The stages and distribution areas of the late Cenozoic volcanism in the Udokan Range in Transbaikalia based on geochronologic studies

New K-Ar datings of Cenozoic volcanic rocks sampled in the Udokan Range lava plateau are presented and compared with the known geochronologic dates for similar rocks. On the basis of these data, periodization of volcanic eruptions and regionalization of the plateau by the distribution of volcanism of different ages are suggested.     

Cenozoic basin development and its indication of plateau growth in the Xunhua-Guide district

The Xunhua, Guide and Tongren Basins are linked with the Laji Mountain and the northern West Qinling thrust belts in the Xunhua-Guide district. Basin depositional stratigraphy consists of the Oligocene Xining Group, the uppermost Oligocene-Pliocene Guide Group and the Lower Pleistocene. They are divided into three basin phases by unconformities. Basin phase 1 is composed of the Xining Group, and Basin phase 2 of the Zharang, Xiadongshan, Herjia and Ganjia Conglomerate Formations in the Guide Group, and Basin phase 3 of the Gonghe Formation and the Lower Pleistocene. Three basin phases all develop lacustrine deposits at their lower parts, and alluvial-braided channel plain depositional systems at upper parts, which constitute a coarsening-upward and progradational sequence. Basin deposition, paleocurrent and provenance analyses represent that large lacustrine basin across the Laji Mountain was developed and sourced from the West Qinling thrust belt during the stage of the Xining Group (Basin phase 1), and point-dispersed alluvial fan-braided channel plain deposition systems were developed beside the thrust and uplifted Laji Mountain and sourced from it, as thrusting migrated northwards during the stage of the Guide Group (Basin phase 2). Evolution of basin-mountain system in the study area significantly indicates the growth process of the distal Tibetan Plateau. The result shows that the Tibetan Plateau expanded to the northern West-Qinling at Oligocene (29–21.4 Ma) by means of northward folded-and-thrust thickening and uplifting and frontal foreland basin filling, and across the study area to North Qilian and Liupan Mountain at the Miocene-Pliocene (20.8–2.6 Ma) by means of two-sided basement-involved-thrust thickening and uplifting and broken foreland basin filling, and the distant end of Tibetan Plateau behaved as regional erosion and intermontane basin aggradational filling during the Pliocene and early Pleistocene (2.6–1.7 Ma).

     

Cenozoic basin development and its indication of plateau growth in the Xunhua-Guide district

The Xunhua, Guide and Tongren Basins are linked with the Laji Mountain and the northern West Qinling thrust belts in the Xunhua-Guide district. Basin depositional stratigraphy consists of the Oligocene Xining Group, the uppermost Oligocene-Pliocene Guide Group and the Lower Pleistocene. They are divided into three basin phases by unconformities. Basin phase 1 is composed of the Xining Group, and Basin phase 2 of the Zharang, Xiadongshan, Herjia and Ganjia Conglomerate Formations in the Guide Group, and Basin phase 3 of the Gonghe Formation and the Lower Pleistocene. Three basin phases all develop lacustrine deposits at their lower parts, and alluvial-braided channel plain depositional systems at upper parts, which constitute a coarsening-upward and progradational sequence. Basin deposition, paleocurrent and provenance analyses represent that large lacustrine basin across the Laji Mountain was developed and sourced from the West Qinling thrust belt during the stage of the Xining Group (Basin phase 1), and point-dispersed alluvial fan-braided channel plain deposition systems were developed beside the thrust and uplifted Laji Mountain and sourced from it, as thrusting migrated northwards during the stage of the Guide Group (Basin phase 2). Evolution of basin-mountain system in the study area significantly indicates the growth process of the distal Tibetan Plateau. The result shows that the Tibetan Plateau expanded to the northern West-Qinling at Oligocene (29―21.4 Ma) by means of northward folded-and-thrust thickening and uplifting and frontal foreland basin filling, and across the study area to North Qilian and Liupan Mountain at the Miocene-Pliocene (20.8―2.6 Ma) by means of two-sided basement-involved-thrust thickening and uplifting and broken foreland basin filling, and the distant end of Tibetan Plateau behaved as regional erosion and intermontane basin aggradational filling during the Pliocene and early Pleistocene (2.6―1.7 Ma).     

中国西南天山山前的晚新生代构造与地震活动

天山是研究现今陆内造山作用及过程、陆内变形、陆内强震及其预测等大陆动力学问题的理想实验场。西南天山和塔里木之间的新生代褶皱－逆断裂带基本上由一南冲弧形推覆构造系统和一向北反冲的构造系统组成，由北而南主要由以下4个运动学单元组成：（1）新生代复活的喀拉铁热克山－天山南脉古生代造山带，其快速变形和抬升可能起始于23－26Ma前，持续至13－16Ma前。（2）向南逆冲的西南天山前陆薄皮主冲断带，包括木兹杜克弧形薄皮推覆体和依柯冲断带，前者代表了向南薄皮逆掩的天山型岩系，地表主要表现为一系列的飞来峰群，在14Ma前曾有过大规模活动，最小缩短量约为20－35km，最小缩短速率为1．4－2．8mm/a；后者代表了向南叠瓦状薄皮逆冲推覆的前陆古生代基底（塔里木地台型沉积岩系）卷入构造，其西段在距今14Ma时曾有过强烈活动。两者共同组成了一复杂的双重构造；新生代地层也卷入变形。（3）喀什－阿图什弧形反冲褶皱－逆断裂带，由3排向北（天山）反冲的左阶雁列展布的第四纪地表滑脱褶皱组成，仅在大山口以西发育。该构造带形成于距今约1．4Ma以后。依什拉克喀拉乌尔断裂以南，博古孜河剖面的最小缩短速率约为5．8mm/a，翁库尔剖面的最小缩短速率约为8．6mm/a。（4）塔里木克拉通下盘块体，向北西方向缓倾，内部变形较小。里木块体西北存在明显的不均匀性，其学问基底高角度逆断裂和走滑断裂控制了盆地新生代沉积的厚度，导致西南天山前陆冲断带的地形地貌、地层、构造变形样式、变形时间以及变形缩短量沿走向的巨大差异性。迈丹－喀拉铁克断裂和阿图什断裂带均为岩石圈规模断裂，研究区的中强地震主要发生在这两条断裂带以及它们之间的西南天山前陆冲断带上。     

Late Cenozoic fields of the tectonic stresses in Western and Central Mongolia

The paper addresses the Late Cenozoic fault tectonics and the stress state of the Earth’s crust within the Mongolian microplate, embracing Central and Western Mongolia. We analyze the results of reconstructing the stress fields and the tectonic deformations in the zones of active faulting, located at the uplands and in the intermountain trenches, which bound the microplate (Mongolian Altai; Gobi Altai; Dolinoozersk trough; Khan-Taishir-Nuruu, Khan-Houkhei, and Bolnai uplands) and the Khangai dome. Deformations related with the northeastern general-scale collisional compression are concentrated along the periphery of the Mongolian microplate, and the maximum compression is focused on its western and southern boundaries, thus forming the right- and the left-lateral transpressive structures of the Mongolian and Gobi Altai. The deformations associated with the shortening of the Earth’s crust involve not only the mountain ridges framing the block, but also the intermountain troughs that separate the Gobi and Mongolian Altai from the Khangai dome, and the southern portion of the Khangai Uplift. The diversity in the deformations within the central Khengai region ensues from the coupling of tension caused by the dynamical impact of the mantle anomaly, which is located east of 100°E, with a regional NE compression. Owing to the relatively rigid Khangai block, the deformations are transferred to the northern bound of this structure, namely the seismically active North Khangai fault. The role of compression increases to the west of the zone, where it conjugates with the transpressive structures of the Mongolian Altai. The tension becomes more important in the western part of this zone where the releasing bends are formed. A region characterized by extra tension is localized also to the east of 100° E. In terms of the gradient in the lithosphere thickness and the structure types of the upper crust, the submeridional line running along 100°E is interpreted as the key interblock boundary.     

Late Cenozoic transpression in southwestern Mongolia and the Gobi Altai-Tien Shan connection

The Gobi Altai region of southwestern Mongolia is a natural laboratory for studying processes of active, transpressional, intracontinental mountain building at different stages of development. The region is structurally dominated by several major E—W left-lateral strike-slip fault systems. The North Gobi Altai fault system is a seismically active, right-stepping, left-lateral, strike-slip fault system that can be traced along the surface for over 350 km. The eastern two-thirds of the fault system ruptured during a major earthquake (M = 8.3) in 1957, whereas degraded fault scarps cutting alluvial deposits along the western third of the system indicate that this segment did not rupture during the 1957 event but has been active during the Quaternary. The highest mountains in the Gobi Altai are restraining bend uplifts along the length of the fault system. Detailed transects across two of the restraining bends indicate that they have asymmetric flower structure cross-sectional geometries, with thrust faults rooting into oblique-slip and strike-slip master faults. Continued NE-directed convergence across the fault system, coupled with left-lateral strike-slip displacements, will lead to growth and coalescence of the restraining bends into a continuous sublinear range, possibly obscuring the original strike-slip fault system; this may be a common mountain building process.

The largely unknown Gobi-Tien Shan fault system is a major left-lateral strike-slip fault system (1200 km + long) that links the southern ranges of the Gobi Altai with the Barkol Tagh and Bogda Shan of the easternmost Tien Shan in China. Active scarps cutting alluvial deposits are visible on satellite imagery along much of its central section, indicating Quaternary activity. The total displacement is unknown, but small parallel splays have apparent offsets of 20 + km, suggesting that the main fault zone has experienced significantly more displacement. Field investigations conducted at two locations in southwestern Mongolia indicate that late Cenozoic transpressional uplift is still active along the fault system. The spatial relationship between topography and active faults in the Barkol Tagh and Bogda Shan strongly suggests that these ranges are large, coalescing, restraining bends that have accommodated the fault's left-lateral motion by thrusting, oblique-slip displacement and uplift. Thus, from a Mongolian perspective, the easternmost Tien Shan formed where it is because it lies at the western termination zone of the Gobi-Tien Shan fault system. The Gobi-Tien Shan fault system is one of the longest fault systems in central Asia and, together with the North Gobi Altai and other, smaller, subparallel fault systems, is accommodating the eastward translation of south Mongolia relative to the Hangay Dome and Siberia. These displacements are interpreted to be due to eastward viscous flow of uppermost mantle material in the topographically low, E–W trending corridor between the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and the Hangay Dome, presumably in response to the Indo-Eurasian collision 2500 km to the south.     

Late Cenozoic alkaline volcanism in the northwestern Caribbean: tectonic setting and Sr isotopic characteristics

A province of alkaline volcanism has developed over the last 10 m.y. in the northwestern part of the Caribbean plate. Most of the volcanism is Quaternary in age and follows an apparent halving of the spreading rate at the Cayman Rise spreading center 2.4 m.y. ago. Intraplate deformation in Central America and the Nicaraguan Rise has produced a series of north-south orientated grabens. This extensional tectonism is associated temporally and spatially with some of the alkaline magmatism. Strontium isotopic ratios of rocks from sixteen of these centers of volcanism enable three separate areas with different isotopic characteristics to be identified. The largest area corresponds to the Nicaraguan Rise and is characterized by low⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7026–0.7031). A more concentrated area of alkaline magmatism in northeastern Costa Rica has intermediate⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7036–0.7038) which are within the range shown by the adjacent calc-alkaline volcanoes. In central Hispaniola high⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7047–0.7063) are found in strongly alkalic rocks and in rocks that are transitional to calc-alkaline in nature. In both Costa Rica and Hispaniola the increased radiogenic strontium may have come from volatile-rich fluids escaping from adjacent subducting slabs of oceanic crust. The isotopic differences between the two areas may be related to the relative longevity and high rate of subduction in Costa Rica compared to Hispaniola. The Costa Rican alkaline rocks overlie a segment of the Cocos plate which is being subducted at a smaller angle (～ 35°) than at the rest of the Central American arc.     

山西晚新生代古地理环境变迁与新构造运动响应

系统解读了山西晚新生代古地理古环境特征,结合近年来笔者的研究给出了各时代古地理分布图。上新世的构造运动和地理环境演化奠定了现今地理环境的基础,尤其是奠定了现今地貌、水系的轮廓。早更新世地理环境最突出的事件是各断陷盆地中的湖泊广泛发育,出现淹没整个盆地的大湖景观;黄土广泛发育,但主要堆积于吕梁山分水岭以西;黄河在早更新世已经发育,并形成5级阶地。中更新世古地理的主要事件是湖泊的衰退,黄土堆积范围几乎遍布全省,厚可达200 m左右,表明气候较早更新世进一步明显变干。晚更新世古地理的主要特征是湖泊消亡,其地理环境更加接近现代。最后,笔者预测未来山西断陷盆地将持续断陷,各盆地内水系不再外流,形成贯通的大湖景观,类似现今的贝加尔湖。     

Late Cenozoic uplift along the northern Dead Sea transform in Lebanon and Syria

Evidence of long-term, late Cenozoic uplift, as well as strike-slip faulting, is revealed by topographic and geological features along the northern 500 km of the Dead Sea fault system (DSFS)—the transform boundary between the Arabian and African plates in the eastern Mediterranean region. Macro-geomorphic features are studied using a new, high-resolution (20 m pixel) digital elevation model (DEM) produced by radar interferometry (InSAR). This DEM provides a spatially continuous view of topography at an unprecedented resolution along this continental transform from 32.5° to 38° N. This section of the left-lateral transform can be subdivided into a 200 km long Lebanese restraining bend (mostly in Lebanon), and the section to the north (northwest Syria). Spatial variations in Cenozoic bedrock uplift are inferred through mapping of topographic residuals from the DEM. Additionally, high altitude, low-relief surfaces are mapped and classified in the Mount Lebanon and Anti Lebanon ranges that also provide references for assessing net uplift. These results demonstrate an asymmetric distribution of post-Miocene uplift between the Mt. Lebanon and Anti Lebanon ranges. Antecedent drainages also imply that a major episode of uplift in the Palmyride fold belt post-dates the uplift of the Anti Lebanon region. North of the restraining bend, the Late Miocene surface is preserved beneath spatially extensive lava flows. Hilltop remnants of this paleosurface demonstrate Pliocene-Quaternary uplift and tilting of the Syrian Coastal Range, adjacent to the DSFS north of the restraining bend. This late Cenozoic uplift is contemporaneous with strike-slip along the DSFS. Geometrical relationships between folds and strike-slip features suggest that regional strain partitioning may accommodate a convergent component of motion between the Arabian and African plates. This interpretation is consistent with regional plate tectonic models that predict 10–25° of obliquity between the relative plate motion and the strike of the DSFS north of the restraining bend. We suggest that this convergent component of plate motion is responsible for uplift along and adjacent to the DSFS in the Syrian Coastal Range, as well as within the Lebanese restraining bend.     

The stages of evolution of the partially molten rock material with a heterogeneous distribution of the solid phase

The paper addresses the interpretation of the geochemical laboratory experiments aimed at studying the differentiation of partially molten rocks in the terrestrial planets. These experiments simulate the early stages of material differentiation when the layers with the different chemical and petrological composition are formed in the planets. Density inversion which may arise at a certain stage of this process leads to the emergence of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability. The lifetime of this instability is estimated, and the different phases of its evolution are explored. It is shown that the laboratory experiments do not always adequately reproduce the nature of the physical processes which occur in the interior of the planets. The suggested methods are also used for interpreting the evolution of intrusions during their differentiation. The obtained results can be helpful in analyzing the intrusions for minerals.     

Depth distribution of calcareous sediments in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic North Atlantic Ocean

The upper Mesozoic and Cenozoic distribution of calcareous, biogenic particles which are produced by planktonic foraminifers and nannoplankton and which are the most important components of pelagic sediments since mid-Mesozoic times, has been reconstructed using data from North Atlantic deep-sea drill sites. Two phases of sedimentation of carbonate-rich sediments are separated by an interval from 100 to 80 m.y. B.P. when CaCO₃ particles were diluted by chiefly terrigenous material. Prior to 100 m.y. B.P. the highest concentrations of calcareous matter were confined to the deepest part of the then 4–4.5 km deep North Atlantic. After 80 m.y. B.P. sediments with high concentrations of calcareous matter have been deposited above 3 km paleodepth, but during the last 25 m.y. also between 4 and 5.5 km paleo-water depth. The latter occurrence is associated with indications of downslope displacement of calcareous material into the abyssal plains of the deepest parts of the North Atlantic.     

青藏高原盐湖的形成与分布

青藏高原是现代盐湖最发育的地区之一.盐湖集中分布于干燥度很大的羌塘和柴达木盆地两地区.这些高原地区具备成盐的优良条件:1.受断陷控制的封闭性内陆湖盆;2.晚更新世一现代持续的干旱气候;3.富含成盐元素的各种天然水流,特别是富含硼、锂、铷、铯等的地下热水的长期补给.这些条件决定着盐湖的规律性分布.     

The generation and mineral associations of rock assemblages at mud volcanoes: Southeastern Siberia

We consider the main features in the formation of rock assemblages in the southern Siberian Mesozoic–Cenozoic mud volcanism area that the present writers identified. The related mineral associations and mechanism of generation were found. We identified fluid dynamic regimes of mud volcanoes with different mechanisms of mineral generation, viz., root (chamber) structures of fluid generation, as well as the channels for the transmission of the fluid–rock substratum and of hydrothermal fluids.     

Structural characteristics of the Tan-Lu fault zone in Cenozoic basins offshore the Bohai Sea

The Tan-Lu fault zone across the eastern margin of the Cenozoic basins offshore the Bohai Sea is a NNE-trending right-lateral strike-slip fault system developed in the Cenozoic basin cover. It cuts through NE-to NNE-striking major extensional faults that controlled the formation of Paleogene basins. Recent petroleum exploration indicates that Cenozoic structural activities of the Tan-Lu fault system have directly or indirectly affected oil and gas distribution offshore the Bohai Sea. As part of a deep fault zone the Tan-Lu fault zone has been activated since the Oligocene,and obviously affected the tectonic evolution of offshore Bohai basins since then. The formation of Paleogene rift basins offshore the Bohai Sea has utilized the pre-existing structural elements of the Tan-Lu fault zone that developed in the late Mesozoic.     

Late Cretaceous-Early Cenozoic volcanism of Southern Mongolia: A trace of the South Khangai mantle hot spot

The Gobi-Tien Shan volcanic area (in Southern Mongolia) is part of the South Khangai volcanic region (SKVR). The formation of its lava fields was related to three stages of volcanic activity: the Late Cretaceous (88–71 Myr), Paleocene-Early Eocene (62–47 Myr), and Early Oligocene (37–30 Myr). Volcanic occurrences of different age are represented by trachybasalt, trachyandesitobasalt, basanite, and melanephelinite with similar geochemical characteristics, which are also close to the geochemical characteristics of OIB basalt. The isotope composition (Sr, Nd) of the rocks indicates that the magma sources were formed as a result of mixing of a moderately depleted PREMA mantle and an EM-I mantle enriched in neodymium.The patterns of migration of volcanic centers of different ages over the area of interest have been studied. The earliest (Late Cretaceous) volcanic occurrences were concentrated mainly in the south of the area, the Paleocene-Early Eocene eruptions took place at the center of the area, and the Early Oligocene volcanism occurred in the northern area. The observed migration of the volcanic activity centers is related to lithospheric plate motions relative to a localized source of hot mantle (the South Khangai mantle hot spot), which controlled volcanic activity within SKVR. In the lithospheric structure of this region, local asthenospheric high, reaching a depth of ～50 km, correspond to this hot spot.     

The evolution of volcanism in the Tugnui-Khilok sector of the western Transbaikalia rift area in the Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic

The Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic volcanism of the Tugnui-Khilok sector in the western Transbaikalia rift area is related to the development of the Tugnui, Tsolgin, Margentui, and Khilok grabens and is characterized by a north-south migration of magmatic centers. In these grabens, the igneous associations are composed of high-alkaline rocks: alkaline and subalkaline basalts, tephrites, phonolites, trachytes, trachyrhyolites, comendites and pantellerites, alkaline syenites and alkaline gabbroids. These associations are known to have formed during 10 stages: Late Jurassic (150–158 Ma), Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (139–147 Ma), the beginning of the Early Cretaceous (133–145 Ma), mid-Early Cretaceous (115–134Ma), the end of the Early Cretaceous (104–114 Ma), the end of the Early-beginning of Late Cretaceous (99–102 Ma), Late Cretaceous (72–90 Ma), Eocene (38–48 Ma), Early Oligocene (30–35 Ma), and Late Oligocene (25–27 Ma). The composition of igneous associations was changing in such a way that the relative amount of salic rocks gradually decreased (occasionally even disappeared completely) in the later developmental stages. As well, the content of SiO₂ in basic rocks also decreased with increasing Nb and Ta contents, and depletion occurred in the lithophylic elements Rb, K, Ba, Sr, and in light rare-earths relative to heavy ones. The geochemical and isotope-geochemical parameters of basaltoids change through time, probably due to successive changes in the mantle sources of magmatism. During Mesozoic time, the source composition was consistent, with OIB-EM-II sources enriched in radiogenic strontium, but since the second half of the Cretaceous, the isotope composition began to be modified toward moderately depleted sources of the OIB-PREMA type.     

Structural and material records of paleoearthquakes in terrigenous rocks: Analysis and interpretation

The results of an instrumental and analytical investigation of the products of mineral and textural transformations in the tectonic slickensides and fault gouge in the near-surface terrigenous sedimentary rocks (clays, arkose sandstones, shungites) which have undergone localized deformations in fault zones of presumably seismogenic origin are presented. Based on this, several peculiarities in the behavior of a dynamic slip in the upper transition horizon from aseismic to seismogenic mode of faulting in the Earth’s crust are elucidated. The changes in the mineral phase compositions of the fault facies against the protolith composition are estimated; the parameters of the temperature regime and thermal energy balance of deformational metamorphic reactions are determined. The probable causes of instability in the faults, the mechanisms of the loss of strength, the weakening and strengthening during seismogenic dynamic slip are considered. The role of tribochemical phenomena in the course of a rock’s transformation into a fault gouge and the related energy effects are discussed. An inventory of the possible energy costs on the processes of transforming material in dynamic slip zones is compiled.     

塔里木盆地东北缘晚新生代钻孔岩心磁性地层年代学及其构造意义

塔里木盆地的高分辨率沉积记录对于理解青藏高原隆升、亚洲内陆干旱化乃至全球气候变化至关重要.建立可靠的地层年代标尺对于研究塔里木盆地晚新生代沉积环境演化、构造运动及古气候变化具有重要意义.本文对塔里木盆地东北缘库尔勒地区的两个全取心钻孔ZK3（深500 m）、ZK5（深300 m）进行详细的磁性地层学研究,结果表明,ZK3孔中更新统底界为54.8 m,下更新统底界为167.0 m,上新统底界为432.0 m,钻孔底部年龄约为6.2 Ma,属上中新统上部;ZK5孔中更新统底界为64.7 m,下更新统底界为241.5 m,钻孔底部年龄约为3.2 Ma,属上上新统.基于上述磁性地层年代标尺,通过沉积速率分析发现ZK3孔在3.0—3.6 Ma之间沉积速率明显增大,反映了塔里木盆地北部天山在此期间的快速隆升.通过东西部多个盆地地质剖面沉积速率的对比分析发现,这期构造活动在区域上具有准同期活动特征,在时代上与晚中新世以来青藏高原快速隆升的时代一致,可能与青藏高原的隆升扩展效应有关.

     

Palacomagnetic and rock magnetic investigation of Late Pleistocene loess deposits in Belgium

The results of a palaeomagnetic and rock magnetic investigation of two loess profiles of Late-Pleistocene age in Tongrinne (TG) and Rocourt (RC) in Belgium are given. We examined the possibility of using this type of sediment, which is, strictly speaking, eolian in origin, to gain information about the dynamic behaviour of the ancient geomagnetic field. The influence of geological processes, especially those known to occur in periglacial environments, were examined. A field test was applied to the upturned strata near a fossil frost wedge of Weichselian age in Tongrinne to demonstrate that at least some large directional changes found in periglacial sediments, and which could be mistaken for ‘excursions’, cannot be attributed to the Earth's magnetic field, but are due to mechanical disturbances. The DRM/ARM method and the requirements for uniformity by Levi et al. to obtain relative geomagnetic palaeointensities were tested on those loess deposits which contain a large silt fraction.