Erosion rates on different timescales derived from cosmogenic 10Be and river loads: implications for landscape evolution in the Rhenish Massif, Germany

We determined erosion rates on timescales of 10¹–10⁴ years for two catchments in the northeastern Rhenish Massif, in order to unravel the Quaternary landscape evolution in a Variscan mountain range typical of central Europe. Spatially averaged erosion rates derived from in situ produced ¹⁰Be concentrations in stream sediment of the Aabach and M?hne watersheds range from 47 ± 6 to 65 ± 14 mm/ka and integrate over the last 9–13 ka. These erosion rates are similar to local rates of river incision and rock uplift in the Quaternary and to average denudation rates since the Mesozoic derived from fission track data. This suggests that rock uplift is balanced by denudation, i.e., the landscape is in a steady state. Short-term erosion rates were derived from suspended and dissolved river loads subsequent to (1) correcting for atmospheric and anthropogenic inputs, (2) establishing calibration curves that relate the amount of suspended load to discharge, and (3) estimating the amount of bedload. The resulting solid mass fluxes (suspended and bedload) agree with those derived from the sediment volume trapped in three reservoirs. However, resulting geogenic short-term erosion rates range from 9 to 25 mm/ka and are only about one-third of the rates derived from ¹⁰Be. Model simulations in combination with published sediment yield data suggest that this discrepancy is caused by at least three factors: (1) phases with higher precipitation and/or lower evapotranspiration, (2) rare flood events not captured in the short-term records, and (3) prolonged periods of climatic deterioration with increased erosion and sediment transport on hillslopes.     

继承性宇生核素对暴露测年结果影响的定量分析方法探讨

宇生核素暴露测年过程中,通常假设在样品最后一次暴露前,样品中的宇生核素（继承性宇生核素）浓度为0。然而,大量的测年数据研究发现,样品的暴露年代结果会受到继承性核素的影响从而高估地貌的真实年代。因此,如何降低继承性核素对暴露年代结果的影响或者定量分析继承性核素的影响程度不仅可为地貌演化提供准确的年代数据,而且对宇生核素暴露测年技术的研究具有重要意义。因此,本文以宇生核素暴露测年技术在冰川地貌中应用为例,通过分析继承性核素的研究概况,并结合宇生核素暴露测年原理,探讨继承性核素对测年结果影响的定量分析方法。研究结果表明： ① 通过样品中 n ( 26 Al)/ n ( 10 Be) 值\[即同一样品中宇生核素Al 26 与Be 10 浓度（单位为atom/g）的比值\]以及同一地貌位置多个的样品年代数据分布情况可初步判断测年结果是否受到继承性核素的影响;② 通过现代冰川冰碛物中宇生核素的浓度可以定量分析继承性核素对暴露测年结果的影响; ③ 通过计算冰碛垄顶部和一定深度（＞2~3 m）样品的宇生核素浓度差,可以减少继承性核素的影响。本研究内容对冰川地貌宇生核素暴露测年具有重要意义。     

Improved moraine age interpretations through explicit matching of geomorphic process models to cosmogenic nuclide measurements from single landforms

The statistical distributions of cosmogenic nuclide measurements from moraine boulders contain previously unused information on moraine ages, and they help determine whether moraine degradation or inheritance is more important on individual moraines. Here, we present a method for extracting this information by fitting geomorphic process models to observed exposure ages from single moraines. We also apply this method to 94 ¹⁰Be apparent exposure ages from 11 moraines reported in four published studies. Our models represent ¹⁰Be accumulation in boulders that are exhumed over time by slope processes (moraine degradation), and the delivery of boulders with preexisting ¹⁰Be inventories to moraines (inheritance). For now, we neglect boulder erosion and snow cover, which are likely second-order processes. Given a highly scattered data set, we establish which model yields the better fit to the data, and estimate the age of the moraine from the better model fit. The process represented by the better-fitting model is probably responsible for most of the scatter among the apparent ages. Our methods should help resolve controversies in exposure dating; we reexamine the conclusions from two published studies based on our model fits.     

原地生成宇宙成因核素测年技术思考(四):核素浓度年份化数列累加方法探讨

原地生成宇宙成因核素测年技术中,计算核素浓度的传统通用等式假设了地表侵蚀速率(参数ε)及样品的位置在暴露期间保持不变,从而简化了计算过程。然而这种假设可能并不符合复杂地质背景的实际情况,从而造成计算结果误差较大,与其他测年方法结果也难以相互比较和匹配。本文利用将核素总浓度按年份分解为每年生成的浓度,经衰变和侵蚀的综合影响后至今剩余的浓度(称为年份净剩余浓度),组成数列累加的办法,分别推导了地表样品在高程以及侵蚀速率变化情况下的核素浓度计算等式。在此基础上,给出了地表生成速率和侵蚀速率逐年变化情况下的通用浓度年份化累加等式。最后讨论了传统浓度计算等式中的参数ε(侵蚀速率)的地质意义,明确了ε是一个积分中值,并不代表暴露期间的算术平均侵蚀速率,而是每年的侵蚀速率以自然指数加权的复杂方式(即T年前的那一年的生成浓度将乘以e-(λ+ρεΛ)(T-1))影响到样品的最终浓度值。     

青藏高原晚新生代孢粉组合与古环境演化

对取自沱沱河盆地、通天河盆地、那曲盆地、东温泉盆地、乌郁盆地的新近纪湖相沉积与取自巴斯错、错鄂、纳木错的晚第四纪湖相沉积,进行孢粉分析;结合西宁—民和盆地、伦坡拉盆地、南木林盆地、渭河盆地的孢粉资料,分析青藏及邻区新生代晚期古植被和古环境的演化过程。发现渐新世晚期—中新世早期青藏与周边邻区的古环境发生了显著分异,导致青藏地区热带亚热带植物濒临消亡,与全球温暖气候条件和青藏地区古纬度环境不符,是青藏高原隆升的重要标志。中新世早期—第四纪晚期,青藏高原落叶阔叶林和针叶林呈现总体减少趋势和准周期性波动,与全球气候变化呈良好对应关系。第四纪晚期草本植物含量逐步增高,出现蒿—松—桦为主,针叶林、落叶阔叶林、灌木、草本植物混生的植被景观。     

晚始新世古红河流域变化:来自思茅盆地早新生代地层碎屑锆石U-Pb年代学证据

青藏高原东南部地区新生代时期是否存在一个连接青藏高原与南海的大陆规模古水系系统一直广受争议。本文以红河南侧云南思茅盆地为研究区,通过对盆地内古新世-渐新世地层的沉积学和碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄谱分析,并与邻区已有相关结果对比分析,以揭示古水系的演化。结果表明：古新世-晚始新世等黑组砂岩的碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄谱展示出190~240 Ma、260~280 Ma、450~540 Ma、1700~1900 Ma和2400~2600 Ma等多年龄组的组合特征,而晚始新世-渐新世勐腊组砂岩碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄谱表现出一个显著高峰年龄谱,集中在220~240 Ma。等黑组碎屑锆石年龄谱与邻区的可可西里、松潘-甘孜、北羌塘、义敦和扬子西部碎屑锆石年龄谱具有可比性,与区域地层、岩相古地理证据共同指示古新世-晚始新世存在连接青藏高原与南海的古红河水系。勐腊组不同年龄峰值区间数量的减少说明物源区明显缩小,其年龄组与思茅盆地西侧的临沧花岗岩的年龄较为接近,指示其可能物源为临沧花岗岩,表明晚始新世-渐新世期间古红河失去了其北部上游大部分流域。综合古高度与区域构造等地质学证据,我们推测晚始新世期间,青藏高原东南部地区响应印度-欧亚板块碰撞开始发生红河断裂左行走滑和兰坪-思茅地块顺时针旋转等,导致连接青藏高原与南海的古红河水系失去了其上游的大部分流域,现代红河格局形成。

     

Cenozoic geodynamic evolution of the Aegean

The Aegean region is a concentrate of the main geodynamic processes that shaped the Mediterranean region: oceanic and continental subduction, mountain building, high-pressure and low-temperature metamorphism, backarc extension, post-orogenic collapse, metamorphic core complexes, gneiss domes are the ingredients of a complex evolution that started at the end of the Cretaceous with the closure of the Tethyan ocean along the Vardar suture zone. Using available plate kinematic, geophysical, petrological and structural data, we present a synthetic tectonic map of the whole region encompassing the Balkans, Western Turkey, the Aegean Sea, the Hellenic Arc, the Mediterranean Ridge and continental Greece and we build a lithospheric-scale N-S cross-section from Crete to the Rhodope massif. We then describe the tectonic evolution of this cross-section with a series of reconstructions from ~70 Ma to the Present. We follow on the hypothesis that a single subduction has been active throughout most of the Mesozoic and the entire Cenozoic, and we show that the geological record is compatible with this hypothesis. The reconstructions show that continental subduction (Apulian and Pelagonian continental blocks) did not induce slab break-off in this case. Using this evolution, we discuss the mechanisms leading to the exhumation of metamorphic rocks and the subsequent formation of extensional metamorphic domes in the backarc region during slab retreat. The tectonic histories of the two regions showing large-scale extension, the Rhodope and the Cyclades are then compared. The respective contributions to slab retreat, post-orogenic extension and lower crust partial melting of changes in kinematic boundary conditions and in nature of subducting material, from continental to oceanic, are discussed.     

Dimensions of the Late Cretaceous-Paleocene Northeast Atlantic rift derived from Cenozoic subsidence

The distribution of Cenozoic subsidence across Northeast Atlantic volcanic margins have been evaluated to define the width of the rift zone and magnitude of extensional deformation. The subsidence profiles are corrected for the effects of lower-crustal magmatic bodies emplaced during continental break-up. The dimensions of the bodies have been derived from the crustal velocity structure. The width of the Late Cretaceous-Paleocene Northeast Atlantic rift zone was more than 300 km, and the lithospheric extension factor increases gradually towards the line of continental separation. A large number of high-quality seismic reflection data tied to scientific and commercial wells reveals that the initiation of extensional deformation preceded continental separation by ˜ 18 m.y. on the Vøring margin, off Norway. These results show that the Northeast Atlantic volcanic margins, commonly considered as typical volcanic margins indeed, have similar dimensions as non-volcanic margins, and as continental rifts. Thus, these margins contrast significantly with previously suggested evolutionary models based on narrow rift zones and formation during rapid lithospheric failure. The wide rift is compatible with volume of igneous rocks observed along these margins, and with a thermal anomaly similar to that associated with production of Northeast Atlantic oceanic lithosphere.     

基于Pecube模型重建青藏高原东南缘临沧花岗岩地区新生代阶段性地貌演化

基于三维热-动力学数值模拟(Pecube),本研究分别采用稳定地形、高原-稳定地形以及高原-动态地形3种模型重建了青藏高原东南缘临沧花岗岩地区晚始新世以及中中新世时期的地貌演化过程。反演结果揭示了在新生代早期(晚始新世),只有高原-稳定地形模拟的结果能够约束研究区冷却-剥露过程,并论证了该时期发生强烈构造抬升的事件,正是因为此次抬升事件,使得高原东南缘地区古高度接近或达到现今状态;中中新世时期,澜沧江侵蚀下切约1 km,对原有的高原地貌进行了进一步改造,从而形成现今的地貌格局。该模型结果验证了青藏高原东南部的构造隆升主要发生在新生代早期,这与侧向挤出模型的预测相一致。

     

Late Quaternary glacial and climate history of the Pamir Mountains derived from cosmogenic Be exposure ages

Moraines southwest of Lake Yashilkul, Pamir, Tajikistan, were dated using ¹⁰Be exposure ages of boulder surfaces. We found evidence for (1) an extensive glaciation ∼60,000 yr ago; (2) a less extensive glacial advance, which deposited a characteristic hummocky moraine lobe with exposure ages ranging from ∼11,000 to 47,000 yr, probably deposited at or before 47,000 yr ago; and (3) lateral moraines with exposure ages of ∼40,000 yr, 27,000 yr and 19,000 yr, respectively. Increasing aridity in the Pamir is most likely responsible for the progressively limited extent of the glaciers during the Late Pleistocene.     

大巴山国家地质公园岩溶景观空间分层结构及受新构造运动的影响

大巴山国家地质公园岩溶景观种类齐全、组成系统完整,其发育和分布受构造控制作用显著。文章探讨大巴山国家地质公园岩溶景观特征及其空间分层结构受构造控制的作用机制,发现岩溶空间形态总体呈现掀斜式强烈抬升、河流深切的亚热带中低山峡谷岩溶特点,新构造运动间歇性隆升对岩溶景观垂向发育影响较为显著。岩溶发育的空间层位划分为三个高程层级,从下至上连续分段为440～700 m,700～1 200 m,1 200～1 890 m。空间分层结构反映某一阶段地壳总体处于相对稳定的时期,发育水平岩溶系统（溶洞）,后期地壳发生快速抬升,出现少量竖向岩溶系统（落水洞）,溶洞的分布与相应的侵蚀基准面（现代河床、各级阶地）相适应。根据发育层级推测,研究区至少经历过四次规模较大的间歇性快速抬升构造活动,各级夷平面先后受喜马拉雅运动第Ⅱ幕和第Ⅲ幕影响。喜马拉雅运动多次间歇性快速抬升过程中,丰沛的地下水和地表水下切并快速溶蚀形成多层剥蚀台地。在新构造运动相对稳定期,有充分的条件循环交替溶蚀导致垂向、水平岩溶均出现较大规模发育。      

南海北缘新生代构造演化的深部制约(I):幔源包体

对南海北缘新生代玄武岩中幔源包体的研究揭示了该地区上地幔的不均一性和复杂的地幔过程。部分橄榄岩中单斜辉石(Cpx)具有极低的Ti含量(<160μg/g),这与这些样品中较高的Cpx含量(8%～12%)不匹配。主元素成分变化趋势以及Cpx中HREE分异现象,暗示该区上地幔经历了变压熔融。地幔熔融始于深部的石榴子石稳定区并延续到浅部的尖晶石稳定区(总熔融程度达23%)。这些熔融残余受到了硅酸盐和含水流体的交代。橄榄岩的微量元素组成指示南海北缘地幔具有大陆裂谷型地幔的特征,而与俯冲带之上的地幔楔或受俯冲作用影响的地幔有很大的差别。包体的平衡温度和橄榄石中Fo之间的负相关关系暗示岩石圈地幔具成分分层结构。该地幔的下部由大洋型橄榄岩组成,而地幔顶部为类似于太古宙-元古宙地幔的富斜方辉石方辉橄榄岩。这一岩石圈结构与该地区岩石圈的减薄和软流圈对老岩石圈的置换有关。深源岩石记录的信息支持南海海盆是陆缘扩张引起的主动盆地的观点。     

Quantifying the impact of former glaciation on catchment‐wide denudation rates derived from cosmogenic 10Be

Glacial denudation can significantly perturb terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide depth profiles and, if this is not corrected for, derived apparent denudation rates will overestimate the actual denudation rates. Here we determine how much ¹⁰Be‐derived denudation rates – calculated under the assumption of steady state – deviate from actual denudation rates as a function of three parameters: (1) the total amount of glacial denudation, (2) the post‐glacial denudation rate and (3) the time elapsed since deglaciation. We provide correction lines for the full parameter space explored (glacial denudation: 0.01–100 m; post‐glacial denudation rate: 1–1000 mm/ka; deglaciation: 1–100 ka before present), to evaluate and, if necessary, correct denudation rates for the impact of glacial denudation. Applied to ¹⁰Be‐derived catchment‐averaged denudation rates for formerly glaciated catchments in the Black Forest, Germany, we find that uncorrected denudation rates overestimate actual rates by up to a factor of three.     

Surface exposure dating of the Great Aletsch Glacier Egesen moraine system,western Swiss Alps,using the cosmogenic nuclide 10Be

Egesen moraines throughout the Alps mark a glacial advance that has been correlated with the Younger Dryas cold period. Using the surface exposure dating method, in particular the measurement of the cosmogenic nuclide ¹⁰Be in rock surfaces, we attained four ages for boulders on a prominent Egesen moraine of Great Aletsch Glacier, in the western Swiss Alps. The ¹⁰Be dates range from 10 460±1100 to 9040±1020 yr ago. Three ¹⁰Be dates between 9630±810 and 9040±1020 yr ago are based upon samples from the surfaces of granite boulders. Two ¹⁰Be dates, 10 460±1100 and 9910±970 yr ago, are based upon a sample from a quartz vein at the surface of a schist boulder. In consideration of the numerous factors that can influence apparently young ¹⁰Be dates and the scatter within the data, we interpret the weighted mean of four boulder ages, 9640±430 yr (including the weighted mean of two ¹⁰Be dates of the quartz vein), as a minimum age of deposition of the moraine. All ¹⁰Be dates from the Great Aletsch Glacier Egesen moraine are consistent with radiocarbon dates of nearby bog‐bottom organic sediments, which provide minimum ages of deglaciation from the moraine. The ¹⁰Be dates from boulders on the Great Aletsch Glacier Egesen moraine also are similar to ¹⁰Be dates from Egesen moraines of Vadret Lagrev Glacier on Julier Pass, in the eastern Swiss Alps. Both the morphology of the Great Aletsch Glacier Egesen moraine and the comparison with ¹⁰Be dates from the inner Vadret Lagrev Egesen moraine support the hypothesis that the climatic cooling that occurred during the Younger Dryas cold episode influenced the glacial advance that deposited the Great Aletsch Glacier Egesen moraine. Because of the large size and slow response time of Great Aletsch Glacier, we suggest that the Great Aletsch Glacier Egesen moraine was formed during the last glacial advance of the multiphased Egesen cold period, the Kromer stage, during the Preboreal chron. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cenozoic volcanism and tectonic evolution of the Tibetan plateau

Cenozoic volcanism on the Tibetan plateau, which shows systematic variations in space and time, is the volcanic response to the India–Asia continental collision. The volcanism gradually changed from Na-rich + K-rich to potassic–ultrapotassic + adakitic compositions along with the India–Asia collision shifting from contact-collision (i.e. “soft collision” or “syn-collision”) to all-sided collision (i.e. “hard collision”). The sodium-rich and potasium-rich lavas with ages of 65–40 Ma distribute mainly in the Lhasa terrane of southern Tibet and subordinately in the Qiangtang terrane of central Tibet. The widespread potassic–ultrapotassic lavas and subordinate adakites were generated from ~ 45 to 26 Ma in the Qiangtang terrane of central Tibet. Subsequent post-collisional volcanism migrated southwards, producing ultrapotassic and adakitic lavas coevally between ~ 26 and 8 Ma in the Lhasa terrane. Then potassic and minor adakitic volcanism was renewed to the north and has become extensive and semicontinuous since ~ 20 Ma in the western Qiangtang and Songpan–Ganze terranes. Such spatial–temporal variations provide important constraints on the geodynamic processes that evolved at depth to form the Tibetan plateau. These processes involve roll-back and break-off of the subducted Neo-Tethyan slab followed by removal of the thickened Lhasa lithospheric root, and consequently northward underthrusting of the Indian lithosphere. The Tibetan plateau is suggested to have risen diachronously from south to north. Whereas the southern part of the plateau may have been created and maintained since the late-Oligocene, the northern plateau would have not attained its present-day elevation and size until the mid-Miocene when the lower part of the western Qiangtang and Songpan–Ganze lithospheres began to founder and detach owing to the persistently northward push of the underthrust Indian lithosphere.     

Paleomagnetic reconstruction of the Cenozoic evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean

A total of 113 paleomagnetic sites were sampled along an Anatolian S–N transect from the Arabian platform, the Hatay region, the Eastern Taurides, the Kirsehir block, the Sivas basin and the Eastern Pontides. Reliable characteristic remanent paleomagnetic directions were retrieved from 37 of these sites, spanning in time from Paleocene to Miocene. In a general way, declinations are westerly deviated and inclinations are shallower than the geocentered dipole value at the present latitudes. When combined with previously published results, these data indicate that a large-scale counterclockwise rotation of Anatolia of some 25° has occurred since the Miocene. Assuming that the pole of rotation of Anatolia with respect to Europe has remained constant in time at the location given by MacClusky et al. [J. Geophys. Res. 105 (2000) 5695] on the basis of the geodetic data, this rotation implies that a large westward displacement (500 km at the average latitude of 40°) has taken place. Assuming that the rotation was initiated by the Arabia/Europe collision about 12 Ma ago, this corresponds to an average displacement of about 40 mm/year.Together with previous results from the western part of the Aegean arc, these results indicate that the main trends of the Cenozoic evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean appear to consist of two post-early Miocene rotations of opposite senses: a clockwise rotation of the western part of the Aegean [Tectonophysics 146 (1988) 183] around a pole situated in northern Albania, and a counterclockwise rotation around the pole given by McClusky et al. [J. Geophys. Res. 105 (2000) 5695]. Comparison with GPS data suggest that both rotations are still active today.     

从陆缘伸展探讨新生代南海构造演化

南海的形成和演化是地学界长期争论的问题,前人给出了多种成因模式,目前较流行的模式是海底扩张,但它难以合理解释南海海底扩张中的洋中脊跳跃现象及南海大洋中的大陆残片。基于欧亚东缘的陆缘伸展,从地幔上涌和陆壳沿莫霍面的重力滑移的新大陆漂移模型出发,通过横跨南海的几条地震勘探剖面的地质新解释,研究了南海的形成和演化过程。结果说明,南海的形成是一种“构造被动挤出+微陆块主动漂移”模式。构造被动挤出是指印度-欧亚碰撞造成的欧亚大陆东南缘的微陆块被大规模挤出,而由陆缘伸展形成的微陆块在被挤出后发生了主动裂解漂移,南海的海底扩张现象是诸多微陆块主动漂移的结果。这个新的模式能够合理地解释南海形成过程中的洋中脊跳跃现象及南海中大陆残片的成因机制。进一步恢复了南海演化过程中周边陆块的运动演化历史,说明欧亚东缘在中生代晚期发生的大规模伸展构造运动是南海形成的基础,新生代印度-欧亚碰撞是南海形成的直接动力,微陆块的裂解漂移是南海形成的主要参与者。     

银川盆地新生代构造演化：来自银川盆地主边界断裂运动学的约束

银川盆地新生代以来主要沿其边界断裂发生多期断陷活动,其边界断裂运动学特征记录了盆地的形成演化历史。基于其边界断裂滑动矢量的详细测量与分析,结合区域构造、盆地内沉积序列以及叠加变形分析,提出银川盆地新生代主要受NWSE向伸展、NESW向伸展与NESW向挤压3期构造应力场控制。结合区域构造演化与相关年代学数据,银川盆地新生代以来主要经历初始断陷、持续断陷与拉分断陷等3期构造演化,始新世-上新世受NWSE向伸展作用控制,银川盆地两侧主边界断裂发生正倾滑活动,导致盆地发生强烈断陷活动,充填了始新世-上新世红色砂岩、砾岩;更新世期间,古构造应力场转变为NESW向伸展,其主边界断裂以左行斜张活动,银川盆地持续断陷沉降;晚更新世晚期(?)以来,在NESW向挤压作用控制下,银川盆地主边界断裂发生强烈右行走滑兼正断活动,盆地受断裂剪切拉张活动,发生拉分断陷沉积。