Experimental evidences and numerical modelling of debris flow initiated by channel runoff

Debris flow initiation by channel bed mobilization is a common process in high mountainous areas. Initiation is more likely to occur at the outlet of small, steeply sloping basins where concentrated overland flow feeds an ephemeral channel incised in slope deposits. Such geological conditions are typical of the Dolomite region (Italian Alps), which is characterized by widespread debris flow activity triggered by severe summer thunderstorms. Real-time data and field observations for one of these catchments (Acquabona catchment, Belluno, Italian Alps) were used to characterize the hydrological response of the initiation area to rainfalls of varying intensity and duration. The observed behaviour was then reproduced by means of a simple hydrological model, based on the kinematic wave assumption, to simulate the generation of channel runoff. The model is capable of predicting the observed hydrological response for a wide range of rainfall impulses, thus providing a physical basis for the understanding of the debris flow triggering threshold.     

别子型火山成因块状硫化物矿床的地质和地球化学特征

别子型矿床最早形成于古元古代,并在显生宙海沟环境或弧前盆地广泛发育,其成矿区域发育厚层沉积岩地层,覆盖在火山岩之上,对成矿流体物质交换和金属元素富集有重要意义。别子型块状硫化物矿床下盘发育强烈的黄铁绢英岩化,而上盘仅发育微弱的绿泥石化、碳酸盐化。矿床常呈单个矿体产出或2~3个矿体连生,剖面上,由下至上表现为枕状玄武岩→块状含铜黄铁矿矿石→块状、条带状燧石黄铁矿矿石→块状碧玉岩。别子型矿床的火山岩围岩多为钙碱性系列,少量拉斑系列,与活动大陆边缘的岛弧火山岩具有相似的微量和稀土元素地球化学特征。成矿流体中的硫为幔源硫和海水硫的混合来源,成矿元素来源为幔-壳混合源。     

南秦岭古生代热水沉积盆地与热水沉积成矿

扬子地块北部被动边缘的南秦岭古生代沉积盆地中,发育一套自早古生代—中生代以来的碳酸盐岩夹细碎屑岩沉积建造,形成规模巨大独具特色的以铅锌金为主的多金属成矿带。伸展构造体制下形成的裂陷或断陷型盆地中,正常水成沉积与热水沉积同盆共存。正常水成沉积中叠加的热水沉积是一个"突发事件或灾变事件",具有特殊的物质组成和产态。通过对区内沉积成矿盆地的识别、分级,二级沉积盆地中边缘部位常发育多个三级构造热水沉积成矿盆地,它受控于沉积盆地中的同生断裂,具有沉积岩相、热水沉积岩组合、显著成矿作用及物化探异常广布的特点。三级构造热水沉积成矿盆地是矿床定位的构造空间,四级热水沉积洼地为矿体(矿层)的容纳空间。区内热水沉积岩主要为重晶石(毒重石)岩、硅质岩、钠长石岩和铁碳酸盐岩类,铅锌重晶石等矿产多产于热水沉积岩中或上盘。热水沉积形成一般由早期的热水喷发交代→主期热水喷流→晚期热水喷气演变。早期的热水喷发交代往往沿矿液喷发通道,形成网脉状、角砾状矿化;主期热水喷流主要形成多金属及热水喷流相,形成块状、条带状、层纹状矿石或热水沉积岩;晚期热水喷气主要形成浸染状矿石和热水喷气岩石。     

Geochemical fingerprint of hyaloclasts in glassy fragmental rocks of Macquarie Island (Southern Ocean): implications for volcanogenic sedimentary processes at a waning mid-ocean ridge

Two main types of glassy fragmental rocks formed along the Proto-Macquarie Spreading Ridge: (i) hyaloclastite breccia; and (ii) pillow-fragment breccia. Examples now exposed on Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, were largely sourced from proximal pillow lavas. In each of seven samples examined, hyaloclasts (basaltic glass grains) have a narrow major- and trace-element geochemical range, consistent with derivation of each sample from a single volcanic eruption event. Moreover, every sample analysed within the one stratigraphic section (at three sites) displays distinctive major- and trace-element geochemistry compared with the other two sections. This suggests that hyaloclasts at each site represent discrete magma batches. A single source for these glassy fragmental rocks contrasts with the dominant fault-scarp-derived polymict sedimentary rocks on Macquarie Island. We suggest that the hyaloclasts analysed in this study were deposited in small basins between the slopes of growing pillow cones along the mid-ocean ridge. The geochemical analyses presented here encompass (weakly) fractionated (e.g. Bauer Bay) to near-primitive (e.g. Pyramid Peak) compositions. All samples presented here lie within the range of the enriched- to normal-MORB suites previously reported for the island that include the least fractionated MORB melts known globally. The interpretation of geochemically distinct magma batches over the small area of the island suggests very limited magma mixing consistent with an immature or waning magmatic system. We relate these geochemical characteristics to: (i) volcanism near a very long offset transform; and (ii) genesis of magmas during the waning stages of slow seafloor spreading within a very narrow (<50 km-wide) spreading corridor.     

松辽盆地西缘断陷盆地特征及油气远景

大杨树盆地与松辽盆地及其他西缘盆地的对比, 发现它们具有类似的充填序列和构造演化历史, 表明这些盆地应是松辽盆地的一部分。目前, 在陆家堡凹陷中已发现具有一定规模的油田, 大杨树盆地深部发现良好的烃源岩, 这表明沿松辽盆地西缘发育的一系列断陷盆地具有良好的油气远景, 大杨树盆地是其中最具勘探潜力的盆地之一。     

金沙江造山带碰撞后地壳伸展背景——火山成因块状硫化物矿床的重要成矿环境

近年来对金沙江造山带区域地质、矿床地质和岩石地球化学新资料的研究和典型火山成因块状硫化物(VHMS)矿床的解剖,金沙江造山带的VHMS成矿作用主要发生于早二叠世晚期—晚二叠世海相弧火山岩和晚三叠世裂谷盆地海相火山岩中,构成西南三江地区一条重要的多金属块状硫化物成矿带。成矿带内晚三叠世碰撞后地壳伸展背景下形成的上叠裂谷盆地是其VHMS成矿作用的主体,盆地中火山活动从早期的双峰式火山岩演变为晚期的中酸性火山岩,岩石地球化学特征与孤火山岩有明显的区别,反映其形成于伸展背景。伸展盆地的早期阶段,在双峰火山岩组合的高钾流纹质火山岩系中产出鲁春式VHMS矿床,具有Zn-Cu-Pb-Ag金属组合特征,形成于深水环境;伸展盆地的晚期阶段,在中酸性火山岩系与上覆碳酸盐岩接触带中产出赵卡隆式VHMS矿床,具有Ag-Fe-Pb-Zn金属组合特征,形成于浅水环境;盆地的末期阶段,在滨浅海相磨拉石碎屑岩中产出里仁卡式石膏矿床。金沙江造山带碰撞后地壳伸展背景下VHMS成矿作用的研究,对于造山带中的找矿工作具有重要的指导意义。     

A sedimentary facies model for glacial-age sediments in Baldwin Lake, Southern California

A combined sedimentological and high-resolution petrographic analysis was conducted on a glacial-age (20,000–65,000 cal yr BP) sediment core from Baldwin Lake, Southern California. The results of this research represent the most complete glacial-age, terrestrial climate record from Southern California to date. These results are used to characterize the different sediment types and to investigate the difference in depositional processes and environments between the core's three predominant sediment types: massive, semi-laminated, and laminated sediments. Massive sediments are commonly associated with a blocky texture and/or desiccation cracks, are organic-poor, have high magnetic susceptibility values, and are coarser-grained. Thin-sections from massive sediments reveal a homogenous sediment fabric. Sub-centimeter-scale laminated and centimeter-scale semi-laminated sediments are generally organic-rich, have low magnetic susceptibility values, and are finer grained. Thin-sections from laminated and semi-laminated sediments reveal diffuse sub-millimeter- to millimeter-scale laminae. This combination of sedimentological and high-resolution petrographic data enabled us to characterize four sediment facies, each related to specific depositional processes and environments: (1) a playa lake; (2) a perennial shallow lake; (3) an intermediate lake with variable lake level; and, (4) a perennial deep lake. At centennial-to millennial-timescales, lower lake levels are represented by deposition of massive to semi-laminated sediments in a playa to a perennial shallow lake environment. At similar timescales, higher lake levels are recorded by semi-laminated to laminated sediments deposited in an intermediate lake to a perennial deep lake environment. These results provide an additional sedimentological study for comparison to similar arid environment basins, and for comparison to existing regional paleoclimatic reconstructions.     

The setting, style, and role of magmatism in the formation of volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits

Throughout Earth??s history, all volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS)-hosting environments are associated with specific assemblages of mafic and felsic rocks with distinct petrochemistry (petrochemical assemblages) indicative of formation at anomalously high temperatures within extensional geodynamic environments. In mafic-dominated (juvenile/ophiolitic) VMS environments, there is a preferential association with mafic rocks with boninite and low-Ti tholeiite, mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB), and/or back-arc basin basalt affinities representing forearc rifting or back-arc initiation, mid-ocean ridges or back-arc basin spreading, or back-arc basins, respectively. Felsic rocks in juvenile oceanic arc environments in Archean terrains are high field strength element (HFSE) and rare earth element (REE) enriched. In post-Archean juvenile oceanic arc terrains, felsic rocks are commonly HFSE and REE depleted and have boninite like to tholeiitic signatures. In VMS environments that are associated with continental crust (i.e., continental arc and back-arc) and dominated by felsic volcanic and/or sedimentary rocks (evolved environments), felsic rocks are the dominant hosts to mineralization and are generally HFSE and REE enriched with calc-alkalic, A-type, and/or peralkalic affinities, representing continental arc rifts, continental back-arcs, and continental back-arcs to continental rifts, respectively. Coeval mafic rocks in evolved environments have alkalic (within-plate/ocean island basalt like) and MORB signatures that represent arc to back-arc rift versus back-arc spreading, respectively. The high-temperature magmatic activity in VMS environments is directly related to the upwelling of mafic magma beneath rifts in extensional geodynamic environments (e.g., mid-ocean ridges, back-arc basins, and intra-arc rifts). Underplated basaltic magma provides the heat required to drive hydrothermal circulation. Extensional geodynamic activity also provides accommodation space at the base of the lithosphere that allows for the underplated basalt to drive hydrothermal circulation and induce crustal melting, the latter leading to the formation of VMS-associated rhyolites in felsic-dominated and bimodal VMS environments. Rifts also provide extensional faults and the permeability and porosity required for recharge and discharge of VMS-related hydrothermal fluids. Rifts are also critical in creating environments conducive to preservation of VMS mineralization, either through shielding massive sulfides from seafloor weathering and mass wasting or by creating environments conducive to the precipitation of subseafloor replacement-style mineralization in sedimented rifts. Subvolcanic intrusions are also products of the elevated heat flow regime common to VMS-forming environments. Shallow-level intrusive complexes (i.e., within 1?C3?km of the seafloor) may not be the main drivers of VMS-related hydrothermal circulation, but are likely the manifestation of deeper-seated mantle-derived heat (i.e., ~3?C10?km depth) that drives hydrothermal circulation. These shallower intrusive complexes are commonly long-lived (i.e., millions of years), and reflect a sustained thermally anomalous geodynamic environment. Such a thermally anomalous environment has the potential to drive significant hydrothermal circulation, and, therefore multi-phase, long-lived subvolcanic intrusive complexes are excellent indicators of a potentially fertile VMS environment. The absence of intrusive complexes, however, does not indicate an area of low potential, as they may have been moved or removed due to post-VMS tectonic activity. In some cases, shallow-level intrusive systems contribute metals to the VMS-hydrothermal system.     

论华南喷流—沉积块状硫化物矿床

现代海底喷流－沉积硫化物矿床的发现极大地推动了海底热液成矿理论的发展,也大大地提高了对古代海底喷流块充化物矿术的研究水平。本文指出喷流－沉积是重要的成矿作用,提出喷流－沉积矿床是华南Ｃｕ、Ｐｂ、Ｚｎ、Ｓｎ、Ａｇ、Ａｕ等矿产资源的重要来源,形成了一批超大型矿床,并将华南许多曾被认为属夕卡岩矿床重新确认为喷流－沉积岩床。文章还论述了华南喷流－沉积块状硫化物矿床的特征、分类、时空分布及其成矿特点等问题,提出断裂拗陷带型喷流－沉积块状硫化物矿床是华南具有特色的类型,而陆相断陷盆地中喷流－沉积矿床值得进一步深入研究。     

Late Variscan “Basin and Range” magmatism and tectonics in the Central Alps: evidence from U-Pb geochronology

Abstract

Towards the end of the Variscan orogeny, volcano-sedimentary basins were formed within the mountain hell. U-Pb age determinations on zircons of volcanic and plutonic rocks from intramontane basins of the Central Alps allows us to define the age of two volcano-sedimentary units: The former one was dated older than 333 Ma (probably Visean), the younger one was deposited in a short time span between 303 and 298 Ma (Stephanien). The latter contains tuffs (303 ± 4 Ma), ignimbrites and microgranites (299 ± 2 Ma) and intrusive rhyolites (300 ± 2 Ma) that are all coeval within analytical precision. Granitoid rocks intruded into the volcano-sedimentary rocks at 333 ± 2 Ma, 310 ± 3 Ma and 298 ± 2 Ma. An angular unconformity between the older and the younger units in the Tö di area (Aar massif) indicates uplift and erosion between 310 and 303 Ma.

Our results suggest the existence of two periods of late Variscan extension (or transtension) in the Alpine realm, both combined with magmatic activity. The extensional event of Stephaniun age is characterized by a short duration of only a few million years, between 303 and 298 Ma, comprising tectonic activity, volcanism and plutonism. The plutonic rocks are characterized by a dominant lithospheric mantle component, which was contaminated by different amounts of crostai material and might have been increasingly influenced by aslhcnos-pherie mantle melts in the course of crostai thinning. The ealc-alkaline geochemical characteristics of the granites may be explained as an inherited source feature.

The overall tectonic style and the mode of magmatism resembles the situation of the Basin-and-Kange Province (eastern USA). Consequently there is no need to invoke a late-Variscan Andean-type subduction to explain the geochemical composition of the magmatic rocks. We conclude that late-orogenic extension is an important tectonic stage of the Variscan orogeny, which lasted for some 50 million years. The extension led to thinning of the crust and upwelling of hot mantle, causing high heat flow, intrusion of mantle melts and formation of huge volumes of acid melts.     

河北西北部熔积岩特征及其他质意义

熔积岩是火山碎屑岩的一种特殊类型,由熔浆和未固结的湿沉积物两种组分掺杂混合而成.熔积岩的形成主要受炽热熔浆与未固结的湿沉积物接触时引起的淬碎或蒸汽爆炸作用以及寄主沉积物流体化作用控制,通常分布于熔岩流底部或前缘,也可分布于超浅成侵入体周围.据熔浆碎屑物的结构特征,冀西北熔积岩可分为流状和块状两种类型.流状熔积岩多是熔浆与细粒沉积物混合的结果,块状熔积岩大多与粗粒沉积物相关.正确鉴别熔积岩对确定沉积作用与岩浆作用的时序、研究盆地发展演化历史具有重要意义.     

天山地区碰撞后构造与盆山演化

研究表明,近东西向的天山造山带基本格架在古生代晚期已经初步形成;平行造山带广泛分布的二叠纪红色磨拉石证明当时造山隆升作用非常强烈,导致前陆盆地普遍发育。三叠纪,天山造山带遭受区域剥蚀夷平,盆山高差缩小,盆地规模进一步扩大。侏罗纪—古近纪,由于板内伸展作用,在准平原化的天山地区形成了一系列伸展盆地,呈近东西向分布。新近纪以来,受南面印度—欧亚陆—陆碰撞的影响,天山地区发生强烈陆内变形,以逆冲推覆和褶皱堆叠为特征;节理统计表明新生代的主压应力为南北方向。晚新生代,由印度和欧亚大陆碰撞产生的强烈挤压作用对大陆腹地的天山地区影响很大：前中生代块体发生剧烈隆升和褶皱,伴随大规模新生代坳陷的形成,导致盆山高差急剧增大;脆性剪切与挤压变形构造叠加在韧性变形的古生代岩层之上。同时,中生代拉伸盆地发生构造反转,形成新生代挤压盆地,盆山交接带变形以台阶状逆断层和断层相关褶皱为特征。由于盆地朝造山带的下插作用,使古生代的岩层呈构造岩片方式逆冲推覆在盆地边缘的中新生代岩层之上,当穿越不同地质构造单元时表现出不同的运动学特征。强烈挤压褶皱冲断是晚新生代盆山交接带的基本特征和最普遍的盆-山耦合方式,局部伴有小规模近东西向的走滑断层。中生代沉积岩的褶皱与断裂、侏罗纪煤层自燃及烧结岩的形成、强烈地震与断层活动、以及新疆独特的镶嵌状盆山格局,都是新近纪以来构造作用的产物。     

青藏高原及周边地区下地壳地球物理异常及成因

青藏高原及周边地区下地壳普遍发育电性高导层、波速低速层和热流密度值异常区.下地壳电性结构和速度结构明显具有纵向分层和横向分块的特点,其热流密度值具有明显的南北条带性和东西分块性.下地壳高导层、低速层和热流密度值异常区与青藏高原及周边地区各构造单元有一定的匹配性,异常区的形成与青藏高原和周边盆地耦合过程中下地壳岩石的热软化以及韧性流动有关.下地壳层流是下地壳岩石热软化和韧性流动的结果,青藏高原的隆升是层流作用的表现,目前层流作用的动力来源于恒河盆地下地壳,层流方向由恒河盆地流入青藏高原.     

冈底斯弧弧后早白垩世裂谷作用的沉积学证据

冈底斯弧弧后地区早白垩世地层的一个显著特点是 ,由下而上普遍从陆相 -海陆交互相碎屑岩变化为海相碳酸盐岩。该地区在早白垩世中期开始了广泛的海侵 ,沉积范围由早期仅局限于班公湖 -怒江缝合带附近而扩展至羌塘地体南缘和拉萨地体 ,沉积了巨厚的台地相灰岩 ;与塔里木南部和思茅地区同期海平面变化非常不同 ,那里在晚白垩世才出现海侵。砂岩组分研究显示 ,早白垩世早期碎屑物源主要来自北侧的造山带 ,向上则逐步受到南侧火山弧的控制。在海侵层系的下部 ,发现了丰富的双峰型火山岩和双峰式火山岩碎屑。因而推断该区在早白垩世发生了强烈的裂谷沉降作用。与此同时的在印度和巴基斯坦境内的 L adakh- Kohistan弧后裂谷作用还形成了具有洋壳基底的Shyok边缘海。因此 ,在早中白垩世 ,欧亚大陆南缘为西太平洋型的活动大陆边缘 ,因强烈的弧后裂谷作用产生了一系列边缘海盆地 ;在包括青藏高原南部在内的欧亚大陆南缘 ,既没有构造动力、也没有古地理和古地形证据支持在早白垩世末 ( 99Ma± )即出现强烈的抬升。     

Tsunami sedimentary facies deposited by the Storegga tsunami in shallow marine basins and coastal lakes, western Norway

Sedimentary successions in small coastal lakes situated from 0 to 11 m above the 7000 year BP shoreline along the western coast of Norway, contain a distinctive deposit, very different from the sediments above and below. The deposit is interpreted to be the result of a tsunami inundating the coastal lakes. An erosional unconformity underlies the tsunami facies and is traced throughout the basins, with most erosion found at the seaward portion of the lakes. The lowermost tsunami facies is a graded or massive sand that locally contains marine fossils. The sand thins and decreases in grain size in a landward direction. Above follows coarse organic detritus with rip-up clasts, here termed ‘organic conglomerate’, and finer organic detritus. The tsunami unit generally fines and thins upwards. The higher basins (6–11 m above the 7000 year shoreline) show one sand bed, whereas basins closer to the sea level 7000 years ago, may show several sand beds separated by organic detritus. These alternations in the lower basins may reflect repeated waves of sea water entering the lakes. In basins that were some few metres below sea level at 7000 years BP, the tsunami deposit is more minerogenic and commonly present as graded sand beds, but also in some of these shallow marine basins organic-rich facies occur between the sand beds. The total thickness of the tsunami deposit is 20–100 cm in most studied sites. An erosional and depositional model of the tsunami facies is developed.     

The Filon Norte orebody (Tharsis, Iberian Pyrite Belt): a proximal low-temperature shale-hosted massive sulphide in a thin-skinned tectonic belt

The Filón Norte orebody (Tharsis, Iberian Pyrite Belt) is one of the largest pyrite-rich massive sulphide deposits of the world. The present structure of the mineralization consists of an internally complex low-angle north-dipping thrust system of Variscan age. There are three major tectonic units separated by thick fault zones, each unit with its own lithologic and hydrothermal features. They are internally organized in a hinterland dipping duplex sequence with high-angle horses of competent rocks (igneous and detritic rocks and massive sulphides) bounded by phyllonites. The mineralization is within the Lower Unit and is composed of several stacked sheets of massive sulphides and shales hosting a stockwork zone with no obvious zonation. The Intermediate Unit is made up of pervasively ankeritized shales and basalts (spilites). Here, hydrothermal breccias are abundant. The Upper Unit is the less hydrothermally altered one and consists of silicified dacites and a diabase sill. The tectonic reconstruction suggests that the sequence is inverted and the altered igneous rocks were originally below the orebody. Carbon, oxygen and sulphur isotopes in the massive sulphides and hydrothermal rocks as well as the mineral assemblage and the paragenetic succession suggest that the sulphide precipitation in the sea floor took place at a low temperature (<≈150?°C) without indication, at least in the exposed section, of a high-temperature copper-rich event. Sporadic deep subsea-floor boiling is probably responsible for the formation of hydrothermal breccias and the wide extension of the stockwork. Its Co-Au enrichment is interpreted as being related with the superposition of some critical factors, such as the relationship with black shales, the low temperature of formation and the boiling of hydrothermal fluids. The present configuration and thickness of the orebody is due to the tectonic stacking of a thin and extensive blanket (2–4?km²) of massive sulphides with low aspect ratio. They were formed by poorly focused venting of hot modified seawater equilibrated with underlying rocks into the seafloor. Massive sulphide precipitation took place by hydrothermal fluid quenching, bacteriogenic activity and particle settling in an unusual, restricted, euxinic and shallow basin (brine pool?) with a low detritic input but with important hydrothermal activity related to synsedimentary extensional faulting. Resedimentation of sulphides seems to be of major importance and responsible for the observed well-mixed proximal and distal facies. The tectonic deformation is largely heterogeneous and has been mostly channelled along the phyllonitic (tectonized shales) deformation bands. Thus, sedimentary and diagenetic textures are relatively well-preserved outside the deformation bands. In the massive sulphides, superimposed Variscan recrystallization is not very important and only some early textures are replaced by metamorphic/tectonic ones. The stockwork is much more deformed than the massive sulphides. The deformation has a critical effect on the present morphology of the orebody and the distribution of the ore minerals. This deposit is a typical example of the sheet-like, shale-hosted, anoxic, low temperature and Zn-rich massive sulphides developed in a ensialic extensional basin.     

中国中新生代陆相盆地沉积分类探讨

本文根据控制陆相盆地沉积作用的三项主要因素(即海水侵漫,气候变化和构造运动),将中国中新生代陆相盆地分为两类、三型、三式十八种类型。据海水侵漫作用分为正常陆相和非正常陆相两类盆地。据气候变化分为干旱、干湿过渡和潮湿三型盆地。据构造运动分为断陷、断拗和拗陷三式盆地。     

Deformation and metamorphism of Devonian rocks in the outer Solund area, western Norway: implications for models of Devonian deformation

Many modern accounts of the Devonian rocks of western Norway, which emphasise the extensional processes by which the basins were formed, tend to ignore or gloss over the deformation and metamorphism which these rocks have suffered during contractional deformation. The present account describes extensive ductile folding, penetrative cleavage formation and low-grade regional metamorphism developed in the Devonian strata of the outer Solund region. Although the deformation in this area is more intense than in other Devonian basins, it belongs to the same movement plan. It will also be shown that the Devonian rocks of the Scandinavian Caledonides apparently share a common tectonothermal development. This regional contractional event, conceptually, may relate either to a Mid-Late Devonian arc-continent collision, or to a transpressional strain regime.     

Slope failures on the flanks of the western Canary Islands

Landslides have been a key process in the evolution of the western Canary Islands. The younger and more volcanically active Canary Islands, El Hierro, La Palma and Tenerife, show the clearest evidence of recent landslide activity. The evidence includes landslide scars on the island flanks, debris deposits on the lower island slopes, and volcaniclastic turbidites on the floor of the adjacent ocean basins. At least 14 large landslides have occurred on the flanks of the El Hierro, La Palma and Tenerife, the majority of these in the last 1 million years, with the youngest, on the northwest flank of El Hierro, as recent as 15 thousand years in age. Older landslides undoubtedly occurred, but are difficult to quantify because the evidence is buried beneath younger volcanic rocks and sediments. Landslides on the Canary Island flanks can be categorised as debris avalanches, slumps or debris flows. Debris avalanches are long runout catastrophic failures which typically affect only the superficial part of the island volcanic sequence, up to a maximum thickness of 1 to 2 km. They are the commonest type of landslide mapped. In contrast, slumps move short distances and are deep-rooted landslides which may affect the entire thickness of the volcanic edifice. Debris flows are defined as landslides which primarily affect the sedimentary cover of the submarine island flanks. Some landslides are complex events involving more than one of the above end-member processes.Individual debris avalanches have volumes in the range of 50–500 km³, cover several thousand km² of seafloor, and have runout distances of up to 130 km from source. Overall, debris avalanche deposits account for about 10% of the total volcanic edifices of the small, relatively young islands of El Hierro and La Palma. Some parameters, such as deposit volumes and landslide ages, are difficult to quantify. The key characteristics of debris avalanches include a relatively narrow headwall and chute above 3000 m water depth on the island flanks, broadening into a depositional lobe below 3000 m. Debris avalanche deposits have a typically blocky morphology, with individual blocks up to a kilometre or more in diameter. However, considerable variation exists between different avalanche deposits. At one extreme, the El Golfo debris avalanche on El Hierro has few large blocks scattered randomly across the avalanche surface. At the other, Icod on the north flank of Tenerife has much more numerous but smaller blocks over most of its surface, with a few very large blocks confined to the margins of the deposit. Icod also exhibits flow structures (longitudinal shears and pressure ridges) that are absent in El Golfo. The primary controls on the block structure and distribution are inferred to be related to the nature of the landslide material and to flow processes. Observations in experimental debris flows show that the differences between the El Golfo and Icod landslide deposits are probably controlled by the greater proportion of fine grained material in the Icod landslide. This, in turn, relates to the nature of the failed volcanic rocks, which are almost entirely basalt on El Hierro but include a much greater proportion of pyroclastic deposits on Tenerife.Landslide occurrence appears to be primarily controlled by the locations of volcanic rift zones on the islands, with landslides propagating perpendicular to the rift orientation. However, this does not explain the uneven distribution of landslides on some islands which seems to indicate that unstable flanks are a ‘weakness’ that can be carried forward during island development. This may occur because certain island flanks are steeper, extend to greater water depths or are less buttressed by the surrounding topography, and because volcanic production following a landslide my be concentrated in the landslide scar, thus focussing subsequent landslide potential in this area. Landslides are primarily a result of volcanic construction to a point where the mass of volcanic products fails under its own weight. Although the actual triggering factors are poorly understood, they may include or be influenced by dyke intrusion, pore pressure changes related to intrusion, seismicity or sealevel/climate changes. A possible relationship between caldera collapse and landsliding on Tenerife is not, in our interpretation, supported by the available evidence.     

On sheared passive continental margins

Studies in intra-continental and intra-oceanic shear zones reveal structures that may be developed during the formation of a sheared passive continental margin.During the intra-continental shear stage of margin development, rapid vertical movement of the crust may occur resulting in small, tectonically-active basins containing thick sedimentary sequences. At deeper levels in the continental crust, more plastic deformation may lead to a zone of strongly sheared rocks that widens downwards. The tectonic fabric in this zone may exert some control over the subsequent development of the continent-ocean transition under the influence of regional stresses.The thermal event related to asthenosphere upwelling at sheared margins is a transient one and thus of less effect than the event on rifted margins. Nevertheless, following the event the cooling and contraction of oceanic crust against the continent may throw the oceanic crust into tension and lead to normal, block faulting in the oceanic regions analogous to the faulting seen in oceanic fracture zones. The subsidence of oceanic crust as it ages at the margin will either drag down the adjacent continental crust or, more likely, cause the oceanic crust to slip down by normal faulting along the continent-ocean boundary. The kinds of compressional features observed in oceanic fracture zones may also occur at sheared margins.