Coal mining along the Warfield Fault, Mingo County, West Virginia: a tale of ups and downs

Mine development along a 15-mile (24 km) section of the Warfield Fault in Mingo County, West Virginia has broadened the geological understanding of the fault and its related structures. The fault has been exposed in two new road cuts, one in the northeast-trending segment at Neely Branch and one in the eastern east-trending segment at the head of Marrowbone Creek. Both exposures show a well-defined normal fault with a 45° to 55° N dip, juxtaposing sandstone/shale packages from the roof and the floor of the Coalburg seam. The fault is associated with a thin gouge zone, some drag folding, and parallel jointing. Its trace tends to run parallel to the crest of the adjacent Warfield Anticline. Based on underground mine development and detailed core drilling, the vertical offset along the fault plane ranges from a maximum of 240 ft (73 m) in the central part of the area near the structural bend to less than 100 ft (30 m) in western and eastern directions. The fault is located along the relatively steeply dipping (locally in excess of 25%) southern limb of the Warfield Anticline, and appears related to a late phase of extension involving folded Pennsylvanian strata. On a regional scale, the lithological variations across the fault do not suggest any appreciable strike-slip component.Underground room and pillar mines in the Coalburg seam north and south of the fault have been greatly impacted by the Warfield structures. Due to the combined (and opposite) effects of the folding and faulting, the northern mines are located up to 400 ft (125 m) higher in elevation than the southern ones. Overland conveyor belts connect mining blocks separated by the fault. The practical mining limit along the steep slopes toward the fault is around 15%. Subsidiary normal faults with offsets in the 5- to 15-ft (1.5–4.5 m) range are fairly common and form major roof control and production hurdles. Overall, the Warfield structures pose an extra challenge to mine development in this part of the Appalachian Coalfields.     

Mid-holocene climate change in Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana

Lake Bosumtwi is one of the most widely studied palaeoclimate archives in West Africa. Results from numerous AMS ¹⁴C dates of samples from four piston cores from Lake Bosumtwi show that an abrupt sedimentary transition from a mid-Holocene sapropel to calcareous laminated muds occurred at about 3200 cal yr B.P. High-resolution analyses of the nitrogen isotopic composition of organic matter across this transition confirm its abrupt nature, and suggest that the change may signal a step toward increased aridity and intensified surface winds that affected western equatorial Africa from Ghana to the Congo basin. Northern and Eastern Africa experienced a similar abrupt shift toward aridity during the late Holocene, but at about 5000 cal yr B.P., a difference in timing that illustrates the regional nature of climate changes during the Holocene and the importance of feedback mechanisms in regulating Holocene climate variability. Furthermore, an abrupt change at about 3000 cal yr B.P. occurs at several sites adjacent to the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, which may hint at major changes in the surface temperatures of the tropical Atlantic and/or Pacific at this time.     

中国西部退耕还林(草)和沙漠化土地绿化的区域性气候效应

中国正在实施的西部大开发必将导致较大规模的土地利用和地表覆盖(LULC)变化,其中最重要的两类LULC变化是退耕还林(草)和沙漠化土地绿化工程。利用最新的全球地表特征资料数据库(GLCCD)识别以上两项生态建设工程的实施规模与范围,并以此更新了目前比较流行的区域气候模式的下边界条件,利用修正了的区域气候模式研究上述大规模LULC变化可能对中国区域性气候造成的影响。使用的卫星资源数据库是由美国地质测绘局(USGS)和Nebraska-Lincoln大学牵头,根据NOAA卫星的AVHRR资料、USGS掌握的高分辨率数字化地图,以及生态区划和植被分布等资料组建的。     

辽宁西部地区地震前后重力异常反映

采用高精度拉科斯特重力仪在辽宁西部地区进行多期重力重复测量，获得了较为丰富的基础资料，通过对资料的分析与研究，进一步加深了辽宁西部地区重力场变化的认识。特别是１９９４年１０月和１９９６年７月，在测区内及其附近相继发生ＭＬ４．９级和ＭＬ５．０级地震。而这两次地震为１９８８年以来在辽宁西部地区发生的最大地震。通过对该区流动重力资料空间上和时间上的研究分析，从中获得了震前重力变化的某些前兆信息。通过对该     

中国西天山拉尔敦达坂构造解析

拉尔敦达坂一带发育的大型复合式韧性剪切带，经解析分为水平拆离、挤压和岩浆侵入隆升、左行走滑韧性剪切三个不同阶段，变形时限分别限定在早古生代晚期至晚古生代早期、晚泥盆世和二叠-三叠纪。剪切带向东至伊连哈比尔山被“天山主干断裂”截断，向西经北本札尔特河谷的阿登布拉克沟在国境附近的阿拉爱格尔山口附近与邻国“尼古拉耶夫线”相接。该剪切带属南侧塔里木与伊犁-伊塞克两陆块碰撞缝合构造同碰撞期的次级构造带。     

造山带弧形构造——西昆仑—帕米尔弧及其预测

对比利牛斯等造山带典型弧形构造的分析表明,弧形构造是造山带尤其是板内碰撞造山带的普遍特征,可分为挤压逆冲-推覆主动型构造和推覆-滑覆被动型弧形构造。西昆仑—帕米尔是与比利牛斯Basque弧在空间形态、运动学及动力学特征等方面一致的挤压逆冲-推覆主动型弧形构造,推测该弧中部存在一巨大的底部低角度逆掩断层并由根部带向北延伸达100多公里,康西瓦断裂(基底缝合带)可能是主根部逆冲断层带。     

西菲律宾海沉积物稀土元素地球化学

对取自西菲律宾海区3个沉积物柱样（WP1、WP2和WP40）的32个样品的稀土元素（REE）地球化学行为进行了系统的研究。区内沉积物表现出以下特征：①稀土元素含量及总量（ZREE）较低，WP1、WP2和WP40孔的ΣREE依次为72．91×10－6，54．15×10－6和54．18×10－6，REE在粘土粒级中得到了较大富集；②REE球粒陨石标准化的分布模式曲线表现为负斜率，富集轻稀土，WP1、WP2和WP40孔LREE／HREE比值平均值为37．36，26．33和17．16，页岩标准化曲线大致呈水平；③与球粒陨石和页岩相比，Ce都表现为强烈的亏损；以球粒陨石为标准，WP40孔表现为弱的Eu正异常，其他两孔表现为弱的Eu负异常；以页岩为标准，皆显示Eu正异常；④ΣREE纵向变化曲线与CaCO3旋回曲线有良好的对应关系。上述特征表明：①沉积物的来源复杂，有陆源、火山源、生物源和自生源，在所研究的三个孔中，WP1孔含有较多的陆源物质，WP2和WP40含有较多的火山物质；②被粘土吸附是本区REE重要的存在形式；③沉积物形成环境为氧化条件；④据ΣREE的纵向变化曲线与CaCO3旋回曲线，将本区沉积物自下而上划分为末次冰期亚间冰期沉积、冰期最盛期沉积和全新世沉积。     

The Uplift of the Longmenshan Thrust Belt and Subsidence of the West Sichuan Foreland Basin

Based on fission track dating of apatite, and measurement of vitrinite reflectance of rock samples from the Longmenshan (Longmen Mountain)area and the West Sichuan foreland basin and computer modelling it is concluded that (l)the Songpan-Garze fold belt has uplifted at least by 3-4 km with an uplift rate of no less than 0.3-0.4 mm/a since 10 Ma B.P.; (2) the Longmenshan thrust nappe belt has uplifted at least by 5-6 km with an uplift rate of more than 0.5- 0.6 mm /a since 10 Ma B.P.; (3) the Longmenshan detachment belt has uplifted by 1 - 2 km at a rate of 0.016-0.032 mm/a since 60 Ma B.P.; (4) the West Sichuan foreland basin has uplifted by 1.7-3 km at a rate of 0.028-0.05 mm/a since 60 Ma B.P.; (5) the uplift rate of the area on the west side of the Beichuan-Yingxiu-Xiaoguanzi fault for the last 10 Ma is 40 times as much as that on its east side; (6) the uplifting of the the Songpan - Garze fold belt and the subsidence of the West Sichuan foreland basin 60 Ma ago exhibit a mirro-image correlation, i.e     

鄂西震旦系上统含磷岩系的划分与对比

上震旦统陡山沱组是鄂西地区最具工业价值的含磷地层。著名的磷矿有荆襄磷矿、宜昌磷矿、兴(山)神(农架)保(康)磷矿。迄今已有20多年的勘探史,但由于各矿区研究程度不一,又缺古生物依据,亦不能依靠同位素年龄来作划分对比,故在地层及磷矿层的划分、对比上认识不一。笔者结合磷矿特征及含磷岩系岩类组合、剖面结构特点、稀土元素特征等,将本区划分为4个磷矿分布区,将陡山沱组划分为3个岩性段、5个含磷层位。     

滇西变泥质岩的白云母b_0值及其构造－地层意义

据３３３个白云母ｂ０值，结合区域地层和构造的研究成果，提出：（１）原称昌宁－孟连变质带解体为西盟－勐统变质带（加里东期中压变质带）和澜沧双变质带的高压亚带，两期高压变质作用分别与海西－印支期的洋壳消减和陆－陆碰撞有关；（２）石鼓变质带是三个逆冲岩片的叠置，各岩片内岩石的变质作用各具特色；（３）金沙江洋盆为地块间小洋盆，其消减及嗣后的弧－弧碰撞可能不产生高压变质作用。在此基础上探讨了白云母ｂ０值在造山带研究中的意义。