Growth structures and growth strata of the Qianjiadian Basin in the western Yanshan fold and thrust belt,North China

The northwestward subduction of the Izanagi Plate beneath the eastern Eurasian Plate during the Late Mesozoic caused a series of compressional deformation events in the Yanshan fold and thrust belt(YFTB), but the tectonic deformation timing, tectonic properties and relationship between tectonic uplift and sediment accumulation in the intermontane basins continue to be debated. For this reason, the sedimentology, sediment provenance, and basin structure of the Qianjiadian Basin(QJB) in the northern Beijing region during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous were studied in detail. The results suggest that a fault-propagation fold-type(FPFT) growth structure and growth strata developed on the western edge of the QJB and that the top part of Member 2 and Member 3 of the Tuchengzi Formation are growth strata controlled by the limb rotation mechanism. In two small thrust faults in the QJB, the Mesoproterozoic Xiamaling Formation is thrust over the Tuchengzi Formation, and these faults may have controlled the development of the fault-bend fold-type growth strata. An analysis of the "source-to-sink" process suggests that the hanging wall succession of the Shangyi-Pingquan fault(SPF) was the main source area of the Late Jurassic to early Early Cretaceous strata in the QJB. A zircon206 Pb/238 U age of 140.8±2.4 Ma for the volcanic rocks at the bottom of the FPFT growth strata represents the timing of the initiation of FPFT growth structure development. The discovery of the FPFT growth structure and growth strata in the QJB indicate that the QJB was an intermontane flexural basin controlled by fold and thrust structures during the early Early Cretaceous. Near the E-W-trending SPF, the NE-SW-trending Qianjiadian thrust fault(QJTF) and two small intrabasinal thrust faults may constitute a unified right-lateral strike-slip system that formed in response to the northwestward flat subduction of the Izanagi Plate beneath the East Asian continent during the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous.     

基于龙门山断裂带中段平行逆断层格局 和动力学背景的特征地震数值模拟实验

本文构建一种应用有限元开展特征地震数值模拟的新方法, 并以龙门山断裂带中段的浅层构造和动力学机制为背景, 研究了平行逆冲断层分布格局对区域地震活动性的影响. 结果表明, 从断层活动相互影响的角度看, 包含3条平行逆断层的断裂带的整体地震活动性并不适用严格周期的特征地震模型, 当断层间距在20 km以下时, 随着断层间距的缩短, 对单条断层应用特征地震模型的适用性会逐渐降低. 龙门山断裂带中段的模拟计算结果显示, 后山断裂的地震活动相对独立, 区域活动性和中央断裂的断层活动很可能不适用严格周期的特征地震模型.      

The damped cable system for seismic protection of frame structures — Part I: General concepts,testing and modeling

Research studies on the damped cable system (DCS) for seismic protection of frame structures are presented in this paper and the accompanying one. This technology includes prestressed steel cables linked to pressurized fluid viscous spring‐dampers fixed to the foundation at their lower ends, and to the top floor, or one of the upper floors, at their upper ends. The cables have sliding contacts with the floor slabs, to which they are joined by steel deviators. The general characteristics of the system, as well as of the constituting spring‐dampers and cables, are initially discussed. The results of a laboratory testing campaign developed on a DCS prototype are examined, and transferred into the formulation of the finite element model of the system, conceived to be easily generated by commercial structural analysis programs. A second dynamic experimental investigation follows, concerning a pilot installation of the system on a full‐scale mock‐up building. The benefits of the protective technology are evaluated in terms of maximum displacements and accelerations, as well as of equivalent viscous damping coefficient and MDOF transmissibility ratio. Further sections of the study, including a preliminary sizing criterion of DCS, additional numerical enquiries aimed at optimizing its geometrical layout, and the application to a real case study building, are offered in the companion paper. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nature of sediment dispersal off the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea: preliminary sediment budget and implications for margin processes

A sediment budget is constructed for the slope and narrow continental shelf off the Sepik River in order to estimate the relative importance of turbid plumes versus bottom gravity transport through a near-shore submarine canyon in the dispersal of sediment across this collision margin. ²¹⁰Pb geochronology and inventories of Kasten cores are consistent with the northwestward dispersal of sediment from the river mouth via hypopycnal and possible isopycnal plumes. Sediment accumulation rates are 5 cm yr⁻¹ on the upper slope just off of the Sepik mouth, decreasing gradually to 1 cm yr⁻¹ toward the northwest, and decreasing abruptly offshore (<0.2 cm yr⁻¹ at 1200 m water depth). A sediment budget indicates that only about 7–15% of the Sepik River sediment discharge accumulates on the adjacent open shelf and slope. The remainder presumably escapes offshore via gravity flows through a submarine canyon, the head of which extends into the river mouth. The divergent sediment pathways observed off the Sepik River (i.e., surface and subsurface plumes versus sediment gravity flows through a canyon) may be common along high-yield collision margins of the Indo–Pacific archipelago, and perhaps are analogous to most margins during Late Quaternary low sea-level conditions.     

Comparison of taxon calibrations,modern analogue techniques,and forest-stand simulation models for the quantitative reconstruction of past vegetation: A critique

Taxon calibrations based on eastern North America or on the southeastern United States alone suggest a different forest composition from that based on Wisconsin/Michigan, which is argued as preferable. Questions are raised about how well comparison with modern analogues distinguishes forest characteristics. The simulation model used by Delcourt and Delcourt is thought to be inappropriate, partly because it is constrained by faulty climatic data. Models are seen as complementary to other techniques rather than as an alternative methodology.     

Identification, definition and quantification of goods and services provided by marine biodiversity: implications for the ecosystem approach

This paper identifies and defines ecosystem goods and services provided by marine biodiversity. Case studies have been used to provide an insight into the practical issues associated with the assessment of marine ecosystem goods and services at specific locations. The aim of this research was to validate the definitions of goods and services, and to identify knowledge gaps and likely difficulties of quantifying the goods and services. A validated theoretical framework for the assessment of goods and services is detailed, and examples of the goods and services at a variety of case study areas are documented. These results will enable future assessments of marine ecosystem goods and services. It is concluded that the utilisation of this goods and services approach has the capacity to play a fundamental role in the Ecosystem Approach, by enabling the pressures and demands of society, the economy and the environment to be integrated into environmental management.     

Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd isotopic studies of mafic igneous rocks from the Ryoke plutono-metamorphic belt in the Setouchi area, Southwest Japan: implications for the genesis and thermal history

Abstract Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd isochron ages were determined for whole rocks and mineral separates of hornblende‐gabbros and related metadiabases and quartz‐diorite from Shodoshima, Awashima and Kajishima islands in the Ryoke plutono‐metamorphic belt of the Setouchi area, Southwest Japan. The Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd whole‐rock‐mineral isochron ages for six samples range from 75 to 110 Ma and 200–220 Ma, respectively. The former ages are comparable with the Rb–Sr whole‐rock isochron ages reported from neighboring Ryoke granitic rocks and are thus due to thermal metamorphism caused by the granitic intrusions. On the contrary, the older ages suggest the time of formation of the gabbroic and related rocks. The initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios of the gabbroic rocks (0.7070–0.7078 and 0.51217–0.51231 at 210 Ma, respectively) are comparable with those of neighboring late Cretaceous granites and lower crustal granulite xenoliths from Cenozoic andesites in this region. Because the gabbroic rocks are considered to be fragments of the lower crustal materials interlayered in the granulitic lower crust, their isotopic signature has been inherited from an enriched mantle source or, less likely, acquired through interaction with the lower crustal materials. The Sr and Nd isotopic and petrologic evidence leads to a plausible conclusion that the gabbroic rocks have formed as cumulates from hydrous mafic magmas of light rare earth element‐rich (Sm/Nd < 0.233) and enriched isotopic (?_Sr > 0 and ?_Nd < 0) signature, which possibly generated around 220–200 Ma by partial melting of an upper mantle. We further conclude that they are fragments of refractory material from the lower crust caught up as xenoblocks by granitic magmas, the latter having been generated by partial melting of granulitic lower crustal material around 100 Ma.     

Recognition of shear heating on a long‐lived major fault using Raman carbonaceous material thermometry: implications for strength and displacement history of the MTL,SW Japan

The extent to which movement on major faults causes long term shear heating is a contentious issue and an important aspect in the debate about the strength of major faults in the crust. Comparing the results of experimental work on the kinetics of crystallization of carbonaceous material with results of thermal modeling show that the Raman carbonaceous material (CM) geothermometer is well suited to studying shear heating on geological time scales in suitable lithologies exposed around exhumed major fault zones. The Median Tectonic Line (MTL), SW Japan, is the largest on‐land fault in Japan with a length of > 800 km. Application of Raman CM thermometry to pelitic schist adjacent to the fault reveals the presence of a rise in peak temperature of around 60 °C over a distance of around 150 m perpendicular to the MTL fault plane. The spatial association of this thermal anomaly with the fault implies it is due to shear heating. Thermal modeling shows the recorded thermal anomaly and steep temperature gradient is compatible with very high rates of displacement over time scales of a few thousand years. However, the implied displacement rates lie outside those generally observed. An alternative explanation is that an originally broader thermal anomaly that developed during strike slip faulting was shortened due to the effects of normal faulting. Constraints on displacement rate, width of the original anomaly, duration of heating and peak temperature imply a coefficient of friction, μ, greater than 0.4.