Geothermic field and development of the structure of continents

Tectonic, magmatic and metamorphic processes combine into endogenous regimes. There is direct correlation between the degree of excitation of endogenous regimes and observed heat flow. There are grounds to suppose that all varieties of endogenous regimes, their distribution and their history depend on the heterogeneity in space and time of the Earth's thermal field.     

Timing of the initial collision between the Indian and Asian continents

There exist three mainstream opinions regarding the timing of the initial collision between the Indian and Eurasian continents,namely,65±5,45±5,and 30±5 Ma.Five criteria are proposed for determining which tectonic event was related to the initial collision between India and Asia:the rapid decrease in the rate of plate motion,the cessation of magmatic activity originating from the subduction of oceanic crust,the end of sedimentation of oceanic facies,the occurrence of intracontinental deformation,and the exchange of sediments sourced from two continents.These criteria are used to constrain the nature of these tectonic events.It is proposed that the 65±5 Ma tectonic event is consistent with some of the criteria,but the upshot of this model is that the magmatic activity originating from the Tethyan subduction since the Mesozoic restarted along the southern margin of the Asian continent in this time after a brief calm,implying that the subduction of the Neotethys slab was still taking place.The magmatic activity that occurred along the southern margin of the Asian continent had a 7-Myr break during 72-65 Ma,which in this study is interpreted as having resulted from tectonic transformation from subduction to transform faulting,indicating that the convergence between the Indian and Asian continents was once dominated by strike-slip motion.The 30±5 Ma tectonic event resulted in the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau,which was related to the late stage of the convergence between these two continents,namely,a hard collision.The 45±5 Ma tectonic event is in accordance with most of the criteria,corresponding to the initial collision between these two continents.     

Applications of correlation-analysis and Feynman diagram to spasmodic drift trend of southern continents

Summary An analysis of the available paleomagnetic data has been completed to support and delineate the possible spasmodic drift of the southern continents. Correlation analysis of the drift rates of the Gondwanic continents show a high degree of similarity in their drift patterns. The possibility of momentum transfer and adjustment during drift is assessed with the application of Feynman's diagram and corresponding implications are also discussed.     

Vertical movements of the Earth's crust on the continents

Vertical oscillating movements of the Earth's crust on continents have occurred and are occurring everywhere on the Earth's surface, continuously throughout the entire geological history of the Earth. This provides grounds to consider them as the basic type of tectonic movements, which form the general background of the tectogenetic process, on which locally, and only at separate moments of time, other tectonic movements and deformations appear.According to the time of occurrence, the vertical movements are divided into recent, young, modern, and ancient. In compliance with this subdivision, different methods are applied to define and study the movements. The major characteristic of the vertical movements is their rhythm, or periodic change in sign of movement, which caused them to be calledoscillating. Rhythms of movements are of several orders. The largest rhythms, which comprise tectonic cycles, are manifested on a global scale; smaller rhythms have a local distribution. It is significant that, in the beginning and in the end of each tectonic cycle, an increase of intensity and contrast of movements is observed, no matter in which region or regime, whether stable or mobile, it occurs.     

Spherical harmonic expansion of the continents and oceans distribution function

Summary An algorithm is derived to compute the coefficients of a spherical harmonic series for the functionE(, ) representing the distribution of continents and oceans with the least-squares method. Some properties of the system of normal equations, when measuring points are distributed in a regular grid, are discussed. The fully normalized complex coefficients to the ninth degree are given in the table.

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m mam nuam n uu uum ¶rt; uau ¶rt;a ¶rt; uu (, ), ma nm n¶rt;um an¶rt;u mum u a nu nu m¶rt;a auu a¶rt;am. ¶rt;am m ma um a au ¶rt; a, ¶rt;a uum mu an mu. m aua n um ¶rt;o ¶rt;m mnu nu¶rt;m mau.

     

On shallow earthquakes widely scattered in the continents

Summary Seismicity in the continents is characterized by its foci distribution. Intermediate foci are packed into small spaces with depth range of about 100–200 km. Shallow foci on the other hand, scatter quite widely. Study in the present paper is focussed to the latter feature. A suggestion is given that the wide scattering of shallow earthquakes in the continents as well as the recent remarkable uplifts of mountains are both resulted from the stress in lithosphere plate without entrance (trench) the movement of which is being impeded.     

Oceanic subcrustal flow toward the continents and constancy of global sea-level

Summary From the conservation of the mass of the earth including the hydrosphere it can be concluded that continental growth has been connected with subcrustal flow from the ocean toward the continents. Calculations show that the volume of ocean bottom subsidence nearly equals to the volume of the uplifted continental masses above the level of the primeval ocean bottom. The sea level has not changed appreciably since Precambrian. Change of ocean bottom topography and emergence of continents do not effect global sea level. Transgression and regression are figurative terms and really indicate subsidence resp. uplift of the continental crust blocks around the shoreline.     

Predicting landscape sensitivity to present and future floods in the Pacific Northwest,USA

Floods are the most frequent natural disaster, causing more loss of life and property than any other in the USA. Floods also strongly influence the structure and function of watersheds, stream channels, and aquatic ecosystems. The Pacific Northwest is particularly vulnerable to climatically driven changes in flood frequency and magnitude, because snowpacks that strongly influence flood generation are near the freezing point and thus sensitive to small changes in temperature. To improve predictions of future flooding potential and inform strategies to adapt to these changes, we mapped the sensitivity of landscapes to changes in peak flows due to climate warming across Oregon and Washington. We first developed principal component‐based models for predicting peak flows across a range of recurrence intervals (2‐, 10‐, 25‐, 50‐, and 100‐years) based on historical instantaneous peak flow data from 1000 gauged watersheds in Oregon and Washington. Key predictors of peak flows included drainage area and principal component scores for climate, land cover, soil, and topographic metrics. We then used these regression models to predict future peak flows by perturbing the climate variables based on future climate projections (2020s, 2040s, and 2080s) for the A1B emission scenario. For each recurrence interval, peak flow sensitivities were computed as the ratio of future to current peak flow magnitudes. Our analysis suggests that temperature‐induced changes in snowpack dynamics will result in large (>30–40%) increases in peak flow magnitude in some areas, principally the Cascades, Olympics, and Blue Mountains and parts of the western edge of the Rocky Mountains. Flood generation processes in lower elevation areas are less likely to be affected, but some of these areas may be impacted by floodwaters from upstream. These results can assist land, water, and infrastructure managers in identifying watersheds and resources that are particularly vulnerable to increased peak flows and developing plans to increase their resilience. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comets from antiquity to the present day

Iwan Williams and Stephen Lowry report on the RAS Specialist Discussion meeting held on 9 December 2005, which considered the historical and current significance of comets.     

The geodynamo,past, present and future

Abstract

The geodynamo simulation of Glatzmaier and Roberts (1996, Physica D97, 81) is driven by the cooling of the model Earth, which releases latent heat and light components of core fluid at the freezing surface of the inner core as it advances outwards. At some time in the past, the inner core was only a quarter of its present size and at some time in the future it will be twice its present size. The geodynamo operating during those epochs are studied here, the three models (past, present and future) being tied together in an evolutionary sense. The time taken for the models to evolve from past to future depends on the cooling rate, which is controlled by the dynamics of the mantle and is not studied here. All three models generate external fields of comparable strength and all three appear to be close to Taylor states. Unexpectedly, the future model showed considerable variability in time, while the past model does not. Deviations from axisymmetry in the external field increase with inner core radius and the relative predominance of the centered dipole over other multipole components declines.     

Chemical structure and evolution of the mantle and continents determined by inversion of Nd and Sr isotopic data,I. Theoretical methods

While the chemical structure of the earth's mantle is probably rather complex, multi-box models have been used as a first approximation to evaluate this structure. Most commonly, a three-box model is used, involving the continental crust, the upper mantle and the lower mantle. The depleted upper mantle and the continental crust are assumed to represe1nt complementary reservoirs, related by crust formation processes occurring during geologic history.Here we investigate the Rb/Sr and Sm/Nd isotopic systematics of several three-box models, using mass balance equations and the definition of the mean age of the reservoirs. The geochemical uniqueness of the models, chosen from a large family of possible models, is evaluated from elementary graph theory, and these models are then solved using a total inversion approach. This paper (Part I) describes the methodology of the procedure; the companion paper (Part II) discusses the application of this approach to multi-box mantle models.     

Three-dimensional seismic velocity structure of the Tibetan Plateau and its eastern neighboring areas with implications to the model of collision between continents

Since the collision of Indian subcontinent to Eurasia, a huge quantity of crustal materials from India has been penetrated into the crust or mantle of Eurasia. Investigation of the place, on which those materials have been deposited is a key problem for constructing a model of collision between continents. The results of three-dimensional seismic velocity structure obtained from seismic tomography technique may provide an evidence of the deposit of anomalous materials in the crust and upper mantle of the Tibetan Plateau and its neighboring areas. A detailed analysis of the results from the seismic surface wave tomography has deduced a new model of the continental collision from India to Eurasia. It is compatible to the velocity data obtained from other geological and geophysical observations. The main points of the new model of the continental collision from Indian to Eurasia can be summarized as follows:

1. The Indian crust has been penetrating into the lower crust of Tibetan Plateau, instead of into the uppermost mantle beneath the crust or the asthenosphere of Tibetan Plateau;
2. The surplus materials from the Tibetan lower crust have been squeezed and thrusted into the asthenosphere of its eastern neighboring areas (Qinghai-Sichuan-Yunnan) through the broken Moho;
3. Some hot materials were intruded into the crust from the uppermost mantle in Tibetan Plateau and Sichuan-Yunnan provinces. The intruded hot materials may reach the ground surface (such as the Tibetan Plateau) or a depth about 25 km (such as Sichuan-Yunnan provinces) depending on the different local environmental conditions. The extensional geological structures in those regions are closely related to the intrusion of hot materials.

     

Cordilleran-type orogeny and episodic growth of continents: Insights from the circum-Pacific continental margins

A new material migration hypothesis for the plate subduction zone orogeny, so-called ‘the cordilleran-type orogeny’, is proposed on the basis of geological constraints as well as mechanics of accretionary wedges. The major tectonic processes of the hypothesis comprise: (i) episodic, extensive magmatism along the margin of an overriding plate; (ii) supply of voluminous igneous and eroded materials through forearc to trench, with an increase in the net sediment influx into trench; (iii) accelerated accretion of sediments beneath an overriding older accretionary wedge; and (iv) upward material migration within the wedge and resultant exhumation of high-P/T metamorphic rocks near the inland margin of the wedge. This hypothesis was validated by the test using available geo- and thermo-chronological data from two classical types of subduction-related orogens in Southwest Japan and California. The hypothesis, coupled with the thermochronologic point of view, requires the reconsideration of coevality of paired metamorphism. The temporal pairing is to be observed between the beginning of the regional high-T/P metamorphism and that of the uplift and exhumation of high-P/T metamorphism, with some time lag needed for material migration. Where the temporal pairing is examined therefore, the formation age of igneous rocks and related high-T/P metamorphic rocks should be compared to the exhumation age of high-P/T metamorphic rocks. The episodic, extensive magmatism that triggers the cordilleran-type orogeny shows a temporal correlation in the mid-Cretaceous for most circum-Pacific continental margins. The resultant widespread formation of accretionary complexes is also observed in the western part of the circum-Pacific margins. The deduced mid-Cretaceous circum-Pacific orogeny accompanied a gross increase in the continental crust production rate, and was approximately coeval with the Pangea breakup and the Central Pacific superplume episode, implying the orogeny as a part of the mid-Cretaceous pulsation of the Earth.     

The present approach to the study of the least-squares method

Summary The present approach to the study of the least squares method which lies in introducing the basic principle of this method into various functional metric spaces is dealt with.     

Slab pull,mantle convection,and Pangaean assembly and dispersal

Two global-scale mantle convection cells presently exist on Earth, centred on upwelling zones in the South Pacific Ocean and northeast Africa: one cell (Panthalassan) contains only oceanic plates, the other (Pangaean) contains all the continental plates. They have remained fixed relative to one another for >400 Ma. A transverse (Rheic–Tethyian) subduction system splits the Pangaean cell. Poloidal plate motion in the oceanic cell reflects circumferential pull of Panthalassan slabs, but toroidal flow in the Pangaean cell, reflected by vortex-type motion of continents toward the Altaids of central-east Asia throughout the Phanerozoic, has resulted from the competing slab-pull forces of both cells. The combined slab-pull effects from both cells also controlled Pangaean assembly and dispersal. Assembly occurred during Palaeozoic clockwise toroidal motion in the Pangaean cell, when Gondwana was pulled into Pangaea by the NE-trending Rheic subduction zone, forming the Appalachian–Variscide–Altaid chain. Pangaean dispersal occurred when the Rheic trench re-aligned in the Jurassic to form the NW-trending Tethyside subduction system, which pulled east Gondwanan fragments in the opposite direction to form the Cimmerian–Himalayan–Alpine chain. This re-alignment also generated a new set of (Indian) mid-ocean ridge systems which dissected east Gondwana and facilitated breakup. 100–200-Myr-long Phanerozoic Wilson cycles reflect rifting and northerly migration of Gondwanan fragments across the Pangaean cell into the Rheic–Tethyian trench. Pangaean dispersal was amplified by retreat of the Panthalassan slab away from Europe and Africa, which generated mantle counterflow currents capable of pulling the Americas westward to create the Atlantic Ocean. Thermal blanketing beneath Pangaea and related hotspot activity were part of a complex feedback mechanism that established the breakup pattern, but slab retreat is considered to have been the main driving force. The size and longevity of the two cells, organised and maintained by long-lived slab-pull forces, favours deep mantle convection as the dominant circulation process during the Phanerozoic.     

Precursory seismic quiescence: Past,present, and future

Precursory seismic quiescence has played a major role in most of the succesful earthquake predictions made to date. In addition to these successes, the number of detailed post-mainshock documentations of precursory quiescence is steadily growing. These facts suggest that precursory quiescence will play an important role in earthquake prediction programs of the future. For this reason it is important to critically evaluate the present state of knowledge concerning this phenomenon. The history of observations of precursory seismic quiescence includes work on seismic gaps and seismic preconditions as well as actual studies of temporal quiescence. These papers demonstrated the importance of quantitative evaluation of seismicity rates and the benefits of systematic analysis. During the early 1980's the impact of man-made effects on seismicity rates was demonstrated for the first time. Despite progress in catalog understanding, the identification and correction of man-made seismicity changes remains as the major barrier to earthquake prediction using these data. Effects of man-made changes are apparent in many past studies of seismicity patterns, making the results difficult to evaluate. Recent experience with real-time anomalies has demonstrated the necessity of determining the false alarm rates associated with quiescence precursors. Determination of false alarm rates depends on quantitative definitions of anomalies and statistical evaluations of their significance. A number of successful predictions, which have been made on the basis of seismic quiescence, provide important lessons for present and future work. There are many presently unanswered questions regarding seismic quiescence which must be answered before we can determine the reliability of this phenomena as a precursor.     

The space-weather enterprise: past,present, and future

Space-weather impacts society in diverse ways. Societies’ responses have been correspondingly diverse. Taken together these responses constitute a space weather “enterprise”, which has developed over time and continues to develop. Technological systems that space-weather affects have grown from isolated telegraph systems in the 1840s to ocean and continent-spanning cable communications systems, from a generator electrifying a few city blocks in the 1880s to continent-spanning networks of high-tension lines, from wireless telegraphy in the 1890s to globe-spanning communication by radio and satellites. To have a name for the global totality of technological systems that are vulnerable to space weather, I suggest calling it the cyberelectrosphere. When the cyberelectrosphere was young, scientists who study space weather, engineers who design systems that space weather affects, and operators of such systems — the personnel behind the space-weather enterprise — were relatively isolated. The space-weather enterprise was correspondingly incoherent. Now that the cyberelectrosphere has become pervasive and indispensable to most segments of society, the space weather enterprise has become systematic and coherent. At present it has achieved considerable momentum, but it has barely begun to realize the level of effectiveness to which it can aspire, as evidenced by achievements of a corresponding but more mature enterprise in meteorology, a field which provides useful lessons. The space-weather enterprise will enter a new phase after it matures roughly to where the tropospheric weather enterprise is now. Then it will become indispensable for humankind's further global networking through technology and for humankind's further utilization of and expansion into space.     

大陆内部长余震序列及其对地震风险评估的启示

板块构造学说的最有力的特征之一,是已知的板块运动让我们对板块边界未来大地震的发震位置和平均复发间隔有更清晰的认识。然而,板块构造学说却不能预测板块内的地震何时何地发生,因为理想的板块内部是不会变形的。因此,板块内部的地震风险评估过于依靠如下假设：从有限的历史记录中得到的小地震发震位置能够反映出连续变形的地区,而变形将诱发未来大地震[1]。然而,本文将要说明的是,最近许多这样的小地震很可能是几百年前发生过的大地震的余震。文中将给出一个简单的模型,并由此模型得出：余震序列的长度和断层加载速率呈反比关系。发生在缓慢变形的大陆内部的余震序列,其持续时间与在快速加载的板块边界所观测到的典型的10年尺度余震序列相比要长得多。因为这些预测与观测结果相符,所以将大陆内部地震看作稳态地震活动的一般做法高估了目前地震活跃地区的地震危险性,而低估了其他地区的地震风险。