Initiation and development of pull-apart basins with Riedel shear mechanism: insights from scaled clay experiments

Typical pull-apart structures were created in scaled clay experiments with a pure strike-slip geometry (Riedel type experiments). A clay slab represents the sedimentary cover above a strike-slip fault in the rigid basement. At an early stage of the development of the deformation zone, synthetic shear fractures (Riedel shears) within the clay slab display dilatational behaviour. With increasing basal displacement the Riedel shears rotate and open further, developing into long, narrow and deep troughs. The shear displacement and the low angle with the prescribed principal basal fault set them apart from tension gashes. At a more evolved stage, synthetic segments (Y-shears) parallel to the basal principal fault develop and accommodate progressive strike-slip deformation. The Y-shears connect the tips of adjacent troughs developed from the earlier Riedel shears, resulting in the typical rhomb-shaped structures characteristic for pull-apart basins. The Strait of Sicily rift zone, with major strike-slip systems being active from the Miocene to the Present, comprises pull-apart basins at different length scales, for which the structural record suggests development by a mechanism similar to that observed in our experiments.     

3D numerical modelling of fluid flow in the Val-d’Or orogenic gold district: major crustal shear zones drain fluids from overpressured vein fields

Fluid flow patterns have been determined using oxygen isotope isopleths in the Val-d’Or orogenic gold district. 3D numerical modelling of fluid flow and oxygen isotope exchange in the vein field shows that the fluid flow patterns can be reproduced if the lower boundary of the model is permeable, which represents middle or lower crustal rocks that are infiltrated by a metamorphic fluid generated at deeper levels. This boundary condition implies that the major crustal faults so conspicuous in vein fields do not act as the only major channel for upward fluid flow. The upper model boundary is impermeable except along the trace of major crustal faults where fluids are allowed to drain out of the vein field. This upper impermeable boundary condition represents a low-permeability layer in the crust that separates the overpressured fluid from the overlying hydrostatic fluid pressure regime. We propose that the role of major crustal faults in overpressured vein fields, independent of tectonic setting, is to drain hydrothermal fluids out of the vein field along a breach across an impermeable layer higher in the crust and above the vein field. This breach is crucial to allow flow out of the vein field and accumulation of metals in the fractures, and this breach has major implications for exploration for mineral resources. We propose that tectonic events that cause episodic metamorphic dehydration create a short-lived pulse of metamorphic fluid to rise along zones of transient permeability. This results in a fluid wave that propagates upward carrying metals to the mineralized area. Earthquakes along crustal shear zones cause dilation near jogs that draw fluids and deposit metals in an interconnected network of subsidiary shear zones. Fluid flow is arrested by an impermeable barrier separating the hydrostatic and lithostatic fluid pressure regimes. Fluids flow through the evolving and interconnected network of shear zones and by advection through the rock matrix. Episodic breaches in the impermeable barrier along the crustal shear zones allow fluid flow out of the vein field.     

Compressibility and shear strength of a residual soil

A detailed study was performed to investigate the compressibility and the shear strength of a residual soil in Omdurman, Sudan. The soil resulted from weathering of sandstone and mudstone. The soil is classified as sandy clayey silt (MH-CH) and is generally partially saturated. Consolidation tests were performed to study the compressibility of the soil and UU, CIU and insitu tests (CPT and SPT) were performed to study the shear strength characteristics of the soil. The characteristics of this residual soil can generally be predicted using correlations proposed in the literature for transported soils. The soil is of low to medium compressibility and exhibits slight apparent overconsolidation behavior. The soil dilates during shear and shows no long term effective cohesion. Problems associated with open cuts in this soil are attributed to loss of strength upon saturation.     

小岩头滑坡稳定性分析

小岩头滑坡位于贵州省威宁县二(连浩特)河(口)高速公路K255 010~K255 240里程右侧,属一个大型古滑坡,发育于二叠系上统峨嵋山组玄武岩(P2β)地层中。在高速公路施工中对路堑进行深挖削坡,可能导致古滑坡中部、线路右侧斜坡失稳破坏,发生滑坡。因此,滑坡稳定性评价是重大工程地质问题之一。根据大量勘察试验资料,系统地揭示了滑坡的特征,分析了滑坡形成的控制因素、成因和形成机制,建立了滑坡体稳定性计算模型,利用反演计算法进行稳定性分析与评价,认为两滑体均处于滑动失稳状态。建议对滑坡体进行处理,采用排水、支挡、减压等措施进行整治。     

CCSD主孔1113~1600 m花岗质片麻岩单元的变形构造特征

中国大陆科学钻探(CCSD)主孔2000m岩性剖面揭示了1113～1600m花岗质片麻岩段为地表北苏鲁超高压花岗质变质岩剪切构造叠覆岩片中的石湖镇构造岩片的花岗质片麻岩的下延部分。本单元之上下界线为韧性剪切带,内部发育小型韧性剪切变形,仅局部可见旋转碎斑体系等剪切指向标志,以SE向NW的逆冲剪切指向为主,其次为NW向SE的正滑剪切指向,并主要发育于较软弱夹层内,后者成为苏鲁地区存在伸展型穹隆构造的新证据;在1140～1280m岩性段内发育断续、较弱的拉伸线理,拉伸线理总体向SE倾伏,倾伏角为10～36°;花岗质片麻岩单元内部分石英以多晶石英条带的形式存在,花岗质片麻岩主要矿物长石基本没有动态重结晶现象,仅具较弱的形态拉长特征(X∶Z=2左右),总体面理倾向170°E,倾角平均20°,明显不同于其他岩性单元内的面理产状,可能主要代表折返变形之前的近东西向构造,而其他岩性单元受折返变形影响较大,其面理产状主要代表折返阶段形成的NE-NNE向构造;运用电子背散射(EBSD)技术进行石英组构分析并与费氏台测定对比,表明1113～1600m花岗质片麻岩单元经历了中—低温变形,局部残留有高温组构,剪切指向主要为SE向NW的逆冲,其中高温组构与中温组构均显示为SE向NW的逆冲剪切指向,反映折返早期与折返主期岩片的相对剪切方向一     

韧性剪切变形对岩石地球化学行为的制约——以北阿尔金巴什考供韧性剪切带为例

韧性剪切变形对岩石地球化学行为的制约一直是地质学家们探讨的课题。本文以构成北阿尔金红柳沟——拉配泉俯冲碰撞杂岩带与北阿尔金地块边界的巴什考供斜向逆冲型韧性剪切带为例，通过对韧性剪切带内花岗岩变形前后不同变形强度构造岩的地球化学组成进行对比，确定等比线斜率，探讨韧性变形对岩石体积和成分变异的影响。计算结果表明，在糜棱岩化过程中，糜棱岩化花岗岩体积亏损21％，花岗质糜棱岩体积亏损31％。质量平衡计算结果和等比线图表明，韧；陛剪切作用导致SiO2，流失量最大，A12O3、K2O及Ba、Rb、Sr等都有不同程度的丢失，显示出较强的活动性，MnO、P2O5、Sc位于等比线上或附近，表现出相对的稳定性。岩石中活动组分的变异是流体渗滤作用引起的，不活动组分的变异是体．积亏损造成的。     

万家寨引黄工程泥灰岩段隧洞岩石掘进机(TBM)卡机事故工程地质分析和事故处理

隧道全断面岩石掘进机 (TBM )的施工对地质条件适应性是一个不断认识和深化的过程 ,其中很多认识是来自已发生的各种各样事故和对事故原因的理性认识。本文是在对某隧洞TBM卡机地段的岩性 (包括工程性质 )、构造、地应力及其在TBM施工条件下的变化等方面进行工程地质力学研究的基础上 ,指出层间剪切带的存在及由此而产生的较大变形速率是导致事故发生的工程地质原因 ,并提出了相应的处理意见和建议。TBM卡机问题的顺利解决和它重新开始快速掘进证明了作者分析和工程处理措施的合理性。本文的分析有助于加深TBM施工对复杂地质条件适应性的认识 ,并可望为避免类似事故的再次发生提供参考和借鉴。     

Pseudotachylytes in the southern border fault of the Cenozoic intracontinental Teletsk basin (Altai, Russia)

The Cenozoic intracontinental Teletsk basin in the Central Asian Altai Mountains is composed of a complexly structured northern and a more simple southern sub-basin. These sub-basins formed in two distinct kinematic stages when first the NNW-striking Teletsk- and then the NE-striking West-Sayan shear zones became reactivated in the Cenozoic under dominant NS-oriented horizontal compression. Although the entire Teletsk basin strikes roughly NS, the southern sub-basin is parallel to the NNW-trending, amphibolite facies Teletsk ductile shear zone, while the northern sub-basin is NS-striking and flanked by differently structured, greenschist facies basement. Basement reactivation closely controlled the southern sub-basin formation, but this is less clear for the northern sub-basin. Contrasts between northern and southern basement and the exclusive occurrence of pseudotachylytes along the margins of the southern basin are explored for their contribution to the formation of the Teletsk basin with two distinct sub-basins.In the ductile shear fabric of the basement flanking the southern sub-basin, concordantly interleaved pseudotachylytes and isolated breccia lenses reflect local brittle deformation along the ductile fabric. The genetic link between breccia lenses and pseudotachylyte occurrences was defined by microstructural investigation. It allows to explore their possible development in a dextral strike–slip zone. These rocks occur in a large fault-bounded segment of the basement. The geometry of the structures in the segment is comparable with a dextral strike–slip sidewall-ripout structure along the Teletsk shear zone. Seismic slip related to pseudotachylytes is attributed to the sudden stress release on the NNW-striking Teletsk shear zone, when the latter became unconstrained by reactivation of the NE-trending West-Sayan fault zone at its northern boundary. The boundary of the sidewall-ripout structure was reactivated as a large listric fault in a later stage. The northern sub-basins roughly develop along an NS strike and are assumed to reflect reactivation of the ductile shear zone underneath the variably structured greenschist facies basement outcropping along the flanks of the sub-basin.     

Sm-Nd ISOTOPIC AGE OF LAMPROPHYRES IN THE GEZHEN GOLD-BEARING SHEAR ZONE ON HAINAN ISLAND AND ITS GEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Sm-Nd isotopic compositions of eight lamprophyre samples, which come from the Gezhen gold-bearing shear zone on western Hainan Island, are measured. The Sm-Nd isochron age is 495.98±13.14 Ma, (143Nd/144Nd) 0=0.512094, εNd(t) ranges from +1.80 to +2.00 and TDM from 982 Ma to 1196 Ma (average: 1060 Ma). The authors point out that the whole-rock Sm-Nd isochron age (495.98 ± 13.14 Ma) really represents the petrogenetic age of lamprophyre and the time of magmatism during subsequent subduction.