Paleomagnetic evidence for the clockwise rotation of Southwest Japan

Over 500 oriented samples of felsic rocks of Cretaceous to Middle Miocene age were collected along the Go¯River in the central part of Southwest Japan, in an attempt to detect the process of tectonic rotation of Southwest Japan from the paleomagnetic view point. Thermal demagnetization was successful in isolating characteristic directions from the remanent magnetization of samples. Reliability of the paleomagnetic direction is ascertained through the agreement of directions from different kinds of rocks as well as the presence of both normal and reversed polarities. The paleomagnetic results establish that Southwest Japan began to rotate clockwise through58 ± 14° later than 28 Ma and ceased its motion by about 12 Ma. Southwest Japan has undergone no detectable north-south translation since 28 Ma. These results imply that southwest Japan was rotated about the pivot around 34°N, 129°E between 28 Ma and 12 Ma in association with the opening of the Japan Sea.     

近年新疆地震围绕塔里木盆地的顺时针迁移与塔里木盆地的顺时针旋转

塔里木盆地是我国最大的内陆盆地,作为稳定地块,被周围许多深大断裂所围限.王琪等(2000)基于天山及塔里木地区多年的GPS观测结果,认为塔里木盆地整体上作为刚性块体,相对于稳定的西伯利亚地块作顺时针旋转,其内部变形较小或基本不变形.赵俊猛等(2008)应用人工地震和天然地震等综合地球物理探测方法,获得青藏高原壳幔组成、...     

中国晚新生代湖泊沉积及其反映的环境概貌

在地球历史上湖泊沉积大规模的发育或缺失,都和一定的构造背景和气候环境条件相关。本文依据我国晚新生代以来,湖泊沉积时空规模和分布的变化,来探讨我国大环境的变迁过程。上新世和早更新世我国西部存在许多大湖泊,发育巨厚的湖泊沉积,而东部分布的范围很局限,造成这种情况的原因,除了构造运动的差别外,当时大气环流的形势与今不同,西部的气候条件相当湿润。中—晚更新世西部的大湖大都萎缩,甚至消失,东部却表现出大湖增加的趋势,这显然与青藏高原的迅速隆起、东亚季风的加强有关。末次冰期以来,对应于冰期、间冰期的气候变化,不同气候带湖泊的响应差异颇大,既表现出区域环境的特点,也有全球变化事件的反映。     

Paleomagnetic evidence for clockwise rotation of the northern arm of Sulawesi,Indonesia

Paleomagnetic results from the northern arm of Sulawesi show that the arm has been subjected to a clockwise rotation of more than 90° and that its rotational motion began no later than the middle Miocene. The mean direction showing a normal polarity at the Eocene to the early Miocene isD = 98.0° andI = 6.9°. A declination value ofD = 50.1° obtained from Miocene rocks indicates a transition stage of the rotational motion. The datum from Plio-Pleistocene volcanics isD = ?4.6° andI = ?9.3°. This suggests that the rotational motion terminated before the initiation of volcanic activity during the Plio-Pleistocene.     

Paleomagnetic evidence for a diachronic clockwise rotation of the Coastal Range, eastern Taiwan

Paleomagnetic results obtained from over 2100 cores sampled at 132 early Pliocene to late Pleistocene sites in the Coastal Range of eastern Taiwan indicate that, since the late Pliocene, the margin of the Philippine Sea plate has undergone a clockwise rotation of about 30° as a direct consequence of the Plio-Pleistocene collision of this plate with the Chinese Continental plate. The rotation is diachronic and started between 3 and 4 Ma ago in the northern Coastal Range then propagated southward at an average speed of the order of 70 ± 10 km/Ma. This value is in very good agreement with estimates of the southward propagation of the collision between the Philippine Sea plate and the Eurasian margin in Taiwan. It is suggested that the rotation reflects the deformation of the Philippine Sea plate at depth and does not results from the shallow deformations involved in the building of the Coastal Range orogen.     

Late cenozoic bimodal magmatism in the northern basin and range province of southeastern Oregon

Compositional features of 93 samples of primitive Pliocene to recent basalts erupted along the Brothers Fault Zone in the northernmost Basin and Range indicate that they were derived from a shallow mantle source and underwent only minor shallow-level fractionation. Simple mass-balance modelling can derive these basaltic bulk compositions by removal of small amounts of observed crystalline phases from glass compositions produced in peridotite melting experiments. Additional support comes from phase equilibria data on other magnesian basalts having similar bulk compositions. The eruption of these lavas without substantial subcrustal fractionation was probably promoted by progressive extension along the Brothers Fault Zone. This origin is in sharp contrast to that generally proposed for mid-Miocene Columbia River and Steens Mountain basalts, which show clear evidence in their evolved compositions (e.g. Mg # ~ 40) of having stagnated at shallow depth where they differentiated to nearly basaltic andesite compositions. Bulk compositions of northern Basin and Range silicic rocks, together with physical and thermal considerations, suggest that they, like their counterparts in the Snake River Plain, were products of crustal anatexis driven by the injection of mafic magmas, but with meta-volcaniclastic protoliths rather than Archaean basement rocks, as in the case of the Snake River Plain rhyolites. These petrologic features suggest that the arrival of the mantle plume presently beneath Yellowstone produced or strongly influenced most late Cenozoic magmatism in the Oregon northern Basin and Range. This model accounts for many features of the northern Basin and Range in Oregon: (1) the change in basaltic character about 10 to 8 Ma ago from voluminous, evolved Columbia River/Steens lavas to smaller-volume primitive lavas and the lack of younger lavas atop the Columbia River Basalts; (2) the lack of an obvious track of the Yellowstone hot spot west of the Oregon-Idaho-Nevada tri-state area; (3) the “mirror-image” age relationship of silicic rocks in the northern Basin and Range and Snake River Plain; (4) the formation of silicic rocks by crustal anatexis and the general decrease in their volumes with time in Oregon but not along the Snake River Plain; (5) the high elevation of the region; and (6) the high surface heat flow in the Oregon northern Basin and Range. The proposed model obviates the controversy surrounding the pre-Miocene history of the Yellowstone plume by proposing that the plume initiated about 18 Ma ago.     

Paleomagnetic evidence for a mid-Miocene clockwise rotation of about 25° of the Guide Basin area in NE Tibet

Ten sections of Neogene molasse-type sediments were sampled in the Guide Basin of northeastern Tibet for magnetostratigraphy [X.M. Fang, M.D. Yan, R. Van der Voo, D.R., Rea, C. Song, J.M. Parés, J. Gao, J. Nie, S. Dai, Late Cenozoic deformation and uplift of the NE Tibetan plateau: evidence from high resolution magnetostratigraphy of the Guide Basin, Qinghai Province, China, Geol. Soc. America Bull. 107 (2005) 1208–1225 [1]], but they also yield seven well-dated formation-mean directions that reveal changing declinations as rotations occurred in response to crustal deformation north of the India–Asia collision zone. Three formations are of early Miocene and Oligocene age, as indicated by fossils and magnetic reversal records, whereas four younger formations yield late Miocene and Pliocene ages. The dual-polarity magnetizations are typically antipodal, but reveal inclinations that are too shallow, most likely because of post-depositional inclination flattening. The late Miocene and younger directions show formation-mean declinations between 354° and 7°, whereas three early Miocene and late Oligocene mean declinations range from 31° to 44°. This indicates that a clockwise rotation of 25.1 ± 4.6° took place during the middle part of the Miocene (best estimate 11–17 Ma). No rotations appear to have occurred, during that time, in the Xining, Lanzhou, Linxia and Jingning basins (Longzhong Basin) to the northeast and east of the Guide Basin; however, a rotation of similar magnitude has been documented by Dupont-Nivet and colleagues for pre-Miocene (> 29 Ma) time in these areas. Collectively, these results show that the basins in NE Tibet have had independently evolving structural histories.     

Amount of clockwise rotation of Southwest Japan — fan shape opening of the southwestern part of the Japan Sea

Paleomagnetic measurements have been carried out on welded tuffs ranging in age between 58 Ma and 112 Ma from Yamaguchi and Go¯river areas in the central part of Southwest Japan. The new data, together with those of younger igneous rocks published previously, define the change of paleomagnetic field direction during the late Mesozoic/ Cenozoic period for Southwest Japan. The paleomagnetic direction from this area has pointed 56 ± 3° clockwise from the expected field direction estimated from APWP (apparent polar wandering path) of the whole of Eurasia during the period between 100 and 20 Ma. In comparison with the expected one from the eastern margin of Eurasia (Korea, China, Siberia), the Cretaceous field direction of Southwest Japan shows the clockwise deflection by 44–49°. These results establish that while the eastern margin of Eurasia, including Southwest Japan, was rotated more or less with respect to the main part of Eurasia during last 100 Ma, Southwest Japan was rotated clockwise through more than 40° with respect to the eastern margin of Eurasia since 20 Ma. The large amount of rotation for Southwest Japan implies that it is rotated by an opening of the southwestern part of the Japan Sea, which widens northeastward (fan shape opening). The tectonic feature of Southwest Japan and the Japan Sea is analogous to that of Corso-Sardinia and the Ligurian Sea in the Mediterranean, indicating that the fan shape opening is a specific feature of the rifting of the continental sliver at the continental rim.     

帕米尔东北缘晚新生代旋转运动新证据

为进一步研究帕米尔东北缘晚新生代演化特征,在塔里木盆地西部英吉沙背斜上新世地层中采集了11个采点共111块古地磁样品.对样品进行系统热退磁测定,揭示了一组高温特征剩磁分量,获得了采样剖面的上新世古地磁极.特征剩磁方向为:Dg=342.4°,Ig= 59.2°,κg=32.3,α95=8.6°; Ds=352.4°,Is=49.9°,κs=59.1,α95=6.3°,相对应的古地磁极位置为:79.7°N,295.9°E,dp=5.6°,dm=8.4°,α95=6.9°.这一高温分量通过了倒转检验,代表了研究区上新世时期的原生特征剩磁.通过对英吉沙背斜周缘断裂及形成的大地构造背景分析,结合其地貌特征、GPS数据,认为英吉沙背斜在开始形成至今经历了明显的逆时针构造旋转,该旋转同晚新生代以来帕米尔东北缘喀什凹陷发生刚性构造旋转运动有着密切的关系.     

First evidence of Middle to Late Triassic radiolarians in the Garba mountains,South Sumatra,Indonesia

A Middle to Late Triassic (Ladinian–Carnian) radiolarian fauna was discovered in cherts of the Situlanglang Member of the Garba Formation, South Sumatra, which is generally regarded as of Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous age. This fauna is characterized by the presence of Annulotriassocampe sulovensis, Triassocampe postdeweveri, Spongotortilispinus tortilis, Poulpus piabyx, Canoptum levis and others. This evidence possibly indicates that the deposition of the Situlanglang cherts took place after the collision of the Sibumasu and East Malaya blocks recorded in the Bentong–Raub Suture in Peninsular Malaysia in Late Permian–Early Triassic times. During the Middle–Late Triassic Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia consisted of submarine horst and graben structures. It is possible that a submarine graben, the Tuhur basin, whose southern boundary was formerly undefined, extends into South Sumatra, to the area in which the Situlanglang cherts were deposited. The Situlanglang Member is proposed to be a rock unit stratigraphically contemporaneous with those of the Middle–Upper Triassic Kualu and Tuhur Formations in North and Central Sumatra.     

The cenozoic rhyolite-andesite association of the chilean andes

The eruption centres of late volcanism in Chile are situated in two separate areas in the northern and southern High Cordillera. In the north, the ignimbrites of the Rhyolite Formation and the rocks of the « Andesite » Formation occur in about equal proportions, and recent activity is meagre. In the south, the rocks of the « Andesite » Formation predominate, and many volcanoes are in a highly explosive phase of activity. Field relationships, petrological and geochemical data show that the rocks of both Formations are closely related to each other. There is evidence that the magmas of the Rhyolite Formation were formed by fusion of sialic material in the upper parts of the crust. The data for the volcanics of the « Andesite » Formation are inconsistent with their derivation by fractional crystallization of a basaltic parent or by direct mantle derivation involving a single stage process. The authors suggest that the « andesitic » magmas are products of a primary andesitic magma originated by partial fusion of material of the lower crust. Assuming that the « andesitic » magmas of the central parts of the Andes are derived from the upper mantle, this would mean — in the light of the Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ data — that the upper mantle in the central region of the Andes is essentially more radiogenic than in other orogenic areas; moroever, it should be very similar in its chemical and Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ composition to that of the lower crust.     

2004年印尼苏门答腊MW9.0地震前地震活动增强现象及其与地球自转的关系

选取2004年12月26日印尼苏门答腊M_W9.0地震的余震分布空间范围为研究区域,该区域位于缅甸小板块中部,纬度范围为2°N~15°N.根据USGS地震目录,研究了2004年印尼苏门答腊M_W9.0地震前地震频次的时空变化,并分析了地震活动与地球自转的关系.结果显示:1)在余震区域范围内,地震频次自2000年开始出现了明显的上升趋势变化,反映了地震活动的增强过程,临近地震发生前,地震频次有一定幅度的回落;2)通过地震频次空间扫描,发现震前在震中附近区域地震活动增强显著;3)在1990~2004年的15年中,单位时间内发生的地震数在地球自转季节性变化减速时段与加速时段之比值r_da在震前出现明显的上升过程:1998年~2002年r_da缓慢上升,2002年底r_da快速上升达最高值,之后,r_da呈现下降趋势,直至苏门答腊M_W9.0地震发生;4)2000年1月~2004年11月间,在纬度1°N~7°N的空间范围内的震中附近地区, 5.5级以上地震都发生在地球自转季节性变化减速时段内;5)地震活动累积年频次相对于其长期平均值的变化量ΔN与地球自转"十年起伏"变化关系表现为地球自转减速时ΔN上升,地震活动增强,加速时ΔN下降,地震活动减弱.这些现象并非偶然,可能预示着地球自转减速与苏门答腊M_W9.0地震之间存在着某种联系,这些结果对地震孕育过程的认识和地震预测研究具有一定的价值.     

苏门答腊近海地震

过去的几年中,印度尼西亚遭受的自然灾害可真不少.2004年"节礼日"那天的灾难性地震和海啸发生后,巽他大型逆冲断层(Sundamegathrust)依然没有消停.这一大型逆冲断层是澳大利亚板块向欧亚板块俯冲的标志,它随同印度尼西亚群岛(不包括婆罗洲Borneo)一起向该群岛西部延伸.由于沿巽他大型逆冲断层的破裂,印度尼西亚遭受了一场"地震风暴"(较短时期内群发性大地震)的袭击.最近一次灾难发生在2009年9月30日苏门答腊岛巴东市,震级MW7.6,造成1000多人死亡.     

Episodes of cenozoic volcanism in the circum-pacific region

The tempo of Cenozoic volcanism on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean has been examined by compiling the numbers of radiometric dates reported for terrestrial volcanic sequences and the numbers of volcanic ash (glass) horizons recorded in Neogene deep-sea (DSDP) sedimentary sections. Within certain limits these data are believed to provide a reliable record of extrusive and explosive volcanism. Although terrestrial and marine records for individual regions reveal important differences in the episodicity of volcanism, a correlation is found between activity in the Southwestern Pacific, Central America and the Cascade Range of western North America. Two important pulses of Neogene volcanism (the Cascadian and Columbian episodes) occurred during the Quaternary (t = 2 m.y. to present) and within the Middle Miocene (t = 16 to 14 m.y. ago), with less important episodes in the latest Miocene to Early Pliocene (t = 6 to 3 m.y. ago) and Late Miocene (11 to 8 m.y. ago). The names Fijian and Andean are proposed to these episodes. Dating of terrestrial sequences indicates that these episodes of intense volcanism took place in relatively short intervals of time, separated by longer more quiescent periods.It has been suggested that synchronous episodic volcanism is related to changes in rates of sea-floor spreading and subduction. If so, volcanism must amplify these changes, because the variations in tempo of volcanism are much too great for proportional rate changes. An apparent correlation of volcanism in orogenic zones of the circum-Pacific region with world-wide changes of sea level and changes of activity in the Hawaiian-Emperor chain suggests that volcanism records fundamental tectonic changes throughout the entire Pacific region.     

白云深水区新生代沉降及岩石圈伸展变形

为认识白云深水区新生代构造沉降和岩石圈伸展变形特征,本文对过研究区的两条测线进行了回剥分析和伸展系数计算,结果表明:白云深水区新生代构造沉降具有幕式特点,由快到慢共分4幕:① 65~24.4 Ma;② 24.4~18.5 Ma;③ 18.5~13.8 Ma;④ 13.8~0 Ma,在裂后存在3期快速沉降(24.4~21 Ma,18.5~16.5 Ma,13.8~10.5 Ma)和4期慢速沉降(或隆升)(30~24.4 Ma,21~18.5 Ma,16.5~13.8 Ma,10.5~0 Ma).白云深水区裂陷期和裂后期沉降受基底形态影响,总体向洋陆边界增加,裂陷期的沉降量为200~2100 m,裂后沉降量为1000~1500 m,由裂陷期沉降反演的岩石圈伸展系数为1~7,与全地壳的伸展系数变化趋势一致,在基底隆起处伸展系数小,凹陷处伸展系数大;白云深水区裂后存在异常沉降,约300~700 m,它的分布与基底形态负相关,在隆起处异常沉降量大,为600 m左右,凹陷处异常沉降量小,约300 m,可能与岩石圈破裂引起洋陆过渡带不同构造单元的差异沉降相关.     

Origin of cenozoic petrographic provinces of Japan and surrounding areas

Three petrographic provinces can be recognized in the Cenozoic volcanic fields of Japan and surrounding areas. A province of a tholeiite series lies on the Pacific side of the Japanese Islands and includes the Izu Islands, whereas that of an alkali rock series occupies the Japan Sea side of the Islands with a narrow offshoot extending across central Honsyū (Honshū) and a continuation westward to Korea and Manchuria. A province of a calc-alkali rock series is superposed on the two provinces and occupies the greater part of the Japanese Islands exclusive of the Izu Islands and the islands in the Japan Sea southwest of Honsyū and north of Kyūsyū (Kyūshū). The boundary lines between the tholeiite and alkali provinces are located very closely to those between the areas where earthquakes occur at depths shallower than about 200 km and those for deeper ones. It is suggested that the parental tholeiite magma is produced by partial melting of the periodotite layer at depths shallower than 200 km. In the Izu Islands, except Nii-zima(Nii-jima) and Kōzu-sima(Kōzu-shima) close to Honsyū, the magma erupts to the surface without assimilating granitic material because the granitic layer is absent, resulting in volcanoes made up exclusively of the tholeiite series. The parental alkali olivine basalt magma is produced by partial melting of the peridotite layer at depths greater than 200 km. In the Japan Sea region, Korea, and Manchuria, it erupts to the surface without assimilating the granitic material, although it passes through a thick granitic layer, resulting in volcanoes made up exclusively of the alkali series. However, in the Cenozoic orogenic belt of the Japanese Islands, both types of parental magma assimilate granitic material during passage to the surface and erupt to form volcanoes of the calc-alkali series.     

印尼苏门答腊巨大地震活动特征

主要使用了USGS全球地震查寻结果,对比研究了本世纪至今印尼苏门答腊地震的构造背景、巨大地震及其余震的活动特征,其主要结果如下:①巨大板块地震很少在原地重复发生.有迁移性和明显的填空特征;2000年之前的四次巨大地震具有明显向北迁移的特征,2000年之后三次巨大地震具有明显向南迁移和填空的特征;②2000年8.3级地震余震区南段存在约170 km的5级空段;③2004年9.0级地震余震填充了在巽他海沟东侧长约1 000 km的8级空段,其余震区南段存在约200 km的5级空段,沿板块边界形成的余震带具有明显向北迁移的特征;④2005年8.7级地震发生在2004年9.0级地震的200 km的余震空段上,余震分布不但填充了2000年8.3级地震170 km余震区5级空段,而且其余震区南段还存在约200 km和300 km的2个5级空段;⑤2007年8.5级地震发生在2005年8.7级地震约300 km余震空段的最南端,其7.9级最大余震发生在2005年8.7级地震约300km余震空段的最北端,使约300km余震空段的能量得到了充分释放;⑥2005年8.7级地震约200km余震区5级空段内的能量有可能还未得到释放,该地区是否还会发生一次巨大地震,还有待进一步研究.