Seismic study of pull-apart-induced sedimentation and deformation in the Northern Gulf of Aqaba (Elat)

New multichannel seismic and bathymetric data are presented, which clarify the Plio-Quaternary evolution of the northern Gulf of Aqaba (Elat) and the Dead Sea Transform (DST). The seismic data reveal two main seismic sequences, a lower (pretectonic) and an upper (syntectonic) unit, separated by a prominent unconformity. These units are each linked to a distinct tectonic phase in the history of the DST. Parallel horizons and an undisturbed internal structure point to a tectonic quite time or pure strike-slip without extension or compression during the first (pretectonic) phase. The second (syntectonic) phase, which begins in the early Pliocene, is characterized by a major change in the activity of the DST. The pretectonic sedimentary unit subsided and, consequently, dips southward with a supplementary inclination to the east. The coeval sedimentation of the syntectonic unit is recorded by the divergent reflection pattern and onlap terminations on the unconformity. The apparent fault system seems to be rearranged in the second phase. The stepover of the main strand of the DST from the eastern side of the Elat Deep to the western side of the northern Gulf of Aqaba was mapped in detail for the first time. The very smooth shape of the stepover and the apparent lack of extensional tectonics do not fit with the classical pull-apart basin model for the Elat Deep and point to a decoupling of the crystalline basement from the sedimentary overburden. Comparisons of the new geophysical findings with analog models support this assertion.     

火山与深空深地深海探测密切相关

在已知的太阳系行星及其卫星中几乎都发现有火山。火山作用贯穿于地球及其他星球的整个时空，在它们形成演化中扮演重要角色，是星球的灵魂。地球系统科学和深空、深地、深海探测是当今科技发展战略的重要组成部分和世界科技竞争的制高点，这些重大基础理论和战略需求的研究都离不开火山，无论是上天、入地、下海都要面对火山。火山是探索深地、深海的窗口，是通往宇宙的桥梁。目前人类能探知的地下深度仅约12 km，且只有一个点，而火山却能把数十千米，乃至几百千米深的物质带到地表，覆盖了地球和其他星球的大部分表面，这些火山产物是反演星球内部物质组成、结构和动力过程的重要抓手，对揭示行星差异演化和运行规律具有重要意义。此外，火山作用对气候、环境、资源、生物等都会产生重大影响，是构建地球系统科学的天然纽带，加强火山研究是大科学需要，势在必行。     

地球深部探测的先锋: 深地震反射方法的发展与应用

深地震反射剖面早已被国际上证实是一种地球深部探测的先锋技术,它利用比石油地震勘探更长的接收排列、更大的激发能量,探测上至地表,下达上地幔的精细结构和构造特征,现已被国内外越来越多地应用于大陆及海洋地壳与岩石圈上地幔探测上。深地震反射剖面技术在揭示地球深部动力学过程,论述大地构造演化,确定盆山耦合关系,推测成矿成藏条件,分析地震灾害等方面取得了丰硕成果。系统地梳理和概括了国内外陆地地区深地震反射剖面技术的研究现状以及典型应用案例。在此基础上,从深地震反射野外数据采集、数据资料处理、剖面地质解译以及多方法联合探测4个方面,对地震反射剖面技术未来发展方向进行了展望。研究认为：在野外采集方面,研发不同激发、接收组合类型的采集技术、提升深地震反射数据采集质量,减少环境破坏,降低经济成本;在数据处理中,继续探究提高深地震反射剖面的信噪比与分辨率,定量监控深地震反射数据处理过程中振幅保真度的相对变化;在资料解译时,将深入挖掘深地震反射剖面的叠前、叠后潜在信息,降低单纯依靠深地震反射振幅解译的非唯一性;在综合研究上,从多学科、多角度、多尺度、多方法上相互补充印证,降低剖面的多解性,提高成果的准确性和可靠度。

     

Review of the tectonics of the Levant Rift system: the structural significance of oblique continental breakup

The Levant Rift system is an elongated series of structural basins that extends for more than 1000 km from the northern Red Sea to southern Anatolia. The system consists of three major segments, the Jordan Rift in the south, El Gharb–Kara-Su Rift in the north, and the Lebanese Fault splay in between. The rifted parts of this structural system are accompanied by intensively uplifted margins that mirror-image the basinal pattern, namely, the deeper the basin—the higher its margins, and vice versa. Uplifts also occur along the fault splay section. The Jordan Rift comprises axial basins that diminish in size from the south northwards, and are separated from each other by shallow threshold zones along the axis of the rift, where the margins are also subdued. The Lebanese Fault splay consists of five faults that emerge from the northern edge of the Jordan Rift and trend like a fan between the north and the northeast. One of these faults connects the Jordan and El Gharb–Kara-Su rifts. The Levant Rift and its uplifted margins started to develop in the middle-late Miocene, and most of the structural development occurred in the Plio-Pleistocene.The Levant Rift system is characterized by its oblique displacement, and evidence for both dip-slip and strike-slip displacement was measured on its faults. Earthquakes also indicate that same mixed pattern, some of them show strike-slip offset, and others normal. It is generally conceded that the amount of normal offset along the boundary faults of the Rift system reaches 8–10 km, but the lateral displacement is disputed, and offsets ranging from 11 to 107 km were suggested. Assessment of the available data led us to suggest that the sinistral offset along the Levant Rift system is approximately 10–20 km. The similarity between the vertical and the lateral displacements, the basin and threshold structural pattern of the Rift, model experiments in oblique rifting, as well as the significant tectonic resemblance to the Red Sea and the East African rifts, indicate that the Levant Rift is the product of continental breakup, and it is probably an emerging oceanic spreading center.     

深海岩芯高分辨率的古环境记录-以南海北部陆坡17940-2柱状样为例

本文将深海岩芯高分辩率记录的替代性指标分为沉积型和生物型两类。沉积型替代性指标主要包括沉积物的粒度，沉积速率，粘土矿物；生物型替代性指标主要包括有孔虫，氧同位素，古水温，有机碳通量。对比研究发现，17940—2柱状样沉积物的粒度、沉积速率、有孔虫，氧同位素，古水温，有机碳通量等指标记录海洋环境变化信息程度优于其它替代性指标；沉积型替代性指标与生物型替代性指标记录海洋环境变化信息不同步；海洋环境变化的突变与渐变影响替代性指标记录的同步性。     

Geochemistry and origin of the Cretaceous sedimentary kaolin deposits,Red Sea,Egypt

This work reports, for the first time, the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the Cretaceous sedimentary kaolin deposits in the Red Sea area, Egypt and sheds the light on their source. Mineralogical and geochemical analyses of both bulk deposits and the sand and clay fractions of these deposits indicated that they are composed of kaolinite (average of 75 wt.%) and quartz (average of 22 wt.%). Traces of anatase (average of 1 wt.%) were identified in all kaolin samples, while traces of halite (average of 2 wt.%) and hematite (average of 1 wt.%) were reported in the majority of the analyzed samples. The clay fractions show relatively high contents of TiO₂ (average of 2.1%), Ni (average of 103 ppm), Nb (average of 98 ppm), Y (average of 67 ppm), and Zr (average of 630 ppm). Sum of the rare earth elements (ΣREE) in the clay fractions varies between 193 and 352 ppm. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns show enrichment of the light REE relative to the heavy REE ((La/Yb)_N = 9) and negative Eu anomaly (Eu*/Eu = 0.67).     

Seasonal cycle of hydrography in the Bab el Mandab region,southern Red Sea

The seasonal cycle of temperature—salinity variations in the Bab el Mandab region (southern Red Sea) is described using CTD data collected during four cruises spread over the period May 1995—August 1997. A two layer system exists during early summer, winter and spring while a three layer system exists during summer. During summer, a large amount of the Gulf of Aden water intrudes into the Bab el Mandab region; up to the northern limit (14.5‡N). The quantity of Red Sea water that flows into the Gulf of Aden is maximum during the winter and minimum during the summer     

Petrogenesis and tectonic significance of Neoproterozoic meta-basites and meta-granitoids within the central Dabie UHP zone,China: Geochronological and geochemical constraints

A combined geochemical (whole-rock elements and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopes, zircon trace elements and Hf isotopes) and geochronological (zircon U–Pb ages) study was carried out on the relatively low-grade meta-basites and meta-granitoids from Longjingguan within the central Dabie ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic zone, east-central China. Zircon investigations indicate that the meta-basites were formed at ∼772 Ma and subsequently experienced granulite-facies metamorphism at ∼768 Ma and a later thermal overprint at ∼746 Ma, while the meta-granitoids recorded three groups of zircon ages at ca. 819 Ma, 784 Ma and 746 Ma. The meta-granitoids can be subdivided into low-Si and high-Si types, and they were derived from mid-Neoproterozoic partial melting of the Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic metamorphic basement rocks of the South China Block, respectively. These Neoproterozoic zircon ages are consistent with the protolith ages of the Dabie Triassic UHP meta-igneous rocks. In addition, the low-grade rocks have bulk-rock Pb isotope compositions overlapping with the UHP meta-igneous rocks. Therefore, the low-grade meta-basites and meta-granitoids could be interpreted as counterparts of the UHP meta-igneous rocks in this area, suggesting the same petrogenesis for their protoliths in the Neoproterozoic.Trace element patterns indicate that the low-grade rocks have better preserved their protolith compositions than their equivalent UHP rocks, and thus they are more suitable for elucidating the Neoproterozoic evolution of the northern margin of the South China Block. Zircon ages combined with geochemical features strongly suggest that the protoliths of the meta-granitoids and meta-basites were formed in a magmatic arc and a continental rifting setting, respectively. More specifically, the granitoids derived from partial melting of Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic basement materials at ∼819 Ma in a magmatic arc setting, whereas the precursors of the meta-basites are products of a continental rifting event at about 784 to 772 Ma. The obtained results provide new geochronological and geochemical constraints for the Neoproterozoic evolution of the northern margin of the South China Block, which can further contribute to the understanding of the breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia.     

Origin of the northern Indus Fan and Murray Ridge, Northern Arabian Sea: interpretation from seismic and magnetic imaging

The nature and origin of the sediments and crust of the Murray Ridge System and northern Indus Fan are discussed. The uppermost unit consists of Middle Miocene to recent channel–levee complexes typical of submarine fans. This unit is underlain by a second unit composed of hemipelagic to pelagic sediments deposited during the drift phase after the break-up of India–Seychelles–Africa. A predrift sequence of assumed Mesozoic age occurring only as observed above basement ridges is composed of highly consolidated rocks. Different types of the acoustic basement were detected, which reflection seismic pattern, magnetic anomalies and gravity field modeling indicate to be of continental character. The continental crust is extremely thinned in the northern Indus Fan, lacking a typical block-faulted structure. The Indian continent–ocean transition is marked on single MCS profiles by sequences of seaward-dipping reflectors (SDR). In the northwestern Arabian Sea, the Indian plate margin is characterized by several phases of volcanism and deformation revealed from interpretation of multichannel seismic profiles and magnetic anomalies. From this study, thinned continental crust spreads between the northern Murray Ridge System and India underneath the northern Indus Fan.     

Heavy metals in the benthic foraminifera from the coastal lagoons,Red Sea,Egypt: indicators of anthropogenic impact on environment (case study)

Concentrations of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Ni, and Cd were measured in several species and genera of Recent benthic foraminifera from three coastal lagoons, namely Abu-Shaar, Umm al-Huwaytat, and Marsa Shuni lagoons located along the Egyptian Red Sea coast. Spatially significant differences in the metal concentrations of benthic foraminifera were recorded among different sites. However, some foraminiferal species display deformation in their coiling, general shape of chambers and the apertures. Abu-Shaar and Umm al-Huwaytat lagoons are virtually influenced by anthropogenic activities while Marsa Shuni lagoon is affected by natural inputs. Benthic foraminifer shows high concentrations of Fe and Mn, especially in Umm al-Huwaytat lagoon. Foraminiferal black tests support this result and reflect selectivity for iron absorption. Among the metals analyzed, Cd, Pb, and Cu showed significant high concentrations in benthic foraminifera at the study areas. The anthropogenic activities and natural inputs are responsible for the abnormalities in benthic foraminifera. Therefore, benthic foraminifera can be used as a good indicator of the environmental changes.     

Structural Variability and Rifting Process of the Segmented Cenozoic Pearl River Mouth Basin, Northern Continental Margin of the South China Sea

The Pearl River Mouth Basin (PRMB) is an important area for studying the evolution of continental marginal basins in the northern South China Sea (SCS), but the structural variability and spatiotemporal rifting process remains poorly understood. This study investigates the differential structural features of the eastern, middle and western PRMB, as well as the extensional deformation laws in operation during the rifting stage, according to an integrated analysis of geometric characteristics and kinematic parameters, i.e., horizontal displacement and stretching factors of basin and crust. The PRMB underwent at least three phases of intense extension, which varied in time and space. (1) During the middle Eocene, most sags in the PRMB were intensely stretched and high-angle planar to listric boundary faults controlled the wedge-shaped stratigraphic geometry. (2) During the late Eocene-to-early Oligocene, the stratigraphic geometry of the sags was slightly wedge-shaped and continuously controlled by boundary faults, however, the extensional strength decreased relatively in the Northern depression zone, but increased in the Southern depression zone. (3) During the late Oligocene, the extension was extremely weak in the northeast PRMB, but relatively strong in the southwest PRMB, leading to tabular stratigraphic geometry in the northeast PRMB, but localized slightly wedge-shaped stratigraphic geometry in the southwest. The southwest PRMB still underwent relatively strong extension during the early Miocene. The southwest PRMB that was induced by a small-scale localized mantle convection system constantly rifted during the late Oligocene, controlled by the weak lithosphere, westward (southwestward) diachronous opening and southward jump of the ocean ridge. The applied quantitative parameters and spatiotemporal rifting process may be used as a reference with which to study the segmented continental margin rifts.     

Droughts in the desert: Medieval Warm Period associated with coarse sediment layers in the Gulf of Aqaba-Eilat,Red Sea

Prolonged droughts can cause environmental stress, even in ecosystems that are already adapted to dry conditions. In these areas life greatly depends on rare, sporadic rainfall events that can produce flash floods. Today, urban expansion, population growth and development are occurring worldwide, including along hyperarid coastlines, an ecological zone on the extreme of habitability. In such places, the absence of the already limited precipitation can lead to long-lasting damage, and recognizing drought conditions in the past is useful for planning. Recognizing droughts, however, is challenging because they are not known as depositional events, and therefore may be under-recognized in the sedimentological record. Floods in these hyperarid deserts carry eroded sediments and deposit them in either terrestrial or marine terminal basins. In the hyperarid (ca 30 mm rain per year) desert surrounding the northern Gulf of Aqaba-Eilat some flash floods reach the sea and deposit alluvial sediments (mostly silt and clay) on the shelf. Following a recent 17 year drought period (1995 to 2012) a coarser surface layer was recognized offshore the outlet of an ephemeral river, despite the lack of incoming flood material. This coarsened layer resulted from a prolonged period wherein mixing and winnowing of fine particles at the surface was not interrupted by recurrent flash floods. In the bottom of two sediment cores collected from the same shelf, a similarly coarsened layer was observed. The terminal level of this deep coarse layer was dated to ca 660 yr bp , corresponding with the end of the Medieval Warm Period (ca 1350 ad ). These findings suggest that the medieval anomaly resulted in a prolonged drought period in this already arid region. These results present a new interpretation of grain-size distribution records that provides a means to reconstruct drought histories in hyperarid regions globally.     

成岩相分析方法在南海北部深水区储层预测的应用——以珠江口盆地白云凹陷为例

成岩相分析方法旨在在碎屑岩储层成岩作用和孔隙演化之间建立一种成因联系,建立研究区孔隙演化与成岩作用关系模型,为孔隙演化机理和主控因素分析及储层平面分布预测提供理论依据.研究表明,机械压实、胶结和溶蚀作用是本区主控成岩作用类型,据此可划分出5种主要的成岩相组合:早期碳酸盐胶结弱溶蚀相、弱压实强溶蚀相(＜1 800m)、中...     

南海北部深水区烃源岩形成和分布研究

南海北部深水盆地与大西洋被动大陆边缘盆地烃源岩存在明显差异,大西洋被动大陆边缘盆地以中生界裂陷期湖相和坳陷期海相烃源岩为主,有机质主要来源于水生低等生物。南海北部深水区裂陷期可能发育第三系湖相烃源岩,但油气源分析结果表明,第三系海陆过渡相煤系烃源岩为本区主力烃源岩。南海北部深水区煤系烃源岩和海相烃源岩有机质主要来源于陆...     

北阿拉伯海的光纤海洋观测网络:成功、挑战和机遇

2005年夏,一个先进的海洋观测网络——包括实时的光纤海洋观测系统和内部存储的自动化观测系统——被投放在了阿曼海和北阿拉伯海并运行至今.在2010年初,其中的自动化观测系统被升级到了新的深水光纤观测系统.这个海洋观测网络是在阿曼农业和渔业部的资助下,由美国的Lighthouse R&D公司设计、开发、安装和维护的.这2个观测系统作为一个整体已经连续工作了7年多的时间.所采集数据包括海流、温度、盐度、压力、溶解氧和浊度等.该海区是一个多水团的汇合区,波斯湾的高盐水和阿拉伯海的低盐水在这里汇合并蔓延南下到印度洋.对采集的数据研究表明,这一观测网络对研究该区域的物理和生物过程具有重要价值.在此,将系统介绍整个观测网络,并简要阐述已经完成和接近完成的4个研究主题:①对阿拉伯海有记载以来最强热带气旋“古怒”的海洋响应的研究;②阿曼海北部的季节性缺氧现象的季节及年际变化和成因分析;③深海声散射层的时空演变;④阿曼海和北阿拉伯海的高温高盐现象的成因.该观测网络采集的长期、连续的时间序列对这一地区的海洋动力研究、水文的季节性变化,以及气候的长期变化等研究都有很大帮助.此外,如果观测网络可以完成25年的设定观测目标,这将对验证和改进海洋环流模式和海气耦合模式具有重要意义.     

Patterns and Dynamics of Rifting on Passive Continental Margin from Shelf to Slope of the Northern South China Sea:Evidence from 3D Analogue Modeling

Affected by thermal perturbation due to mantle uprising,the rheological structure of the lithosphere could be modified,which could lead to different rifting patterns from shelf to slope in a passive continental margin.From the observed deformation style on the northern South China Sea and analogue modeling experiments,we find that the rift zone located on the shelf is characterized by half grabens or simple grabens controlled mainly by long faults with large vertical offset,supposed to be formed with normal lithasphere extension.On the slope,where the lithosphere is very hot due to mantle upwelling and heating,composite grabens composed of symmetric grabens developed.The boundary and inner faults are all short with small vertical offset.Between the zones with very hot and normal lithosphere,composite half grnbens composed of half grabens or asymmetric grabens formed,whose boundary faults are long with large vertical offset,while the inner faults are relatively short.Along with the thickness decrease of the brittle upper crust due to high temperature,the deformation becomes more sensitive to the shape of a pre-existing weakness zone and shows orientation variation along strike.When there was a bend in the pre-existing weakness zone,and the basal plate was pulled by a clockwise rotating stress,the strongest deformation always occurs along the middle segment and at the transition area from the middle to the eastern segments,which contributes to a hotter lithosphere in the middle segment,where the Baiyun (白云) sag formed.     

Relationship between the Extent of Igneous Rocks and Deep Structures as Determined by Gravitational and Magnetic Data in the South China Sea

The distribution of oil and gas resources in the South China Sea and adjacent areas is closely related to the structural pattern that helped to define the controlling effect of deep processes on oil-bearing basins.Igneous rocks can record important information from deep processes.Deep structures such as faults,basin uplift and depression,Cenozoic basement and magnetic basement are all the results of energy exchange within the earth.The study of the relationship between igneous rocks and deep structures is of great significance for the study of the South China Sea.By using the minimum curvature potential field separation technique and the correlation analysis technique of gravitational and magnetic anomalies,the fusion of gravitational and magnetic data reflecting igneous rocks can be obtained,through which the igneous rocks with high susceptibility/high density or high susceptibility/low density can be identified.In this study area,igneous rocks do not develop in the Yinggehai basin,Qiongdongnan basin,Zengmu basin and Brunei-Sabah basin whilst igneous rocks with high susceptibility/high density or high susceptibility/low density are widely-developed in other basins.In undeveloped igneous areas,faults are also undeveloped the Cenozoic thickness is greater,the magnetic basement depth is greater and the Cenozoic thickness is highly positively correlated with the magnetic basement depth.In igneously developed regions,the distribution pattern of the Qiongtai block is mainly controlled by primary faults,while the distribution of the Zhongxisha block,Xunta block and Yongshu-Taiping block is mainly controlled by secondary faults,the Cenozoic thickness having a low correlation with the depth of the magnetic basement.     

Isotope geochemistry of the Miocene and Quaternary carbonate rocks in Rabigh area,Red Sea coast,Saudi Arabia

The Rabigh area, a coastal region north of Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia contains raised Quaternary coral reefal terraces and reworked coral fragments mixed with sand and gravel. This area has a thin exposure Lower Miocene shallow marine carbonate rocks that laterally pass into evaporites. The Miocene carbonate and evaporite rocks conformably overly the Lower Miocene siliciclastic sequence, are in turn capped by the Harrat basaltic boulders. The Miocene carbonates are made up of dolomitic packstone, wackestone and mudstone, whereas the overlying Quaternary reefal terraces are composed of coral boundstone and grainstones.The Quaternary reefal terraces of Rabigh area have been dated using the uranium-series dating method to obtain precise dates for these corals. The calculated ages (128, 212 and 235 ka) indicate that deposition took place during high sea level stands associated with interglacial times during Oxygen Isotope Stages (OIS) 5 and 7. The youngest age (128 ka) clearly corresponds to stage 5e of the last interglacial period. The obtained ages correlate well with those of the emerged reefs on the Sudanese and Egyptian coasts at the western side of the Red Sea. The broad distribution of wet climate, pluvial deposits on the continents and high sea level stands indicate a wide geographical range of the interglacial events of the Oxygen Isotope Stages (OIS) 5 and 7.The oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of the Miocene and Quaternary carbonate rocks in Rabigh area show a broad range of δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O. The Quaternary carbonate rocks have significantly higher δ¹³C than the Miocene ones, but low δ¹³C values of the Miocene samples likely indicate a high contribution of carbon from organic sources at the time of deposition. Linear trends are evident in both groups of samples supporting the likelihood of secondary alteration.     

热带东太平洋中国多金属结核开辟区深海成矿环境的氨基酸表征

为了解中国多金属结核开辟区沉积物有机质活性及深海成矿沉积环境特征，使用高效液相色谱（HPLC）法分析了表层沉积物氨基酸的组成状况。结果显示该区表层沉积物中氨基酸与氨基糖含量(干样)均较低，分别在0.30～0.59 mg·g-1及 0.10～0.17 mg·g-1之间。其中以中性氨基酸占绝对优势，占50%以上，其次为酸性氨基酸和含氢氧基氨基酸，分别占17%和11%，碱性氨基酸占9%，芳香与含硫氨基酸均在5%以下,表明深海沉积环境为氧化环境，且偏碱性条件。表征有机质活性的Asp/β Ala、Glu/γ Aba及DI值（（Glu+Phe+Leu+Ala+Val）/ (β Ala+γ Aba)）分别为1.1～1.9，0.8～2.2和1.4～2.9，表明该区有机质成熟度已很高。蛋白氨基酸/非蛋白氨基酸的比值为1.0～2.0，葡萄糖胺/半乳糖胺比值则在1.7～3.0之间变化，表明该海区有机质经过强烈的细菌改造，即海区存在强烈的细菌活动，活性较低，表征了多金属结核有机—微生物成矿的可能性。     

Biostratinomy and facies analysis of the upper Cretaceous oyster storm shell beds of the Duwi formation, Qusseir District, Red Sea Region, Egypt

The Maastrichtian oyster Lopha villei (Coquand) occurs abundantly in the upper part of the Duwi Formation in the Red Sea region, Egypt. It forms thin undulating sharp-based shell beds that comprise both reclining and encrusting morphotypes of Lopha villei. Bed-by-bed biostratinomic and facies analyses of these shell beds confirm their shallow marine origin and formation by storm events. A tempestite model, explaining the mode of formation and the idealized sequence of events of such storm shell beds, has been inferred.