Signature of the upper mantle density structure in the refined gravity data

The gravitational signal of the upper mantle density structures is investigated in the refined gravity data which are corrected for the gravitational contributions of the crust density structures and the Moho geometry. The gravimetric forward modeling is applied to compute these refined gravity data globally on a 1 × 1 arcdeg grid using the global geopotential model (EGM2008), the global topographic/bathymetric model (DTM2006.0) including the ice-thickness data, and the global crustal model (CRUST2.0). The characteristics of the upper mantle density structures are further analyzed in association with the Moho parameters (i.e., Moho depths and density contrast). The 1 × 1 arcdeg global data of the Moho parameters are estimated by applying the combined least-squares approach based on solving Moritz’s generalization of the Vening–Meinesz inverse problem of isostasy. The refined gravity data exhibit mainly the mantle lithosphere structures attributed to the global mantle convection. A significant correlation found over oceans between the refined gravity data and the Moho density contrast is explained by the increasing density of the oceanic lithosphere with age. Despite the lithosphere structures attributed to the global mantle convection are confirmed also in the refined gravity data over continents, the significant correlation between the refined gravity data and the Moho parameters is in this case absent. Instead, the significant proportion of lateral variations of the Moho density contrast within the continental lithosphere is attributed to the depth-dependant density changes due to pressure and thermal gradient.     

Spectral harmonic analysis and synthesis of Earth’s crust gravity field

We developed and applied a novel numerical scheme for a gravimetric forward modelling of the Earth’s crustal density structures based entirely on methods for a spherical analysis and synthesis of the gravitational field. This numerical scheme utilises expressions for the gravitational potentials and their radial derivatives generated by the homogeneous or laterally varying mass density layers with a variable height/depth and thickness given in terms of spherical harmonics. We used these expressions to compute globally the complete crust-corrected Earth’s gravity field and its contribution generated by the Earth’s crust. The gravimetric forward modelling of large known mass density structures within the Earth’s crust is realised by using global models of the Earth’s gravity field (EGM2008), topography/bathymetry (DTM2006.0), continental ice-thickness (ICE-5G), and crustal density structures (CRUST2.0). The crust-corrected gravity field is obtained after modelling and subtracting the gravitational contribution of the Earth’s crust from the EGM2008 gravity data. These refined gravity data mainly comprise information on the Moho interface and mantle lithosphere. Numerical results also reveal that the gravitational contribution of the Earth’s crust varies globally from 1,843 to 12,010 mGal. This gravitational signal is strongly correlated with the crustal thickness with its maxima in mountainous regions (Himalayas, Tibetan Plateau and Andes) with the presence of large isostatic compensation. The corresponding minima over the open oceans are due to the thin and heavier oceanic crust.     

Comparison of rock discontinuity mean trace length and density estimation methods using discontinuity data from an outcrop in Wenchuan area,China

The equations that exist in the literature to estimate corrected mean trace length and corrected two-dimensional density of a rock discontinuity set using area sampling technique are critically reviewed. The discontinuity traces appearing in an outcrop in Yingxiu area in China are used along with rectangular windows to calculate the corrected mean trace length and two-dimensional density using Kulatilake and Wu’s equations. Similarly, circular windows are used along with Mauldon’s and Zhang and Einstein’s equation to calculate the mean trace length and Mauldon’s equation to calculate the two-dimensional density for the same discontinuity sets using the same outcrop discontinuity trace data. For both parameters, the predictions based on the rectangular window methods were found to be more accurate than that based on the circular window methods.     

Crustal thickening processes in the Central Andes and the different natures of the Moho-discontinuity

New seismic data from the Central Andes allow us to clarify the crustal structure of this mountain chain and to address the problem of crustal thickening. Evidence for the deep crustal root can be observed in both gravimetric and seismological data. Crustal structure and composition change significantly from east to west. In the eastern part of the backarc the Moho discontinuity is clearly recognisable. However only poor Moho arrivals are observed by active seismic measurements beneath the Altiplano and the Western Cordillera where broad-band seismology data indicate such a discontinuity. In the Precordillera, a pronounced discontinuity is detected at a depth of 70 km. Along the coast, the oceanic Moho is developed at a depth of 40 km. There are several processes which can change the petrological and petrophysical properties of the rocks forming the crust. Variations of the classical Moho discontinuity are presented which do not correspond to the petrological crust/mantle boundary. Tectonic shortening in the backarc is the dominant process contributing to at least 50–55% to the root formation along 21°S. In the forearc and arc, hydration of the mantle wedge produced ≈15–20% of crustal thickening. Magmatic thickening and tectonic erosion contributed only ≈5%. The other ≈25% is not yet explained.     

青藏高原东缘深部电性结构特征研究

通过对青藏高原东缘大地电磁测深实测资料的分析,结合区域地质、重、磁、大地电磁和地震资料,文章对青藏高 原东缘的深部构造、壳内高导层、电性结构与矿产的关系进行了研究。结果表明,重力计算中的莫霍面是由诸多高低变化 电阻组成的一个界面,莫霍面之上容易形成壳内高导体;在20 km深度左右存在电阻率变化界面,为上下地壳界面的反映。 电性和Vs研究表明,在地幔柱发育地区,地壳厚度减薄了15 km左右。区内诸如金沙江-红河断裂、鲜水河断裂等深大断裂 带已经深达莫霍面,成为各块体或成矿带的边界,控制了岩体和壳内高导体的分布。进而探讨了贡嘎山壳幔高导体的成因 以及区内地幔柱与矿产的关系。     

High resolution local Moho determination using gravity inversion: A case study in Sri Lanka

The seismic data incorporated in global Moho models are sparse and therefore the interpolation of global Moho depths on a local area may give unrealistic results, especially in regions without adequate seismic information. Gravity inversion is a useful tool that can be used to determine Moho depths in the mentioned regions. This paper describes an interactive way of local Moho depth determination using the gravity inversion method constrained with available seismic data. Before applying inversion algorithms, the Bouguer gravity data is filtered in various stages that reduce the potential bias usually expected in Moho depth determination using gravity methods with constant density contrast assumption. A test area with reliable seismic data is used to validate the results of Moho computation, and subsequently the same computation procedure is applied to the Sri Lankan region. The results of the test area are in better agreement with seismically determined Moho depths than those obtained by global Moho models. In the Sri Lankan region, Moho determination reveals a fairly uniform thin crust of average thickness around 20 km. The overall result suggests that our gravity inversion method is robust and may be suitable for local Moho determination in virgin regions, especially those without sufficient seismic data.     

Geophysical Study of the Valle Fértil Lineament Between 28°45′S and 31°30′S: Boundary Between the Cuyania and Pampia Terranes

A gravimetric and magnetometric study was carried out in the north-eastern portion of the Cuyania terrane and adjacent Pampia terrane. Gravimetric models permitted to interpret the occurrence of dense materials at the suture zone between the latter terranes. Magnetometric models led to propose the existence of different susceptibilities on either side of the suture. The Curie temperature point depth, representing the lower boundary of the magnetised crust, was found to be located at 25 km, consistent with the lower limit of the brittle crust delineated by seismic data; this unusually thick portion of the crust is thought to release stress producing significant seismicity.

Moho depths determined from seismic studies near western Sierras Pampeanas are significantly greater than those obtained from gravimetric crustal models.

Considering mass and gravity changes originated by the flat-slab Nazca plate along Cuyania and western Pampia terranes, it is possible to reconcile Moho thickness obtained either by seismic or by gravity data. Thus, topography and crustal thickness are controlled not only by erosion and shortening but by upper mantle heterogeneities produced by: (a) the oceanic subducted Nazca plate with “normal slope” also including asthenospheric materials between both continental and oceanic lithospheres; (b) flat-slab subducted Nazca plate (as shown in this work) without significant asthenospheric materials between both lithospheres. These changes influence the relationship between topographic altitudes and crustal thickness in different ways, differing from the simple Airy system relationship and modifying the crustal scale shortening calculation. These changes are significantly enlarged in the study area. Future changes in Nazca Plate slope will produce changes in the isostatic balance.     

Subduction fluxes through geologic time

Much of the author’s research career has been spent working both on modern oceanic volcanic systems and at the same time looking at their Archaean counterparts. Many authors have attempted to make inferences on early Earth models based on modern processes which can be increasingly well constrained. In this short review it will be shown how we are beginning to understand and quantify inputs to modern subduction systems and some questions are posed as to how these processes may have affected Earth’s evolution in its distant past.     

Deep seismic refraction and gravity crustal model and tectonic deformation in Tocantins Province, Central Brazil

Interpretation of seismic refraction data in the central sector of Tocantins Province, Central Brazil, has produced a seismic crustal model with well-defined upper, intermediate, and lower crust layers having smooth velocity gradient in each layer. The depths to Moho vary from 32 to 43 km, and mean crustal P velocity varies from 6.3 km/s, beneath Goiás magmatic arc on the western side, to 6.4 km/s, below Goiás massif in the central portion and the foreland fold-and-thrust belt on the eastern side. The behaviour of the lower crust layer allows an improved understanding of regional gravimetric features of the central and northern sectors of Tocantins Province and suggests subduction of the Amazon plate in Central Brazil. In the southeastern sector, the refraction experiment resulted in the detection of a thinner crust (38 km) below Brasília fold belt and a thicker crust (41 km) below Paraná basin and São Francisco craton (42 km). The upper crust beneath Paraná Basin is around 20 km thick, whereas it is less than 10 km thick below the craton. These results bring new insights into the geological history of the central and southeastern sectors of Tocantins Province.Gravimetric measurements in the central sector of Tocantins Province delineate a high and a low anomaly separated by a steep gradient with a NE direction. The axis of the gradient seems to bend still further to NE in the northern sector of that province, whereas the gravimetric high continues northwards, defining a separation between them. This suggests that those features belong to different tectonic processes that occurred during Tocantins Province orogenesis. The gravimetric model, which incorporates seismically resolved structure beneath Tocantins Province, better matches the observed gravimetric data.Although tectonic movements have only been monitored with high-precision GPS for short time interval (1999–2001), the results suggest observable deformations. The main seismicity of Central Brazil, the Goiás–Tocantins seismic belt, seems to be spatially associated with the large gravimetric high anomaly and with the observed tectonic deformation.     

The crustal structure of the Guayana Shield, Venezuela, from seismic refraction and gravity data

We present results from a seismic refraction experiment on the northern margin of the Guayana Shield performed during June 1998, along nine profiles of up to 320 km length, using the daily blasts of the Cerro Bolívar mines as energy source, as well as from gravimetric measurements. Clear Moho arrivals can be observed on the main E–W profile on the shield, whereas the profiles entering the Oriental Basin to the north are more noisy. The crustal thickness of the shield is unusually high with up to 46 km on the Archean segment in the west and 43 km on the Proterozoic segment in the east. A 20 km thick upper crust with P-wave velocities between 6.0 and 6.3 km/s can be separated from a lower crust with velocities ranging from 6.5 to 7.2 km/s. A lower crustal low velocity zone with a velocity reduction to 6.3 km/s is observed between 25 and 25 km depth. The average crustal velocity is 6.5 km/s. The changes in the Bouguer Anomaly, positive (30 mGal) in the west and negative (−20 mGal) in the east, cannot be explained by the observed seismic crustal features alone. Lateral variations in the crust or in the upper mantle must be responsible for these observations.     

由地震探测揭示的青藏高原莫霍面深度

全球最新、规模最大的青藏高原造山带是研究陆陆汇聚、板块俯冲和高原隆升等大陆动力学问题的天然实验室。自20世纪50年代至今, 已经积累大量被动源地震观测和主动源地震探测资料用于揭示青藏高原的地壳与上地幔结构, 勾勒出青藏高原的壳幔结构的基本特征。本文在汇总前人工作基础上, 通过对深地震测深、深地震反射剖面和宽频地震观测三种地震方法资料的梳理, 探讨青藏高原的莫霍面深度及其分布特征。结果表明, 青藏高原莫霍面形态复杂, 深度变化很大, 分布总体特征呈现出中间浅, 南部较深, 北部较浅, 西部较深, 东部较浅的趋势, 最深的和最浅的莫霍面可以相差40 km。这种变化趋势记录了印度板块和欧亚板块的相互作用使高原地壳增厚、减薄过程, 并驱使地壳物质由西向东流动。     

Global earth isostatic model using smoothed Airy-Heiskanen and Vening Meinesz hypotheses

Isostatic hypotheses are used for different purposes in geophysics and geodesy. The Erath crustal thickness modelling is more complicated than the classical isostatic models. In this study we try to modify Airy-Hesiskanen model, utilizing a smoothing factor, to a model with regional or global isostatic model through a modern solution of the gravimetric-isostatic Vening Meinesz model and CRUST.0. In Airy-Hesiskanen’s theory there is no correlation between neighbouring crustal columns, while this must be the case in reality due to the elasticity of the Earth. The idea is to keep the simplicity of the Airy-Heiskanen model, because it needs only the topographic data, and change the model which becomes to a model with regional/global isostatic model. The isostatic assumption for compensating the topographic potential is incomplete, as there are other geophysical phenomena which should be considered. Using the isostatic hypothesis for determining the depth of crust causes some disturbing signals in the gravity anomaly (approximately 285 mGal), which influence the crustal thickness determination. In this paper a simple method use for removing these effects. Spherical harmonic potential coefficients of the topographic compensation masses are used for modifying Airy-Heiskanen’s model in a least-square adjustment procedure by estimating smoothing factor. The numerical analysis shows that below degree 10, the modified Airy-Hesiskanen and Vening Meinesz models are close together. Smoothing factors for modifying the Airy-Hesiskanen model vary from 0.75 to 0.64 between degrees 200 and 2159.     

深地震探测揭示的华南地区莫霍面深度

从20世纪70年代以来, 在华南地区进行了大量的深地震探测研究。本文通过对华南地区的深地震探测研究的总结和梳理, 探讨了华南大陆及其邻近海域的莫霍面变化情况, 结果表明: 华南大陆莫霍面形态变化较大, 总体变化趋势是由西部向东部呈逐渐抬升; 华南大陆最深的莫霍面出现在攀西地区北缘, 最浅的莫霍面出现在衢州盆地, 两者差35 km; 华南地区周缘断裂均存在莫霍面错断; 华南加里东造山带莫霍面深度浅于台湾造山带; 东海边缘海与南海北缘地壳厚度明显不同。这些特征可能指示了不同区域所经历的岩石圈及地壳演化过程不同, 其中攀西地区的莫霍面较厚可能同青藏高原物质东流有关, 华南造山带的地壳减薄缘于后期遭受的伸展作用, 东海及南海的莫霍面深度反映了两者处于不同的陆缘位置, 前者为活动大陆边缘, 后者为被动大陆边缘。     

Origin of high-velocity anomalies beneath the Siberian craton: A fingerprint of multistage magma underplating since the Neoarchean

Despite the violent eruption of the Siberian Traps at ~ 250 Ma, the Siberian craton has an extremely low heat flow (18–25 mW/m²) and a very thick lithosphere (300–350 km), which makes it an ideal place to study the influence of mantle plumes on the long-term stability of cratons. Compared with seismic velocities of rocks, the lower crust of the Siberian craton is composed mainly of mafic granulites and could be rather heterogeneous in composition. The very high V_p (> 7.2 km/s) in the lowermost crust can be fit by a mixture of garnet granulites, two-pyroxene granulites, and garnet gabbro due to magma underplating. The high-velocity anomaly in the upper mantle (V_p = 8.3-8.6 km/s) can be interpreted by a mixture of eclogites and garnet peridotites. Combined with the study of lower crustal and mantle xenoliths, we recognized multistage magma underplating at the crust-mantle boundary beneath the Siberian craton, including the Neoarchean growth and Paleoproterozoic assembly of the Siberian craton beneath the Markha terrane, the Proterozoic collision along the Sayan-Taimyr suture zone, and the Triassic Siberian Trap event beneath the central Tunguska basin. The Moho becomes a metamorphism boundary of mafic rocks between granulite facies and eclogite facies rather than a chemical boundary that separates the mafic lower crust from the ultramafic upper mantle. Therefore, multistage magma underplating since the Neoarchean will result in a seismic Moho shallower than the petrologic Moho. Such magmatism-induced compositional change and dehydration will increase viscosity of the lithospheric mantle, and finally trigger lithospheric thickening after mantle plume activity. Hence, mantle plumes are not the key factor for craton destruction.     

岩矿分析与经典法

回顾了近一个世纪以来经典的湿化学法（重量法和容量法）在岩矿分析方面的建立、发展情况。认为：经典法曾有过长期的持续发展，对地学研究有过巨大的贡献，但由于地学研究对象主要转移至痕量元素以及经典法不适合痕量分析，在一些以仪器分析为主要手段的实验室，有被取代的现象。指出：由于经典法依据的是全部原子、离子或分子参与的不可逆反应，是能够直接溯源至SI基本测量单位的分析技术，其优点为绝大多数仪器技术所不及，因此，它可以在某些领域被淡忘，但是不会消亡。     

Nonlocal response functions: application to processing BEAR data

It has been suggested that regional array MTS data be processed with an algorithm based on the nonlocal response of laterally heterogeneous subsurface to an arbitrary electromagnetic excitation. The algorithm is tested with synthetic models which show that the inversion quality can be improved by accumulation of information through repeated measurements, at either changing or fixed array configurations. Besides the array configuration, the inversion quality depends on the selected size of the survey area. The choice of the area size defines the inversion conditions in terms of choice between the magnetic and electric mode for correlation of electromagnetic potentials. The algorithm has been applied to data acquired during the BEAR Project in the Fennoscandian shield. Preliminary results indicate a spatial correlation between conductivity minimums and Moho depth maximums. The apparent resistivity maps obtained with the suggested algorithm highlight the boundaries between the Lapland–Kola, Karelia, and Svecofennia tectonic provinces.     

基于遗传算法优化的BP神经网络在密度界面反演中的应用

BP神经网络方法在二维密度界面的反演中取得了较好的效果,但在反演三维界面时,由于模型更复杂、参数更多,BP神经网络的收敛速度和反演精度都有一定程度的下降。为了改善反演效果,本文利用遗传算法对BP神经网络的权值、阈值选择过程进行优化,获得了更好的网络模型;并将此模型应用于密度界面模型的反演中,预测误差从上百米减小到数十米,同时迭代计算步数减少了近2/3,有效减少了计算时间,反演结果更准确。利用基于遗传算法优化的BP神经网络反演了法国某地区莫霍面深度,预测相对误差仅为1.8%,取得了较好的应用效果。基于遗传算法优化的BP神经网络在密度界面的反演中具有良好的应用价值和研究前景。     

Stable methods of interpretation of gravimetric data

A method for interpretation of potential geophysical fields, based on a stable inversion algorithm, is proposed. The stability of the algorithm is provided by an original choice of the zero approximation model and stepwise solution of the inverse problem by a correctness set. The three-dimensional density distribution of local structures as grid functions is reconstructed by layer-wise anomalies of a spilt field. Examples of interpretation of the practical gravimetric data illustrating the efficiency of the method are given.

     

Modeling of electromagnetic waves in axisymmetric geometry using a Laguerre spectral method

A spectral method for modeling high-frequency electromagnetic waves in axisymmetric geometry is proposed.The method is based on the expansion of the solutions of Maxwell’s equations in Laguerre functions in the time region.The spectral method is used to solve Maxwell’s equations for both 2D media and stratified media. In the case of stratified media, a Fourier–Bessel expansion in the radial variable is used. The effectiveness of the spectral and finite-difference methods is compared. Harmonic solutions and solitary solutions by the Laguerre method are considered, and the dynamics of monochromatic and broadband electromagnetic pulses are examined.     

Moho Depth of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Revealed by Seismic Probing

The Qinghai (青海)-Tibet plateau is the newest and biggest orogenic belt in the world and a natural laboratory for researching continental geodynamics, such as continent-continent collision, convergence, subduction, and plateau uplift. From the 1950s to the present, there have been many active-source (deep seismic sounding and deep seismic reflection profiling) and passive-source seismic probing (broadband seismic observations) implemented to reveal the crust-mantle structure. In this article, the authors mainly summarize the three seismic probings to discuss the Moho depth of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau based on the previous summaries. The result shows that the Moho of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau is very complex and its depth is very different; the whole outline of it is that the Moho depth is deeper beneath the south than the north and deeper in the west than in the east. In the Qiangtang (羌塘) terrane, the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, the Moho is shallower than both the southern and the northern sides. The deepest Moho is 40 km deeper than the shallowest Moho. This trend records the crustal thickening and thinning caused by the mutual response between the India plate and the Eurasia plate, and the eastward mass flow in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.