Structure of the South Powell Ridge (NE Antarctic Peninsula): new clues for changing tectonic regimes near the Scotia/Antarctica Plate boundary

The structure of the South Powell Ridge (SPR), separating the Late Cenozoic ocean-floored Powell Basin and the Mesozoic Weddell Sea domain, is revealed by multichannel seismic data. The SPR appears as a basement high, bounded northward by transtensional faults and by normal and major reverse faults to the south. These margin features seem to be linked to the Powell Basin southern strike-slip margin and to the Jane Arc paleotrench, respectively. We suggest the ridge evolved from the Antarctic Peninsula passive margin to become the deformational front of the Scotia/Antarctica Plate boundary, later being welded to the Antarctic Plate. Received: 18 August 1997 / Revision received: 4 May 1998     

Large Amplitude Magnetic Anomalies in the Northern Sector of the Powell Basin,NE Antarctic Peninsula

Magnetic profiles obtained during the Hesant 92/93 cruise with the R/V Hesperides show large amplitude anomalies (up to 1000 nT) along a 100 km wide band in the northern margin of the Powell Basin. The anomalies, which are also locally identified in the eastern and western margins, are attributed to the continuation of the two branches of the Antarctic Peninsula Pacific Margin Anomaly (PMA). Interactive modelling of two-dimensional bodies in four profiles oriented NNW-SSE allows us to determine the main features of the magnetic source bodies within the continental crust. These are elongated in a N60/degE trend, and their base is located at a depth exceeding 15 km. Equivalent magnetic susceptibilities mostly between 0.07 and 0.1 (SI) are obtained. These values are consistent with the hypothesis that remanent magnetisation of the magnetic source bodies is sub-parallel to the present geomagnetic field (norÍmally magnetised). The general trends of the bathymetry a nd the geometry of the acoustic basement on multichannel seismic profiles are consistent with the upper surface of magnetic bodies. In order to match the observed anomalies it is also necessary to consider a second tabular shaped body with induced magnetisation in almost all the profiles, which could represent layers 2 and 3 of the oceanic crust of the Powell Basin. Three different geometries of connection between the anomalies in the Powell Basin margins and the PMA branches are discussed. The most plausible one is the occurrence of two branches, although they are closer together than in the Bransfield Strait. The northern branch would continue along the fragments of continental crust of the South Scotia Ridge located at the northern boundary of the Powell Basin, whereas the southern branch would be located only in the eastern and western passive margins of the Powell Basin. The apparent splitting of the southern branch of the anomalous body indicates that it was emplaced before Oligo cene times, when the opening of this basin occurred, and that it was subsequently fragmented during the Cenozoic. A possible time of formation of the PMA body would be during the long Cretaceous normal polarity interval, which also coincides with a peak in magmatic activity along the Antarctic Peninsula.     

南太平洋地区盆地形成演化和油气资源潜力分析

本文从南太平洋地区区域构造演化出发，开展盆地类型划分和石油地质条件分析，了解不同类型盆地的油气成藏特征，并分析油气分布规律和资源潜力，以期对未来油气勘探开发国际合作选区提供借鉴。研究表明:（1）南太平洋地区经历了亨特-鲍恩造山运动、澳大利亚板块与南极洲板块分离、塔斯曼海扩张及珊瑚海扩张、巴布亚新几内亚地区的洋壳俯冲和弧-陆碰撞作用，最终形成了澳大利亚东部南缘和海域及新西兰地区以裂谷盆地为主、澳大利亚东部内陆以克拉通盆地为主的包括晚二叠世-三叠纪前陆盆地、古近纪-新近纪前陆盆地、古近纪-现今弧前盆地和弧后盆地6种盆地类型；（2）澳大利亚内陆南缘和东部海域以及新西兰地区裂谷盆地分布广泛，裂谷盆地油气最为富集，但内陆和海域有所差异，内陆南缘裂谷盆地油气资源丰富且石油与天然气的比值约为2:1，而东部海域裂谷盆地因油气成藏条件差，尚无油气发现；（3）根据盆地的剩余可采储量和远景资源量对南太平洋地区的资源潜力进行分析，认为白垩纪-古近纪裂谷盆地和古近纪-新近纪前陆盆地油气资源潜力最大，并优选出吉普斯兰（Gippsland）、塔拉纳基（Taranaki）和巴布亚（Papua）3个有利盆地。     

Bathymetric Map of the Gorda Plate: Structural and Geomorphological Processes Inferred from Multibeam Surveys

Full-coverage multibeam bathymetric maps of the southern section of the Juan de Fuca Plate, also known as the Gorda Plate, are presented. The bathymetric maps represent the compilation of multibeam surveys conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration during the last 20 yrs, and illustrate the complex tectonic, volcanic, and geomorphologic features as well as the intense deformation occurring within this region. The bathymetric data have revealed several major, previously unmapped midplate faults. A series of gently curving faults are apparent in the Gorda Plate, with numerous faults offsetting the Gorda Plate seafloor. The multibeam surveys have also provided a detailed view of the intense deformation occurring within the Gorda Plate. A preliminary deformation model estimated from basement structure is discussed, where the southern part of the plate (south of ∼42°30′ N) seems to be deforming through a series of left-lateral strike-slip faults, while the northern section appears to be moving passively with the rest of the Juan de Fuca Plate. The bathymetry also demonstrates the Mendocino and Eel Canyons are prominent morphologic features in the northern California margin. These canyons are active depositional features with a large sediment fan present at the mouths of both the Mendocino and Eel canyons. The depositional lobes of these fan(s) are evident in the bathymetry, as are the turbidite channels that have deposited sediment along the fans over time. The Trinidad Canyon is readily evident in the margin morphology as well, with a large (∼10 km) plunge pool formed at the mouth of the canyon as it enters the Gorda Plate sediments. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

南海北缘新生代盆地沉积与构造演化及地球动力学背景

南海北缘新生代沉积盆地是全面揭示南海北缘形成演化及与邻区大地构造单元相互作用的重要窗口。通过对盆地沉积-构造特征分析,南海北缘新生代裂陷过程显示出明显的多幕性和旋转性的特点。在从北向南逐渐迁移的趋势下,东、西段裂陷过程也具有一定的差异,西部裂陷活动及海侵时间明显早于东部,裂陷中心由西向东呈雁列式扩展。晚白垩世-早始新世裂陷活动应是东亚陆缘中生代构造-岩浆演化的延续,始新世中、晚期太平洋板块俯冲方向改变导致裂陷中心南移,印度欧亚板块碰撞效应是南海中央海盆扩张方向顺时针旋转的主要原因。     

南海晚新生代构造运动与天然气水合物资源

南海在新生代经历过两次海底扩张产生了南海洋盆.南海北部和南部原来都是被动大陆边缘,但北部在晚新生代由于菲律宾海板块与欧亚板块在台湾地区发生了碰撞,使陆缘遭受到北西向挤压,在陆缘上产生了北西向左旋走滑活动,我们命名此次构造活动为东沙运动;南部陆缘在早中新世末由于南移的南沙地块与婆罗洲地块发生了碰撞,加上此时北移的菲律宾海板块在明都洛岛地区与欧亚板块发生碰撞,以及南部的东南苏拉威西地块与西北苏拉威西地块发生碰撞,在南海南部产生了挤压构造,我们命名此次构造运动为南沙运动.这两次新生代的构造运动改变了南北陆缘的性质,北部陆缘有人因此称之为准被动陆缘,而南部陆缘的南部则变成了挤压边缘.南海南北陆缘在晚新生代受到的挤压活动,对油气成藏和天然气水合物的形成有重要的推动作用,因为挤压活动有利于流体的流动,进而在适当的地方形成油气藏和天然气水合物.     

南海北部天然气渗漏系统地球物理初探

本文主要针对南海北部大陆边缘发育的5个沉积盆地——台西南盆地、珠江口盆地、琼东南盆地、莺歌海盆地和中建南盆地,分析了近年来利用地球物理方法研究南海北部天然气渗漏系统的成果,重点包括3个方面:天然气水合物的储藏、流体运移通道以及海底表面渗漏特征。其中表征天然气水合物存在的似海底反射BSR在台西南和珠江口盆地发育明显,莺歌海盆地发现有大型气田;5个盆地流体运移活跃,其内发现了多样的运移通道:断层、底辟、气烟囱、多边形断层及水道(峡谷)等破裂结构;海底表面渗漏特征也在台西南、珠江口、莺歌海和中建南盆地均有发现。南海北部大陆边缘天然气渗漏系统广泛发育,值得进一步深入研究。     

Evolution of the Malvinas Plate South of Africa

We confirm that a Malvinas Plate is required in the Agulhas Basin during the Late Cretaceous because: (1) oblique Mercator plots of marine gravity show that fracture zones generated on the Agulhas rift, as well as the Agulhas Fracture Zone, do not lie on small circles about the 33o-28y South America-Africa stage pole and were therefore not formed by South America-Africa spreading, (2) the 33o-28y South America-Africa stage rotation does not bring 33o magnetic anomalies on the Malvinas Plate into alignment with their conjugates on the African Plate, and (3) errors in the 33o-28y South America-Africa stage rotation cannot account for the misalignment. We present improved Malvinas-Africa finite rotations determined by interpreting magnetic anomaly data in light of fracture zones and extinct spreading rift segments (the Agulhas rift) that are clearly revealed in satellite-derived marine gravity fields covering the Agulhas Basin. The tectonic history of the Malvinas Plate is chronicled through gravity field reconstructions that use the improved Malvinas-Africa finite rotations and more recent South America-Africa and Antarctica-Africa finite rotations. Newly-mapped triple junction traces on the Antarctic, South American, Malvinas, and African Plates, combined with geometric and magnetic constraints observed in the reconstructions, enable us to investigate the locations of the elusive western and southern boundaries of the Malvinas Plate. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The formation and tectonic evolution of Philippine Sea Plate and KPR

The Philippine Sea Plate has an extremely special tectonic background. As an oceanic plate, it is almost entirely surrounded by subduction zones with complex internal tectonic features. On the basis of enormous published literature, this paper offers a comprehensive overview of the tectonic and evolution history of the Philippine Basin and the Kyushu-Palau Ridge (KPR) in the Philippine Sea Plate, and discusses the geological features of KPR. Referring to relevant definitions of various "ridges" stipulated in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, so the KPR is believed to be a remnant arc formed during the opening of the Parece Vela and Shikoku Basins in the Philippine Sea Plate. It is a submarine ridge on oceanic plate rather than a submarine elevation. And thus, it is not a natural component of the Japan continental margin.     

Basin development subsequent to ridge-trench collision: the Jane Basin,Antarctica

The Jane Arc and Basin system is located at the eastern offshore prolongation of the Antarctic Peninsula, along the southern margin of the South Orkney Microcontinent. Three magnetic anomaly profiles orthogonal to the main tectonic and bathymetric trends were recorded during the SCAN97 cruise by the Spanish R/V Hespérides. In our profiles, chron C6n (19.5 Ma) was identified as the youngest oceanic crust of the Northern Weddell Sea, whose northern spreading branch was totally subducted. The profiles from the Jane Basin allow us to date, for the first time, the age of the oceanic crust using linear sea floor magnetic anomalies. The spreading in the Jane Basin began around the age of the oldest magnetic anomaly at 17.6 Ma (chron C5Dn), and ended about 14.4 Ma (chron C5ADn). The distribution of the magnetic anomalies indicate that the mechanism responsible for the development of Jane Basin was the subduction of the Weddell Sea spreading centre below the SE margin of the South Orkney Microcontinent, suggesting a novel mechanism for an extreme case of backarc development.     

Forearc structures and tectonics in the southern Peru—northern Chile Continental Margin

SeaMARC II side-scan images, bathymetry, and single-channel seismic reflection data along the southern Peru—northern Chile forearc area between 16° and 23° S reveal a complex region of morpho-structural, submarine drainage and depression patterns. In the subducting plate area, the NW—SE trending primary normal fault system represented by trench-paralleled scarps was incipiently formed as the Nazca Plate was bent in the outer edge and further intensified as the plate approached the trench. The NE—SW trending secondary normal fault system that consists of discontinuous and smaller faults, usually intersect the primary trench-paralleled fault system. Similar to the Nazca Plate, the overriding continental plate also shows two major NW—SE and NE—SW trending fault systems represented by fault scarps or narrow elongated depressions.The submarine drainage systems represented by a series of canyon and channel courses appear to be partly controlled by the faults and exhibit a pattern similar to the onshore drainage which flows into the central region of the coastal area. Two large depressions occurring along the middle—upper slope areas of the continental margin are recognized as collapse and slump that perhaps are a major result of increased slope gradient. The subsidence of the forearc area in the southern Peru—northern Chile Continental Margin is indicated by: a) drainage systems flowing into the central region, b) the slope collapse and slumps heading to the central region, c) the deepening of the trench and inclining of the lower slope terrace to the central region, and d) submerging of the upper-slope ridge and the Peru—Chile Coast Range off the Arica Bight area.The subsidence of the forearc area in the southern Perunorthern Chile margin is probably attributed to a subduction erosion which causes wearing away and removal of the rock and sedimentary masses of the overriding plate as the Nazca Plate subducts under the South American Plate.     

The Trobriand Subduction System in the Western Solomon Sea

A south-dipping Subduction system which underlies the Trobriand Trough and 149° Embayment, on the southern margin of the Solomon Sea, is active or was recently active. Oceanic basement is overlain by 2.5 s, two-way travel time (TWTT), of sediment that shows at least two stages of deformation: early thrusts (inner wall) and normal faults (outer wall), and later normal faults that have elevated the outer trench margin. Thrust anticlines and slope basins are developed on the inner wall. The floor of the Solomon Sea Basin arches upward between the Trobriand Trough and the New Britain Trench to form isolated peaks and ridges in the east (152° Peaks) and an east-west Central Ridge in the west. Structures in the subduction system, and in the Solomon Sea Basin, plunge westward towards the point of collision with the New Britain Trench.     

南极布兰斯菲尔德海峡及邻区地壳结构反演及构造解析

南极布兰斯菲尔德海峡及邻区是南极半岛海域火山、地震等新构造运动最活跃的地区,由于前人对资料处理解释的差异,导致盆地的构造格局仍部分存疑。本文以研究区的卫星重力数据为基础,以多道反射地震和部分岩性资料为约束,采用重震联合反演方法构建了三条横跨研究区的地壳结构剖面,并进一步研究布兰斯菲尔德海峡盆地的地壳结构。研究结果表明布兰斯菲尔德海峡盆地莫霍面深度为33—38km。菲尼克斯板块俯冲消减下沉至南设得兰岛弧之下,导致南设得兰海沟的俯冲带后撤,产生3—4km厚的岩浆混染地壳,密度为2.9g/cm~3。分析认为受板块运动和弧后扩张影响,沿布兰斯菲尔德海峡盆地扩张脊分布的海底火山裂隙式喷发,并进一步导致盆地的持续性扩张。     

Sedimentological processes in the southern margin of the Cretan Sea (NE Mediterranean)

The Cretan Basin can be characterized as a back-arc basin of the Hellenic Trench System, that is related to the subduction zone of the African Plate under the Eurasia Plate. The study area includes the narrow and relatively steep (gradient 1.5°) continental shelf of the island of Crete followed by the steep slope (2°–4°) and the rather flat deeper part of the Cretan basin (water depths >1700 m).Surficial sediments of the coastal zone are coarser and of terrigenous origin, while in deeper waters finer sediments, of biogenic origin, are more abundant. Sand-sized calcareous sediment accumulations, identified in middle-lower slope, may be attributed to the aggregation of seabed biogenic material related to the near bed current activity.High resolution profiles (3.5 kHz) taken from the inner shelf shows a typical sigmoid-oblique progradational configuration, implying prodelta sediment accumulation during the Holocene. In the upper-middle slope, sub-bottom reflectors indicate continuous sedimentation of alternating fine and/or coarse grained material. Small-scale gravity induced synsedimentary faults appeared, locally. In contrast, a series of gravity induced faults, identified in the lower slope, are associated with sediment instabilities due to seismotectonic activity. Sediment cores taken from the shelf-break consists of calcareous muddy sand with small amounts of terrigenous silt and fine sand, while the cores recovered from the middle slope has revealed a more homogeneous fine sediment texture of hemipelagic deposition.The prevailing accumulation processes in the southern margin of the Cretan basin are: (i) prodelta deposition in the inner-middle shelf; (ii) settling from bottom nepheloid layers in the shelf and upper slope; (iii) calcareous sediment formation due to settling from suspension and post accumulation aggregation (middle-lower slope); (iv) long-term episodic sediment gravity processes in the lower slope; and (v) to a lesser extent, redeposition from resuspension due to gravity processes and bottom currents.     

我国南海历史性水域线的地质特征

40a的海洋地质、地球物理实测研究表明,九段线不仅是显示我国南海主权的历史性水域线,而且总体上也是南海与东部、南部和西部陆区及岛区的巨型地质边界线。根据实测数据,本文将从地质成因、来源、演化的角度论述此南海历史性水域线的合理性。主要结论包括:历史性水域线的东段在地形上基本与马尼拉海沟一致,海沟西侧为南海中央海盆洋壳区,东侧为菲律宾群岛。根据国际地质研究的资料,菲律宾群岛始新世以前位于较偏南的纬度,后来于中晚中新世(距今16~10Ma)仰冲于南海中央海盆之上,因此菲律宾群岛是一个外来群岛。而黄岩岛在马尼拉海沟以西,是中央海盆洋壳区的一个岛礁,与菲律宾群岛成因不同。南海历史性水域线的南段在地形上基本与南沙海槽一致,伴随南沙地块由北部陆缘向南裂离,古南海洋壳沿此海槽以南俯冲至加里曼丹岛陆壳之下,因此南沙地块与加里曼丹陆块为两个来历不同的地块。南海历史性水域线西段的分布在地形上与越东巨型走滑断裂带基本一致,可能与西沙地块、中沙地块、南沙地块从南海北部陆缘向南滑移有关。南沙地块北缘陡直的正断层结构,突显中央海盆是拉裂形成,其基底和中新生代地层与北部珠江口盆地的地层结构可以对比,说明南沙岛礁原属我国华南大陆南缘,后因南海的形成裂离至现今的位置。     

南海海盆的形成演化探讨

根据“陆缘扩张”理论,利用古地磁数据,结合地质、地球物理资料,对南海海盆的成因机制和演化过程进行探讨。结果得出:南海的多期多轴扩张及其形成演化,是在欧亚板块、太平洋板块和印度板块的联合作用下,中、新生代南海周缘的微板块和岛弧的相互运动以及南海海盆构造应力场不断变化的情况下逐渐完成的。     

南海东北部陆缘地壳结构特征及下地壳高速层成因

南海东北部陆缘构造演化信息丰富,对于理解南海的演化过程至关重要。本文收集了南海东北部的深反射地震和海底广角地震成果剖面,提取地壳和下地壳高速层的厚度结果,并结合水深、重磁异常和岩石圈的流变学等地质地球物理资料,对南海东北部的地壳减薄特征、吕宋-琉球转换板块边界的性质和下地壳高速层的分布及成因进行了分析和讨论。南海东北部的地壳减薄在横向和垂向上都存在不均匀性,以下地壳减薄为主,在台西南盆地存在极端减薄地壳;南海北缘的白云凹陷、西沙海槽和西缘的中建南盆地也存在类似的极端减薄地壳,且都与刚性地块共轭或邻近,推测刚性地块的存在导致地壳初始破裂时下地壳流动和地幔上隆是局部出现地壳极端减薄的主要原因。吕宋-琉球转换板块边界两侧在海底地形、新生代反射和重磁异常等方面均存在差异,与中生代岛弧引起的高磁异常大角度相交,其可能是中生代古特提斯构造域向太平洋构造域转换的边界断裂。下地壳高速层在南海东北部广泛发育,结合其分布特征和波速比V_p/V_s的分布区间,认为其是多期次岩浆底侵形成的铁镁质基性岩。     

Trend analysis and its tectonic implications using digital bathymetric data

Abstract

Quantitative and objective trend analysis of bottom topography in order to detect the tectonic structures has become available by use of the processed Seabeam data. The following two procedures of trend analysis are introduced.

(1) Edge detection procedures in digital image processing are applicable to the analysis of topography for extraction of the lineament of tectonic structures and prediction of the existence of faults based on the digital bathymetric data.

(2) Automatic calculation of water flow using the topographic grid data is used for estimation of not only water flow pattern and volume but also the construction of the ridge or trough axis by calculating the accumulated water volume. This method was also applied to the Seabeam bathymetric data. This is quite useful for detection of offset structures and hidden faults.

These two methods are applied to the topographic data obtained in the North Fiji Basin, which is characterized by active spreading ridges. The regional tectonic structure of the North Fiji Basin was found to be expressed by the topographic trend of the central axis.     

Transtensional tectonism and its effects on the distribution of sandbodies in the Paleogene Baiyun Sag, Pearl River Mouth Basin, China

The Baiyun Sag, situated at the north continental slope of the South China Sea, is a main sub-unit in the Southern Depression Belt of the Pearl River Mouth Basin. In this Sag, the middle Eocene Wenchang and upper Eocene–lower Oligocene Enping Formations had developed in the evolution stage of continental faulted basin. Seismic stratigraphic sequences and fault structures revealed that the Baiyun Sag was short of long-reaching boundary faults, and that it was a rifted basin greatly influenced by basement faults rather than a typical half-graben. Different from the sags in Northern Depression Belt of the Pearl River Mouth Basin which controlled by large-scale NEE-strike faults, the Baiyun Sag had been controlled by two groups of NWW-strike en echelon fault belts with approximate opposite dips, which developed in the southwest and northeast of this Sag respectively and had played the roles of boundary faults. These en echelon faults, together with narrow synclines, partial flower structures and fluid diapirs, indicated the left-lateral transtensional activities, which had resulted in subsidence center departing to main faults and stretching S-shaped. Moreover, the en echelon faults had constructed many composite transfer zones of relay ramps, and controlled the distribution of sandbodies. The en echelon fault belts are located in accordance with Nw-striking Mesozoic basement faults. Hence the left-lateral transtensional activities were responsible for the Western Pacific Plate subducting and strike slip reactivation of the basement faults. Significantly, NW-striking basement faults had forcefully determined the development of not only the Baiyun Sag but also the Xingning Sag.     

东海陆架盆地南部中生代构造演化与原型盆地性质

东海陆架盆地南部夹持于欧亚板块、太平洋板块与印度板块之间,是发育在前中生代基础之上的中、新生代叠合盆地。其构造演化受古太平洋板块俯冲及特提斯-喜马拉雅构造域的联合影响,经历了印支末期基隆运动、燕山期渔山和雁荡运动的叠加改造。结合浙闽隆起带中生代火成岩事件、盆地构造变形、沉积学的一些证据,通过海陆对比研究,认为东海陆架盆地南部早-中三叠世可能为面向古太平洋的被动大陆边缘盆地;晚三叠世-侏罗纪古太平洋板块已对中国大陆有较强的俯冲作用,东海陆架盆地及南部原型盆地为活动大陆边缘弧前盆地;白垩纪受控于滨海断裂表现为活动大陆边缘走滑拉分盆地;古新世-始新世火山岛弧向东移动,东海陆架变为弧后裂谷盆地。