Geomorphological analysis of neotectonic deformation,northern Owens Valley,California

At the western edge of the Basin and Range Province, the Owens Valley is the site of active seismicity and deformation. Morphometric analyses of three geomorphological features are used to determine the patterns and rates of neotectonic deformation: (l) a network of Pleistocene channels cut on top of the Bishop Tuff; (2) uplifted terraces of the Owens River; and (3) alluvial fans of the White Mountain front.In the Owens Valley, the three analyses are consistent with the same solution: net eastward tilt of the Owens Valley block at a rate of between 3.5 and 6.1°/Ma. Given the dip on the basement determined from geophysical data and extrapolating the rate of tilt in the Owens Valley back in time, it is inferred that the break-up of the Sierra Nevada and the northern Owens Valley occurred in the Pliocene, between around 2 and 4 Ma ago. The pattern of deformation in the northern Owens Valley matches anticlinal flexure on the Coyote warp, near the front of the Sierra Nevada, and faulting across the Volcanic Tableland is consistent with flexural extension. It is proposed that the Coyote warp is an expression of the tectonic hinge between westward rotation of the Sierra Nevada and eastward rotation of the Owens Valley since the Pliocene.     

Early development of strike-slip faulting: palaeoseismic study along the Petersen Mountain fault,northern Walker Lane,Nevada

Characterising youthful strike-slip fault systems within transtensional regimes is often complicated by the presence of tectonic geomorphic features produced by normal faulting associated with oblique extension. The Petersen Mountain fault in the northern Walker Lane tectonic province exhibits evidence of both normal and strike-slip faulting. We present the results of geologic and geomorphic mapping, and palaeoseismic trenching that characterise the fault's style and sense of deformation. The fault consists of two major traces. The western trace displaces colluvial, landslide, and middle to late Pleistocene alluvial fans and is associated with aligned range front saddles, linear drainages, and oversteepened range front slopes. The eastern trace is associated with a low linear bedrock ridge, a narrow graben, right deflected stream channels, and scarps in late Pleistocene alluvial fan deposits. A trench on the eastern trace of the fault exposed a clear juxtaposition of disintegrated granodiorite bedrock against sand and boulder alluvial fan deposits across a steeply east-dipping fault. The stratigraphic evidence supports the occurrence of at least one late Pleistocene earthquake with a component of lateral displacement. As such, the Petersen Mountain fault accommodates part of the ~7 mm/yr of dextral shear distributed across the northern Walker Lane.     

Late Quaternary faulting along the western margin of the Poronaysk Lowland in central Sakhalin, Russia

Sakhalin Island straddles an active plate boundary between the Okhotsk and Eurasian plates. South of Sakhalin, this plate boundary is illuminated by a series of M_w 7–8 earthquakes along the eastern margin of the Sea of Japan. Although this plate boundary is considered to extend onshore along the length of Sakhalin, the location and convergence rate of the plate boundary had been poorly constrained. We mapped north-trending active faults along the western margin of the Poronaysk Lowland in central Sakhalin based on aerial photograph interpretation and field observations. The active faults are located east of and parallel to the Tym–Poronaysk fault, a terrane boundary between Upper Cretaceous and Neogene strata; the active faults appear to have reactivated the terrane boundary at depth in Quaternary time. The total length of the active fault zone on land is about 140 km. Tectonic geomorphic features such as east-facing monoclinal and fault scarps, back-tilted fluvial terraces, and numerous secondary faults suggest that the faults are west-dipping reverse faults. Assuming the most widely developed geomorphic surface in the study area formed during the last glacial maximum at about 20 ka based on similarities of geomorphic features with those in Hokkaido Island, we obtain a vertical component of slip rate of 0.9–1.4 mm/year. Using the fault dip of 30–60°W observed at an outcrop and trench walls, a net slip rate of 1.0–2.8 mm/year is obtained. The upper bound of the estimate is close to a convergence rate across the Tym–Poronaysk fault based on GPS measurements. A trenching study across the fault zone dated the most recent faulting event at 3500–4000 years ago. The net slip associated with this event is estimated at about 4.5 m. Since the last faulting event, a minimum of 3.5 m of strain, close to the strain released during the last event, has accumulated along the central portion of the active strand of the Tym–Poronaysk fault.     

地貌演化、源-汇过程与盆地分析

地球表面的地貌演化和源-汇系统的研究是当前地球科学领域颇为关注的重要课题。围绕这些课题的研究促进了多学科的广泛交叉和合作,对沉积盆地的深入研究和发展趋势产生了深刻的影响。盆地整体地貌的演化是盆地地球动力学背景演化的直接响应。盆地内的隆-坳格局、古隆起-古斜坡地貌、同沉积构造活动形成的构造古地貌等,是盆地古地貌研究的重要内容。从陆到洋的源-汇系统由物源区、冲积-滨海平原、浅海陆架、大陆斜坡及深海等多个区域性的地貌带所组成。物源的性质与母岩组成、构造及气候作用密切相关,揭示塑造山地地貌和产生物源的构造作用和气候变量是一项长期探索的课题。陆架斜坡至深海区是从陆到洋的源-汇系统的最终沉积区,其研究长期受到高度关注。大型内陆湖盆存在的源-汇系统,包括物源区、冲积平原、滨-浅湖、最后为深湖的多级地貌单元。构造活动的内陆碎屑湖盆中以近且多方向物源、构造差异活动明显、汇水盆地小、沉积物类型对气候变化响应敏感等为特征。依据物源区、沟谷(水道)及沉积体系类型划分的源-汇体系类型的研究,包括盆内古隆起形成的局部的源-汇过程,对盆地的沉积充填过程和沉积分布具有重要意义。基于高分辨率三维地震数据的地震地貌或地震沉积学分析,为地下沉积体系的沉积地貌和沉积过程的研究提供了最重要的手段。     

Strike slip faulting inferred from offsetting of drainages: Lower Narmada basin, western India

The detailed analysis of landforms, drainages and geology of the area between the rivers Amaravati and Karjan was carried out in order to understand the tectonic history of the lower Narmada basin. Movement along the various faults in the area was studied on the basis of the drainage offsetting. Horizontal offsetting of stream channels was found quite demonstrable along NNW-SSE trending transverse faults. Tectonic landforms including systematic deflection of stream channels and ridges, alignment of fault scarp and saddles and displacement in the basement rocks and alluvial deposits show that the area is undergoing active deformation driven by the NSF system.     

Traces from the past: the Cenozoic regolith and intraplate neotectonic history of the Gun Emplacement,a ferricreted bench on the western margin of the Mt Lofty Ranges,South Australia

The Gun Emplacement is a small but distinctive bench on the Eden–Burnside Fault Escarpment near Anstey Hill, in the northeastern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia, occurring at an elevation of ～210–220 m asl. It is underlain by Middle Eocene North Maslin Sand and is capped by resistant, ferricreted colluvium. Paleomagnetic dating of hematitic mottles in the ferricreted colluvium, immediately underlying the emplacement, returned a Pliocene/Early Pleistocene age. This age is equivalent to that obtained for summit surface weathering. Fault scarps and exposures, including slickensides and fault gouge material, suggest that the Eden–Burnside Fault at this location has a strong en échelon pattern developed in response to reverse-sinistral oblique-slip faulting, reflecting continental stress fields. Remnants of ferricrete cappings forming stranded benches on the Eden–Burnside Fault Escarpment at elevations up to 25 m above the Gun Emplacement demonstrate recurrent tectonism of the South Mt Lofty Ranges related to intraplate deformation. There are at least four distinct ferricrete benches preserved on the eastern side of the active fault leading up from the Gun Emplacement surface. These benches demonstrate alternating periods of stability and tectonic activity disrupting and uplifting the ferricreted surfaces. A fresh surface rupture occurs and may be related to a recent seismic event.     

Geomorphic constraints on the Late Neogene tectonics of the Otway Range,Victoria

A Pliocene strandline system in the Hanson Plain Sands, between the volcanic plains of the Western District and the northern flanks of the Otway Range in southwest Victoria, provides an excellent datum against which to measure Late Neogene fault‐related uplift. Individual strandlines that can be traced from elevations of ～120 m near Cobden to ～245 m on the Ferguson Hill structure are displaced across northeast‐trending faults and monoclines associated with the Simpson and Ferguson Hill structures. A break in slope in the Otway Range front at elevations of 230–280 m, beneath which drainage incision parallels the trends of the strandlines, probably correlates with the Pliocene coastline on the ancestral Otway Range. By analogy with correlative systems in the Murray Basin, deposition occurred during sea‐stands between 0 and 65 m above present‐day sea‐level, implying uplift of between 175 and 240 m since the Early Pliocene. Enhanced incision parallel to the strandlines, in combination with tilting of fault blocks about northeast axes at a high angle to the strandlines, has facilitated the development of a remarkable rectilinear drainage net. Local inversion of the drainage where it focused basalt flows constrains the age of incision and faulting to greater than ca 1 Ma and, most probably, less than ca 2 Ma.     

Neotectonics of East Anatolian Plateau (Turkey) and Lesser Caucasus: implication for transition from thrusting to strike-slip faulting

Abstract

The east Anatolian plateau and the Lesser Caucasus are characterised and shaped by three major structures: (1) NW- and NE-trending dextral to sinistral active strike-slip faults, (2) N-S to NNW-trending fissures and /or Plio-Quatemary volcanoes, and (3) a 5-km thick, undeformed Plio-Quatemary continental volcanosedimentary sequence accumulated in various strike-slip basins. In contrast to the situation in the east Anatolian plateau and the Lesser Caucasus, the Transcaucasus and the Great Caucasus are characterised by WNW-trending active thrust to reverse faults, folds, and 6-km thick, undeformed (except for the fault-bounded basin margins) continuous Oligocene-Quaternary molassic sequence accumulated in actively developing ramp basins. Hence, the neotectonic regime in the Great Caucasus and the Transcaucasus is compressional-contractional, and Oligocene-Quaternary in age; whereas it is compressional-extensional, and Plio-Quatemary in age in the east Anatolian plateau and the Lesser Caucasus.

Middle and Upper Miocene volcano-sedimentary sequences are folded and thrust-to-reverse-faulted as a result of compressional- contractional tectonic regime accompanied by mostly calc-alkaline volcanic activity, whereas Middle Pliocene-Quaternary sequences, which rest with angular unconformity on the pre-Middle Pliocene rocks, are nearly flat-lying and dominated by strike-slip faulting accompanied by mostly alkali volcanic activity implying an inversion in tectonic regime. The strike-slip faults cut and displace dykes, reverse to thrust faults and fold axes of Late Miocene age up to maximum 7 km: hence these faults are younger than Late Miocene, i.e., these formed after Late Miocene. Therefore, the time period between late Serravalian (~ 12 Ma) continent-continent collision of Arabian and Eurasian plates and the late Early Pliocene inversion in both the tectonic regime, basin type and deformation pattern (from folding and thrusting to strike-slip faulting) is here termed as the Transitional period.

Orientation patterns of various neotectonic structures and focal mechanism solutions of recent earthquakes that occurred in the east Anatolian plateau and the Caucasus fit well with the N-S directed intracontinental convergence between the Arabian plate in the south and the Eurasian plate in the north lasting since Late Miocene or Early Pliocene in places. © 2001 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS     

Volcanic geomorphology of northern Viti Levu,Fiji

Analysis of radial, centripetal and gutter drainage in the volcanic region of northern Viti Levu, Fiji, enabled the delineation of several distinct volcanoes, despite the early Pliocene age and considerable later erosion. Three main shields with calderas and several smaller volcanoes are mapped. The results are consistent with some other geological and geophysical facts, but do not support the idea that these volcanoes were dominantly submarine eruptions. The method picks out known centres of gold mineralisation and may be applicable, in conjunction with other techniques, in mineral exploration.     

青藏高原东缘龙门-锦屏造山带的崛起——大型拆离断层和挤出机制

龙门-锦屏山的东缘发育一系列逆冲断裂和飞来峰构造,逆冲作用使山体向东叠置在四川盆地之上。新的野外调查、显微构造分析和糜棱岩石英组构的EBSD测量表明,在龙门-锦屏山的前震旦纪变质杂岩体西缘(即青藏高原东缘)发育一条近NS向的大型韧性拆离断裂,被20Ma以来形成的NW—SE向鲜水河韧性走滑剪切带[1]左行错位80km。青藏高原东缘韧性拆离断裂中黑云母40Ar-39Ar测年获得112～120Ma的年龄,表明龙门-锦屏山的崛起可能与白垩纪开始的垂向挤出机制密切关联。结合四川前陆盆地的沉积及演化特征,认为晚三叠世时期羌塘/东昆仑/扬子陆块的碰撞形成松潘-甘孜造山带,晚三叠世—侏罗纪在其东南缘形成四川前陆盆地沉积;早白垩世龙门-锦屏山开始抬升,晚白垩世快速崛起,在四川前陆盆地沉积之上叠置白垩纪—第四纪再生前陆盆地的沉积。龙门-锦屏山的崛起与白垩纪以来扬子板块岩石圈对于松潘-甘孜地体的陆内俯冲作用有关,使位于中下地壳的变质基底岩石在挤出机制下隆起。     

藏北长江源地区河流地貌特征及其对新构造运动的响应

对藏北长江源地区河谷地貌和新构造变形调查发现,该区具有平行式水系格局,河谷地貌以形态不同的窄谷和宽谷为特点,新近纪以来该区主要经历了早期挤压和晚期伸展构造演化过程,产生了褶皱-逆冲、走滑剪切、正断层和地堑构造3种构造变形样式。长江源区河谷地貌的形成演化明显受新构造运动的影响,新构造运动不仅控制了河谷地貌形态与水系格局,而且影响了河流阶地分布以及洪(冲)积扇的形态、结构。长江源地区主要水系至少自全新世以来是沿新构造运动产生的不同性质断裂构造溯源侵蚀发育而成。     

西藏阿里北部羌塘地块内部的第四纪活动断层及其变形机制

藏北高原非常薄弱的活动断层调查研究程度和不完整的历史地震资料等,限制了对高原内部活动构造变形特征、机制以及孕震构造环境等的深入认识。通过综合地质、遥感和地震等资料对阿里北部羌塘地块内部进行详细的活动断层解译,结合沿阿鲁错地堑系南段昆楚克错地堑西侧边界正断层新发现的晚第四纪断裂活动证据和最新同震地表破裂等,对该区的活动断层几何图像及运动学特征等进行了深入分析。研究结果表明,阿里北部的西羌塘块体内部在第四纪以发育近南北向正断层系统和由北西向与北东向走滑断层构成的共轭走滑断层系统为特征,第四纪和晚第四纪活动断层都呈现出了高密度、弥散分布的特点,并可归纳为3类基本的活动构造变形样式：共轭走滑断层及其伴生正断层作用、弥散式正断层作用和剪切裂谷式正断层作用,其中大部分正断层与走滑断层主要是作为相对独立的构造类型来共同调节区域内近东西向伸展变形的,这些特征指示藏北高原内部变形更符合“连续变形模式”而非“刚性块体挤出模式”。同时发现,沿昆楚克错地堑西缘主边界正断层发育的最新地表破裂总长度仅约400 m,最大垂直位移约0.8 m,推测可能是1955年革吉县纳屋错东M_W6.5强震事件...     

Localization of temperature anomalies in the Upper Rhine Graben: insights from geophysics and neotectonic activity

The European Cenozoic Rift System hosts major temperature anomalies in Central Europe. In its central segment, the Upper Rhine Graben (URG), temperatures range from 75°C to nearly 150°C at a depth of 2000 m. Different hypotheses have been suggested to explain the localization of these anomalies. Our review and comprehensive interpretation of gravimetric and magnetic data, as well as neotectonic activity patterns, suggests that low-density, mostly magnetic and fractured granitic basement is systematically associated with major temperature anomalies. Further analyses provide insight into different heat transport processes contributing to the localization of these anomalies. Magnetic and gravity anomalies are known to represent lithological variations associated with the pre-Permian. We show their spatial relationship with positive temperature anomalies in the URG. Correlation between magnetics and temperature reveal a mean contribution of heat production to the temperature anomaly of about 10–15°C. A slightly higher mean value is obtained from correlation between gravity and temperature, which may be attributed to effects resulting from fracture porosity. The spatial relationship between temperature anomalies and neotectonic patterns indicates compressional shear and uplift regime for the major anomalies of the central segment of the URG. This is in agreement with different numerical models indicating free convection on fracture zones linked to faults. Our findings show that about 15–25% of the temperature anomaly can be attributed to variation in heat production. Hydrothermal circulation convection along faults, activated by the tectonic context, may explain the remaining 75–85% of the temperature anomalies.     

Geomorphologic assessment of relative tectonic activity in the Maharlou Lake Basin,Zagros Mountains of Iran

Spatial differences of Quaternary deformation and intensity of tectonic activity are assessed through a detailed quantitative geomorphic study of the fault‐generated mountain fronts and alluvial/fluvial systems around the Maharlou Lake Basin in the Zagros Fold–Thrust Belt of Iran. The Maharlou Lake Basin is defined as an approximately northwest–southeast trending, linear, topographic depression located in the central Zagros Mountains of Iran. The lake is located in a tectonically active area delineated by the Ghareh and Maharlou faults. Combined geomorphic and morphometric data reveal differences between the Ghareh and Maharlou mountain front faults indicating different levels of tectonic activity along each mountain front. Geomorphic indices show a relatively high degree of tectonic activity along the Ghareh Mountain Front in the southwest, in contrast with less tectonic activity along the Ahmadi Mountain Front northeast of the lake which is consistent with field evidence and seismotectonic data for the study area. A ramp valley tectonic setting is proposed to explain the tectonosedimentary evolution of the lake. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

青藏高原北羌塘盆地杂多地区晚二叠世—早三叠世陆相火山岩的地球化学特征及其意义

在北羌塘盆地东部杂多县特龙赛等地首次厘定出晚二叠世—早三叠世火山岩。该火山岩形成于陆相环境,由4个爆发一溢流相火山韵律组成一个完整的火山旋回。这些火山岩主要由强蚀变杏仁状橄榄玄武岩、岩屑晶屑凝灰岩、杏仁状安山岩等组成,TiO_2含量(1.33％～1.76％)与峨眉山低Ti玄武岩相当,MgO含量较低(2.23％～7.52％,平均为5.02％),富集轻稀土元素(LREE／HREE=4.16～13.44,平均为6.5),无明显的Eu异常(δEu=0.85～1.02,平均0.96),Nb、Ta轻度负异常,地球化学特征与大陆拉斑玄武岩相似。各种微量元素判别图解显示这些火山岩形成于大陆拉张带或陆内裂谷区。结合区域研究成果,晚古生代时整个羌塘地区很可能处于一种伸展背景。     

华北克拉通北缘凉城基性岩墙成因及古地理的重建意义

为揭示华北克拉通北缘凉城基性岩墙的形成时代、岩石成因、构造背景及对罗迪尼亚超大陆重建的意义,本研究借助激光烧蚀多接收器等离子质谱(LA-MC-ICP-MS)锆石U-Pb定年、Hf同位素及全岩地球化学研究手段,对凉城桃花沟岩墙开展了系统研究。研究结果显示,凉城桃花沟岩墙为新元古代早期(903±15 Ma)基性岩浆活动的产物,归属拉斑岩石系列,具有较高的TFeO(12.78%～16.30%)及TiO₂(2.59%～3.31%)含量、较低的MgO(2.87%～3.83%)、Cr(32.7×10^-6～42.0×10^-6)、Ni(11.6×10^-6～14.5×10^-6)含量及Mg^#值(29～38),富集轻稀土元素(LREE)、Rb、Pb、Zr及Hf元素,亏损Ba、Sr、Nb、Ta、Ti及Eu(Eu/Eu^*=0.74～0.83)元素。锆石原位ε_Hf(t)范围为2.4～13.4,单阶段Hf模式年龄(t_DM1     

Precambrian and Early Paleozoic evolution of the Andean basement at Belen (northern Chile) and Cerro Uyarani (western Bolivia Altiplano)

Exposures of metamorphic basement in the Central Andes are scarce and reconstructions of the history of the Pacific margin of Gondwanaland must rely on a few isolated outcrops. We studied two areas of exposed basement in northernmost Chile (Belen) and westernmost Bolivia (Cerro Uyarani). The Belen metamorphic complex has been known for some time and consists of fault-bounded amphibolites, gneisses, schists, and minor quartzites overlain by folded Mesozoic to Cenozoic strata. The Cerro Uyarani is the only basement outcrop on the Bolivian Altiplano and has only recently been found and studied by geological reconnaissance. It consists of foliated mafic and felsic granulites, charnockites, and amphibolites. How do these basement occurrences compare and how do they relate to the other Precambrian crustal domains in the Central Andes? To answer these questions, we used geothermobarometers to reconstruct the P–T conditions of metamorphism, as well as geochemical analyses and petrological methods to study these rocks. The two basement blocks were found to have distinct geological histories and are probably separated by a major crustal domain boundary. Isotopic fingerprinting by Pb-isotopes clearly exclude Laurentian crustal components either in the protoliths or as reworked material. This signature is quite distinct from basement rocks farther south in Chile and northwestern Argentina.     

基于地貌计量指标分析的钱塘江流域地貌演化特征

地貌过程的定量化表达已成为构造地貌学研究中的一种趋势。基于ASTER GDEM数据,运用GIS空间分析技术,本文获得了钱塘江流域87个子流域的地貌参数,包括面积-高程积分（HI）、面积-高程积分曲线（HC）、坡度、流域不对称度（AF）、流域盆地形状指数（Bs）等。进一步结合流域内地层特征与自然地理背景,探讨了钱塘江流域地貌演化阶段以及流域内主要断裂（江山-绍兴断裂、球川-萧山断裂和马金-乌镇断裂）的相对活动性。结果表明：1）HI值在小尺度范围内主要反映岩性差异,在大的空间尺度下则可能主要与构造活动性有关;2）相对于HI指数,AF和Bs更有助于揭示构造活动性的空间差异;3）基于AF、Bs、坡度、HI等的分析,认为江山-绍兴断裂和球川-萧山断裂北段的活动性要弱于南段,而马金-乌镇断裂南、北段构造活动性差异不显著;4）多种地貌计量指标的分析结果（HI=0.217、|AF-50|=4.27、Bs=0.77）均显示钱塘江流域处于地貌演化的老年阶段。

     

鄂西秭归盆地西北缘高桥断裂带特征及其活动性

高桥断裂带是长江三峡库区规模较大的一条基底断裂,延伸达40 km余,经历了多期构造变动,其中以燕山中晚期活动规模及强度最大.利用变形岩石中显微、超显微构造恢复喜山期、新构造运动早、晚期差异应力值分别为145 MPa、76~106 MPa和30~40 MPa,高于三峡其他地区.地震及各种测试资料表明,该断裂带为一弱活动断裂,但因其远离三峡工程坝址,对大坝将不构成威胁.     

Geomorphic expression of late Quaternary sea level changes along the southern Saurashtra coast, western India

Geomorphic expression of land-sea interaction is preserved in the form of abandoned cliffs, marine terraces, shore platforms and marine notches along the southern Saurashtra coast. These features have been used to ascertain the magnitude of sea level changes during late Quaternary. Notch morphology and associated biological encrustation have been used to estimate the magnitude and duration of palaeo-sea strands. Marine notches and other erosive features occurring between 12 and 15 m above the present Biological Mean Sea Level (BMSL) are attributed to the last interglacial corresponding to the Marine Isotopic Stage 5 (MIS-5). However, 6 to 9 m upliftment of the coastal fringe is attributed to this sea level. The second major high sea strand was identified during the mid-Holocene when the sea rose 2 m above the present level. Notches corresponding to this high sea level are recorded 4 to 5 m above the present BMSL.