Time-transgressive cryoplanation terrace development through nivation-driven scarp retreat

Cryoplanation terraces are elevated bedrock features resembling giant staircases, with alternating steep scarps and shallow sloping treads. These landscape-scale features have long been associated with periglacial environments, but the processes involved in their formation remain vaguely specified and contentious. The two leading hypotheses for the formation of cryoplanation terraces are centered on: (1) geologic structure; and (2) nivation-driven scarp retreat. The nivation-formation hypothesis invokes scarp retreat under erosion processes associated with late-lying snowbanks. To test whether cryoplanation terraces develop through scarp retreat, six relative weathering indices (fracture counts, Cailleux roundness, Cailleux flatness, Krumbein sphericity, rebound, and weathering rind thickness) were measured across well-developed terraces in unglaciated eastern Beringia (central and western Alaska) at Mt Fairplay, Eagle Summit, and Skookum Pass. Statistically significant differences in relative weathering indices detected through chi-square and multiple-comparison procedures indicate that material is less weathered closer to scarps, i.e. that these areas were more recently exposed than those distant from the scarp. Based on these findings, a refined model of time-transgressive cryoplanation terrace development through nivation-driven scarp retreat is proposed. This new qualitative model addresses the removal of weathered material from terrace treads down side slopes through piping and gravity-driven mass-wasting processes. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中扬子江汉平原簰洲湾地区中、新生代构造-热演化史

本文综合运用磷灰石-锆石裂变径迹和（U-Th）/He、镜质体反射率及盆地模拟等手段,深入细致地探讨了中扬子江汉平原簰洲湾地区中、新生代构造-热史演化过程.研究结果表明,研究区中-新生代大规模构造抬升剥蚀、地层冷却事件始于早白垩世（140-130 Ma）;大规模抬升冷却过程主要发生在早白垩世中后期至晚白垩世.研究区虽然可能存在一定厚度的晚白垩世-古近纪地层沉积,总体沉积规模相对较小.综合分析认为,区内应该存在较大厚度的中侏罗统或/和上侏罗统乃至早白垩世地层的沉积;而现今残存中生代中、上侏罗统地层相对较薄,主要是由于后期持续构造抬升剥蚀造成的,估计总剥蚀厚度约4300 m左右.区内中生代地层在早白垩世达到最大古地温,而不是在古近纪沉积末期;上三叠统地层最大古地温在170~190℃之间.热史分析结果表明,区内古生代古热流相对稳定,平均热流在53.64 mW·m^-2;早侏罗世末期古热流开始降低,在早白垩世初期古热流约为48.38 mW·m^-2.     

Late Pleistocene talus flatiron formation below the Coal Cliffs cuesta,Utah, USA

Cuesta escarpment retreat is a principal mode of exhumation in regions of layered sedimentary rock. On the Colorado Plateau, this process acts as a mechanism for maintaining high‐relief topography and facilitating drainage divide migration. Quantitative estimates of cuesta evolution are difficult to evaluate over glacial‐interglacial timescales, and thus rates of geomorphic change along individual escarpments have mostly been constrained over millions of years. Several studies have addressed this problem by dating colluvium‐mantled talus flatirons. However, this technique has not been applied systematically on the Colorado Plateau. This study quantifies geomorphic change along a single Colorado Plateau cuesta using ³⁶Cl surface exposure dating. We present 33 ages from a single generation of talus flatirons below the Coal Cliffs of central Utah. Landscape evolution is further constrained using 14 ages from in‐situ bedrock, 3 ages from boulders on gully interfluves, and two ages from terrace alluvium. Results suggest a colluvial apron was deposited below the cuesta beginning as early as Marine Isotope Stage 3, and the latest depositional phase occurred near the Last Glacial Maximum. A switch from apron deposition to incision initiated flatiron formation sometime between 19.7 ± 2.5 and 11.8 ± 1.6 ka, broadly coincident with the transition from glacial to interglacial conditions. Our results have several important implications. Climatic changes during the end of the last glacial period appear to have shifted the balance between deposition and erosion below the Coal Cliffs, emptying the sediment reservoir at their base and increasing their height via bedrock incision. The climatic forcing could be imparted by several mechanisms, including local controls on debris generation / mobilization and base level changes exerted by transverse streams. Similar processes may have occurred during previous glacial‐interglacial transitions, implying that the escarpment retreat processes may be partially modulated by orbitally‐controlled variations in Earth's climate over larger timescales. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DETERMINATION OF TECTONIC EVOLUTION OF A SEDIMENTARY BASIN FROM SANDSTONE COMPONENTS

1 INTRODUCnONThe comPonents of terrigenous sedimenop rocks indicate not only provenance information, but alsotoctOnic evolution of basin. The chdrical composition of the soure rOCks is probaby the major conttDon the chendstry of sedimentny rocks although this can be greaily modified by subsequent Processes(Rollinson l993). Thus, through exndning Petrological and chendcal comPosihons of tenigenoussedlinmp rocks, the comPonentS of the provenance or somee rOCks - which are conunnly a fun…     

Geomorphic and cosmogenic nuclide constraints on escarpment evolution in an intraplate setting,Darling Escarpment,Western Australia

The ～900 km long Darling Scarp in Western Australia is one of the most prominent linear topographic features on Earth. Despite the presence of over‐steepened reaches in all westerly flowing streams crossing the scarp, and significant seismic activity within 100 km of the scarp, there is no historical seismicity and no reported evidence for Quaternary tectonic displacements on the underlying Darling Fault. Consequently, it is unclear whether the scarp is a rapidly evolving landform responding to recent tectonic and/or climatic forcing or a more slowly evolving landform. In order to quantify late Quaternary rates of erosion and scarp relief processes, we obtained measurements of the cosmic‐ray produced nuclide beryllium‐10 (¹⁰Be) from outcropping bedrock surfaces along the scarp summit and face, in valley floors, and at stream knickpoints. Erosion rates of bedrock outcrops along the scarp summit surface range from 0·5 to 4·0 m Myr^?1. These are in the same range as erosion rates of 2·1 to 3·6 m Myr^?1 on the scarp face and similar to river incision rates of 2·6 to 11·0 m Myr^?1 from valley floor bedrock straths, indicating that the Darling Scarp is a slowly eroding ‘steady state’ landform, without any significant contemporary relief production over the last several 100 kyr and possibly several million years. Knickpoint retreat rates determined from ¹⁰Be concentrations at the bases of two knickpoints on small streams incised into the scarp are 36 and 46 m Myr^?1. If these erosion rates were sustained over longer timescales, then associated knickpoints may have initiated in the mid‐Tertiary to early Neogene, consistent with early‐mid Tertiary marginal uplift. Ongoing maintenance of stream disequilibrium longitudinal profiles is consistent with slow, regional base level lowering associated with recently proposed continental‐scale tilting, as opposed to differential uplift along discrete faults. Cosmogenic ¹⁰Be analysis provides a useful tool for interpreting the palaeoseismic history of intraplate near‐fault landforms over 10⁵ to 10⁶ years. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sediment production and yield from an alluvial gully in northern Queensland,Australia

Sediment production, transport and yield were quantified over various timescales in response to rainfall and runoff within an alluvial gully (7 · 8 ha), which erodes into dispersible sodic soils of a small floodplain catchment (33 ha) along the Mitchell River, northern Australia. Historical air photographs and recent global positioning system (GPS) surveys and LiDAR data documented linear increases in gully area and volume, indicating that sediment supply has been relatively consistent over the historic period. Daily time lapse photography of scarp retreat rates and internal erosion processes also demonstrated that erosion from rainfall and runoff consistently supplied fine washload (< 63 µm) sediment in addition to coarse lags of sand bed material. Empirical measurements of suspended sediment concentrations (10 000 to >100 000 mg/L) and sediment yields (89 to 363 t/ha/yr) were high for both Australian and world data. Total sediment yield estimated from empirical washload and theoretical bed material load was dominated by fine washload (< 63 µm). A lack of hysteresis in suspended sediment rating curves, scarp retreat and sediment yield correlated to rainfall input, and an equilibrium channel outlet slope supported the hypothesis that partially or fully transport‐limited conditions predominated along the alluvial gully outlet channel. This is in contrast to sediment supply‐limited conditions on uneroded floodplains above gully head scarps. While empirical data presented here can support future modelling efforts to predict suspended sediment concentration and yield under the transport limiting situations, additional field data will also be needed to better quantify sediment erosion and transport rates and processes in alluvial gullies at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pervasive late Paleozoic-Triassic remagnetization of miogeoclinal carbonate rocks in the Basin and Range and vicinity, SW USA: regional results and possible tectonic implications

Relatively unmetamorphosed Paleozoic miogeoclinal carbonate rocks in the Basin and Range of E Nevada, SW Nevada and adjacent California, and W Utah yield low-inclination magnetizations that reflect pervasive, regional remagnetization around the close of the Paleozoic. The rocks range in age from mid-Cambrian through Pennsylvanian and lie generally in a broad belt between the mid-Paleozoic Roberts Mountain Thrust and the late Cretaceous Sevier thrusts. Most of the magnetizations reside in magnetite, but at one site the magnetization is evidently carried by pyrrhotite. Preliminary rock-magnetic data suggest samples with magnetite-borne remanences have wasp-waisted hysteresis curves typical of remagnetized carbonates. The origin of the remagnetization is problematic and probably polygenetic: both the Permo-Triassic Sonoma orogeny and deformation associated with the Ancestral Rockies seem too spatially limited, but magnetite from smectite destruction seems difficult to reconcile with the great stratigraphic extent of late Paleozoic remagnetization unless combined with thermal resetting of the lowermost units. A number of sites also appear to have undergone some vertical-axis rotation, and the sense and magnitude of these rotations are grossly consistent with independent geologic evidence. However, the probably large age range of the low-inclination components complicates their use for resolving tectonic rotations. Younger, intermediate-stability components of magnetization, probably of Cretaceous or Cenozoic age, are also found in many sites and also probably have multiple origins. At sites farther W, the late Paleozoic component is not found, which probably reflects its destruction by later Mesozoic or Cenozoic heating. At sites farther E, on and near the Colorado Plateau, gray carbonates yield only Cenozoic magnetizations. Some reddish, oxidized carbonates there locally contain a hematite-borne magnetization of late Paleozoic age. However, it is probably related to the development of thick continental redbed sequences in overlying strata on the plateau rather than to the remagnetization process(es) in the miogeocline.     

河南灵宝盆地中新生代陆相地层的新划分与对比研究

灵宝盆地位于华北板块南缘与秦岭造山带之间,是豫西北一系列北东-南西向断陷盆地之一.盆地内沉积地层主体为一套厚约2000m陆相碎屑岩夹泥灰岩、薄煤层沉积.本文根据盆地内的恐龙蛋、介形虫、腹足类、哺乳动物化石及少量孢粉等,将地层自下而上划分为下白垩统枣窳组、上白垩统南朝组、古近系古新统-下始新统项城群、中始新统川口组、上始新统庄里坡组及新近系上-中新世（组名暂未定）等6个地层单元.研究表明：下、上白垩统之间及其与项城群之间为不整合或超覆,上中新统与川口组或庄里坡组为不整合接触,整个地层是一套河流相沉积、局部洪泛洼地或小浅湖相沉积.     

Rock creep and the development of the Niagara cuesta

This work addresses the post‐glacial development of the Niagara Escarpment, specifically the east‐facing scarp slopes between Hamilton and Collingwood. The escarpment is one of a series of scarps that shape the Great Lakes Basin. One interpretation suggests that the escarpment has evolved through homoclinal recession to the west. It is therefore viewed as an erosional feature brought about due to fluvial action on the weaker shale formations that underlie the cap rock. However, the deposition of large amounts of drift during the Pleistocene glaciation has resulted in the disruption of the preglacial drainage pattern within the Great Lakes Basin. Therefore, the current drainage is typically orthogonal to the scarp face with an absence of fluvial action along the base. Consequently, the cuesta is experiencing an extremely slow rate of retreat. Conventional thinking on the evolution of the present morphology suggests that it developed rapidly following deglaciation due to periglacial processes. The concept of the escarpment as a relict feature during the Holocene therefore pervades the modern literature. However, the cambering of the cap rock towards the scarp face and the apparent motion of individual joint‐bounded blocks indicates that in the absence of exogenetic processes, a slow development due to endogenetic processes has dominated the modern development of the escarpment. It has been proposed that the present morphology of the cliffed sections may be due to deformation within the shale layers. In order to test this hypothesis, the rheology of the rocks that form the escarpment was tested and compared to the gravitational stresses that would be expected within the rock mass. The results indicate that the compressive strength of the shale layers of the Cabot Head Formation is lower than the expected effective stresses. It is therefore concluded that in the absence of high confining stresses, as would be expected near the cliff face, slow plastic deformation within this formation is occurring. The morphological expression of this deformation is seen in the cambering of the escarpment, the dilation of pre‐existing joints, and the rotation of joint‐bounded blocks. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sediment dynamics below retreating cliffs

The retreat of cliffs may constitute the dominant erosional response to base‐level fall in arid settings underlain by horizontally‐bedded sedimentary rock. These vertical cliffs typically loom above a relatively straight bedrock slope (‘plinth’) that is mantled with a thin layer of sediment and perched near the angle of repose. In detail, a plinth consists of a system of quasi‐parallel ridges and channels. We ask how the sediment supplied from a retreating cliff influences the erosion of the plinth hillslopes and channels, and how this affects the rate of cliff retreat. Motivated by field observations and high‐resolution topographic data from two sites in western Colorado, we develop a two‐dimensional (2D), rules‐based numerical model to simulate the erosion of channels draining a plinth and diffusive erosion of the intervening interfluves. In this model, retreat of a cliffband occurs when the height of the vertical cliff exceeds a threshold due to incision by channels on the plinth below. Debris derived from cliff retreat is distributed over the model plinth according to the local topography and distance from the source. This debris then weathers in place, and importantly can act to reduce local bedrock erosion rates, protecting both the plinth and ultimately the cliff from erosion. In this paper, we focus on two sets of numerical model experiments. In one suite, we regulate the rate of rockfall to limit the cliff retreat rate; in most cases, this results in complete loss of the plinth by erosion. In a second suite, we do not impose a limit on the cliff retreat rate, but instead vary the weathering rate of the rockfall debris. These runs result in temporally steady cliff‐plinth forms and retreat rates; both depend on the weathering rate of the debris. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cosmogenic-nuclide burial ages for Pleistocene sedimentary fill in Unaweep Canyon,Colorado, USA

We applied both single-sample and isochron methods of cosmogenic-nuclide burial dating to determine the age of the sedimentary fill in Unaweep Canyon, western Colorado, USA. This stratigraphic sequence is of interest because it documents capture and diversion of the ancestral Gunnison River by the Colorado River during late Cenozoic incision of the Colorado Plateau. Seven ²⁶Al–¹⁰Be burial ages from sedimentary infill penetrated by a borehole in central Unaweep Canyon, as well as a ²⁶Al–¹⁰Be burial isochron age formed by multiple clasts and grain-size separates in a sample from the stratigraphically lower Gateway gravels, indicate that canyon blockage, initiation of lacustrine sediment accumulation, and presumed river capture, took place 1.41 ± 0.19 Ma. Lacustrine sedimentation ceased 1.34 ± 0.13 Ma.     

Cenozoic sedimentary records and geochronological constraints of differential uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Geological mapping data (1:250000) in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its adjacent regions reveal the sediment sequences, distribution and tectonic evolution of the 92 Tertiary remnant basins. Southern Tibet and the Yecheng area in Xinjiang, located at southern and northwestern margins of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, respectively, were parts of the Neo-Tethys remnant sea in the Paleogene. In southern Tibet, both the subabyssal and abyssal sequences occur at the Gyangze, Saga, Guoyala, and Sangmai areas. The deep-water facies successions outcrop in the west, whereas the shallow-water facies sequences in the east, indicating the east to the west retreat of the Neo-Tethys Ocean. The retreat of the Neo-Tethys Ocean in the east was contributed to the earlier tectonic uplift of the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The uplift process of the Plateau from the Late Cretaceous to Pliocene is described as follows: During the Late Cretaceous, tectonic uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau occurred in the northeastern part and the configuration of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was characterized by rise in the northeast and depression in the west. In the Paleocene-Eocene interval, the Tengchong-Baingoin and Kuyake-Golmud areas experienced local tectonic uplifting, the West Kunlun uplift zone broadened easterly, the Qilian uplift zone broadened southerly, and the Songpan-Garzê uplift zone shrank easterly. The Oligocene configuration of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was characterized by mountain chains rising along its margins and sedimentary basins in the central part because of tectonic uplifts of the Gangdisê and the Himalaya blocks. Meanwhile, the Kunlun-Altyn-Qilian uplift zones have also broadened southerly and northerly. In contrast, the great uplift zones of the Gangdisê, the Himalaya, the Karakorum, and the Kunlun blocks characterize the paleogeographic contours of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the Miocene-Pliocene. Additionally, the thermochronological data on tectonic uplift events in southern Tibet, West Kunlun Mountains, Altyn Tagh, eastern Tibet, and western Sichuan all suggest that the most intense deformation occurred at 13-8 Ma and since 5 Ma, respectively, corresponding to two great uplift periods in Neogene. As a result, turnover of paleogeographic configuration of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau occurred during the Neogene, experiencing a change from high contours in the east in the pre-Oligocene to high contours in the west at the end-Pliocene. The uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the Cenozoic was episodic, and the uplifts of various blocks within the Plateau were spatially and chronologically different.     

Palaeomagnetism of Cretaceous and Jurassic volcanic rocks in west Sicily

The mean palaeomagnetic pole position obtained from Upper Cretaceous rocks in west Sicily is at 21°N, 100°E (A₉₅ = 15°), and at 38°N, 67°E (A₉₅ = 31°) obtained from Middle Jurassic rocks. These pole positions are completely different from comparable pole positions for southeast Sicily and Africa and imply a clockwise rotation of west Sicily since the Upper Cretaceous of about 90° relative to southeast Sicily and Africa and also a clockwise rotation of about 60° relative to “stable” Europe. The sense of rotation of west Sicily is opposite to any known rotation of other crustal blocks in the central Mediterranean.     

北京平谷地区地表陡坎的成因识别

根据对北京平谷三河地区地表陡坎的观察比较,研究了河流侵蚀陡坎与断层陡坎的微地貌形态差异。河流侵蚀形成陡坎的方向追随河流的冲沟方向,具不稳定性,并且陡坎的倾向沿河对称。断层陡坎的展布不受河流方向的影响,断层以倾向活动为主时,陡坎两盘的运动方向稳定。研究结果表明,平谷地区的地表陡坎是河流侵蚀陡坎。同时,还从构造地貌学与地层沉积学的角度,分析了平原区河流侵蚀沉积与断层断错沉积的特征,指出平谷地区的浅层人工地震探测及浅钻资料存在两种解释的可能性     

Geologic influences on fluvial hydrology and bedload transport in small mountainous watersheds,Northern New Mexico,U.S.A.

Discharge characteristics in six adjacent mountainous watersheds in northern New Mexico, U.S.A., vary substantially between basins underlain by different lithologies. Relatively resistant gneisses and granites underlie two basins (drainage areas: 43 and 94 km²) that have high unit discharge (0·010 to 0·14 m³s^?1 km^?2), high bankfull discharge, and sustained high discharge. Less resistant sandstones and shales underlie four basins (drainage areas: 96 to 215 km²) that have relatively low unit discharge (0·001 to 0·005 m³s^?1 km^?2), relatively low bankfull discharge, and peak discharges that are not sustained as long as those in the crystalline terrane. Analysis of snowmelt-runoff water budgets suggests that three factors control hydrologic conditions in the basins. First, area-elevation distributions appear to control the timing and amounts of water input. These distributions probably reflect the erosional resistance of the different lithologies. Second, lithology appears to control runoff production in areas having minor amounts of storage. Third, glacial deposits in headwater regions control discharge duration and timing via storage and return flow releases. The amount of return flow released by glacial deposits, however, is probably controlled by the permeability of underlying bedrock. Therefore it appears that the duration, timing, and magnitude of discharge events in the study area are controlled both directly and indirectly by lithology. Stream power and shear stress estimates derived from bankfull discharge and bed-material size data suggest that higher bedload transport rates and larger bedload particle sizes exist in streams draining crystalline rocks than in streams draining sedimentary terrane. It appears that source-area lithology, by controlling discharge production, also influences stream power, bedload transport capabilities, and therefore total amounts of bedload transport.     

塔里木盆地东北缘晚新生代钻孔岩心磁性地层年代学及其构造意义

塔里木盆地的高分辨率沉积记录对于理解青藏高原隆升、亚洲内陆干旱化乃至全球气候变化至关重要.建立可靠的地层年代标尺对于研究塔里木盆地晚新生代沉积环境演化、构造运动及古气候变化具有重要意义.本文对塔里木盆地东北缘库尔勒地区的两个全取心钻孔ZK3（深500 m）、ZK5（深300 m）进行详细的磁性地层学研究,结果表明,ZK3孔中更新统底界为54.8 m,下更新统底界为167.0 m,上新统底界为432.0 m,钻孔底部年龄约为6.2 Ma,属上中新统上部;ZK5孔中更新统底界为64.7 m,下更新统底界为241.5 m,钻孔底部年龄约为3.2 Ma,属上上新统.基于上述磁性地层年代标尺,通过沉积速率分析发现ZK3孔在3.0—3.6 Ma之间沉积速率明显增大,反映了塔里木盆地北部天山在此期间的快速隆升.通过东西部多个盆地地质剖面沉积速率的对比分析发现,这期构造活动在区域上具有准同期活动特征,在时代上与晚中新世以来青藏高原快速隆升的时代一致,可能与青藏高原的隆升扩展效应有关.     

Zircon provenance of Quaternary cover beds using U–Pb dating: Regional differences in the Southwestern USA

U–Pb dating of detrital zircons (DZ) in Quaternary slope deposits (cover beds) and examination of the surface structure of single zircon grains may enable reconstruction of the provenance of their aeolian components and help to reconstruct sedimentary palaeo-transportation cascades. We distinguish several layers of slope deposits (cover beds) using a palaeosol-supported sequence-stratigraphic approach. In a pilot study, we demonstrate the usability of using end-member-modelled analyses of grain sizes to identify the aeolian matter, multi-dimensional scaling and density functions (probability density functions (PDF) and Kernel density estimations (KDE)) of the U–Pb data, and the grain morphology of DZ, and show that the age and appearance variation of DZ in the Great Basin differ remarkably from those of the Colorado Plateau. All samples contain aeolian matter. Density functions of the DZ ages show similarities within each of the two regions. The Great Basin samples are dominated by late Cretaceous and Paleogene zircons, which are assumed to derive from volcanism. In contrast, the Colorado Plateau samples are almost free of these contributions. Presumably, the difference is due to palaeolakes, which were frequent in the Great Basin only, whose sediments contain a similar spectrum of DZ ages. Zircon morphology indicates that most grains have a history of aeolian transportation, whereas the grains assumed to be of volcanic origin often do not show similar transportation marks; this indicates that their transportation was dominated by the eruptive process but fewer steps of a transportation cascade. Multidimensional scaling of age data defines clusters of samples with similar DZ ages and – compared with published ages from possible sources – allows first interpretations of provenance. Quaternary aeolian sediments have not been studied in, and the applied mix of methods has not been applied to, the southwestern USA before. We demonstrate their feasibility for this study area.     

基于高分辨率地形数据的断层陡坎形态演化与强震活动关系研究

断层陡坎的形态可以保存有关断层带上地震活动等重要信息,陡坎上的坡折就是多次地震发生后陡坎演化留下的微地貌信息。以往研究选取的断层陡坎多为位于标准阶地面上的断层陡坎,而断层沿线地貌现象复杂,因此需要探索一种具有普适性的断层陡坎形态研究方法。本研究将常见的断层陡坎剖面按照形态划分为三种类型,以LiDAR技术获取的0.2m分辨率DEM数据为基础,选择了8个属于不同断层陡坎剖面类型的实验区,每个实验区采集不少于20条剖面,通过窗口检验确定研究区最佳数据获取移动窗口为7个像元并计算每条剖面的坡度值,通过坡度约束限定陡坎范围,进而识别坡折并获取坡折信息。对坡折信息进行概率密度统计,根据概率密度统计图中的峰值个数确定强震事件的次数。结果显示,陡坎形态研究结果与古地震探槽结果表现出较好的一致性,表明本文提出的陡坎形态研究方法可以适用于不同类型断层陡坎来确定强震事件次数。     

Geodynamics of decratonization and related magmatism and mineralization in the North China Craton

The North China Craton(NCC) experienced strong destruction(i.e., decratonization) during the Mesozoic, which triggered intensive magmatism, tectonism and thermal events and formed large-scale gold and other metal deposits in the eastern part of the craton. However, how the decratonization controls the formation and distribution of large-scale of gold and other metal deposits is not very clear. Based on a large number of published data and new results, this paper systematically summarizes all the data for the rock assemblages, chronology, geochemistry and petrogenesis of Mesozoic magmatic rocks, as well as for the mineralizing ages of gold and other metal deposits and the evolution of the Mesozoic basins in the eastern NCC. The results are used to restore the extensional rates of Mesozoic to Cenozoic basins and the strike-slip distance of the Tanlu Fault, to ascertain the location of the Paleo-Pacific plate subduction zones during the Mesozoic to Cenozoic, and to reconstruct the temporal and spatial distribution of Mesozoic gold and other metal deposits and magmatic rocks in the eastern NCC. It is obtained that the magmatism and mineralization in the eastern NCC westward migrate from east to west during the Early to Middle Jurassic, but they eastward migrate from west to east during the Early Cretaceous. The metallogenesis of these deposits is genetically related to magmatism, and the magmas provided some ore-forming materials and fluids for the generation of metal deposits. The geodynamic mechanism of decratonization and related magmatism and mineralization is proposed, i.e., the westward low-angle subduction of the Paleo-Pacific slab beneath the NCC formed continental magmatic arc with plenty of porphyry Cu-Mo-Au deposits in the Jurassic, similar to the Andean continental arc in South America. The mantle wedge was metasomatized by the fluids/melts derived from the subducting slab, laying a material foundation for hydrothermal mineralization in the Early Cretaceous. While the rollback of the subducting slab with gradually increasing subduction angle and the retreat of the subduction zones during the Early Cretaceous induced strong destruction of the craton and the formation of extensive magmatic rocks and large-scale gold and other metal deposits.     

Late Cenozoic sedimentary process and its response to the slip history of the central Altyn Tagh fault,NW China

The ENE-striking Altyn Tagh fault (ATF), extending along the northern edge of the Ti-betan Plateau, is one of the major important strike-slip faults, and has been known as one of the key areas to debate the eastward extrusion and crustral shortening models of the Tibetan Plateau during and after India-Asia collision. This paper mainly presents new evidence of Late Cenozoic sedimentary process to reconstruct the slip history of the ATF during the Late Cenozoic. Field measurements and laboratory analyses of the sedimentary characteristics in the Late Cenozoic basins in the central Altyn Tagh fault suggest that Late Cenozoic sedimentary sequence should be divided into three units according to facies changes. The paleo-topography reconstruction shows that the sedimentarion in these basins was tightly related with the fault, indicating that the ATF has experienced at least three stages of strike slipping in the Late Cenozoic. New geological data from the Late Cenozoic sedimentary basins and the formation of the present Suo’erkuli basin provide evidence for the displacement of the fault. The result shows that the 80–100 km left-lateral strike-slip displacement of the fault has been accumulated in the Late Cenozoic.