西藏羊八井地热田水热蚀变的时空演化特征

西藏亚东—谷露裂谷中—北段的羊八井地热田是我国著名的高温地热田,研究其水热蚀变的时空演化有助于更好地认识藏南地热的发育特征。通过对羊八井地热田及其水热蚀变岩开展地表调查、显微特征与X衍射分析等工作,总结了其主要蚀变类型特征,划分出黄褐色蚀变中心带、灰白色中强蚀变带、灰白色中等蚀变带和浅灰白色弱蚀变带4个不同的水热蚀变带,并区分出红褐色—黄褐色蚀变期、灰白色蚀变期和淡黄色—灰色蚀变期共3期蚀变。研究结果揭示,羊八井地热田高温地热活动中心一直在北区硫磺沟区域,其水热蚀变活动主要受亚东—谷露裂谷内部的活动断裂构造控制,并与断裂构造活动具同步性;地热水的排泄方式早期为沿北东向断裂构造直接排泄,晚期为经浅层第四系径流后再排泄,由直接排泄向间接排泄转变;中高温地热水的排泄区由北区硫磺沟地区向南区藏布曲迁移。根据研究结果推断,硫磺沟区域的北东向断裂与北西向断裂交汇区可作为羊八井热田北区深部地热勘查的主要方向。     

Gloria survey of the east pacific rise near 3.5°S: Tectonic and volcanic characteristics of a fast spreading mid-ocean rise

A long-range, sidescan sonar (GLORIA) survey of an approximately 100-km square area of the East Pacific Rise crest between 3°S and 4°S extends results obtained in the same area by Lonsdale (1977) using Deep-tow. The axial, linear volcano was found to be continuous over a distance of 75 km. The presence of major inward and outward facing fault scarps was confirmed, but the GLORIA data show several distinct differences between the two fault sets. The inward dipping faults are more numerous, more closely spaced, and longer than the outward dipping ones, and their dip-slopes backscatter sound more extensively than those of the outward dipping faults; moreover most of them appear to be formed within 2 km of the axis, whereas the majority of the outward dipping faults begin to develop between 5 and 8 km from the axis. These differences suggest that the two sets of faults have different origins. The horizontal pattern of inward dipping faults is similar to those observed on other mid-ocean rises at all spreading rates, though the lengths and separations of the scarps are slightly, and their throws considerably, less than on slower spreading rises. This common horizontal pattern suggests that inward dipping faults on all rises have a common mode of formation regardless of spreading rate. Horizontal tension is probably the dominant factor, but an additional mechanism is needed to explain the polarization of fault dips that occurs in the region 2–8 km from the axis. The similarity of major fault spacings on the East Pacific Rise to those on slower spreading rises suggests that faulting is invariant in space, rather than time, and that the lithosphere where these faults are formed (about 2 km from the spreading axis) has a similar, small thickness for all spreading rates. This is attributed to the regulating effect of hydrothermal circulation and plate cooling.     

First results on the LPO-derived seismic properties of iron ores from the Quadrilátero Ferrífero region, southeastern Brazil

The role of hydrothermal fluids in assisting the activity of strike-slip faults is investigated using a range of new geological, geophysical, and geochemical data obtained on the Argentat fault, Massif Central, France. This fault zone, 180-km-long and 6 to 8 km-width, has experienced coeval intense channeling of hydrothermal fluids and brittle deformation during a short time span (300–295 Ma). According to seismic data, the fault core is a 4-km-wide, vertical zone of high fracture density that rooted in the middle crust (~ 13 km) and that involved fluids in its deeper parts (9–13 km depth). If stress analyses in the fault core and strain analyses in the damage zone both support a left-lateral movement along the fault zone, it is inferred that hydrothermal fluids have strongly influenced fault development, and the resulting fault has influenced fluid flow. Fluid pressure made easier fracturing and faulting in zones of competent rocks units and along rheological boundaries. Repeated cycles of increase of fault-fracture permeability then overpressure of hydrothermal fluids at fault extremity favored strong and fast development of the crustal-scale strike-slip fault. The high permeability obtained along the fault zone permitted a decrease of coupling across the weak fault core. Connections between shallower and lower crustal fluids reservoirs precipitate the decrease of fault activity by quartz precipitation and sulfides deposition. The zones of intense hydrothermal alteration at shallows crustal levels and the zones of fluid overpressure at the base of the upper crust both controlled the final geometry of the crustal-scale fault zone.     

The polymetallic Au–Ag-bearing veins of Bou Madine (Jbel Ougnat, eastern Anti-Atlas, Morocco): tectonic control and evolution of a Neoproterozoic epithermal deposit

The Bou Madine ore deposit is located SW of Jbel Ougnat, the easternmost inlier of the Anti-Atlas Pan-African belt in Morocco. The host rocks are high-K calc-alkaline volcanic rocks, that are part of the Neoproterozoic Tamerzaga-Timrachine Formation (TTF, lower PIII). The TTF consists of ignimbrites of rhyolitic to dacitic compositions, andesite flows and hypovolcanic bodies (andesite dykes and rhyolite chonoliths) emplaced along N160°E tension gashes associated with a regional N30°E sinistral fault system. The mineralization is related to a high enthalpy geothermal system, eventually evolving into a low temperature epithermal system. A regional propylitisation (T around 260 °C) overprinted the TTF rocks prior to the emplacement of the mineralization. There were two main hydrothermal stages. During the first stage, massive veins with pyrite, arsenopyrite and minor pyrrhotite and cassiterite were formed. The veins were emplaced along N160°E-trending en echelon joints related to N120°E dextral arrays. A quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration overprinted the propylites around the veins (“bleached haloes”), at temperatures up to 300–310 °C. The second stage of mineralization was coeval with dextral re-activation of the N160°E veins, in relation with a NE-ward shift of the shortening direction. First, polymetallic sulphides (sphalerite, chalcopyrite, stannite, galena) were deposited at temperatures 260 °C. Younger quartz veinlets contain arsenopyrite and minor micrometre-size sulphides and sulpho-salts, hosting the precious metals. This was the low temperature epithermal stage (≈150 °C), in relation with invading meteoric water.     

Geochemical indicators of a high-temperature geothermal system

The intensity and distribution of hydrothermal alteration are frequently used during the exploration and assessment of a geothermal prospect to estimate the size, shape and temperature of a thermal system. Geochemical and petrographic observations used to characterize the hydrothermal alteration include the mapping of both trace- and major-element dispersion patterns and the distribution of secondary mineral assemblages.This paper describes the trace-element and mineralogical distributions common to many of the high-temperature systems (> 150°C) that we have studied. However, examples of important geochemical relationships are primarily drawn from our detailed investigations of the Roosevelt Hot Springs thermal system in southern Utah. The hydrothermal fluids at Roosevelt Hot Springs are enriched in sodium chloride and contain approximately 9000 ppm total dissolved solids. The reservoir, with a base temperature near 270°C, is located in fractured gneisses and granites.At Roosevelt Hot Springs, the surface discharges consist of opaline and chalcedonic sinter, and alluvium cemented by silica, calcite, Mn oxide and Fe oxide. The geochemistry of these surface deposits is extremely variable, but locally they contain up to 5.5 ppm Hg, 858 ppm As, 18.8% Mn, 230 ppm Cu, 290 ppm Sb, 294 ppm W, 17 ppm Li, 68 ppm Pb, 26 ppm Zn, 4.9% Ba and 100 ppm Be. High concentrations of Au and Ag, although not present in the sinters at Roosevelt Hot Springs, occur in hot spring deposits from other chemically similar systems such as Steamboat Springs, Nevada.Mercury and As are the most widely distributed trace elements in the surface samples. Their distribution in soils overlying the thermal system expands the area of interest and helps define the high-temperature portion of the system. The highest concentrations of Hg and As, of up to 5.5 and 26 ppm, respectively, occur in soils within 300 m of the thermal discharges. A broader area extending up to 1000 m from the surficial thermal activity also contains ppb. Mercury anomalies tend to mark the location of faults within the uppermost portions of the reservoir and areas where the thermal fluids move laterally away from the thermal system toward the adjacent valley.Depletions of Mn, Cu and Zn are found in the acid-altered soils and in alluvium associated with the hot spring deposits and fumaroles. The acid alteration occurs locally in areas of surficial thermal activity and persists to depths of less than 60 m. Alteration minerals within these zones include alunite, jarosite, native sulphur, opal, chalcedony, kaolinite, sericite, montmorillonite, and mixed-layer clays. The formation of acid waters occurs near the surface and results from the oxidation of H₂S contained within gases evolving from the fumaroles or within waters discharged by the hot springs. The locally intense acid-sulphate alteration and scavenging of metals within the soils occurs as the fluids percolate downward.Alteration mineralogy at depth is determined through examination of down-hole samples which penetrate the geothermal system to depths in excess of 2 km. Reservoir rocks of temperatures below about 210°C contain an alteration assemblage with mixed-layer clays, montmorillonite, sericite, pyrite, hematite, magnetite, calcite, chlorite, quartz, and potassium feldspar. At higher temperatures, mixed-layer clays and montmorillonite disappear and anhydrite appears locally.Altered rocks within the high temperature portions of the thermal field are characterized by anomalous concentrations of As and Li. Selective chemical leaching of the altered rocks and electron microprobe analyses indicate that As is contained primarily in pyrite or iron oxides after pyrite whereas Li occurs in clays and micas.Mercury exhibits an inverse relationship with temperature and is concentrated in the cooler portions of the thermal system to depths marked approximately by the 200°C isotherm. This distribution is similar to the distribution of clay minerals in the reservoir rock. Heating experiments indicate that Hg occurs primarily as Hg° and that it is readily mobilized by the thermal system at temperatures in excess of 200–250°C.     

Along strike changes in the structural evolution over a brittle detachment fault: Example of the Pleistocene Corinth–Patras rift (Greece)

The Patras, Corinth, and northern Saronic gulfs occupy a 200-km-long, N120° trending Pleistocene rift zone, where Peloponnese drifts away from mainland Greece. The axes of Patras and Corinth basins are 25 km apart and linked by two transfer-fault zones trending N040°. The older one defines the western slope of Panachaïkon mountain, and the younger one limits the narrow Rion–Patras littoral plain. Between these two faults, the ca. 4-km-thick Rion–Patras series dips 20–30° SSW. It is part of the Patras gulf synrift deposits, which pile in an asymmetric basin governed by a fault dipping ca. 25–35° NNE, located in the southern Gulf of Patras. Mapping of this fault to the east in northern Peloponnese shows that it is an inactive north-dipping low-angle normal fault (0° to 30°N), called the northern Peloponnese major fault (NPMF). The structural evolution of the NPMF was different in the gulfs of Patras and Corinth. In the Gulf of Patras, it is still active. In northern Peloponnese, footwall uplift and coeval southward tilting flattened the fault and locked its southern part. Steeper normal faults formed north of the locked area, connecting the still active northern part of the NPMF to the surface. After several locks, the presently active normal faults (Psathopyrgos, Aigion, Helike) trend along the southern shore of the Gulf of Corinth. This migration of faults caused the relative 25 km northward shift of the Corinth basin, and the formation of NE–SW trending transfer-faults between the Corinth and Patras gulfs.     

The Central Southern Alps (N. Italy) paleoseismic zone: a comparison between field observations and predictions of fault mechanics

The internal sectors of the Orobic Alps (Northern Italy) are characterised by Alpine age regional shortening showing a transition, through time, from plastic to brittle deformation. Thrust faults cut Alpine ductile folds and are marked by cataclasites and, locally, by pseudotachylytes, suggesting that motion was accommodated by seismic frictional slip. In the Eastern Orobic Alps the thrusting initiated at depths deeper than 10 km (the emplacement depth of the Adamello pluton) and possibly continued at shallower depths. This demonstrates that thrust motion occurred between 10 km depth and the brittle-ductile transition, i.e., at mid-crustal depths. The Orobic Alps exhumed paleoseismic zone shows different geometries along strike. In the central sectors of the Orobic Alps, thrust faults, associated with pseudotachylytes, have average dips around 40° and show no pervasive veining. Much steeper thrusts (dips up to about 85°) occur in the eastern Orobic Alps. In this area, faults are not associated with pervasive veining, i.e., fluid circulation was relatively scarce. This suggests that faulting did not occur with supralithostatic fluid pressure conditions. These reverse faults are severely misoriented (far too steep) for fault reactivation in a sublithostatic fluid pressure regime. We suggest that thrust motion likely started when the faults were less steep and that the faults were progressively rotated up to the present day dips. Domino tilting is probably responsible for this subsequent fault steepening, as suggested by a decrease of the steepness of thrust faults from north to south and by systematic rotations of previous structures consistently with tilting of thrust blocks. When the faults became inclined beyond the fault lock-up angle, no further thrusting was accommodated along them. At later stages regional shortening was accommodated by newly formed lower angle shear planes (dipping around 30–40°), consistently with predictions from fault mechanics.     

Rupture progression along discontinuous oblique fault sets: implications for the Karadere rupture segment of the 1999 Izmit earthquake, and future rupture in the Sea of Marmara

Large earthquakes in strike-slip regimes commonly rupture fault segments that are oblique to each other in both strike and dip. This was the case during the 1999 Izmit earthquake, which mainly ruptured E–W-striking right-lateral faults but also ruptured the N60°E-striking Karadere fault at the eastern end of the main rupture. It will also likely be so for any future large fault rupture in the adjacent Sea of Marmara. Our aim here is to characterize the effects of regional stress direction, stress triggering due to rupture, and mechanical slip interaction on the composite rupture process. We examine the failure tendency and slip mechanism on secondary faults that are oblique in strike and dip to a vertical strike-slip fault or “master” fault. For a regional stress field well-oriented for slip on a vertical right-lateral strike-slip fault, we determine that oblique normal faulting is most favored on dipping faults with two different strikes, both of which are oriented clockwise from the strike-slip fault. The orientation closer in strike to the master fault is predicted to slip with right-lateral oblique normal slip, the other one with left-lateral oblique normal slip. The most favored secondary fault orientations depend on the effective coefficient of friction on the faults and the ratio of the vertical stress to the maximum horizontal stress. If the regional stress instead causes left-lateral slip on the vertical master fault, the most favored secondary faults would be oriented counterclockwise from the master fault. For secondary faults striking ±30° oblique to the master fault, right-lateral slip on the master fault brings both these secondary fault orientations closer to the Coulomb condition for shear failure with oblique right-lateral slip. For a secondary fault striking 30° counterclockwise, the predicted stress change and the component of reverse slip both increase for shallower-angle dips of the secondary fault. For a secondary fault striking 30° clockwise, the predicted stress change decreases but the predicted component of normal slip increases for shallower-angle dips of the secondary fault. When both the vertical master fault and the dipping secondary fault are allowed to slip, mechanical interaction produces sharp gradients or discontinuities in slip across their intersection lines. This can effectively constrain rupture to limited portions of larger faults, depending on the locations of fault intersections. Across the fault intersection line, predicted rakes can vary by >40° and the sense of lateral slip can reverse. Application of these results provides a potential explanation for why only a limited portion of the Karadere fault ruptured during the Izmit earthquake. Our results also suggest that the geometries of fault intersection within the Sea of Marmara favor composite rupture of multiple oblique fault segments.     

Subsurface thermal and hydrothermal characterization based on geothermal resources map, drill hole thermal gradients, Curie point depths and hypocenter distribution — Examples of Tohoku district, Japan

Subsurface thermal structure in Tohoku district are characterized by existing data such as geothermal resources maps, drill hole thermal gradients, Curie point depths and hypocenters distribution maps. The collected data are registered in a database system, then, compared in plan view, cross-section and bird's-eye pictures. The comparison indicates that subsurface temperatures extrapolated from drill hole thermal gradients are generally concordant to the Curie point depth, assumed to be 650 °C. Tohoku district is generally divided into 5 type areas; fore arc lowland, fore arc mountain country, Quaternary volcanic terrain, back arc lowland and back arc mountain country. The surface thermal manifestations in Quaternary volcanic terrain are mainly controlled by the magma chambers as heat sources, while, surface thermal features such as hot springs in non-volcanic areas are controlled by degrees of heat flows, and hydrothermal flows in permeable Cenozoic formations and along permeable fault zones.     

Thermal maturity of a fold–thrust belt based on vitrinite reflectance analysis in the Western Foothills complex, western Taiwan

Burial depth, cumulative displacement, and peak temperature of frictional heat of a fault system are estimated by thermal analysis in the fold–thrust belt of the Western Foothills complex, western Taiwan based on the vitrinite reflectance technique. The regional thermal structure across the complex reveals that the rocks were exposed to maximum temperatures ranging from 100 °C to 180 °C, which corresponds to a burial depth of 3.7–6.7 km. A large thermal difference of 90 °C were observed at the Shuilikeng fault which make the eastern boundary of the fold–thrust belt where it is in contact with metamorphic rock of Hsuehshan Range. The large thermal difference corresponds to cumulative displacements on the Shuilikeng fault estimated to be in the range of 5.2–6.9 km. However, thermal differences in across the Shuangtung and Chelungpu faults cannot be determined apparently due to small vertical offsets. The large displacement observed across the Shuilikeng fault is absent at the other faults which are interpreted to be younger faults within the piggyback thrust system. Localized high temperatures adjacent to fault zones were observed in core samples penetrating the Chelungpu fault. Three major fracture zones were observed at core lengths of 225 m, 330 m, and 405 m and the two lower zones which comprise dark gray narrow shear zones. A value of vitrinite reflectance of 1.8%, higher than the background value of 0.8%, is limited at a narrow shear zone of 1 cm thickness at the fracture zone at 330 m. The estimated peak temperature in the range of 550–680 °C in the shear zone is far higher than the background temperature of 130 °C, and it is interpreted as due to frictional heating during seismic faulting.     

Focal mechanisms of three earthquakes in Finland and their relation to surface faults

Focal mechanisms for three recent earthquakes in Finland are determined using P-wave polarities together with SV/P and SH/P phase amplitude ratios. The events occurred on May 11, 2000 in Toivakka, Central Finland (M_L=2.4), on September 15, 2000 in Kuusamo, northeastern Finland (M_L=3.5), and on May 2, 2001 in Kolari, western Finnish Lapland (M_L=2.9).In order to obtain reliable estimates of the source parameters, one-dimensional crust and upper mantle velocity models are derived for the epicenter areas from deep-seismic sounding results. The starting models are modified by one-dimensional ray tracing using the earthquake observations. The events are relocated by employing P- and S-phase arrival times from the nearest seismic stations and the final velocity models. Synthetic waveforms, calculated with the reflectivity method, are used to further constrain and verify the source and structural parameters.The Toivakka earthquake indicates thrust- or reverse-faulting mechanism at a depth of 5 km. After comparison with aeromagnetic and topographic data we suggest the eastward dipping nodal plane (358°/42°) was the fault plane. The best-fitting fault plane solution of the Kolari earthquake suggests pure thrust-faulting at a depth of 5 km. The nodal plane striking 035°/30° correlates well with surface observations of the postglacial, possibly listric fault systems in the source area. The Kuusamo earthquake (focal depth 14 km) has a normal-faulting mechanism with the nodal planes trending 133°/47° or 284°/47°. Preference is given to the SW-dipping nodal plane, as it seems to coincide with topographic and magnetic lineament directions that have been active after the last ice age.The three earthquakes have occurred in old Precambrian faults and shear zones, which have been reactivated. The reactivated faults are favourably oriented in the local stress field.     

Seismicity wedge beneath the Upper Rhine Graben due to backwards Alpine push?

The distribution of hypocentres in the Upper Rhine Graben area is re-examined, and discussed with respect to the present day tectonic framework. Most earthquakes occur within a N60° striking wedge, located on top of a Moho dome. This wedge is limited by the surface and at depth, by a plane which, in the south of the dome, coincides with the SE dipping Conrad discontinuity. In depth, the seismicity shows a normal distribution the maximums of which are located on a surface dipping 6° towards SE, parallel to the south-eastward dipping Conrad and Moho. This surface outcrops along the north-western edge of the uplifted crystalline Vosges and Black-Forest. The main shocks in earthquake swarms in the region often occur in the vicinity of this surface and along pre-existing N–S to NE–SW Variscan or Tertiary faults and show focal mechanisms of strike-slip. In contrast, part of the aftershocks show focal mechanisms of reverse faulting associated with SE–NW striking compression. The seismic wedge and the north-westward rising seismic surface suggest initiation of crustal ramp, which starts at the south-eastern rim of the Conrad dome and which may become a thrust plane if SE–NW compression continues. In the south-eastern edge of the graben and above the south-eastern ridge of the Moho dome, where evidences for extension have been found, we identify clustering of hypocentres along a surface that strikes N150°, parallel to the main compression and dipping towards NE. Dominant normal faulting mechanisms along this surface suggests initiation of a normal, probably listric fault. At depth, the onset of the future fault plane is located on top of the NW–SE striking ridge of the lower crust and Moho, which act as a an indenter. In addition to thrusting of the whole wedge towards NW, increasing of NW–SE compression would lead to the formation of a half graben at the place of the present Sierentz depression.     

Overprinted strike-slip deformation in the southern Valley and Ridge in Pennsylvania

Two major faults, over 32 km long and 6.4 km apart, truncate or overprint most previous folds and faults as they trend more northerly than the previous N25°E to N40°E fold trends. The faults were imposed as the last event in a region undergoing sequential counter-clockwise generation of tectonic structures. The western Big Cove anticline has an early NW verging thrust fault that emplaces resistant rocks on its NW limb. A 16 km overprint by the Cove Fault is manifested as 30 small northeast striking right-lateral strike-slip faults. This suggests major left-lateral strike-slip separation on the Cove Fault, but steep, dip-slip separation also occurs. From south to north the Cove Fault passes from SE dipping beds within the Big Cove anticline, to the vertical beds of the NW limb. Then it crosses four extended, separated, Tuscarora blocks along the ridge, brings Cambro-Ordovician carbonates against Devonian beds, and initiates the zone of overprinted right-lateral faults. Finally, it deflects the Lat 40°N fault zone as it crosses to the next major anticline to the northwest. To the east, the major Path Valley Fault rotates and overprints the earlier Carrick Valley thrust. The Path Valley Fault and Cove Fault may be Mesozoic in age, based upon fault fabrics and overprinting on the east–west Lat 40°N faults.     

内蒙古三河铅锌矿床的矿化特征及构造控矿规律

以内蒙三河铅锌矿床为研究对象,通过详细的野外和井下地质调研、 勘查资料综合分析、 构造地质测量、矿石和蚀变岩的岩石学和矿物学研究等,对矿区主要的构造类型、产状特征、脉体和蚀变的类型及矿化与断裂构造的关系进行了详细的研究.研究结果表明,矿区矿体主要呈脉状-网脉状产于北西西向断裂构造中.根据矿区断裂-脉体类型-蚀变的关系可...     

Fracture-zone conditions on a recently active fault: insights from mineralogical and geochemical analyses of the Hirabayashi NIED drill core on the Nojima fault, southwest Japan, which ruptured in the 1995 Kobe earthquake

An 1800-m-deep borehole into the Nojima fault zone was drilled at Nojima-Hirabayashi, Japan, after the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake. Three possible fracture zones were detected at depths of about 1140, 1300, and 1800 m. To assess these fracture zones in this recently active fault, we analyzed the distributions of fault rocks, minerals, and chemical elements in these zones. The central fault plane in the shallowest fracture zone was identified by foliated blue-gray gouge at a depth of 1140 m. The degree of fracturing was evidently greater in the hanging wall than in the footwall. Minerals detected in this zone were quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase, and biotite, as in the parent rock (granodiorite), and also kaolinite, smectite, laumontite, stilbite, calcite, ankerite, and siderite, which are related to hydrothermal alteration. Biotite was absent in both the hanging wall and footwall across the central fault plane, but it was absent over a greater distance from the central fault plane in the hanging wall than in the footwall. Major element compositions across this zone suggested that hydrothermal alteration minerals such as kaolinite and smectite occurred across the central fault plane for a greater distance in the hanging wall than in the footwall. Similarly, H₂O+ and CO₂ had higher concentrations in the hanging wall than in the footwall. This asymmetrical distribution pattern is probably due to the greater degree of wall–rock fracturing and associated alteration in the hanging wall. We attributed the characteristics of this zone to fault activity and fluid–rock interactions. We analyzed the other fracture zones along this fault in the same way. In the fracture zone at about 1300 m depth, we detected the same kinds of hydrothermal alteration minerals as in the shallower zone, but they were in fewer samples. We detected relatively little H₂O+ and CO₂, and little evidence for movement of the major chemical elements, indicating little past fluid–rock interaction. In the fracture zone at about 1800 m depth, H₂O+ and CO₂ were very enriched throughout the interval, as in the fracture zone at about 1140 m depth. However, smectite was absent and chlorite was present, indicating the occurrence of chloritization, which requires a temperature of more than 200 °C. Only smectite can form under the present conditions in these fracture zones. The chloritization probably occurred in the past when the fracture zone was deeper than it is now. These observations suggest that among the three fracture zones, that at about 1140 m depth was the most activated at the time of the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake.     

长白山仙人桥温泉断裂岩溶复合型地热成因模式

长白山仙人桥温泉是我国著名的矿泉水疗养旅游胜地,阐明其成因模式对于温泉区的进一步开发和热水资源的可持续利用具有一定的指导意义。笔者采用地质学、水文地质学和地球物理学结合的方法对其进行了系统研究。结果表明,该区属中低温对流型地热系统,地热成因模式为断裂岩溶复合型。热储层主要为古生界寒武系和奥陶系灰岩,灰岩本身的孔渗条件较差,但后期发育的构造裂缝和溶蚀裂缝却极大地改善了热储层的储集性能;盖层主要为中生界侏罗系安山岩和安山质火山碎屑岩,封闭性较好。长白山一带的大气降水沿侧向断裂和溶蚀裂缝渗入热储层中成为地下水;然后经正常大地热流加热成为地热水,热储温度为89~118℃,循环深度为2 853~3 820m;最终地热水在区内NE向与NW向断裂交汇处富集并沿导水断裂上涌形成温泉。因此,该区断裂交汇和岩溶发育的部位是地热勘探的有利部位。该结论为该区类似地热资源的勘探提供了理论依据。     

Talc friction in the temperature range 25°–400 °C: Relevance for Fault-Zone Weakening

Talc is one of the weakest minerals that is associated with fault zones. Triaxial friction experiments conducted on water-saturated talc gouge at room temperature yield values of the coefficient of friction, μ (shear stress, τ/effective normal stress, σ′_N) in the range 0.16–0.23, and μ increases with increasing σ′_N. Talc gouge heated to temperatures of 100°–400 °C is consistently weaker than at room temperature, and μ < 0.1 at slow strain rates in some heated experiments. Talc also is characterized by inherently stable, velocity-strengthening behavior (strength increases with increasing shear rate) at all conditions tested. The low strength of talc is a consequence of its layered crystal structure and, in particular, its very weak interlayer bond. Its hydrophobic character may be responsible for the relatively small increase in μ with increasing σ′_N at room temperature compared to other sheet silicates.Talc has a temperature–pressure range of stability that extends from surficial to eclogite-facies conditions, making it of potential significance in a variety of faulting environments. Talc has been identified in exhumed subduction zone thrusts, in fault gouge collected from oceanic transform and detachment faults associated with rift systems, and recently in serpentinite from the central creeping section of the San Andreas fault. Typically, talc crystallized in the active fault zones as a result of the reaction of ultramafic rocks with silica-saturated hydrothermal fluids. This mode of formation of talc is a prime example of a fault-zone weakening process. Because of its velocity-strengthening behavior, talc may play a role in stabilizing slip at depth in subduction zones and in the creeping faults of central and northern California that are associated with ophiolitic rocks.     

Brittle–ductile–brittle deformation during cooling of tonalite (Adamello, Southern Italian Alps)

Late- to post-magmatic deformation in slightly diachronous contiguous intrusions of the north-western Adamello batholith (Southern Alps, Italy) is recorded as, from oldest to youngest: (i) joints, (ii) solid-state ductile shear zones, (iii) faults associated with epidote-K-feldspar veins and (iv) zeolite veins and faults. Structures (ii) to (iv) are localized on the pervasive precursory network of joints (i), which developed during the earliest stages of pluton cooling. High temperature ( 500 °C), ductile overprinting of joints produced lineations, defined by aligned biotite and hornblende, on the joint surfaces and highly localized mylonites. The main phase of faulting, producing cataclasites and pseudotachylytes, occurred at  250 °C and was associated with extensive fluid infiltration. Cataclasites and pseudotachylytes are clustered along different E–W-striking dextral strike-slip fault zones correlated with the activity of the Tonale fault, a major tectonic structure that bounds the Adamello batholith to the north. Ductile deformation and cataclastic/veining episodes occurred at P = 0.25–0.3 GPa during rapid cooling of the batholith to the ambient temperatures ( 250 °C) that preceded the exhumation of the batholith. Timing of the sequence of deformation can be constrained by ³⁹Ar–⁴⁰Ar ages of  30 Ma on pseudotachylytes and various existing mineral ages. In the whole composite Adamello batholith, multiple magma pulses were intruded over the time span 42–30 Ma and each intrusive body shows the same ductile-to-brittle structural sequence localized on the early joint sets. This deformation sequence of the Adamello might be typical of intrusions undergoing cooling at depths close to the brittle–ductile transition.     

The role of fluids in partitioning brittle deformation and ductile creep in auriferous shear zones between 500 and 700 °C

The fabric, mineralogy, geochemistry, and stable isotope systematics of auriferous shear zones in various hydrothermal gold deposits were studied in order to discuss the role of fluids in rock deformation at temperatures between 500 °C and 700 °C. The strong hydrothermal alteration and gold mineralization indicates that effective permeability development goes ahead with high-temperature rock deformation. The economic gold enrichment is often hosted by breccias and quartz veins in the ductile shear zones, which either formed at fast strain rates or by low strain continuous deformation at slow strain rates. Both processes require (1) a close-to lithostatic to supralithostatic fluid pressure and/or (2) a strong rheology contrast of the deformed lithologies that is often developed during progressive hydrothermal alteration. Compartments of high fluid pressure are sealed from the rest of the shear zones by high-temperature deformation mechanisms, e.g. intracrystalline plasticity and diffusion creep, and compaction. In contrast, in mylonites with heterogeneous crystal plastic and brittle deformation mechanisms for the various minerals, an interconnected network of a grain-scale porosity forms an effective fluid conduit, which hampers fluid pressure build-up and the formation of veins.The auriferous shear zones of the various gold mines represent fluid conduits in the deeper crust, 100 m along strike and up to 1000 m down-dip. The hydrothermal fluids infiltrated may be responsible for low magnitude earthquakes in the Earth's lower crust, which otherwise deforms viscously.     

Application of geochemical methods in the search for geothermal fields

From 1983 to 1985, an orientation study was carried out in about 20 geothermal fields in China. Semi-detailed and detailed surveys were conducted in an area of 90 km² in Yangbajing, Tibet. Hg, As, Sb and Bi were used as indicators to extend the promising area of known geothermal fields to 16 km². In the northern part of the extended promising area, three drill holes were sunk and high-temperature thermal water of 160°C was obtained. In the southern part, outside the geochemical anomaly, two holes were drilled but no thermal water was found. The inner zone of the Hg anomaly coincides closely with the distribution of drill holes that met thermal water with temperatures higher than 140°C. The distribution of Bi values may indicate that the thermal water in the southern part is at shallower depth. A semi-regional survey in an area of 200 km² in Tengchong, Yunnan Province delineated several new prospects, which will possibly extend the resources of the Rehai geothermal field. An element zoning pattern similar to that of hydrothermal mineral deposits was discovered in the Rehai geothermal field. A semi-regional survey conducted in Xiaotangshan near Beijing indicated that the possible extent of the Xiaotangshan geothermal field may reach 30 km². Drilling confirmed that the outer zone of the Hg anomaly is in accordance with the distribution of 40°C thermal water, and the intermediate and inner zones of the Hg anomaly are associated with higher temperature thermal water. Research during the three years 1983–1985 demonstrated that exploration geochemistry is an effective tool for finding geothermal fields.