从地壳上地幔构造看大陆岩石圈伸展与裂解

本篇讨论大陆岩石圈拆沉、伸展与裂解作用过程。由于大陆岩石圈厚度大而且很不均匀,产生裂谷的机制比较复杂。大陆碰撞远程效应的触发,岩石圈拆沉,以及板块运动的不规则性和地球应力场方向转折,都可能产生岩石圈断裂和大陆裂谷。岩石圈拆沉为在重力作用下"去陆根"的作用过程,演化过程可分为大陆根拆离、地壳伸展和岩石圈地幔整体破裂三个阶段。大陆碰撞带、俯冲的大陆和大洋板块、克拉通区域岩石圈,都可能产生岩石圈拆沉。大陆岩石圈调查表明,拉张区可见地壳伸展、岩石圈拆离、软流圈上拱和热沉降;它们是大陆岩石圈伸展与裂解早期的主要表现。从初始拉张的盆岭省到成熟的张裂省,拆离后地壳伸展成复式地堑,下地壳幔源玄武岩浆侵位,断裂带贯通并切穿整个岩石圈,表明地壳伸展进入成熟阶段。中国东北松辽盆地和西欧北海盆地曾处于成熟的张裂省。岩石圈破裂为岩浆侵位提供了阻力很小的通道网。岩浆侵位作用伴随岩石圈破裂和热流体上涌,成熟的张裂省可发展成大陆裂谷。多数的大陆裂谷带并没有发展成威尔逊裂谷带和洋中脊,普通的大陆裂谷要演化为威尔逊裂谷带,必须有来自软流圈的长期和持续的热流和玄武质岩浆的供应。威尔逊裂谷带岩石圈地幔和软流圈为地震低速带,其根源可能与来自地幔底部的地幔热羽流有关。     

南海西南次海盆扩张期热液循环与洋壳增生的数值模拟

洋壳厚度受多方面因素的影响，前人大多关注地幔温度、地幔源成分等岩石圈深部因素，很少关注岩石圈浅层的热液循环对洋壳厚度的影响。利用基于有限元的数值模拟手段，对扩张期不同背景(洋中脊、拆离断层)、不同扩张速率的热液循环与洋壳增生的关系进行研究。结果表明：洋壳增生达到稳定前，热液循环导致理论洋壳厚度发生阶段性减薄，减薄量随时间改变，并且推迟了上地幔中熔融体出现的时间；当洋壳增生达到稳定后，热液循环下产生的理论洋壳厚度反而比无热液循环的更厚。结合洋壳增生过程中对流热通量的变化分析，在洋壳增生前期的上地幔温度低，驱动热液循环的热源小，产生的对流热通量相对较小且不稳定，热液循环缓慢冷却上地幔顶部的温度，进而推迟上地幔初始熔融的时间，减弱上地幔的熔融，并造成一定时间阶段内的生成理论洋壳比正常理论洋壳厚度更薄；当洋壳增生达到稳定后，对流热通量达到最大并稳定，热液循环持续快速的冷却上地幔顶部温度，导致上地幔深部的热向上地幔顶部补给，反而增大了上地幔顶部的温度和熔融量，进而增大了理论洋壳厚度。随着扩张速率的增大，理论洋壳厚度增大，对流热通量增大，热液循环导致的洋壳阶段性减薄的最大减薄量也增大，阶段性减薄的时间缩短。结合南海西南次海盆的洋壳结构特征分析：两条横跨南海西南次海盆的地震剖面显示，海盆内存在异常薄的洋壳区域，并且两条地震剖面的最薄洋壳厚度相差0. 85 km,推测海盆内异常薄洋壳和不同扩张时期的最薄洋壳厚度差异受到扩张期热液循环阶段性减薄洋壳作用的影响。     

West Pacific and North Indian Ocean Seafloor and Their Ocean-Continent Connection Zones: Evolution and Debates

The Indian Ocean and the West Pacific Ocean and their ocean-continent connection zones are the core area of "the Belt and Road". Scientific and in-depth recognition to the natural environment, disaster distribution, resources, energy potential of “the Belt and Road” development, is the cut-in point of the current Earth science community to serve urgent national needs. This paper mainly discusses the following key tectonic problems in the West Pacific and North Indian oceans and their ocean-continent connection zones (OCCZs): 1. modern marine geodynamic problems related to the two oceans. Based on the research and development needs to the two oceans and the ocean-continent transition zones, this item includes the following questions. (1) Plate origin, growth, death and evolution in the two oceans, for example, 1) The initial origin and process of the triangle Pacific Plate including causes and difference of the Galapagos and West Shatsky microplates; 2) spatial and temporal process, present status and trends of the plates within the Paleo- or Present-day Pacific Ocean to the evolution of the East Asian Continental Domain; 3) origin and evolution of the Indian Ocean and assembly and dispersal of supercontinents. (2) Latest research progress and problems of mid-oceanic ridges: 1) the ridge-hot spot interaction and ridge accretion, how to think about the relationship between vertical accretion behavior of thousands years or tens of thousands years and lateral spreading of millions years at 0 Ma mid-oceanic ridges; 2) the difference of formation mechanisms between the back-arc basin extension and the normal mid-oceanic ridge spreading; 3) the differentials between ultra-slow dian Ocean and the rapid Pacific spreading, whether there are active and passive spreading, and a push force in the mid-oceanic ridge; 4) mid-oceanic ridge jumping and termination: causes of the intra-oceanic plate reorganization, termination, and spatial jumps; 5) interaction of mantle plume and mid-oceanic ridge. (3) On the intra-oceanic subduction and tectonics: 1) the origin of intra-oceanic arc and subduction, ridge subduction and slab window on continental margins, transform faults and transform-type continental margin; 2) causes of the large igneous provinces, oceanic plateaus and seamount chains. (4) The oceanic core complex and rheology of oceanic crust in the Indian Ocean. (5) Advances on the driving force within oceanic plates, including mantle convection, negative buoyancy, trench suction and mid-oceanic ridge push, is reviewed and discussed. 2. The ocean-continent connection zones near the two oceans, including: (1) Property of continental margin basement: the crusts of the Okinawa Trough, the Okhotsk Sea, and east of New Zealand are the continental crusts or oceanic crusts, and origin of micro-continent within the oceans; (2) the ocean-continent transition and coupling process, revealing from the comparison of the major events between the West Pacific Ocean seamount chains and the continental margins, mantle exhumation and the ocean-continent transition zones, causes of transform fault within back-arc basin, formation and subduction of transform-type continental margin; (3) strike-slip faulting between the West Pacific Ocean and the East Asian Continent and its temporal and spatial range and scale; (4) connection between deep and surface processes within the two ocean and their connection zones, namely the assembly among the Eurasian, Pacific and India-Australia plates and the related effect from the deep mantle, lithosphere, to crust and surface Earth system, and some related issues within the connection zones of the two oceans under the super-convergent background. 3. On the relationship, especially their present relations and evolutionary trends, between the Paleo- or Present-day Pacific plates and the Tethyan Belt, the Eurasian Plate or the plates within the Indian Ocean. At last, this paper makes a perspective of the related marine geology, ocean-continent connection zone and in-depth geology for the two oceans and one zone.     

中国东部燕山期和四川期岩石圈构造滑脱与岩浆起源深度

较确切地研究岩石圈内部构造滑脱面在地质历史时期形成的时间和部位是当前大地构造学研究的一个重要课题。通过大量收集中国东部燕山期(205~135Ma)和四川期(135~52Ma)岩浆起源深度资料来判断岩石圈内部和底部是否存在局部的构造滑脱界面,是否发生层圈相互作用,是否发生部分的解耦现象,是一种可行的研究方法。研究表明,中国东部燕山期和四川期岩石圈板块的构造滑脱、圈层的解耦作用及相互作用主要集中在中地壳、莫霍面与区域性主干断层的交线附近,而岩石圈板块的底面却并不存在大幅度的滑移。中国东部燕山期和四川期岩浆活动比较发育的地区基本上都位于大兴安岭—山西西部—武陵山—十万大山一线以东地区,而在此线以西地区岩浆活动相当微弱。笔者认为,在侏罗—白垩纪时期,该线以西缺少岩浆活动的地区可能就是当时的大陆型岩石圈,而该线以东岩浆活动剧烈的地区可能就属于海陆过渡型岩石圈。中国东部岩石圈的转型和"变薄",不太可能是深部地幔羽、去根作用、深部地幔热物质上涌或大陆伸展作用的结果,也不太可能与太平洋板块的俯冲作用有直接联系。     

南海西南次海盆深部结构研究进展与展望

西南次海盆位于南海渐进式扩张的西南端,共轭陆缘结构和残留扩张脊保留完整,是研究南海深部结构和动力学机制的关键区域。前期研究发现,西南次海盆洋陆过渡带较窄、同扩张断层发育、地震反射莫霍面不清晰、具有慢速扩张等特征。然而,由于不同探测方法获取的地壳结构具有多解性,使得西南次海盆洋陆转换过程、慢速扩张洋壳结构与增生模式以及龙门海山岩石性质与地幔成因机制等基础科学问题尚存争议。为此我们建议在西南次海盆开展地质取样获取海山岩石样品,确定其年龄与性质,分析扩张后海山形成的深部动力过程;并对关键构造部署高精度的地震反射/折射联合探测,结合岩石物理分析,对西南次海盆进行构造成像和物质组成参数正反演,以实现壳幔尺度的地震学透视,为探索西南次海盆洋陆转换过程和洋壳增生模式提供重要的地球物理证据,以丰富和完善南海的动力学演化模式。     

地壳的拆离作用与华北克拉通破坏:晚中生代伸展构造约束

伸展条件下的地壳拆离作用是岩石圈减薄的重要浅部构造响应。晚中生代时期的伸展构造(包括拆离断层、变质核杂岩构造和断陷盆地)在华北、华南、东北和东蒙古及贝加尔地区普遍发育,它们切过上部地壳(断陷盆地)、中、上地壳(拆离断层)或中部地壳(变质核杂岩)。地壳拆离作用具有运动学极性(NWW或SEE)、几何学宏观(区域)对称与微观(局部)不对称性、遍布全区但不均匀性,以及形成时间的跨越性(140~60Ma)等特点,并使得地壳和岩石圈发生显著的减薄。本文研究揭示出现今岩石圈厚度变化与晚中生代伸展构造的发育程度和分布之间并没有必然的联系。其变化的基本规律是,除新生代裂陷发育区岩石圈厚度明显较小且厚度有迅速变化外,从华北向贝加尔地区总体的变化趋势是逐渐加厚,也即东亚地区岩石圈具有楔形形态。晚中生代时期的地壳(或地幔)拆离作用伴随着广泛的岩石圈减薄作用,区域岩石圈同时遭受到一定程度的减薄和破坏,华北克拉通在这一时期的破坏仅仅是区域岩石圈减薄在华北的具体体现。     

Fluids, tectonics and crustal deformation

In the plate tectonic process, lithosphere creation at ocean ridges and its cooling leads to volatile fixation in the oceanic crust. The outer 10 km or so of all crust contains abundant water in pores and fractures and variable amounts of volatiles in minerals. When surface rocks are buried by tectonic processes, fluids must be released and modify the mechanical properties. In the subduction process hydrated oceanic crust may be decoupled from the remaining oceanic lithosphere. At depth rising aqueous fluids or melts lead to a complex series of mass-energy transfer processes which may decouple continental crust near the Moho. Continental crust if subducted, may also be decoupled from its lithosphere by degassing. Fluid release processes which create gas-solid mixtures beneath impermeable cover create low-strength systems subject to facile deformation, hydraulic fracture processes and diapiric phenomena.     

Control of rheological stratification on rifting geometry: a symmetric model resolving the upper plate paradox

Numerical experiments reproduce the fundamental architecture of magma-poor rifted margins such as the Iberian or Alpine margins if the lithosphere has a weak mid-crustal channel on top of strong lower crust and a horizontal thermal weakness in the rift center. During model extension, the upper crust undergoes distributed collapse into the rift center where the thermally weakened portion of the model tears. Among the features reproduced by the modeling, we observe: (1) an array of tilted upper-crustal blocks resting directly on exhumed mantle at the distal margin, (2) consistently oceanward-dipping normal faults, (3) a mid-crustal high strain zone at the base of the crustal blocks (S-reflector), (4) new ocean floor up against a low angle normal fault at the tip of the continent, (5) shear zones consistent with continentward-dipping reflectors in the mantle lithosphere, (6) the mismatch frequently observed between stretching values inferred from surface extension and bulk crustal thinning at distal margins (upper plate paradox). Rifting in the experiment is symmetric at a lithospheric scale and the above features develop on both sides of the rift center. We discuss three controversial points in more detail: (1) weak versus strong lower crust, (2) the deformation pattern in the mantle, and (3) the significance of detachment faults during continental breakup. We argue that the transition from wide rifting towards narrow rifting with a pronounced polarity towards the rift center is associated with the advective growth of a thermal perturbation in the mantle lithosphere.     

Passive margins of the North and Central Atlantic: A comparative study

The main features of the volcanic and nonvolcanic passive margins of the North and Central Atlantic are considered. The margins are compared using rather well-studied reference tectonotypes as examples. The conjugate margins of the Norwegian-Greenland region and the margins of West Iberia and Newfoundland are chosen as tectonotypes of volcanic and nonvolcanic margins, respectively. The structural and magmatic features of the margins and their preceding history are discussed. A complex of interrelated attributes is shown for each tectonotype. The Norwegian-Greenland region close to the Iceland plume is distinguished by narrow zones of stretched continental crust, rapid localization of stretching with breakup of the continent, a high rate of subsequent spreading, and intense magmatism with the formation of a thick new crust at the margin and the adjacent oceanic zone. The Iberia-Newfoundland region, remote from the plumes, is characterized by wide zones of stretched continental crust, long-term and diachronous prebreakup extension propagating northward, extremely restricted mantle melting during rifting and initial spreading, and frequent occurrence of ancient crustal complexes and serpentinized mantle rocks at the margin. Crustal faults and a thin tectonized oceanic crust appear along the margin under conditions of slow spreading. A model of hot and fast spreading with a high degree of melting in the mantle is applicable to the Norwegian-Greenland region, whereas a model of cold and slow amagmatic rifting with a long pre-breakup stretching and thinning of the lithosphere is appropriate to the Iberia-Newfoundland margins. The differences in the development of the margins is determined by the interaction of many factors: deep temperature, rheology of the underlying lithosphere, heterogeneities in the previously formed crust, and the duration and rate of stretching. All of these factors can be related to the effect of deep plumes and propagation of the extension zone toward the segments of the cold Atlantic lithosphere. Both types of margins also reveal similar features, in particular asymmetry. It is suggested that the rotation forces superimposed on the general tectonomagmatic pattern controlled by plumes could have been the cause of structural asymmetry.     

Insights about the structure and development of Zhongsha Bank in the South China Sea from integrated geophysical modelling

ABSTRACT

We construct a complete density transection based on the velocity structures across the Zhongsha Bank in the South China Sea. Gravity modelling of the lateral density contrasts between tectonic units helps us to determine the structural attributes and boundaries between continental blocks and deep basins. The configuration of the continent–ocean boundary (COB) around the Zhongsha Bank is mapped based on the gravity/magnetic anomaly and crustal structures. A low-density mantle is found beneath the Zhongsha Bank and the oceanic basins, and this mantle is associated with the high heat-flow background. The COB orientation is northeast-east in the north of the bank, with faulted linear structures. In further southeast, where there is a more intact crust, the COB orientation changed to north-northeast. The reconstructed density model and gravity/magnetic map indicate that the Zhongsha Bank is conjugated with the Liyue Bank by a rifted basin, where the crust had experienced localized deformation before the seafloor spreading. Because of the insufficient magmatism in the oceanic basin, the spreading ridge propagates into the weakened continental lithosphere between the two continental blocks, thus completely separating the Zhongsha Bank from the Liyue Bank. Seafloor spreading ridge jumps within the South China Sea may also be affected by the heterogeneous lithosphere beneath the continental blocks and oceanic basins.     

Initiation of Subduction Zones as a Consequence of Lateral Compositional Buoyancy Contrast within the Lithosphere: a Petrological Perspective

Tonga and Mariana fore-arc peridotites, inferred to representtheir respective sub-arc mantle lithospheres, are compositionallyhighly depleted (low Fe/Mg) and thus physically buoyant relativeto abyssal peridotites representing normal oceanic lithosphere(high Fe/Mg) formed at ocean ridges. The observation that thedepletion of these fore-arc lithospheres is unrelated to, andpre-dates, the inception of present-day western Pacific subductionzones demonstrates the pre-existence of compositional buoyancycontrast at the sites of these subduction zones. These observationsallow us to suggest that lateral compositional buoyancy contrastwithin the oceanic lithosphere creates the favoured and necessarycondition for subduction initiation. Edges of buoyant oceanicplateaux, for example, mark a compositional buoyancy contrastwithin the oceanic lithosphere. These edges under deviatoriccompression (e.g. ridge push) could develop reverse faults withcombined forces in excess of the oceanic lithosphere strength,allowing the dense normal oceanic lithosphere to sink into theasthenosphere beneath the buoyant overriding oceanic plateaux,i.e. the initiation of subduction zones. We term this conceptthe ‘oceanic plateau model’. This model explainsmany other observations and offers testable hypotheses on importantgeodynamic problems on a global scale. These include (1) theorigin of the 43 Ma bend along the Hawaii–Emperor SeamountChain in the Pacific, (2) mechanisms of ophiolite emplacement,(3) continental accretion, etc. Subduction initiation is notunique to oceanic plateaux, but the plateau model well illustratesthe importance of the compositional buoyancy contrast withinthe lithosphere for subduction initiation. Most portions ofpassive continental margins, such as in the Atlantic where largecompositional buoyancy contrast exists, are the loci of futuresubduction zones. KEY WORDS: subduction initiation; compositional buoyancy contrast; oceanic lithosphere; plate tectonics; mantle plumes; hotspots; oceanic plateaux; passive continental margins; continental accretion; mantle peridotites; ophiolites     

From oceanic plateaus to allochthonous terranes: Numerical modelling

Large segments of the continental crust are known to have formed through the amalgamation of oceanic plateaus and continental fragments. However, mechanisms responsible for terrane accretion remain poorly understood. We have therefore analysed the interactions of oceanic plateaus with the leading edge of the continental margin using a thermomechanical–petrological model of an oceanic-continental subduction zone with spontaneously moving plates. This model includes partial melting of crustal and mantle lithologies and accounts for complex rheological behaviour including viscous creep and plastic yielding. Our results indicate that oceanic plateaus may either be lost by subduction or accreted onto continental margins. Complete subduction of oceanic plateaus is common in models with old (> 40 Ma) oceanic lithosphere whereas models with younger lithosphere often result in terrane accretion. Three distinct modes of terrane accretion were identified depending on the rheological structure of the lower crust and oceanic cooling age: frontal plateau accretion, basal plateau accretion and underplating plateaus.Complete plateau subduction is associated with a sharp uplift of the forearc region and the formation of a basin further landward, followed by topographic relaxation. All crustal material is lost by subduction and crustal growth is solely attributed to partial melting of the mantle.Frontal plateau accretion leads to crustal thickening and the formation of thrust and fold belts, since oceanic plateaus are docked onto the continental margin. Strong deformation leads to slab break off, which eventually terminates subduction, shortly after the collisional stage has been reached. Crustal parts that have been sheared off during detachment melt at depth and modify the composition of the overlying continental crust.Basal plateau accretion scrapes oceanic plateaus off the downgoing slab, enabling the outward migration of the subduction zone. New incoming oceanic crust underthrusts the fractured terrane and forms a new subduction zone behind the accreted terrane. Subsequently, hot asthenosphere rises into the newly formed subduction zone and allows for extensive partial melting of crustal rocks, located at the slab interface, and only minor parts of the former oceanic plateau remain unmodified.Oceanic plateaus may also underplate the continental crust after being subducted to mantle depth. (U)HP terranes are formed with peak metamorphic temperatures of 400–700 °C prior to slab break off and subsequent exhumation. Rapid and coherent exhumation through the mantle along the former subduction zone at rates comparable to plate tectonic velocities is followed by somewhat slower rates at crustal levels, accompanied by crustal flow, structural reworking and syndeformational partial melting. Exhumation of these large crustal volumes leads to a sharp surface uplift.     

华北克拉通晚中生代壳-幔拆离作用: 岩石流变学约束

大陆岩石圈的流变学结构对于岩石圈深部过程(壳/幔过程)有着深刻的影响,直接表现在岩石圈壳-幔结构与浅部构造上.本文注意到华北克拉通晚中生代岩石圈减薄期间地壳的伸展、拆离与减薄在不同地区的宏观、微观构造及地壳岩石流变学等方面的差异表现与区域变化,以及现今和晚中生代时期岩石圈厚度的不均匀性.讨论了以水为主体的地质流体的存在对于岩石圈流变性的影响.综合克拉通东部与西部地壳/地幔厚度变化特点以及下地壳和上地幔含水性特点,阐述了晚中生代时期华北克拉通岩石圈内部壳幔耦合与解耦的规律,提出了华北岩石圈壳-幔拆离作用模型以解释华北克拉通晚中生代岩石圈减薄的基本现象与深部过程.提出区域性伸展作用是岩石圈减薄的主要动力学因素,东部地区在晚中生代伸展作用过程中壳-幔具有典型的解耦性,上部地壳、下部地壳和岩石圈地幔的变形具有显著差异性.而西部区壳幔总体具有耦合性,下地壳与岩石圈地幔共同构成流变学强度很高且难以变形的岩石圈根.     

Stagnant lids and mantle overturns:Implications for Archaean tectonics,magmagenesis,crustal growth,mantle evolution,and the start of plate tectonics

The lower plate is the dominant agent in modern convergent margins characterized by active subduction,as negatively buoyant oceanic lithosphere sinks into the asthenosphere under its own weight.This is a strong plate-driving force because the slab-pull force is transmitted through the stiff sub-oceanic lithospheric mantle.As geological and geochemical data seem inconsistent with the existence of modernstyle ridges and arcs in the Archaean,a periodically-destabilized stagnant-lid crust system is proposed instead.Stagnant-lid intervals may correspond to periods of layered mantle convection where efficient cooling was restricted to the upper mantle,perturbing Earth's heat generation/loss balance,eventually triggering mantle overturns.Archaean basalts were derived from fertile mantle in overturn upwelling zones(OUZOs),which were larger and longer-lived than post-Archaean plumes.Early cratons/continents probably formed above OUZOs as large volumes of basalt and komatiite were delivered for protracted periods,allowing basal crustal cannibalism,garnetiferous crustal restite delamination,and coupled development of continental crust and sub-continental lithospheric mantle.Periodic mixing and rehomogenization during overturns retarded development of isotopically depleted MORB(mid-ocean ridge basalt)mantle.Only after the start of true subduction did sequestration of subducted slabs at the coremantle boundary lead to the development of the depleted MORB mantle source.During Archaean mantle overturns,pre-existing continents located above OUZOs would be strongly reworked;whereas OUZOdistal continents would drift in response to mantle currents.The leading edge of drifting Archaean continents would be convergent margins characterized by terrane accretion,imbrication,subcretion and anatexis of unsubductable oceanic lithosphere.As Earth cooled and the background oceanic lithosphere became denser and stiffer,there would be an increasing probability that oceanic crustal segments could founder in an organized way,producing a gradual evolution of pre-subduction convergent margins into modern-style active subduction systems around 2.5 Ga.Plate tectonics today is constituted of:(1)a continental drift system that started in the Early Archaean,driven by deep mantle currents pressing against the Archaean-age sub-continental lithospheric mantle keels that underlie Archaean cratons;(2)a subduction-driven system that started near the end of the Archaean.     

大洋岩石圈和大陆岩石圈的元素丰度

根据大洋地壳、大陆地壳、上地幔和球岩石圈的元素丰度资料,本文初次分别求出大洋岩石圈和大陆岩石圈的元素丰度.可用作研究化学元素在洋圈或陆圈内各地区分布特征的地球化学背景值.     

Initiation of transform faults at rifted continental margins: 3D petrological-thermomechanical modeling and comparison to the Woodlark Basin

This work presents high-resolution 3D numerical model of transform fault initiation at rifted continental margins. Our petrological-thermomechanical visco-plastic model allows for spontaneous nucleation of oceanic spreading process in a continental rift zone and takes into account new oceanic crust growth driven by decompression melting of the asthenospheric mantle. Numerical model predicts that ridge-transform spreading pattern initiate in several subsequent stages: crustal rifting (0–1.5 Myr), spreading centers nucleation and propagation (1.5–3 Myr), proto-transform fault initiation and rotation (3–5 Myr) and mature ridge-transform spreading (> 5 Myr). Comparison of modeling results with the natural data from the Woodlark Basin suggests that the development of this region closely matches numerical predictions. Similarly to the model, the Moresby (proto-) Transform terminates in the oceanic rather than in the continental crust. This fault associates with a notable topographic depression and formed within 0.5–2 Myr while linking two offset overlapping spreading segments. Model reproduces well characteristic “rounded” contours of the spreading centers as well as the presence of a remnant of the broken continental crustal bridge observed in the Woodlark Basin. Proto-transform fault traces and truncated tip of one spreading center present in the model are also documented in nature. Numerical results are in good agreement with the concept of Taylor et al. (2009) which suggests that spreading segments nucleate en echelon in overlapping rift basins and that transform faults develop as or after spreading nucleates. Our experiments also allow to refine this concept in that (proto)-transform faults may also initiate as oblique rather than only spreading-parallel tectonic features. Subsequent rotation of these faults toward the extension-parallel direction is governed by space accommodation during continued oceanic crust growth within offset ridge-transform intersections.     

Physical models of rifting and transform faulting, due to ridge push in a wedge-shaped oceanic lithosphere

By scaled physical modelling, we have investigated the mechanical response to gravitational forces in an oceanic lithosphere, overlying a less dense asthenosphere. In the models, an upper wedge-shaped layer of sand represented an oceanic lithosphere (0–35 Ma old, with a half-spreading velocity of 3 cm/yr), and a lower layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), mixed with dense wolframite powder, represented the asthenosphere. In the models, as in nature, isostatic compensation resulted in uplift of ridges and subsidence on their flanks. The resulting relief was responsible for ridge push. We tested two main configurations: straight ridges and offset ridges. In all the models, ridge push was sufficient to cause plate motion, underlying advection, and symmetrical rifting at the ridge axis. There was no need to impose plate motions through external pistons and motors. In models of straight ridges, the style of normal faults in the axial rift zone depended on the local thickness of the brittle sand layer. For thick layers, normal faults rafted out from the active zone of rifting, creating a fossil topography of tilted blocks, between faults dipping toward the ridge. In a model of an offset ridge, with thin lithosphere at the ridge crest and no embedded weakness, ridge push was responsible for a short transform fault, linking en-échelon rifts. In a similar model, but with thick lithosphere, an oblique rift formed at about 20° to the offset trace. We conclude that ridge push was not adequate to create an ideal transform fault. In a model of an offset ridge, with an embedded thin vertical layer of pure PDMS at 90° to the ridge, transform motion concentrated along this weak layer, and the resulting structural style was very similar to that in nature. On the basis of these results, we infer that, in nature, (1) ridge push can indeed drive plate motion, and (2) ridge push can drive strike-slip motion on transform faults, provided that these are weaker than the adjacent oceanic lithosphere and that they form early in the history of spreading.     

南海北部洋-陆过渡带深部结构与岩石圈破裂过程

洋-陆过渡带是理解大陆岩石圈破裂和海底初始扩张的关键位置,但是在南海北部地区仍然存在关于相关地质过程的诸多疑问.通过近年开展的国际大洋发现计划航次以及深部地质地球物理探测,取得以下4个方面的认识.（1）南海北部的洋-陆边界一般与自由空间重力异常的正-负值过渡位置对应,而更加准确地限定需要结合反射、折射地震资料.稳定大洋岩石圈生成与大陆岩石圈最终破裂之间的洋-陆过渡边界的位置比以往认为的还应往深海盆方向移动.（2）洋-陆过渡带代表了远端带构造作用减弱和岩浆作用逐渐增强的区域.陆坡地壳发育扩张后岩浆底侵、洋-陆过渡带发育同破裂期岩浆喷出结构和侵入反射体.（3）在中生代的古俯冲带弧前区域,新生代的断裂沿着早期的构造开始活动,岩石圈多处发生强烈的共轭韧性剪切作用.随着大陆岩石圈的进一步拉伸减薄,部分靠陆一侧的裂谷中心停止张裂,成为夭折裂谷,以台西南盆地南部凹陷、白云凹陷、西沙海槽为代表,而南海陆缘异常伸展和最终破裂的地方集中在南侧裂谷中心.夭折裂谷下亦发现地幔蛇纹石化,进一步反映了较弱的同破裂岩浆活动.（4）南海初始洋壳的增生沿着大陆边缘走向具有显著的变化,南海东北部洋-陆过渡带下伏地幔明显抬升和部分蛇纹石化,地震纵、横波速度以及折射波衰减特征都支持此观点,反映南海东北部是一个贫岩浆型大陆边缘.未来,南海北部洋-陆过渡带有望成为南海“莫霍钻”的理想备选钻探区.      

Wilson cycle passive margins: Control of orogenic inheritance on continental breakup

Rifts and passive margins often develop along old suture zones where colliding continents merged during earlier phases of the Wilson cycle. For example, the North Atlantic formed after continental break-up along sutures formed during the Caledonian and Variscan orogenies. Even though such tectonic inheritance is generally appreciated, causative physical mechanisms that affect the localization and evolution of rifts and passive margins are not well understood.We use thermo-mechanical modeling to assess the role of orogenic structures during rifting and continental breakup. Such inherited structures include: 1) Thickened crust, 2) eclogitized oceanic crust emplaced in the mantle lithosphere, and 3) mantle wedge of hydrated peridotite (serpentinite).Our models indicate that the presence of inherited structures not only defines the location of rifting upon extension, but also imposes a control on their structural and magmatic evolution. For example, rifts developing in thin initial crust can preserve large amounts of orogenic serpentinite. This facilitates rapid continental breakup, exhumation of hydrated mantle prior to the onset of magmatism. On the contrary, rifts in thicker crust develop more focused thinning in the mantle lithosphere rather than in the crust, and continental breakup is therefore preceded by magmatism. This implies that whether passive margins become magma-poor or magma-rich, respectively, is a function of pre-rift orogenic properties.The models show that structures of orogenic eclogite and hydrated mantle are partially preserved during rifting and are emplaced either at the base of the thinned crust or within the lithospheric mantle as dipping structures. The former provides an alternative interpretation of numerous observations of ‘lower crustal bodies’ which are often regarded as igneous bodies. The latter is consistent with dipping sub-Moho reflectors often observed in passive margins.     

Extensional Structures in the Ophiolites from Cuba and China: New Constraints to Slowly‐Spreading Ancient Oceanic Lithosphere

A group of low‐angle normal faults developed in banded gabbro of Moa Ophiolite, Cuba. The dark gabbro was cut into puddings by several normal faults, while light gabbro was just swelling in layer thickness. In Hongliuhe ophiolite at eastern segment of South Tien Shan Suture Zone in China, the extensional deformation concentrates on fine cumulus gabbro which is typically mylonitized. Abundant structural features were discovered in HLH ophiolite such as S‐C foliation, C’ foliation, extensional crenulation cleavage, small toughness normal fault, low‐angle normal faults and high‐angle normal faults. According to the above tectonic phenomenon from the ophiolite belts in Cuba and China, we will get the conclusion: the maximum principal compressive stress (b1) is vertical to cumulus bedding, and the maximum tensile stress (b3) is paralleling to cumulus bedding. Considering of the above evidence, the extensional tectonic event should developed at mid‐ocean ridge. Due to seafloor spreading, the maximum tensile stress is paralleling to cumulus layer, and extensional tectonic is kept in cumulus gabbro. In this way, normal faults developed in dark gabbro, while brittle‐ductile extensional developed in light gabbro. A large number of domes, folds paralleling to ocean ridge and detachment faults represented by low angle normal fault were discovered near ocean ridge in Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. In this way, materials from deep oceanic lithosphere (e.g. gabbro, mantle peridotite) outcrop at the crust surface of ocean basin. The above evidences from China and Cuba are consistent with extensional tectonic and metamorphic core complex from slowly and super‐slowly spreading Indian Ocean and Atlantic Oceanic lithosphere based on ODP. Therefore, extensional deformation in the ophiolite belt is of significant meaning for clarifying the formation process and mechanism of ancient oceanic basin.