Forward modelling of the Bureba escarpment (Rioja Trough, N-Spain)

In this work I use the numerical model TAO to study the evolution of the Bureba escarpment, sitting at the watershed between Duero and Ebro Basins and draining into the Rioja Trough. Facies correlation across this area is troublesome through lack of age-dates and therefore timing of tectonosedimentary events is controversial. Numerical modelling should shed some light on the evolution of this area. To that end I have run homogeneous and heterogeneous models for a range of values of erodability, runoff and elastic thickness. The models demonstrate that the tilting of the NE Duero could have resulted from isostatic compensation to erosion in the Rioja Trough and that the Bureba escarpment is a natural barrier to erosion preventing escarpment retreat for at least the next 1 My.     

A comparison of burial,maturity and temperature histories of selected wells from sedimentary basins in The Netherlands

Sedimentary basins in The Netherlands contain significant amounts of hydrocarbon resources, which developed in response to temperature and pressure history during Mesozoic and Cenozoic times. Quantification and modelling of burial, maturity and temperature histories are the major goals of this study, allowing for a better understanding of the general geological evolution of the different basins as well as petroleum generation. All major basins in The Netherlands encountered at least one time of inversion and therefore moderate to high amounts of erosion. In order to determine the amount of inversion the basins have experienced, a 1D study was performed on 20 wells within three basins (West Netherlands, Central Netherlands and Lower Saxony Basins). New vitrinite reflectance values were obtained and existing data re-evaluated to gain a good data base. The burial histories of six wells, two for each studied basin, are presented here, to demonstrate the differences in basin evolution that led to their present shape and petroleum potential. The Permo-Triassic subsidence phase can be recognized in all three basins, but with varying intensity. In the Jurassic, the basins experienced different relative movements that culminated in the Cretaceous when the influence of the inversion caused erosion of up to 2,500 m. Most wells show deepest burial at present-day, whereas the timing of maximum temperature differs significantly.     

长江源区新生代地堑的构造特征与形成机制

长江源地区近南北走向的地堑构造是该区现今最为显著的构造现象,也是青藏高原迄今发现的同类构造发育的最北部地区。长江源地区地堑构造包括温泉、常错、当拉错纳玛和沱沱河4个规模较大的近南北向地堑。断层年代学和断陷盆地沉积作用研究结果表明,研究区伸展变形至少自中新世末—上新世初就已开始,对长江源地区现今的地貌格局、水系型式具有显著的制约作用。长江源区主要水系是沿南北走向的地堑构造和正断层侵蚀发育而成的。青藏高原新生代伸展地堑构造是高原经历早期地壳强烈缩短变形之后,在深部动力学机制作用下快速隆升的产物。     

环青藏高原大型盆地构造地貌特征与演化比较

塔里木盆地、柴达木盆地和四川盆地是环青藏高原盆山体系中最为重要的三大盆地,其新生代构造地貌演化引起了研究者的广泛关注。通过对这三大盆地的地貌形态、基底性质、流域属性等特征的对比研究,认为在相似的构造环境下,环青藏高原盆山体系大规模的成山与成盆具有一定的规律:塑性块体显著缩短增厚成山;刚性块体缩短量较小,地壳增厚不明显,因而呈现较为平坦的盆地。刚性地块的形状决定了环青藏高原大型盆地的形状,而相似的构造环境与基底性质使得盆地内部具有相似的构造地貌特征。值得注意的是,这些盆地主体部分垂向上新生代沉积的填充序列主要受控于盆地的流域属性与水动力条件,而受盆地水平应力状态所带来的影响相对较小。同时,盆地内的新生代沉积厚度与流域属性对盆地及其周缘地区的侵蚀基准面、海拔高度、边界断裂的发育都产生了显著的影响,提供了一个深、浅圈层之间相互作用的经典案例。     

Cenozoic landscape evolution in central Queensland

Central Queensland lies on the passive margin of eastern Australia and owes its landscape to processes that began following rifting and opening of the Tasman Sea. The modern landscape is the result of long-term processes of landform development, and the landforms themselves are the evidence of these processes. Hence, interpreting their significance provides an understanding of long-term landscape evolution. Along the eastern Australian coast, numerous rivers drain into the sea but among these, there are two that stand out: the neighbouring Fitzroy and Burdekin Rivers in central Queensland. These two streams have by far the largest catchments of any rivers along the eastern seaboard of Australia. The Burdekin and Fitzroy catchments contain widespread remnants of Cenozoic deposits, which accumulated predominantly in fluvial and lacustrine environments established during the Palaeogene. Alluvial sediments were supplied by erosion of nearby uplands, and accumulated in depressions and basins on a prior land surface. Volcanic activity also resulted in large lava flows in central western areas. Water was the main agent of sediment transport, distributing unconsolidated deposits along the drainage networks of the time, some of which were directed inland. It is inferred that during the Palaeogene, the divide between coastward and inland draining streams was further to the east than it is at present. Several basins were located west of the former coastal divide, and were characterised by continental environments of deposition in a generally westward drainage system. With continued accumulation of sediments, individual basins overflowed and merged to form a widespread flat-lying Palaeogene landscape that concealed an earlier land surface on which bedrock was more extensive. In the Early Cenozoic, there was a change from the depositional phase that resulted in the continental sequence, to an erosional phase that developed the modern landforms. The change from deposition to erosion probably started during the Palaeogene. Erosion continued through to the present, re-exposing parts of the basal Palaeogene sequence and earlier Mesozoic land surface. The erosional phase that shaped the landforms of the modern Burdekin and Fitzroy catchments can be explained by slowly evolving drainage basins in the interior being captured by small coastal streams—the predecessors of the Burdekin and Fitzroy Rivers. The coastal streams were short and steep in comparison with those in the interior, allowing a more active erosional environment along the coast. As the coastal streams expanded, the drainage divide moved rapidly westwards. Stream capture began a phase of regional erosion, which transported large quantities of sediments to the coast. The sediments contributed to coastal and nearshore features similar to the Holocene high sea-level examples at the mouth of the Burdekin River in the north, and the Fitzroy Delta and the Keppel Coast in the south. Large volumes of sediments were also transported beyond the present coast during low sea-levels of the Cenozoic, forming similar coastal features and contributing to a major eastward bulge on the central Queensland continental shelf. The emptying of continental basins has paralleled the development of the continental shelf bulge from the coast to the Marion Plateau.     

宁武盆地及周缘岩体裂变径迹对山西地块中—新生代构造演化的约束

宁武盆地及周缘岩体的抬升剥蚀对于山西地块中—新生代构造演化具有重要的指示意义。本文对宁武盆地及周缘岩体进行裂变径迹分析,磷灰石裂变径迹年龄97～47 Ma,锆石裂变径迹年龄161～141 Ma。裂变径迹记录了早白垩世早期(145～125 Ma)、晚白垩世(85～70 Ma)、古新世晚期—始新世早期(59～53 Ma)和渐新世晚期(28 Ma)的4次抬升剥蚀事件。综合分析山西地块的裂变径迹数据,表明隆起区晚古生代以来发生了多期抬升剥蚀事件。山西地块中—新生代构造演化具有时空差异。周缘岩体样品的裂变径迹年龄大于盆地内沉积地层样品的年龄,指示了周缘山体先于盆地抬升剥蚀。晋东北抬升剥蚀时限早于晋西南。山西裂谷系西南端裂开较早。裂谷系发育具有由南向北扩展的特征,这与地层保留记录相一致。山西地块现今地貌格局是在中生代发育一系列雁行状排列的复背斜和复向斜构造基础上发展而成的。     

Late Cretaceous–Cenozoic uplift,deformation, and erosion of the SW Tianshan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan and Western China

The Mesozoic to Cenozoic mountain uplift, exhumation, and deformation of the SW Tianshan Mountains (Kyrgyzstan and Northwest China) offer an important window to understand the intra-continental rejuvenation mechanism of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), as response to the far-field effects of the India-Asia collision. This article presents new observation and data for the planation surface and sedimentation and deformation features of the regional intermountain basins to rebuild the orogenic history in Mesozoic to Cenozoic. Three planation surfaces were recognized by field observation, showing that the mountain may have experienced lengthy erosion since the end Cretaceous, and a continuous planation surface may have formed at the Eocene to Oligocene. The filling sequences and deformation character revealed that the orogenic disintegrate and intermountain basin formation likely began in the end of Oligocene. Subsequently, the uniform planation surface in Western Tianshan may have begun to disintegrate, leading to the basin-and-range landform formation. Folds and nappes in the Cenozoic basins, large-scale thrusting of Palaeozoic rocks over Cenozoic sediments at the basin margin associated with the rapid mountain uplift may have occurred at the end of Early Pleistocene, suggesting a tectonic inversion. The Mesozoic–Cenozoic Tianshan uplift and deformation were likely induced by the collision/accretion along the southern margin of Eurasia. Both the northward propagation of the Parmir syntaxis to the SW Tianshan and the oblique dextral faulting of the Talas–Fergana fault have likely played an important role on the formation and deformation of the Cenozoic basins in the SW Tianshan.     

A historical perspective of the morphological evolution in the lower Ebro river

 The morphological evolution, hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics of the lower Ebro are studied from historical and current data in order to determine the main changes that have governed the evolution of the Ebro channel near the river mouth during the last few centuries. The evolution of the mouth of this river during the last 2000-years, from an estuary to a delta, is interpreted as a process that has been accelerated by human land management. However, an inverse trend has been observed during recent decades: (1) the river mouth has been affected by erosion due to a drastic decrease in the river sediment discharge, and (2) the lower Ebro tends to evolve towards a quasi-permanent salt-wedge estuary as a consequence of the decrease in the river water discharge. Freshwater and sediment discharge decreases are mainly related to intense river water management during this century. The salt wedge favours erosion in the river banks, widening the river channel and causing an aggradational trend in the lower Ebro. Accretion-erosion rates and the sediment budget in the river mouth are estimated for different conditions. Received: 13 November 1995 · Accepted: 17 June 1996     

Alpine paleostress reconstruction and active faulting in Western Iberia

The study of intraplate tectonics is crucial for understanding the deformation within plates, far from active plate boundaries and associated stress transmission to the plate interiors. This paper examines the tectonic evolution of the Variscan basement at the western margin of the Cenozoic Duero basin. Located east of the Vilariça Fault System in NW Iberia, this intraplate zone is a relatively flat but elevated area with an intense NNE-SSW trending fault system and associated moderate seismicity. Although the area has played an important role in the Duero basin configuration, its Alpine to present-day tectonic evolution has not been well constrained. In order to characterize the successive paleostress fields, 1428 pairs of fault-striae were measured at 56 sites and two focal mechanisms were used. Stress inversion methods have been applied to analyze paleostress regimes. Results show the existence of three dominant maximum horizontal stress (Shmax) trends: N-S, NE-SW and E-W. Relative and absolute dating of the activated faults for each Shmax shows that the clearly predominant N-S paleostress field in the zone has been active since the Oligocene up to the present day; while a NE-SW stress field is found to have been active during the Cretaceous and an older E-W paleostress field was active in the earlier Alpine cycle (Late Triassic).     

长江源区新生代地堑的构造特征与形成机制

长江源地区近南北走向的地堑构造是该区现今最为显著的构造现象,也是青藏高原迄今发现的同类构造发育的最北部地区.长江源地区地堑构造包括温泉、常错、当拉错纳玛和沱沱河4个规模较大的近南北向地堑.断层年代学和断陷盆地沉积作用研究结果表明,研究区伸展变形至少自中新世末-上新世初就已开始,对长江源地区现今的地貌格局、水系型式具有显著的制约作用.长江源区主要水系是沿南北走向的地堑构造和正断层侵蚀发育而成的.青藏高原新生代伸展地堑构造是高原经历早期地壳强烈缩短变形之后,在深部动力学机制作用下快速隆升的产物.     

Cenozoic tectonics in the Urumgi-Korla region of the Chinese Tien Shan

Cenozoic deformation within the Tien Shan of central Asia has accommodated part of the post-collisional indentation of the Indian plate into Asia. Within the Urumgi—Korla region of the Chinese Tien Shan this occurred dominantly on thrusts, with secondary strike-slip faulting. The gross pattern of deformation is of moderate to steeply dipping thrusts that have overthrust foreland basins to the north and south of the range, the Junggar and Tarim basins, respectively. Smaller foreland basins lie within the margins of the range itself (Turfan, Chai Wo Pu, Korla and Qumishi basins); these lie in the footwalls of local thrust systems. Both the Turfan and the Korla basins contain major thrusts within them; they are complex foreland basins. Deformation has progressively affected regions further into the interior of the Junggar Basin, and propagated into the interiors of the intermontane basins. No unidirectional deformation front has passed across the Tien Shan in the Neogene and Quaternary. An Oligocene unconformity may indicate the time of the onset of the Cenozoic deformation, but most of the Cenozoic molasse has been deposited after the Palaeogene. The rate of deposition in basins next to the uplifted ranges has increased since the onset of deformation. There has been at least about 80 km of Cenozoic shortening across this part of the Tien Shan. Cenozoic shortening is greater in sections of the range further west; these are nearer to the northern margin of the Indian indenter. Cenozoic compression has reactivated structures created by the two late Palaeozoic collisions that created the ancestral Tien Shan. These Palaeozoic structures have exerted a strong control over the style and location of the Cenozoic deformation.     

华南和南海北部陆缘岩石圈速度结构特征与沉积盆地成因

新近地震层析资料表明, 华南和南海北部陆缘岩石圈及下伏的软流层中存在规模宏大的低速异常带, 它们在研究区新生代演化历史中曾发挥重要的控制作用.其中, 岩石圈底面及内部的巨型NW向异常低速带表明中生代末至新生代早期的神狐运动不仅在华南与南海北部陆缘产生NE向张裂构造体系并催生出内陆-陆架-陆坡沉积盆地, 还导致南海海盆的早期扩张.软流层NNW向的异常低速带则反映岩石圈SSE向的蠕动直接导致南海中央海盆的海底扩张及陆缘地区的持续裂解.研究区深部速度结构特征是历史动力过程所残留的痕迹, 华南陆缘和南海北部新生代沉积盆地的形成和发展, 与岩石圈及软流层的结构和运动方式密切相关.      

青藏高原东北缘循化－贵德盆地及邻区更新世时期沉积与后期侵蚀样式研究

利用残存的地貌标志恢复原始地貌形态是地貌研究的难点之一。青藏高原东北缘循化－贵德地区晚新生代构造活动强烈,晚新生代黄河在本区发育,其后期演化记录了青藏高原隆升扩展的详细信息,同时黄河侵蚀下切过程本身也是值得深入研究的重要科学问题。由于黄河水系的发育,晚更新世以后循化－贵德盆地地区实现由盆地加积向退积的调整,盆地地区逐渐开始遭受黄河水系的侵蚀下切,并逐渐形成现今青藏高原东北缘的地貌形态。野外地质调查发现更新统的变形程度较弱,由于区域构造隆升与河流强烈下切的共同作用,现今保存的更新统已经成为盆地内部的分水岭,如龙羊峡地区。本研究正是选取循化－贵德盆地及其邻区更新统地层为古地貌重建的标志,基于数字高程模型(DEM)空间分析技术,构建了青藏高原东北缘循化－贵德盆地地区更新世古地貌形态,并进行了初步分析,主要认识有： 1)秦岭北缘断裂带构成其南西向北东方向地形快速降低的边界带; 2)在北西南东方向上,西秦岭、黄河、拉脊山、湟水河以及祁连山等总体上构成了向形－背形相间的地貌格局。同时以古地形为基础,定量计算了盆地区更新世以来的侵蚀分布图像,定量结果表明： 1)剥蚀量的分布形态与高原东北缘盆山地貌系统之间有一定相关耦合性,盆地地区的剥蚀量比较大,而相邻山脉地区的剥蚀量都比较小; 2)剥蚀量比较大的盆地地区剥蚀量与盆地内部河流形态之间也具有明显的关联特征,盆地内部剥蚀量最大的区域往往是盆地内部独立河流的中游地区。     

Modern erosion and sedimentation processes in the deep-water part of the Tuapse Trough based on the data of 3D seismic survey

On the basis of new 2D/3D seismic data, the modern tectonic, erosion, and sedimentation processes have been studied in detail in the Tuapse Trough of the Black Sea. The principal processes identified are growth of anticline folds, erosion of submarine ridges, and formation of submarine channels and modern small basins. It has been shown that erosion of submarine ridges took place throughout the entire evolution of their growth.     

洮河水系流域地貌特征及其构造指示意义

通过数字高程模型(DEM)的空间分析技术,系统提取研究区洮河水系流域盆地典型的河流地貌参数,并利用活动造山带地区发育的基岩河道纵向剖面形态等典型参数,分析洮河水系流域盆地地貌发育不对称性特征及洮河在岷县流向的急剧转变成因。研究表明洮河上游南岸水系较北岸水系形状指数高、流域面积大、水系发育更成熟,下游东岸河流河长较短、流域面积小、形状指数低于西岸,西岸水系更发育,且上游流域要比下游河道平缓,水系的相对落差更低,发育更成熟,表明上游河道形成时间早于下游河道。临潭—宕昌断裂带的逆冲隆升作用是造成洮河上、下游水系形态差异的主要原因。岷县东侧山脉的快速隆起致使古洮河被截断,之后被东北侧河流溯源侵蚀,切穿西秦岭北缘构造带,进行河流袭夺,从而形成了现今的洮河。最后探讨了对青藏高原东北端晚新生代以来的构造响应。     

Depositional sequences in a foreland basin (north-western domain of the continental Duero basin,Spain)

The Cenozoic record of the north-western domain of the Duero basin is articulated at the surface through a set of continental depositional sequences called, from base to top, the Vegaquemada sequence, the Candanedo sequence, and the Barrillos sequence. These depositional sequences were deposited in continental sedimentary environments. The deposition of the first sequence occurred through a fluvial system with floodplains cut by low-sinuosity channels. The Vegaquemada sequence was developed between the Middle Eocene and the Early Agenian. The second sequence was formed by a set of highly efficient transport alluvial fans that evolved laterally towards fluvial systems with low-sinuosity fluvial channels and an extensive floodplain, where several types of palaeosols were formed. This sequence developed between the Early Agenian and the Late Vallesian. The third unit–the Barrillos sequence (between the Late Vallesian and the Turolian/Ruscinian transition), was generated by a set of highly efficient transport alluvial fans dominated by low-sinuosity fluvial channels.In subsurface geology, seismic and well data are used to rebuild the stratigraphic architecture. The two basal depositional sequences can be identified with two seismic units: the Palaeogene Seismic Unit (PgSU) and the Neogene Seismic Unit (NgSU), respectively. In the present work, we obtained the isovelocity, isochron, and isobath maps for the top and base of the two Cenozoic units. The Palaeozoic (PzSU) and Mesozoic (MzSU) seismic units are found under these two units. Through study of the logs of the various boreholes, it was only possible to analyse the upper 700 m of the Candanedo Sequence (NgSU), without encompassing the total thickness of the unit. Several middle-order sequences were differentiated, in general showing a sequential fining-upwards evolutionary character. Additionally, for the boreholes analysed two main types of electrofacies were identified, both representing fluvial channels and floodplain deposits.The north-western domain of the Duero basin is interpreted to have been formed in response to the tectonic uplifting of the Cantabrian Mountains since Middle-Eocene times. Integration of the data concerning the surface and subsurface geology in this domain reveals that this basin edge behaved as a foreland basin during Cenozoic stages. The foredeep, with a depth of 2800 m, is oriented east–west and has a sediment thickness of up to 3500 m. The forebulge is located in the southwestern zone and represents an area of basement uplifting in which a minimum thickness of materials from the Cenozoic depositional sequences has accumulated.     

What factors control mechanical erosion rates?

Mechanical erosion rates are important factors in understanding how continents evolve. Mechanical erosion is much faster than chemical erosion, especially for highly elevated regions of the Earth's surface. It is a principal way in which mountain ranges are removed, exposing deep metamorphic roots, which comprise much of the older portions of the continental masses. In addition, there has to be a long-term balance between erosion and mountain building. A new data set allows us to explore in greater detail some of the many factors which control mechanical erosion rates. The most important factors are some expression of the average slope of a drainage basin, some measurement of the amount of water available for erosion, some environmental measurements, and also a measurement of basin length, for which we have no good explanation. The estimate of global mechanical erosion rate obtained here is considerably lower than those obtained by some other workers, some of whom have concentrated on the fact that smaller river basins tend to get eroded faster than larger basins, and it is mainly smaller basins which have not been measured and which are therefore not allowed for by simple arithmetic averaging of observed erosion rates. It is shown here that although smaller basins are eroded faster, this is mainly because they are steeper than larger basins. We also show that extrapolation of current data to smaller basins does not work because the observed continental area which is draining to the ocean cannot be attained by the simplest extrapolation scheme. Received: 23 October 1998 / Accepted: 29 June 1999     

郯庐断裂带对鲁西隆升过程的影响:磷灰石裂变径迹证据

郯庐断裂带(TLFZ)是一条贯穿华北的NNE向巨型断裂带。新生代以来,在郯庐断裂带的两侧及其内部发生了显著的伸展构造变形,形成了泰安-莱芜-蒙阴NW向断陷盆地群,并使鲁西块体发生了急剧的陆内伸展隆升。本文在前人研究的基础上,分别在鲁西沂山、徂徕山和蒙山三处进行了大量的样品采集,总计完成了25个样品的测试,获得了一系列新的磷灰石裂变径迹(AFT)年代学结果。结合前人已发表的裂变径迹结果,对鲁西地区新生代与伸展变形有关的剥露-隆升作用的时空分布特征、隆升剥露模式及隆升幅度进行分析,并揭示郯庐断裂带在鲁西新生代热隆升过程中的影响。主要认识有:1)新生代以来,鲁西主要经历了始新世-早渐新世和新近纪以来两期快速剥露-隆升阶段。2)始新世-早渐新世主要表现为幕式差异性快速剥露-隆升,鲁西南受NW向断层控制形成向北、向东的掀斜抬升作用,鲁西北受NE向断裂控制,形成向北、向西的掀斜抬升作用。新近纪以来,进入相对低速区域性剥露-隆升阶段。3)AFT模拟显示,与始新世-早渐新世的幕式快速剥露-隆升相比,中新世以来,鲁西剥露-隆升速率相对减小,但剥蚀量剥露-抬升量较大。故鲁西整体抬升于中新世以来。4)结合前人研究成果,新生代以来,鲁西宏观上受郯庐断裂带伸展活动影响,越靠近郯庐断裂带剥蚀量越大,局部受NW或NE向断裂控制。     

河北蔚县煤田构造沉降与构造演化分析

利用综合柱状图提取属性数据,弥补了煤田勘探资料的不足。通过尝试将盆地沉降史模拟技术应用于含煤盆地分析之中,反演了河北蔚县含煤盆地演化历程。根据沉降史、埋藏史、沉降量和沉降速率分析,将该盆地构造演化划分为三个阶段：早中生代（J）为盆地形成期,以快速沉降为特征;晚中生代（K）为稳定发展期,以抬升剥蚀为主;新生代（E—Q）为盆地反转期,蔚县煤田伸展断块格局定型。     

中国阿尔泰山流域侵蚀速率及其控制因素

流域侵蚀速率的时空变化对于理解活动造山带的地貌演化具有重要意义。以阿尔泰山8个山地流域为研究对象,利用1964—2011年的水文数据,采用河流输沙量法估算了年代际山地流域侵蚀速率。首先确定悬移质、推移质和溶解质对河流输沙量的贡献,然后计算各流域的年代际侵蚀速率,并结合已有研究结果,探讨了阿尔泰山流域侵蚀速率的时空特征及其控制因素。结果表明：阿尔泰山8个山地流域的平均侵蚀速率为0.03 mm·a^-1,其中乌伦古河山地流域侵蚀速率最小（0.01 mm·a^-1）,额尔齐斯河支流克兰河山地流域侵蚀速率最大（0.05 mm·a^-1）。进一步对侵蚀速率与气候、地形、岩性、构造和植被等因素进行相关分析,发现流域侵蚀速率与地形因子（流域面积、地形起伏度）和气候因子（径流深度、平均温度）的相关性较强,表明这些因素可能对阿尔泰山山地流域侵蚀起主要影响。与阿尔泰山百万年尺度的剥蚀速率（0.07~0.3 mm·a^-1）相比,研究时段内的流域侵蚀速率偏低,这表明中亚地区晚新生代持续的干旱气候可能制约了阿尔泰山地表侵蚀。