Continental Drift and Present Landscapes

Abstract

The subject of continental drift arouses great interest among students, for whom the idea that the landmasses are raft-like and in constant motion is new and exciting. The concept can be used with great advantage to persuade students to look in a more productive way at the shapes of coastlines, the distribution of mountain ranges, and landscapes in general. Some topics that may be useful to teachers are discussed in this article.     

Continental drift and true polar wandering

Summary . Evidence in the form of 75 yr of ILS data is accumulating which suggests that true polar wander may be currently taking place. It seems likely that true wander of some magnitude must always accompany plate motions, but the extrapolated ILS rate is an order of magnitude larger than the rate of true polar wander deduced from palaeomagnetic data over the past 55 Myr. The conflict between palaeomagnetic and latitude data provides the motivation for investigating one possible excitation of polar wander, the mass redistribution which accompanies continental drift.
The mass redistribution arises mainly because of the contrasting density structure of oceanic and continental regions. The change in the inertia tensor resulting from 10⁶yr of plate motions is found to be negligibly small; even consideration of episodic plate movements, anelasticity, or a decoupled lithosphere cannot boost the effect to the ILS rate of polar wander. These conclusions are strengthened by the fact that any one of several absolute plate velocity models, based on extremely diverse assumptions, yields the same results.
In contrast, preliminary findings regarding the effect of Pleistocene deglaciation activities on the inertia tensor reveal that such non-isostatic phenomena may have a large influence on polar wander.     

Variable complexity of the US Continental Divide trace

Abstract

Map-view complexity of 65 contiguous segments of the conterminous US Continental Divide trace was evaluated by the divider method, with each segment’s geometry approximated by a fractal dimension (D) value, or two D values applying to fine and coarse scales of inspection. Results support a generalization that D values in the range 1.05–1.12 are typical for drainage divides viewed at regional to national scales. However about 20% of cases reviewed in this study are smoother (D = 1.01–1.04) or more complex (D = 1.13–1.18) traces. Complexities of these watershed boundary segments show no significant correlation with physiographic province or local relief. The primary influence of bedrock lithology and surface process is seen in zones of Quaternary volcanism, where uncommonly smooth and highly complex divide trace segments are more the rule than exception. Uncommonly smooth divide traces are also found descending mountain pediments in areas of parallel drainage, and some of the most tortuous traces are associated with drainage patterns disrupted by non-fluvial processes. Divide trace segments crossing terrain with uniform lithology show decreased complexity, but traces with the broadest range of complexity, including highest D values, occur in areas with moderate, not extreme, degrees of bedrock diversity.     

1990年以来中国大陆海岸线稳定性研究

海岸线变迁是一个动态的演变过程,它是自然与人类共同作用的结果。基于1990年、2000年、2007年和2012年4个时期的资源卫星、Landsat系列卫星的遥感影像,采用色差Canny算子计算方法提取岸线数据,计算近22 a来中国大陆海岸线向海推进或向陆后退的空间位置变化量及年均变化速度,研究中国大陆海岸线空间位置与稳定性的演变规律,得出以下结论：① 中国海岸线空间位置变化以向海推进为主;② 中国海岸线多为相对稳定海岸线,其次为强烈岸进岸线,稳定性岸线全国均有分布,而强烈岸进岸线多分布于江苏和辽宁两省;③ 自1990年以来,中国大陆岸线的稳定性指数逐渐降低,22 a下降了1.1,以长江入海口为分界,南方沿海城市岸线稳定性指数高于北方。     

陆相盐湖层序地层学研究简述

陆相盐湖盐源复杂多样,主要有陆源、海源和地壳深部三大类。前两类主要通过蒸发成盐,气候起着关键作用,形成的陆相盐湖低水位和高水位体系域中盐岩发育,湖侵体系域中盐岩相对不发育;第三类主要通过兑卤成盐,作为深层卤水通道的深大断裂的活动期次控制了盐岩的发育,盐岩主要发育在湖侵体系域,高水位体系域次之,低水位体系域中盐岩一般不发育。     

Isostasy of the Northern Bay of Biscay Continental Margin

Summary. Spectral analysis of eight marine gravity profiles and seven SEASAT profiles, combined with corresponding bathymetric data over the Northern Bay of Biscay origin, yield identical admittance functions for wavelengths greater than 120 km. the resulting admittance function has been interpreted in terms of an Airy model of compensation for wavelengths greater than 250 km and in terms of an elastic plate model of compensation for shorter wavelengths. the Airy model corresponds to a crustal thickness variation across the margin. the plate model with an elastic thickness of 8 km is associated with the regional compensation of a sedimentary load which was probably emplaced during and just after rifting.