New Insights into the Evolution of an Intervalley Prehistoric Irrigation Canal System,North Coastal Peru

We present the results of combined AMS‐¹⁴C and single‐grain luminescence dating of pre‐Columbian irrigation canals that are part of the Racarumi Intervalley Canal System (RICS) in northern Peru. Archaeological and archival evidence suggest that the RICS was constructed during Middle Sicán (A.D. 900–1100) rule and continued to operate during Chimú and Inka conquests in the A.D. 1300s and 1400s, respectively, until finally succumbing to Spanish control of the area in the early A.D. 1500s. Detrital charcoal (AMS‐¹⁴C) and sand grains (OSL and IRSL) were collected from active, post‐abandonment, and clean out deposits in six earthen canals located within three separate alignments of the RICS. Resulting ages confirm operation during Middle Sicán, Late Sicán, Chimú, and Inka control, and possibly into the early part of the Spanish period. Placed within their hydroclimatological context, RICS canal deposits document recurrent El Niño flooding ∼A.D. 1300–1600 but indicate that damage to the system was repaired and the canals continued to operate despite periodic disruptions. This study demonstrates that single‐grain luminescence analysis conducted within a framework of geomorphology and formation processes has significant potential for detailed and accurate dating of ancient water‐control systems.     

Insights into the petrogenesis of the West Kimberley lamproites from trace elements in olivine

The Miocene lamproites of the West Kimberley region, Western Australia include olivine-leucite lamproites (≤10 wt% MgO) containing olivine and leucite microphenocrysts, and diamondiferous olivine lamproites (20–30 wt% MgO) containing olivine phenocrysts and larger (1–10 mm) olivine as mantle xenocrysts and dunite micro-xenoliths. Olivine phenocrysts and thin (<100 μm) magmatic rims define trends of decreasing Cr and Ni, and increasing Ca and Mn, with decreasing olivine Mg#, consistent with fractional crystallisation of olivine (and minor chromite). Many phenocrysts are zoned, and those with cores of similar Mg# and trace element abundances to the mantle xenocrysts may be xenocrysts overgrown by later olivine crystallised from the lamproite magma. Magmatic olivines Mg#_91–92 are estimated to have been in equilibrium with olivine lamproite magma(s) containing ~22–24 wt% MgO. The xenocrystic mantle olivines Mg_90–92.5 in the olivine lamproites are inferred from trace element abundances to be mostly derived from garnet peridotite with equilibration temperatures estimated from the Al-in-olivine thermometer (Bussweiler et al. 2017) to be ~1000–1270 °C at depths of 115–190 km. Olivines from the deeper lithosphere are less depleted (lower Mg#, higher Na, Al, P, Ti, Zr etc) than those at shallower depths, a feature suggested to reflect the combined effects of metasomatic re-enrichment of the craton roots (Ti, Fe, Zr etc) and increasing temperature with depth of origin (Na, Al, Ca). The West Kimberley lamproite olivines are not enriched in Li, as might be expected if their source regions contained continental sedimentary material as has been previously inferred from lamproite large-ion-lithophile trace elements, and Sr and Pb isotopes.

     

孟加拉湾盆地构造特征与动力学演化:来自卫星重力与地震资料的新认识

为了揭示孟加拉湾盆地的构造特征和中生代以来的动力学演化,对研究区卫星重力数据进行滤波、梯度和延拓等深度处理,对相关地震剖面进行标准化处理,在研究区建立了8条主干剖面.自由空气重力异常及其深度处理结果显示在盆地西部、海岭内部及盆地东部分别发育北西向破碎带、近东西向断裂和北东向线性构造,分别反映了海底北西向扩张、海岭侵位及印度洋洋壳北东向俯冲的影响.主干剖面经标准化处理后划分出上白垩统-第四系5套层系,结合重力异常与地层厚度,将孟加拉湾盆地划分为西部坳陷、85°E海岭隆起、中央坳陷、90°E海岭隆起和若开坳陷5个构造单元.85°E海岭隆起内发育的多个孤立高隆起是热点幕式喷发的响应,控制着碰撞前盆地“西厚东薄”的沉积格局,而碰撞后孟加拉扇体系在始新世至中新世期间一直向南迁移,未受到海岭的明显影响.90°E海岭南段(7°~14°N)的俯冲消减促进了安达曼增生楔的向西生长,北段(14°~20°N)的俯冲作用则控制着若开坳陷、印缅增生楔和孟加拉湾盆地沉积中心的演化.构造特征和动力学演化分析表明盆地经历了原始大洋盆地(晚白垩世-早渐新世)和残留洋盆地(晚渐新世-)2个主要演化阶段.      

黄河上游第四纪河流地貌演化--兼论青藏高原1∶25万新生代地质填图地貌演化调查

在青藏高原1∶25万地质填图中,新生代地貌演化调查方法是查明地貌组成的形态、分布、形成年代等特征,分析地貌成因类型,研究地貌与构造、气候、沉积的关系,通过夷平面、河流阶地等反映隆升过程的标志性地貌面调查,分析地貌发展阶段,建立区域地貌演化史.由黄河上游羊曲段阶地地貌调查结果,推断黄河在0.03 Ma才切开共和南山.对比黄河上游不同发育地段阶地,表明黄河上游地貌演化过程是伴随高原阶段隆升而向上游阶段性溯源侵蚀发展的.1.6 Ma黄河稳定出现在民和-兰州-临夏,1.1 Ma切开积石峡到达化隆-贵德,0.15 Ma切开龙羊峡出现于共和盆地,约0.03 Ma经历最新抬升事件,切开贵南南山及西秦岭,并沟通若尔盖盆地抵达黄河源区.     

New Insights into the Origin of Kabbaldurga Charnockites, Karnataka, South India

A detailed study of the structure and petrology of the rocks bordering the Kabbaldurga-type charnockites provides important constraints on the origin of these charnockites. The structural elements register three phases of deformation and show a uniform pattern in the larger area, a pattern consistent with the regional structure of the Precambrian of Southern Karnataka. In the Kabbaldurga area, however, some of the earlier structures are poorly preserved. Yet there are vestiges of early folds described by banded/layered charnockites as in the neighbouring Kodamballi area, and a consistent development of dilatant structures which can be related to the kinematics of deformation in the larger terrain. At Kabbaldurga the pegmatitic charnockites occur as veins of diverse orientation; but they rarely follow the shear - generated structures.

The metamorphic reactions invoked by previous workers to explain in situ transformation of gneiss to charnockite were based on chemical similarity of some close pairs. But the petrographic and chemical variations in the pegmatitic charnockites and the Peninsular gneisses at Kabbaldurga quarry are compelling features which cannot be explained by the hypothesis of in situ transformation. We have argued, on the basis of rock and mineral chemistry, that derivation of the pegmatitic charnockites by dehydration melting in metabasites offers a better explanation. Pressure-temperature values (at least 850° to 900° C, 7 kbar) obtained by us for the granulites of this area, viewed against the results of experimental dehydration melting in basic rocks with hornblende and/or biotite, provide strong support for this model. In the field leucosomes within the basic granulites of Kabbaldurga are not uncommon. The compositions of the pegmatitic charnockites (tonalitic and granitic) match those of the melts produced in experiments. Further, the pattern of variation in the composition of hornblende and plagioclase in the basic granulites of the Kabbaldurga area is compatible with extraction of melts. This alternative model for the origin of the Kabbaldurga charnockites is petrologically feasible and does not require either in situ transformation or structurally controlled growth, which, incidentally, are not ubiquitous at Kabbaldurga     

橄榄石腐蚀像立体模型构建及其岩石组构研究之启示

利用20% 浓度的氢氟酸（HF）对橄榄石晶体不同方向之切面进行了腐蚀实验,以期建立三维立体构型。在晶体上选 取垂直任一结晶轴的单形,如（100）,（010）,（001）等平行双面,（110）,（011）,（101）等菱方柱和（111）菱方双锥进 行了腐蚀实验,由原子力显微镜记录各个切面腐蚀像。结果显示,相同切面上的腐蚀像具有固定的几何形状及角度,且在 晶面上的结晶学方向固定。各腐蚀像形状具有共性,即长轴为[010] 方向,短轴为[100] 方向。由不同切面腐蚀像的变化规律, 建立了橄榄石腐蚀像三维立体模型。相同腐蚀剂对不同晶面腐蚀的容易程度差异巨大,以蚀坑在DIC200× 下能清晰观察到 腐蚀像形态为标准,橄榄石各切面的腐蚀速率为v（010）>v（110）>v（100）>v（111）>v（101）>v（001）>v（011）。由橄榄石晶体腐蚀像的唯一 性及其结晶学定向,在橄榄岩切片中将橄榄石颗粒切面指数化,并获得其结晶学定向及结晶优选方向。由此,在大别山碧 溪岭石榴子石二辉橄榄岩中推断橄榄石[100] 主极密垂直面理面,[010] 主极密平行于线理面。腐蚀像所确定的晶体结晶优选 性为当地构造动力提供了一定有价值资料,开拓了腐蚀像的地质应用意义。     

对内蒙古阿拉善西部地下水流向问题的新认识

内蒙古阿拉善西部的水文地质研究程度很低,关于地下水的来源和流向仍然存在各种不同的认识,需要在沙漠腹地补充钻探资料加以验证。本研究在前人调查成果的基础上,选择巴丹吉林沙漠及其周边的4个控制点进行了水文地质钻探,获得关键性的含水层分布和地下水位数据,对地下水流向问题提出了新的认识。分析结果表明,阿拉善西部广泛发育厚度50 m以上的第四系孔隙含水层,与新近系和白垩系砂岩含水层一起构成主要的地下水渗透介质,使区域地下水流具有连续性。地下水总体自东向西、自南向北流动,水力梯度介于0.8‰与7.9‰之间。在区域尺度上,断裂带对浅层地下水的作用并不显著。     

Major and Trace Elements of Magnetite from the Qimantag Metallogenic Belt: Insights into Evolution of Ore–forming Fluids

Magnetite, as a genetic indicator of ores, has been studied in various deposits in the world. In this paper, we present textural and compositional data of magnetite from the Qimantag metallogenic belt of the Kunlun Orogenic Belt in China, to provide a better understanding of the formation mechanism and genesis of the metallogenic belt and to shed light on analytical protocols for the in situ chemical analysis of magnetite. Magnetite samples from various occurrences, including the ore–related granitoid pluton, mineralised endoskarn and vein–type iron ores hosted in marine carbonate intruded by the pluton, were examined using scanning electron microscopy and analysed for major and trace elements using electron microprobe and laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. The field and microscope observation reveals that early–stage magnetite from the Hutouya and Kendekeke deposits occurs as massive or banded assemblages, whereas late–stage magnetite is disseminated or scattered in the ores. Early–stage magnetite contains high contents of Ti, V, Ga, Al and low in Mg and Mn. In contrast, late–stage magnetite is high in Mg, Mn and low in Ti, V, Ga, Al. Most magnetite grains from the Qimantag metallogenic belt deposits except the Kendekeke deposit plot in the " Skarn " field in the Ca+Al+Mn vs Ti+V diagram, far from typical magmatic Fe deposits such as the Damiao and Panzhihua deposits. According to the(Mg O+Mn O)–Ti O2–Al2O3 diagram, magnetite grains from the Kaerqueka and Galingge deposits and the No.7 ore body of the Hutouya deposit show typical characteristics of skarn magnetite, whereas magnetite grains from the Kendekeke deposit and the No.2 ore body of the Hutouya deposit show continuous elemental variation from magmatic type to skarn type. This compositional contrast indicates that chemical composition of magnetite is largely controlled by the compositions of magmatic fluids and host rocks of the ores that have reacted with the fluids. Moreover, a combination of petrography and magnetite geochemistry indicates that the formation of those ore deposits in the Qimantag metallogenic belt involved a magmatic–hydrothermal process.     

长江口沉积物化学相态分析及主泓变迁的指示

元素地球化学是沉积物源判别和环境研究的重要手段,但河口海岸地区沉积动力环境复杂多变,人类活动影响强烈,全岩沉积地球化学的示踪研究存在局限性和多解性。选择长江下游干流悬浮物、东海陆架表层沉积物以及长江口具有一百多年沉积记录的ZK6孔,通过化学相态分析（1 N HCl处理）,探究酸溶态微量元素组成特征及其对河口环境变迁的指示。相较于钻孔全岩样品,酸溶态Sr/Ba比能更可靠地反映河口古盐度和海陆相沉积环境的变化。ZK6孔沉积物酸溶态稀土元素（REE）主要赋存于Mn氧化物中,Mn、ΣREE含量、Ce/Ce*以及Sr/Ba比在1899—2007年间呈三段式变化,主要反映长江河口流路分汊和主泓位置改变引起的河口沉积环境变化,进而影响河口环境中活跃元素和次生组分在沉积地层中的保存记录。该研究对今后深化认识复杂河口环境下微量元素地球化学行为以及微量元素示踪海洋环境变化具有借鉴意义。     

Insights from Earth Sciences into Human Evolution studies: The example of prehistoric landscape use in Africa and the Levant

Fossil remains are embedded in a continually evolving landscape. Earth scientists have the methods and approaches to study the processes that shape the landscape at various temporal and spatial scales. Some of these methods can generate insights that are of potential use for researchers in other fields, such as archaeology and palaeoanthropology. Here we present two case studies to illustrate how a broader landscape perspective can provide new insights into the land use by Pliocene hominins in southern Africa, and more recently, by Palaeolithic hominins in the southern Levant. Key landscape attributes can help explain why humans, hominins and the wider animal community exploit certain types of landscapes in predictable ways. Our first case study examines how active tectonics or volcanism appears to be important in creating fertile regions with reliable water sources and complex topography. While relatively easy for agile primates such as hominins to negotiate, zones of complex topography are harder for certain predators and prey animals to traverse. In the second case study, we consider that differences in soil edaphics can exert a major control on animals by supplying or failing to supply necessary trace elements, such as selenium, copper, phosphate and potassium (Henkin et al., 1995). We show that the pattern of trace element distribution can accurately map animal movements between areas of suitable grazing. This predictability could have enabled Levantine humans to ambush megafauna during these seasonal migrations. By studying the landscape attributes around fossil site locations, Earth scientists can offer new insights and perspectives into the past, particularly on the ways in which the inhabitants would have used their landscapes.     

New Insights into the Mesozoic Large-scale Intra-plate Magmatism and Mineralization in South China from Seismic Tomography

A great amount of new S-wave data has been combined to image the mantle structure down to lower mantle depth near the southeastern margin of Eurasia and understand the tectonics in South China since the Mesozoic. Our results reveal a large-scale structure beneath the South China Sea, with a prominent, broad low-velocity feature of at least 1500-km wide in and below the mantle transition zone(MTZ) and a pronounced low-velocity feature of nearly 500-km wide in the lowermost mantle. Together these ...     

Petrology and Geochemistry of Some Ophiolitic Metaperidotites from the Eastern Desert of Egypt: Insights into Geodynamic Evolution and Metasomatic Processes

Ophiolitic peridotites exposed in the Eastern Desert(ED) of Egypt record multiple stages of evolution, including different degrees of partial melting and melt extraction, serpentinization, carbonatization and metamorphism. The present study deals with metaperidotites at two selected localities in the central and southern ED, namely Wadi El-Nabá and Wadi Ghadir, respectively. They represent residual mantle sections of a Neoproterozoic dismembered ophiolite that tectonically emplaced over a volcano-sedimentary succession that represents island–arc assemblages. The studied metaperidotites are serpentinized, with the development of talc-carbonate and quartz-carbonate rocks, especially along shear and fault planes. Fresh relics of primary minerals(olivine, orthopyroxene and Cr-spinel) are preserved in a few samples of partiallyserpentinized peridotite. Most of the Cr-spinel crystals have fresh cores followed by outer zones of ferritchromite and Crmagnetite, which indicates that melt extraction from the mantle protolith took place under oxidizing conditions. The protoliths of the studied metaperidotites were dominated by harzburgites, which is supported by the abundance of mesh and bastite textures in addition to some evidence from mineral and whole-rock chemical compositions. The high Cr#(0.62–0.69; Av. 0.66) and low TiO2(0.3 wt%) contents of the fresh Cr-spinels, the higher Fo(89–92; Av. 91) and NiO(0.24–0.54 wt%, Av. 0.40) contents of the primary olivine relics, together with the high Mg#(0.91–0.93; Av. 91) and low CaO, Al2 O3 and TiO2 of the orthopyroxene relics, are all comparable with depleted to highly depleted forearc harzburgite from a suprasubduction zone setting. The investigated peridotites have suffered subsequent phases of metasomatism, from oceanfloor hydrothermal alteration(serpentinization) to magmatic hydrothermal alteration. The enrichment of the studied samples in light rare earth elements(LREEs) relative to the heavy ones(HREEs) is attributed to most probably be due to the contamination of their mantle source with granitic source hydrothermal fluids after the obduction of the ophiolite assemblage onto the continental crust. The examined rocks represent mantle residue that experienced different degrees of partial melting(～10% to 25% for W. El-Nabá rocks and ～5% to 23% for W. Ghadir rocks). Variable degrees of partial melting among the two investigated areas suggest mantle heterogeneity beneath the Arabian-Nubian Shield(ANS).     

Insights into biaxial extensional tectonics: an examplefrom the Sandıklı Graben,West Anatolia,Turkey

West Anatolia, together with the Aegean Sea and the easternmost part of Europe, is one of the best examples of continental extensional tectonics. It is a complex area bounded by the Aegean–Cyprus Arc to the south and the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) to the north. Within this complex and enigmatic framework, the Sandıklı Graben (10 km wide, 30 km long) has formed at the eastern continuation of the Western Anatolian extensional province at the north‐northwestward edge of the Isparta Angle. Recent studies have suggested that the horst–graben structures in West Anatolia formed in two distinct extensional phases. According to this model the first phase of extension commenced in the Early–Middle Miocene and the last, which is accepted as the onset of neotectonic regime, in Early Pliocene. However, it is controversial whether two‐phase extension was separated by a short period of erosion or compression during Late Miocene–Early Pliocene. Both field observations and kinematic analysis imply that the Sandıklı Graben has existed since the Late Pliocene, with biaxial extension on its margins which does not necessarily indicate rotation of regional stress distribution in time. Although the graben formed later in the neotectonic period, the commencement of extension in the area could be Early Pliocene (c. 5 Ma) following a severe but short time of erosion at the end of Late Miocene. The onset of the extensional regime might be due to the initiation of westward motion of Anatolian Platelet along the NAFZ that could be triggered by the higher rate of subduction at the east Aegean–Cyprus Arc in the south of the Aegean Sea. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geological and Geomorphological Indicators of the Surge Behavior of the Aldegonda Glacier (West Spitsbergen) in the Little Ice Age

Doklady Earth Sciences - The results of investigations of the landforms and sediments in the marginal zone of the Aldegonda Glacier are presented. As a result of the geomorphological analysis of...     

Evolution of the Western Amazon Lowland Relief: impact of Andean foreland dynamics

The congruency in the depositional origin and age of the uppermost sedimentary strata forming non-flooded rainforest ground (terra firme) in the western and central Amazon lowlands is a much debated subject. Here we conclude from the study of remote sensing imagery that active Andean foreland dynamics have played a major role in the evolution of the Plio-Pleistocene fluvial landscape in the western Amazon. Foreland dynamics have resulted in a terra firme composed of late Tertiary alluvium and younger alluvial terraces and plains. In Peru, thermoluminescence and ¹⁴C dating show local aggradation of this younger alluvium between 180 and 30 ka. The documented high age heterogeneity of the terra firme has implications for considerations of the biogeography of the Amazon forest.     

Evolution of a Paleoproterozoic “weak type” orogeny in the West African Craton (Ivory Coast)

The Paleoproterozoic domain of the Ivory Coast lies in the central part of the West African Craton (WAC) and is mainly constituted by TTG, greenstones, supracrustal rocks and leucogranites. A compilation of metamorphic and radiometric data highlights that: i) metamorphic conditions are rather homogeneous through the domain, without important metamorphic jumps, ii) HP-LT assemblages are absent and iii) important volumes of magmas emplaced during the overall Paleoproterozoic orogeny suggesting the occurrence of long-lived rather hot geotherms. Results of the structural analysis, focused on three areas within the Ivory Coast, suggest that the deformation is homogeneous and distributed through the Paleoproterozoic domain. In details, results of this study point out the long-lived character of vertical movements during the Eburnean orogeny with a two folds evolution. The first stage is characterized by the development of “domes and basins” geometries without any boundary tectonic forces and the second stage is marked by coeval diapiric movements and horizontal regional-scale shortening. These features suggest that the crust is affected by vertical movements during the overall orogeny. The Eburnean orogen can then be considered as an example of long-lived Paleoproterozoic “weak type” orogen.     

Insights into the Hadean Earth from experimental studies of zircon

Geologists investigate the evolution of the atmosphere, crust, and mantle through time by direct study of the rock record. However, the Hadean eon (>3.85 Ga) has been traditionally viewed as inaccessible due to the absence of preserved rocks. The discovery of >4.0 Ga detrital zircons from Western Australia in the 1980s — coupled with the development of new micro-analytical capabilities — made possible new avenues of early Earth research. The prevailing view that emerged is that the early Earth may have contained a stable hydrosphere, water-saturated or (near watersaturated) granitic magmas, and volcanic emanations dominated by neutral gas species (e.g., CO₂, H₂O, and SO₂). The Hadean Earth may have been capable of supporting life ～200 Ma after accretion and perhaps earlier. Many of these models are formulated — or have been subsequently supported — by laboratory experiments of zircon. Important petrological variables such as temperature, pressure, oxygen fugacity, and component activities (e.g., SiO₂/TiO₂-activities) can be controlled. These experiments are fundamental for extrapolation to ‘deep time’ because they provide a means to understand primary chemistry preserved in ancient zircons. This review paper specifically focuses on zircon experimental studies (oxygen isotope fractionations, Ti-thermometry, and redox sensitive element incorporation into zircon), which have influenced our view of the very early Earth.     

铝硅酸盐纳米矿物的地质意义和资源价值再认识

本文简析了三种典型铝硅酸盐纳米矿物(埃洛石、伊毛缟石和水铝英石)的结构和性质特点;探讨了它们在其典型赋存环境中对元素迁移和富集所起的作用和机理,包括风化淋积型稀土矿床中埃洛石对稀土元素赋存所起的作用,火山灰风化壤等体系中伊毛缟石和水铝英石对重金属离子、放射性元素、阴离子和有机碳迁移所起的作用等;还浅析了这三种特殊非金属矿物的工业应用的可能性和条件。     

Regularities of Hydrocarbon Distribution in the Deepwater Part of the West African Margin

It is revealing a clear tendency of the fields layered in producing belt of oil-pays, extending in the limit of the sea depth from 400 m to 3000 m at the continental slope and possibly 4000 m at the continental rise.