in the key tectonic location connecting the Qinling, Qilian and East Kunlun orogens. The paper presents an investigation and analysis of the geologic structures of the area and LA-ICP MS zircon U-Pb dating of Paleozoic and Mesozoic magmatisms of granitoids in the basement of the eastern Qaidam Basin on the basis of 16 granitoid samples collected from the South Qilian Mountains, the Qaidam Basin basement and the East Kunlun Mountains. According to the results in this paper, the basement of the basin, from the northern margin of the Qaidam Basin to the East Kunlun Mountains, has experienced at least three periods of intrusive activities of granitoids since the Early Paleozoic, i.e. the magmatisms occurring in the Late Cambrian (493.1±4.9 Ma), the Silurian (422.9±8.0 Ma-420.4±4.6 Ma) and the Late Permian-Middle Triassic (257.8±4.0 Ma-228.8±1.5 Ma), respectively. Among them, the Late Permian - Middle Triassic granitoids form the main components of the basement of the basin. The statistics of dated zircons in this paper shows the intrusive magmatic activities in the basement of the basin have three peak ages of 244 Ma (main), 418 Ma, and 493 Ma respectively. The dating results reveal that the Early Paleozoic magmatism of granitoids mainly occurred on the northern margin of the Qaidam Basin and the southern margin of the Qilian Mountains, with only weak indications in the East Kunlun Mountains. However, the distribution of Permo-Triassic (P-T) granitoids occupied across the whole basement of the eastern Qaidam Basin from the southern margin of the Qilian Mountains to the East Kunlun Mountains. An integrated analysis of the age distribution of P-T granitoids in the Qaidam Basin and its surrounding mountains shows that the earliest P-T magmatism (293.6-270 Ma) occurred in the northwestern part of the basin and expanded eastwards and southwards, resulting in the P-T intrusive magmatism that ran through the whole basin basement. As the Cenozoic basement thrust system developed in the eastern Qaidam Basin, the nearly N-S-trending shortening and deformation in the basement of the basin tended to intensify from west to east, which went contrary to the distribution trend of N-S-trending shortening and deformation in the Cenozoic cover of the basin, reflecting that there was a transformation of shortening and thickening of Cenozoic crust between the eastern and western parts of the Qaidam Basin, i.e., the crustal shortening of eastern Qaidam was dominated by the basement deformation (triggered at the middle and lower crust), whereas that of western Qaidam was mainly by folding and thrusting of the sedimentary cover (the upper crust).     

Crustal structure of the Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean

A seismic refraction/wide-angle reflection experiment was undertaken in the Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean. Two roughly east–west profiles extend from the continental shelf of Israel toward the Levant Basin. The northern profile crosses the Eratosthenes Seamount and the southern profile crosses several distinct magnetic anomalies. The marine operation used 16 ocean bottom seismometers deployed along the profiles with an air gun array and explosive charges as energy sources. The results of this study strongly suggest the existence of oceanic crust under portions of the Levant Basin and continental crust under the Eratosthenes Seamount. The seismic refraction data also indicate a large sedimentary sequence, 10–14 km thick, in the Levant Basin and below the Levant continental margin. Assuming the crust is of Cretaceous age, this gives a fairly high sedimentation rate. The sequence can be divided into several units. A prominent unit is the 4.2 km/s layer, which is probably composed of the Messinian evaporites. Overlying the evaporitic layer are layers composed of Plio–Pleistocene sediments, whose velocity is 2.0 km/s. The refraction profiles and gravity and magnetic models indicate that a transition from a two layer continental to a single-layer oceanic crust takes place along the Levant margin. The transition in the structure along the southern profile is located beyond the continental margin and it is quite gradual. The northern profile, north of the Carmel structure, presents a different structure. The continental crust is much thinner there and the transition in the crustal structure is more rapid. The crustal thinning begins under western Galilee and terminates at the continental slope. The results of the present study indicate that the Levant Basin is composed of distinct crustal units and that the Levant continental margin is divided into at least two provinces of different crustal structure.     

Geophysical transects of the Labrador Sea: Labrador to southwest Greenland

In 1977 the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Hannover, carried out a large scale multichannel reflection seismic survey in the Labrador Sea. This survey provided an opportunity for the direct comparison of the geologic structure of the Labrador and Greenland margins. The seismic records across the Labrador Shelf show a thick, prograding sedimentary wedge consisting of several seismic sequences onlapping an acoustic basement that dips steeply seaward. The surface of the acoustic basement is irregular below the continental slope, indicating Late Cretaceous—Early Tertiary faulting. The thick sedimentary section below the slope is divided by an unconformity, tentatively identified as Late Tertiary in age, into two seismic megasequencies which can be subdivided. The acoustic basement on the Greenland side is also strongly faulted but is overlain, in the south, by a thin sedimentary section. The sediment cover thickens on the Greenland Shelf to the north as the shelf becomes wider.As with more southerly parts of the western Atlantic margin, a positive free-air anomaly (30–50 mgal) lies landward of the shelf break off Labrador and a smaller negative anomaly follows the base of the slope. Similar, but generally narrower features are observed along the Greenland margin. West of the negative anomaly off the Greenland slope a narrow band of lower amplitude positive anomalies tends to be associated with an acoustic basement high observed in the reflection profiles. A landward negative gradient in the simple Airy isostatic anomaly across this margin suggests that the ocean—continent boundary is related to this high.Detailed magnetic measurements across the northern Labrador margin show that well-developed oceanic anomalies trending north-northwest lie east of the large Labrador Shelf gravity high, beyond the 2000 m isobath. Landward of these magnetic anomalies is a quiet magnetic zone within which the linear gravity high is parallel to the shelf break and correlates with a deep, sediment-filled basin. It is inferred that oceanic-type crust or greatly-attenuated continental crust underlies this basin and that continental crust thickens markedly westward of the gravity high over a distance of about 50 km.     

Tectonic framework of Tiburon Basin,Gulf of California,from seismic reflection evidence

Tiburon Basin is characterized by a thick sedimentary fill that records the evolution of one of the rift segments of the East Pacific Rise. Its structure corresponds to an echelon pull-apart basin bounded by two dextral-oblique faults. Unlike basins in the southern Gulf of California that are underlain by oceanic crust, rift basins in the northern Gulf of California contain sedimentary thickness (up to 6 km) that masks the structure of the crust. To study the architecture of the Tiburon Basin, two-dimensional, multichannel seismic reflection data collected by Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) in the early 1980s were used. The data base is a grid of lines, 5–20 km apart, with 6 s of record in 48 channels. Additional seismic data of the Ulloa 99 project were also interpreted. Our results indicate that the general structural pattern of the Tiburon Basin is controlled by two dextral-oblique faults: De Mar and Tiburon. De Mar lies to the east and ends in elevated basement transferring the stress to the Desemboque fault. The latter borders the incoming basement from the Sonora and Tiburon faults to the west, ending to the north in an antiform. Four structural domains are recognized: (1) the northern Tiburon domain is a high basement that divides the Delfin Basin to the northeast and exhibits extensional folds with their axes parallel to the basement and its flanks; (2) the Libertad domain is a sheared basement high along the margin of Sonora and forms the right step of the Tepoca Basin to the north; (3) the Tiburon central domain defines a broad sag cut by a dense NE-striking pattern of normal faults with opposed dips in the depocentre and abruptly ends to the west against the Tiburon fault; and (4) the southern Tiburon domain forms a basement ramp offshore Isla Tiburon and is controlled by a pattern of NNE-striking normal faults on the south that likely connect at an oblique angle (?60°) to the De Mar fault. We propose a rhombochasm basin model with more than 6 s of sedimentary record in the depocentre, in which the basement is not recorded. The NW-trending faults in the Libertad domain possibly continue towards the Sonora coastal plain. The principal NW-trending dextral faults and the secondary NNE-striking pattern of normal faults cut the shallow strata of this domain.     

An Early Cretaceous extinct spreading center in the northern Natal valley

We have identified an extinct E–W spreading center in the northern Natal valley on the basis of magnetic anomalies which was active from chron M11 (133 Ma) to 125.3 Ma, just before chron M2 (124 Ma) in the Early Cretaceous. Seafloor spreading in the northern Natal valley accounts for approximately 170 km of north–south motion between the Mozambique Ridge and Africa. This extension resolves the predicted overlap of the continental (central and southern) Mozambique Ridge and Antarctica in the chron M2 to M11 reconstructions from Mesozoic finite rotation parameters for Africa and Antarctica. In addition, the magnetic data reveal that the Mozambique Ridge was an independent microplate from at least 133 to 125 Ma. The northern Natal valley extinct spreading center connects to the spreading center separating the Mozambique Basin and the Riiser-Larsen Sea to the east. It follows that the northern Mozambique Ridge was either formed after the emplacement of the surrounding oceanic crust or it is the product of a very robust spreading center. To the west the extinct spreading center connects to the spreading center separating the southern Natal valley and Georgia Basin via a transform fault. Prior to chron M11, there is still a problem with the overlap of Mozambique Ridge if it is assumed to be fixed with respect to either the African or Antarctic plates. Some of the overlap can be accounted for by Jurassic deformation of the Mozambique Ridge, Mozambique Basin, and Dronning Maud land. It appears though that the Mozambique Ridge was an independent microplate from the breakup of Gondwana, 160 Ma, until it became part of the African plate, 125 Ma.     

Salt redistribution during extension and inversion inferred from 3D backstripping

A 3D backstripping approach considering salt flow as a consequence of spatially changing overburden load distribution, isostatic rebound and sedimentary compaction for each backstripping step is used to reconstruct the subsidence history in the Northeast German Basin. The method allows to determine basin subsidence and the salt-related deformation during Late Cretaceous–Early Cenozoic inversion and during Late Triassic–Jurassic extension. In the Northeast German Basin, the deformation is thin-skinned in the basinal part, but thick-skinned at the basin margins. The salt cover is deformed due to Late Triassic–Jurassic extension and Late Cretaceous–Early Cenozoic inversion whereas the salt basement remained largely stable in the basin area. In contrast, the basin margins suffered strong deformation especially during Late Cretaceous–Early Cenozoic inversion. As a main question, we address the role of salt during the thin-skinned extension and inversion of the basin. In our modelling approach, we assume that the salt behaves like a viscous fluid on the geological time-scale, that salt and overburden are in hydrostatical near-equilibrium at all times, and that the volume of salt is constant. Because the basement of the salt is not deformed due to decoupling in the basin area, we consider the base of the salt as a reference surface, where the load pressure must be equilibrated. Our results indicate that major salt movements took place during Late Triassic to Jurassic E–W directed extension and during Late Cretaceous–Early Cenozoic NNE–SSW directed compression. Moreover, the study outcome suggests that horizontal strain propagation in the salt cover could have triggered passive salt movements which balanced the cover deformation by viscous flow. In the Late Triassic, strain transfer from the large graben systems in West Central Europe to the east could have caused the subsidence of the Rheinsberg Trough above the salt layer. In this context, the effective regional stress did not exceed the yield strength of the basement below the Rheinsberg Trough, but was high enough to provoke deformation of the viscous salt layer and its cover. During the Late Cretaceous–Early Cenozoic phase of inversion, horizontal strain propagation from the southern basin margin into the basin can explain the intensive thin-skinned compressive deformation of the salt cover in the basin. The thick-skinned compressive deformation along the southern basin margin may have propagated into the salt cover of the basin where the resulting folding again was balanced by viscous salt flow into the anticlines of folds. The huge vertical offset of the pre-Zechstein basement along the southern basin margin and the amount of shortening in the folded salt cover of the basin indicate that the tectonic forces responsible for this inversion event have been of a considerable magnitude.     

南海盆地中生代海相沉积地层分布特征及勘探潜力分析

南海盆地中生代海相地层是古南海沉积产物,主要分布于南海北部陆架珠江口盆地东部,南海南部西北巴拉望、礼乐滩和南薇西-北康盆地及其附近,地层厚度在2 500~5 000 m,分布面积合计在125 000 km²以上。南北两地中生界被古老基底和新生代洋壳隔开,加里曼丹岛北侧-北巴拉望一线为古南海消亡的缝合带。南海盆地中生代生物源以浮游生物为主,干酪根为III型,以生气为主。油气生成、运移与圈闭形成的匹配关系良好,可形成自生自储型油气藏、新生古储型油气藏和古生新储型油气藏。由此可见,南海盆地中生代海相沉积岩具有较好的勘探潜力。     

Stratigraphy and tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Upper Cretaceous–Tertiary sequence in the southern part of the Malatya Basin, East Anatolia, Turkey

The Malatya Basin is situated on the southern Taurus-Anatolian Platform. The southern part of the basin contains a sedimentary sequence which can be divided into four main units, each separated by an unconformity. From base to top, these are: (1) Permo-Carboniferous; (2) Upper Cretaceous–Lower Paleocene, (3) Middle-Upper Eocene and (4) Upper Miocene. The Upper Cretaceous–Tertiary sedimentary sequence resting on basement rocks is up to 700 m thick.The Permo-Carboniferous basement consist of dolomites and recrystallized limestones. The Upper Cretaceous–Lower Paleocene transgressive–regressive sequence shows a transition from terrestrial environments, via lagoonal to shallow-marine limestones to deep marine turbiditic sediments, followed upwards by shallow marine cherty limestones. The marine sediments contain planktic and benthic foraminifers indicating an upper Campanian, Maastrichtian and Danian age. The Middle-Upper Eocene is a transgressive–regressive sequence represented by terrestrial and lagoonal clastics, shallow-marine limestones and deep marine turbidites. The planktic and benthic foraminifers in the marine sediments indicate a Middle-Upper Eocene age. The upper Miocene sequence consists of a reddish-brown conglomerate–sandstone–mudstone alternation of alluvial and fluvial facies.During Late Cretaceous–Early Paleocene times, the Gündüzbey Group was deposited in the southern part of a fore-arc basin, simultaneously with volcanics belonging to the Yüksekova Group. During Middle-Late Eocene times, the Yeşilyurt Group was deposited in the northern part of the Maden Basin and the Helete volcanic arc. The Middle-Upper Eocene Malatya Basin was formed due to block faulting at the beginning of the Middle Eocene time. During the Late Paleocene–Early Eocene, and at the end of the Eocene, the study areas became continental due to the southward advance of nappe structures.The rock sequences in the southern part of the Malatya Basin may be divided into four tectonic units, from base to top: the lower allochthon, the upper allochthon, the parautochthon and autochthonous rock units.     

新疆蛇绿岩带的分布、特征及研究新进展

新疆位于亚洲大陆的北部,构造上跨越了古亚洲和特提斯两大构造域,现今主要由中新生代盆地和其间的古生代造山带组成。古生代造山带主要由陆缘岩系和岩浆岩组成,其中夹有洋壳残片和前寒武结晶基底的碎块;洋壳残片从北向南大致分布12条,其中出露较集中的约30多处。这些蛇绿岩,以塔里木盆地为界,北部主要为古亚洲洋的洋壳残片,南部主要为特提斯洋的洋壳残片。在介绍其基本特征的同时,本文侧重报道了近年来新疆区域地质调查的一些成果。     

History of the Celebes Sea Basin based on its stratigraphic and sedimentological record

The stratigraphic and sedimentary history of the Celebes Sea Basin provides the basis for a tectonic model for its evolution which is consistent with new regional plate reconstructions. Cores drilled on Leg 124 of the Ocean Drilling Program (sites 767 and 770) form a stratigraphic record from the basement to the sea floor in just under 800 metres of sedimentary succession. The basement itself is basalt with a strong MORB affinity. Radiolaria in pelagic mudstones at the base of the succession indicate a late middle Eocene age. A very condensed pelagic sequence (90 m in 20 Ma) suggests a setting which was distal from sources of terrigenous clastics and volcaniclastics and below the CCD. These characteristics are similar to the West Philippine Sea Basin (drilled on DSDP Legs 31 and 59), which also has oceanic basement, dated at 44–42 Ma, and Paleogene pelagic strata. These data are therefore consistent with any plate reconstruction model which has these two basins forming as part of the same ocean basin.During the Miocene quartz-rich sandy turbidites were deposited in the Celebes Sea Basin. This influx of terrigenous clastics occurred for a brief period in middle to late Miocene times (c. 10 Ma). The nearest large continental landmass which could have acted as the source of this mature siliciclastic detritus was the island of Borneo, and the onset of this clastic supply may be related to uplift caused by collision events on the island. Cessation of terrigenous clastic supply to the basin centre occurred as southward subduction of the underlying oceanic crust beneath the northern arm of Sulawesi began. It is speculated that the development of a trench along the southern margin of the basin acted as a trap for detritus coming from Borneo, diverting material from the basin centre.     

Tertiary facies architecture in the Kutai Basin,Kalimantan, Indonesia

The Kutai Basin occupies an area of extensive accommodation generated by Tertiary extension of an economic basement of mixed continental/oceanic affinity. The underlying crust to the basin is proposed here to be Jurassic and Cretaceous in age and is composed of ophiolitic units overlain by a younger Cretaceous turbidite fan, sourced from Indochina. A near complete Tertiary sedimentary section from Eocene to Recent is present within the Kutai Basin; much of it is exposed at the surface as a result of the Miocene and younger tectonic processes. Integration of geological and geophysical surface and subsurface data-sets has resulted in re-interpretation of the original facies distributions, relationships and arrangement of Tertiary sediments in the Kutai Basin. Although much lithostratigraphic terminology exists for the area, existing formation names can be reconciled with a simple model explaining the progressive tectonic evolution of the basin and illustrating the resulting depositional environments and their arrangements within the basin. The basin was initiated in the Middle Eocene in conjunction with rifting and likely sea floor spreading in the Makassar Straits. This produced a series of discrete fault-bounded depocentres in some parts of the basin, followed by sag phase sedimentation in response to thermal relaxation. Discrete Eocene depocentres have highly variable sedimentary fills depending upon position with respect to sediment source and palaeo water depths and geometries of the half-graben. This contrasts strongly with the more regionally uniform sedimentary styles that followed in the latter part of the Eocene and the Oligocene. Tectonic uplift documented along the southern and northern basin margins and related subsidence of the Lower Kutai Basin occurred during the Late Oligocene. This subsidence is associated with significant volumes of high-level andesitic–dacitic intrusive and associated volcanic rocks. Volcanism and uplift of the basin margins resulted in the supply of considerable volumes of material eastwards. During the Miocene, basin fill continued, with an overall regressive style of sedimentation, interrupted by periods of tectonic inversion throughout the Miocene to Pliocene.     

2D model of the crust and uppermost mantle along rift profile, Siberian craton

A two-dimensional model of the crust and uppermost mantle for the western Siberian craton and the adjoining areas of the Pur-Gedan basin to the north and Baikal Rift zone to the south is determined from travel time data from recordings of 30 chemical explosions and three nuclear explosions along the RIFT deep seismic sounding profile. This velocity model shows strong lateral variations in the crust and sub-Moho structure both within the craton and between the craton and the surrounding region. The Pur-Gedan basin has a 15-km thick, low-velocity sediment layer overlying a 25-km thick, high-velocity crystalline crustal layer. A paleo-rift zone with a graben-like structure in the basement and a high-velocity crustal intrusion or mantle upward exists beneath the southern part of the Pur-Gedan basin. The sedimentary layer is thin or non-existent and there is a velocity reversal in the upper crust beneath the Yenisey Zone. The Siberian craton has nearly uniform crustal thickness of 40–43 km but the average velocity in the lower crust in the north is higher (6.8–6.9 km/s) than in the south (6.6 km/s). The crust beneath the Baikal Rift zone is 35 km thick and has an average crustal velocity similar to that observed beneath the southern part of craton. The uppermost mantle velocity varies from 8.0 to 8.1 km/s beneath the young West Siberian platform and Baikal Rift zone to 8.1–8.5 km/s beneath the Siberian craton. Anomalous high Pn velocities (8.4–8.5 km/s) are observed beneath the western Tunguss basin in the northern part of the craton and beneath the southern part of the Siberian craton, but lower Pn velocities (8.1 km/s) are observed beneath the Low Angara basin in the central part of the craton. At about 100 km depth beneath the craton, there is a velocity inversion with a strong reflecting interface at its base. Some reflectors are also distinguished within the upper mantle at depth between 230 and 350 km.     

Geochemical Correlation Between Metasediments of the Mfongosi Group of the Natal Sector of the Namaqua-Natal Metamorphic Province, South Africa and the Ahlmannryggen Group of the Grunehogna Province, Antarctica

The whole-rock geochemistry of metamorphosed greywackes, arenites and arkoses within the Mesoproterozoic Namaqua-Natal-Maudheim Province is interpreted with the aim of establishing geochemical correlations and defining common sediment source terrains. Metasediments of the Mfongosi Group of the Natal Sector of the Namaqua-Natal Metamorphic Province were sampled from their type area in the Mfongosi Valley. Metagreywackes from the northern limits of the Mfongosi Valley, directly adjacent to the Kaapvaal Craton, show ocean island arc signatures while metagreywackes from the southern limits of the Mfongosi Valley, near the contact with the Madidima Thrust of the Natal nappe zone, show mainly active continental margin signatures. Interleaved, geochemically distinct low-Ca+Na, high-K metamorphosed arkoses to lithic arkoses indicate a minor passive margin sediment component. Geochemical classification of low-grade Ahlmannryggen Group greywackes, arenites and arkoses of the Grunehogna Province, Antarctica, indicates both active and passive continental margin sediment sources. An oceanic island arc signature is not evident in Ahlmannryggen Group data. The active continental margin signature in both Natal Sector and Grunehogna Province metasediments potentially provides for a common link between these terranes. Discriminant Function Analysis, using three pre-defined provenance sub-sets within the Mfongosi Group and two pre-defined provenance sub-sets within the Ahlmannryggen Group, indicate that metasediments with active continental margin signatures from both groups are geochemically identical, implying that the active continental margin of the Grunehogna Province shed immature sediments westwards (African azimuths) into the developing, narrow or restricted Mesoproterozoic ‘Mfongosi Basin.’ This was accompanied by minor sediment influx from a stable continental platform, potentially the Kaapvaal Craton. Oblique and diachronous collision, initiated in the southwestern portions of the combined Natal Sector/Grunehogna Province system produced a laterally variable Mfongosi Group, which formed in the ‘Mfongosi Basin’. Coarse-grained sediments dominated in its eastern portions while basalts with thin sapropelite units dominated in its western portions.     

Lithospheric structure and dynamic processes of the Tianshan orogenic belt and the Junggar basin

Located at the center of the Eurasian continent and accommodating as much as 44% of the present crustal shortening between India and Siberia, the Tianshan orogenic belt (TOB) is one of the youngest (<20 Ma) and highest (elevation>7000 m) orogenic belts in the world. It provides a natural laboratory for examining the processes of intracontinental deformation. In recent years, wide angle seismic reflection/refraction profiling and magnetotelluric sounding surveys have been carried out along a geoscience transect which extends northeastward from Xayar at the northern margin of the Tarim basin (TB), through the Tianshan orogenic belt and the Junggar basin (JB), to Burjing at the southern piedmont of the Altay Mountain. We have also obtained the 2D density structure of the crust and upper mantle of this area by using the Bouguer anomaly data of Northwestern Xinjiang. With these surveys, we attempt to image the 2D velocity and the 2D electric structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath the Tianshan orogenic belt and the Junggar basin. In order to obtain the small-scale structure of the crust–mantle transitional zone of the study area, the wavelet transform method is applied to the seismic wide angle reflection/refraction data. Combining our survey results with heat flow and other geological data, we propose a model that interprets the deep processes beneath the Tianshan orogenic belt and the Junggar basin.Located between the Tarim basin and the Junggar basin, the Tianshan orogenic belt is a block with relatively low velocity, low density, and partially high resistivity. It is tectonically a shortening zone under lateral compression. A detachment exists in the upper crust at the northern margin of the Tarim basin. Its lower part of the upper crust intruded into the lower part of the upper and the middle crust of the Tianshan, near the Korla fault; its middle crust intruded into the lower crust of the Tianshan; and its lower crust and lithospheric mantle subducted into the upper mantle of the Tianshan. In these processes, the mass of the lower crust of the Tarim basin was carried down to the upper mantle beneath the Tianshan, forming a 20-km-thick complex crust–mantle transitional zone composed of seven thin layers with a lower than average velocity. The thrusting and folding of the sedimentary cover, the intrusive layer in the upper and middle crust, and the mass added by the subduction of the Tarim basin into the upper mantle of the Tianshan are probably responsible for the crustal thickening of the Tianshan. Due to the important mass deficiency in the crust and the upper mantle of the Tianshan, buoyancy must occur and lead to rapid ascent of the Tianshan.The episodic tectonic uplift of the Tianshan and tectonic subsidence of the Junggar basin are closely related to the evolution of the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic Tethys.     

Evidence from the Mesta half-graben, SW Bulgaria, for the Late Eocene beginning of Aegean extension in the Central Balkan Peninsula

The ENE-tilted Mesta half-graben contains a 3-km-thick section of Priabonian (Late Eocene) to Oligocene sedimentary and volcanic rocks that rest unconformably on basement metamorphic rocks along its west side. Basal strata dip 50–60° E and dip at progressively lower angles upward, indicating synrotational deposition. The southern part of the half-graben contains nested volcanic caldera complexes, formed during the deposition of the middle part of the sedimentary sequence, which have been rotated by about half the total rotation of the sedimentary succession. The half-graben is bounded on the east by a fault that steepens from more deeply exposed structural levels in the south (8–18° W) to shallower exposed structural levels in the north (70° W) and together with the rotation of Paleogene strata during deposition indicate the Mesta half-graben is underlain by a listric detachment fault, the Mesta detachment. Subhorizontal Middle Miocene strata that unconformably overlie tilted Paleogene strata yield an upper age limit to the extension. West and northwest of the Mesta half-graben are many other NNW-trending NE-tilted Paleogene half-grabens which we suggest are part of an important extended area in SW Bulgaria and eastern Macedonia that lies above one or more west-dipping detachment faults and date the beginning of Aegean extension in the southern Balkan region as at least as old as Priabonian. The Mesta detachment is oblique to the trend of a contemporaneous Paleogene magmatic arc in the southern Balkans and the origin of the detachment is probably related to gravitationally induced spreading of thickened hot arc crust and Hellenic trench roll back.     

The Levantine Basin—crustal structure and origin

The origin of the Levantine Basin in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea is related to the opening of the Neo-Tethys. The nature of its crust has been debated for decades. Therefore, we conducted a geophysical experiment in the Levantine Basin. We recorded two refraction seismic lines with 19 and 20 ocean bottom hydrophones, respectively, and developed velocity models. Additional seismic reflection data yield structural information about the upper layers in the first few kilometers. The crystalline basement in the Levantine Basin consists of two layers with a P-wave velocity of 6.0–6.4 km/s in the upper and 6.5–6.9 km/s in the lower crust. Towards the center of the basin, the Moho depth decreases from 27 to 22 km. Local variations of the velocity gradient can be attributed to previously postulated shear zones like the Pelusium Line, the Damietta–Latakia Line and the Baltim–Hecateus Line. Both layers of the crystalline crust are continuous and no indication for a transition from continental to oceanic crust is observed. These results are confirmed by gravity data. Comparison with other seismic refraction studies in prolongation of our profiles under Israel and Jordan and in the Mediterranean Sea near Greece and Sardinia reveal similarities between the crust in the Levantine Basin and thinned continental crust, which is found in that region. The presence of thinned continental crust under the Levantine Basin is therefore suggested. A β-factor of 2.3–3 is estimated. Based on these findings, we conclude that sea-floor spreading in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea only occurred north of the Eratosthenes Seamount, and the oceanic crust was later subducted at the Cyprus Arc.     

Petrological model of the northern Izu–Bonin–Mariana arc crust: constraints from high-pressure measurements of elastic wave velocities of the Tanzawa plutonic rocks, central Japan

Ultrasonic compressional wave velocities (Vp) and shear wave velocities (Vs) were measured with varying pressure up to 1.0 GPa in a temperature range from 25 to 400 °C for a suite of tonalitic–gabbroic rocks of the Miocene Tanzawa plutonic complex, central Japan, which has been interpreted as uplifted and exposed deep crust of the northern Izu–Bonin–Mariana (IBM) arc. The Vp values of the tonalitic–gabbroic rocks increase rapidly at low pressures from 0.1 to 0.4 GPa, and then become nearly constant at higher pressures above 0.4 GPa. The Vp values at 1.0 GPa and 25 °C are 6.3–6.6 km/s for tonalites (56.4–71.1 wt.% SiO₂), 6.8 km/s for a quartz gabbro (53.8 wt.% SiO₂), and 7.1–7.3 km/s for a hornblende gabbro (43.2–47.7 wt.% SiO₂). Combining the present data with the P wave velocity profile of the northern IBM arc, we infer that 6-km-thick tonalitic crust exists at mid-crustal depth (6.1–6.3 km/s Vp) overlying 2-km-thick hornblende gabbroic crust (6.8 km/s Vp). Our model shows large differences in acoustic impedance between the tonalite and hornblende gabbro layers, being consistent with the strong reflector observed at 12-km-depth in the IBM arc. The measured Vp of Tanzawa hornblende-bearing gabbroic rocks (7.1–7.3 km/s) is significantly lower than that Vp modeled for the lowermost crustal layer of the northern IBM arc (7.3–7.7 km/s at 15–22 km depth). We propose that the IBM arc consists of a thick tonalitic middle crust and a mafic lower crust.