http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114000024

We propose that the brittle-ductile transition(BDT) controls the seismic cycle.In particular,the movements detected by space geodesy record the steady state deformation in the ductile lower crust,whereas the stick-slip behavior of the brittle upper crust is constrained by its larger friction.GPS data allow analyzing the strain rate along active plate boundaries.In all tectonic settings,we propose that earthquakes primarily occur along active fault segments characterized by relative minima of strain rate,segments which are locked or slowly creeping.We discuss regional examples where large earthquakes happened in areas of relative low strain rate.Regardless the tectonic style,the interseismic stress and strain pattern inverts during the coseismic stage.Where a dilated band formed during the interseismic stage,this will be shortened at the coseismic stage,and vice-versa what was previously shortened,it will be dilated.The interseismic energy accumulation and the coseismic expenditure rather depend on the tectonic setting(extensional,contractional,or strike-slip).The gravitational potential energy dominates along normal faults,whereas the elastic energy prevails for thrust earthquakes and performs work against the gravity force.The energy budget in strike-slip tectonic setting is also primarily due elastic energy.Therefore,precursors may be different as a function of the tectonic setting.In this model,with a given displacement,the magnitude of an earthquake results from the coseismic slip of the deformed volume above the BDT rather than only on the fault length,and it also depends on the fault kinematics.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987110000034

<正>We synthesize significant recent results on the deep structure and origin of the active volcanoes in mainland China.Magmatism in the western Pacific arc and back-arc areas is caused by dehydration of the subducting slab and by corner flow in the mantle wedge,whereas the intraplate magmatism in China has different origins.The active volcanoes in Northeast China(such as the Changbai and Wuda-lianchi) are caused by hot upwelling in the big mantle wedge(BMW) above the stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone and deep slab dehydration as well.The Tengchong volcano in Southwest China is caused by a similar process in the BMW above the subducting Burma microplate(or Indian plate). The Hainan volcano in southernmost China is a hotspot fed by a lower-mantle plume which may be associated with the Pacific and Philippine Sea slabs' deep subduction in the east and the Indian slab's deep subduction in the west down to the lower mantle.The stagnant slab finally collapses down to the bottom of the mantle,which can trigger the upwelling of hot mantle materials from the lower mantle to the shallow mantle beneath the subducting slabs and may cause the slab—plume interactions.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114000425

Na-metasomatism in the form of albitisation is regionally extensive in the Precambrian crust of southern Scandinavia and is particularly widespread in the Bamble Sector, the Kongsberg-Modum Sector and the Norwegian part of the Mylonite Zone. Sites of albitisation outside these belts are associated with hy- drothermal breccia pipes and fracture-bound alteration. The albitites are composed of near end-member sodic plagioclase （Ano 5Ab94-99） with minor carbonate （calcite and dolomite）, rutile, clinopyroxene （En30Fs21-23W047 49）, amphibole （edenite-pargasite）, quartz, titanite, tourmaline, epidote （Fe3＋ - 0.20 -0.85 a.p.f.u） and chlorite （Mg# = 0.81-0.89）. The albitites have been studied in detail in the region around the town of Kragem, and are described as albitisation along veins, as breccias, alhitic felsites, massive carbonate-bearing albitites and megascale clinopyroxene-titanite-bearing albitite. The strong fluid control on their formation is illustrated by the veining and mineral replacement reactions, showing fluid transport by a H20-CO2 fluid rich in Na, depleting Fe and Mg from the host rock, in accordance with calculated mass transfer. A study of the mineralogical replacement reactions in combination with a regional compilation has demonstrated the relationship between metasomatic processes and the for- mation of apatite, ruti｜e and Fe deposits. The albitites occur spatially associated with other metasomatic rocks such as scapolitised metagabbros. We document that metasomatism is an important mineral- and rock-forming process in the continental crust, which in the Bamble Sector is a part of the tectonome- tamorphic evolution of the Sveconorwegian orogen.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111000582

The Central India Tectonic Zone(CITZ) marks the trace of a major suture zone along which the south Indian and the north Indian continental blocks were assembled through subduction-accretioncollision tectonics in the Mesoproterozoic.The CITZ also witnessed the major,plume-related,late Cretaceous Deccan volcanic activity,covering substantial parts of the region with continental flood basalts and associated magmatic provinces.A number of major fault zones dissect the region,some of which are seismically active.Here we present results from gravity modeling along five regional profiles in the CITZ, and combine these results with magnetotelluric(MT) modeling results to explain the crustal architecture. The models show a resistive(more than 2000Ω·m) and a normal density(2.70 g/cm~3) upper crust suggesting\ dominant tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite(TTG) composition.There is a marked correlation between both high-density(2.95 g/cm~3) and low-density(2.65 g/cm~3) regions with high conductive zones (<80Ω·m) in the deep crust.We infer the presence of an interconnected grain boundary network of fluids or fluid-hosted structures,where the conductors are associated with gravity lows.Based on the conductive nature,we propose that the lower crustal rocks are fluid reservoirs,where the fluids occur as trapped phase within minerals,fluid-filled porosity,or as fluid-rich structural conduits.We envisage that substantial volume of fluids were transferred from mantle into the lower crust through the younger plume-related Deccan volcanism,as well as the reactivation,fracturing and expulsion of fluids transported to depth during the Mesoproterozoic subduction tectonics.Migration of the fluids into brittle fault zones such as the Narmada North Fault and the Narmada South Fault resulted in generating high pore pressures and weakening of the faults,as reflected in the seismicity.This inference is also supported by the presence of broad gravity lows near these faults,as well as the low velocity in the lower crust beneath regions of recent major earthquakes within the CITZ.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114000449

We review petrologic observations of reaction textures from high-grade rocks that suggest the passage of fluids with variable alkali activities. Development of these reaction textures is accompanied by regular compositional variations in plagioclase, pyroxenes, biotite, amphibole and garnet. The textures are interpreted in terms of exchange and net-transfer reactions controlled by the K and Na activities in the fluids. On the regional scale, these reactions operate in granitized, charnockitized, syenitized etc. shear zones within high-grade complexes. Thermodynamic calculations in simple chemical systems show that changes in mineral assemblages, including the transition from the hydrous to the anhydrous ones, may occur at constant pressure and temperature due only to variations in the H2O and the alkali activities. A simple procedure for estimating the activity of the two major alkali oxides, K2O and Na2O, is imple- mented in the TWQ software. Examples of calculations are presented for well-documented dehydration zones from South Africa, southern India, and Sri Lanka. The calculations have revealed two end-member regimes of alkalis during specific metamorphic processes： rock buffered, which is characteristic for the precursor rocks containing two feldspars, and fluid-buffered for the precursor rocks without K-feldspar. The observed reaction textures and the results of thermodynamic modeling are compared with the results of available experimental studies on the interaction of the alkali chloride and carbonate-bearing fluids with metamorphic rocks at mid-crustal conditions. The experiments show the complex effect of alkali activities in the fluid phase on the mineral assemblages. Both thermodynamic calculations and experiments closely reproduce paragenetic relations theoretically predicted by D.S. Korzhinskii in the 1940s.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987110000058

<正>The thermo-electric coefficients of twenty-six magnetite samples,formed either by magmatism or metamorphism,were tested by the thermo-electric instrument BHET—06.Results showed that the coefficient is of a constant value of about -0.05 mV/℃.It is emphasized that because every magnetite grain was tested randomly,the coefficient is independent of the crystallographic direction.This fact means the thermal voltage generated from a single magnetite crystal can be accumulated,and as a result a new thermo-electric field can arise when a gradient thermal field exists and is active within the earth's crust.Because magnetite is widespread in the earth's crust(generally appearing more in the middle-lower crust),there is more-than-random probability that the additional thermo-electric field can be generated when certain thermal conditions are fulfilled.We,therefore,used the thermo-electric effect of magnetite to study the mechanism responsible for the presence of abnormal geo-electric fields during earthquake formation and occurrence, because gradient thermal fields always exist before earthquakes.The possible presence of additional thermo-electric fields was calculated under theoretical seismological conditions,using the following calcu-lation formula:E= - 0.159(σ×△T×φ×ρ_2×[(h~2-2x~2)cosα+ 3hxsinα]/ρ_1(h~2 +x~2)~(5/2)).In the above formula,σis thermo-electric coefficient of magnetite,△T is the temperature difference acting on it,φis a sectional area on a block of magnetite vertically perpendicular to the direction of the thermal current.ρ_1 andρ_2 are the respective resistivities of magnetite and the crust,and h,α,and x,respectively,h is the depth of embedded magnetite block,αmeans the angle created by the horizontal line and ligature of the two poles of magnetite block,and x is the distance from observation point to projective center point of the magnetite block on earth surface.According to simulations calculated with this formula,additional thermo-electric field intensity may reach as high as n to n×10~2 mV/km.This field is strong enough to cause obvious anomalies in the background geo-electric field,and can be easy probed by earthquake monitoring equipment. Therefore,we hypothesize that geo-electric abnormalities which occur during earthquakes may be caused by the thermo-electric effect of magnetite.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987110000319

The 3-D geometry of the seismicity in Hindu Kush–Pamir–western China region has been defined by seismic records for 1975–1999 from the National Earthquake Information Center, the U.S. Geological Survey, and over 16,000 relocated earthquakes since 1975 recorded by the Xinjiang seismic network of China. The results show that most Ms ≥ 5.0 hypocenters in the area are confined to a major intracontinental seismic shear zone (MSSZ). The MSSZ, which dips southwards in Pamir has a north-dipping counterpart in the Hindu Kush to the west; the two tectonic realms are separated by the sinistral Chaman transform fault of the India–Asia collisional zone. We demonstrate that the MSSZ constitutes the upper boundary of a south-dipping, actively subducting Pamir continental plate. Three seismic concentrations are recognized just above the Pamir MSSZ at depths between 45–65 km, 95–120 km, and 180–220 km, suggesting different structural relationships where each occurs. Results from focal mechanism solutions in all three seismological concentrations show orientations of the principal maximum stress to be nearly horizontal in an NNW–SSE direction. The south-dipping Pamir subduction slab is wedge-shaped with a wide upper top and a narrow deeper bottom; the slab has a gentle angle of dip in the upper part and steeper dips in the lower part below an elbow depth of ca. 80–120 km. Most of the deformation related to the earthquakes occurs within the hanging wall of the subducting Pamir slab. Published geologic data and repeated GPS measurements in the Pamir document a broad supra-subduction, upper crustal zone of evolving antithetic (i.e. north-dipping) back-thrusts that contribute to north-south crustal shortening and are responsible for exhumation of some ultrahigh-pressure rocks formed during earlier Tethyan plate convergence. An alternating occurrence in activity of Pamir and Chaman seismic zones indicates that there is interaction between strike-slip movement of the Chaman transform fault system and deep-subduction of the Pamir earthquake zone. Pamir subduction-related seismicity becomes shallower in depth with increasing distance east of the transform fault. Therefore, sinistral movement of the Chaman transform fault appears to be influencing continental deep-subduction in the Pamir region and may provide an explanation for the unusual south-dipping geometry of the intracontinental Pamir plate.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112001065

It has been thought that granitic crust,having been formed on the surface,must have survived through the Earth’s evolution because of its buoyancy.At subduction zones continental crust is predominantly created by arc magmatism and is returned to the mantle via sediment subduction,subduction erosion, and continental subduction.Granitic rocks,the major constituent of the continental crust,are lighter than the mantle at depths shallower than 270 km,but we show here,based on first principles calculations, that beneath 270 km they have negative buoyancy compared to the surrounding material in the upper mantle and transition zone,and thus can be subducted in the depth range of 270-660 km.This suggests that there can be two reservoirs of granitic material in the Earth,one on the surface and the other at the base of the mantle transition zone(MTZ).The accumulated volume of subducted granitic material at the base of the MTZ might amount to about six times the present volume of the continental crust.Our calculations also show that the seismic velocities of granitic material in the depth range from 270 to 660 km are faster than those of the surrounding mantle.This could explain the anomalous seismic-wave velocities observed around 660 km depth.The observed seismic scatterers and reported splitting of the 660 km discontinuity could be due to jadeite dissociation,chemical discontinuities between granitic material and the surrounding mantle,or a combination thereof.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987110000149

The structural stability of manganese titanate MnTiO3 at high pressure was investigated by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy with diamond anvil cells. Ilmenite-type MnTiO3 is stable at least to 26.6 GPa, and lithium niobate type MnTiO3 reversibly transforms at room temperature to perovskite at 2.0 GPa. Bulk moduli (K300) of ilmenite, lithium niobate and perovskite are 174(4) GPa, 179(8) GPa, and 208(5) GPa, respectively (at fixed first pressure derivative K′ = 4). The Grüneisen parameter γ has been estimated to be 1.28 for ilmenite and 1.75 for perovskite. In ilmenite phase, TiO6 octahedra become more regular with increasing pressure. In perovskite phase structural distortion increases with pressure increase.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987110000137

<正>This study attempts to acquire information on tectonic activity in western China from land surface temperature(LST) field data.On the basis of the established relationship between heat and strain,we analyzed the LST distribution in western China using the satellite data product MODIS/Terra.Our results show that:1. There are departures from annual changes of LST in some areas,and that these changes are associated with the activity of some active tectonic zones.2.When annual-change background values caused by climate factors are removed,the long-period component(LST_(LOW)) of temperature residual(△T) of the LST is able to serve as an indicator for tectonic activity.We have found that a major earthquake can produce different effects on the LST fields of surrounding areas.These effects are characterized by both rises and drops in temperature.For example, there was a noteworthy temperature decline associated with the Sumatran M9 earthquake of 2004 in the Bayan Har-Songpan block of central Tibetan Plateau.3.On the other hand,the LST field of a single area may respond differently to major shocks occurring in different areas in the regions surrounding China.For instance,the Kunlun M 8.1 event made the LST on the Longmen Mountains fault zone increase,whereas the Zaisan Lake M 7.9 quake of 2003,and the Sumatran M9 event of 2004.caused decreases in the same area's LST.4.The variations of land surface temperature(LST) over time are different in different tectonic areas.These phenomena may provide clues for the study of tectonic deformation processes.On the basis of these phenomena,we use a combination of temperature data obtained at varied depths,regional seismicity and strain results obtained with GPS measurements,to test the information related to tectonic activity derived from variations of the LST field,and discuss its implications to the creation of models of regional tectonic deformation.