Evolution of the European Cenozoic Rift System: interaction of the Alpine and Pyrenean orogens with their foreland lithosphere

The evolution of the European Cenozoic Rift System (ECRIS) and the Alpine orogen is discussed on the base of a set of palaeotectonic maps and two retro-deformed lithospheric transects which extend across the Western and Central Alps and the Massif Central and the Rhenish Massif, respectively.During the Paleocene, compressional stresses exerted on continental Europe by the evolving Alps and Pyrenees caused lithospheric buckling and basin inversion up to 1700 km to the north of the Alpine and Pyrenean deformation fronts. This deformation was accompanied by the injection of melilite dykes, reflecting a plume-related increase in the temperature of the asthenosphere beneath the European foreland. At the Paleocene–Eocene transition, compressional stresses relaxed in the Alpine foreland, whereas collisional interaction of the Pyrenees with their foreland persisted. In the Alps, major Eocene north-directed lithospheric shortening was followed by mid-Eocene slab- and thrust-loaded subsidence of the Dauphinois and Helvetic shelves. During the late Eocene, north-directed compressional intraplate stresses originating in the Alpine and Pyrenean collision zones built up and activated ECRIS.At the Eocene–Oligocene transition, the subducted Central Alpine slab was detached, whereas the West-Alpine slab remained attached to the lithosphere. Subsequently, the Alpine orogenic wedge converged northwestward with its foreland. The Oligocene main rifting phase of ECRIS was controlled by north-directed compressional stresses originating in the Pyrenean and Alpine collision zones.Following early Miocene termination of crustal shortening in the Pyrenees and opening of the oceanic Provençal Basin, the evolution of ECRIS was exclusively controlled by west- and northwest-directed compressional stresses emanating from the Alps during imbrication of their external massifs. Whereas the grabens of the Massif Central and the Rhône Valley became inactive during the early Miocene, the Rhine Rift System remained active until the present. Lithospheric folding controlled mid-Miocene and Pliocene uplift of the Vosges-Black Forest Arch. Progressive uplift of the Rhenish Massif and Massif Central is mainly attributed to plume-related thermal thinning of the mantle-lithosphere.ECRIS evolved by passive rifting in response to the build-up of Pyrenean and Alpine collision-related compressional intraplate stresses. Mantle-plume-type upwelling of the asthenosphere caused thermal weakening of the foreland lithosphere, rendering it prone to deformation.     

Tracking the Adriatic-slab travel beneath the Tethyan margin of Corsica–Sardinia by low-temperature thermochronometry

A new multi-thermochronological dataset from Corsica–Sardinia is here employed to constrain the Meso–Cenozoic evolution of the Western Mediterranean area and the problematic transition in space and time between the opposite-dipping Alpine (European) and Apenninic (Adriatic) subductions.The dataset, including zircon and apatite fission track and apatite (U–Th)/He data, covers the whole Meso–Cenozoic time interval, and fits the theoretical age pattern that is expected in distal passive margins after continental break-up. This demonstrates that Corsica–Sardinia represents a fragment of the northern Tethyan margin still preserving the thermochronological fingerprint acquired during Middle Jurassic rifting. Mesozoic apatite (U–Th)/He ages from crustal sections located close to the Tethyan rift axis (i.e., central and eastern Sardinia) show that no European continental subduction took place south of Corsica since the Mesozoic. Along the Sardinia transect, post-Jurassic Adria–Europe convergence was possibly accommodated by Adriatic subduction, consistent with the onset of orogenic magmatism. In middle Eocene–Oligocene times, the northward translation of the Adriatic slab beneath the former Tethyan margin induced a coeval northward migration of erosional pulses at the surface, constrained by a trend of progressively decreasing fission track ages from southern Sardinia to NW Corsica. The Adriatic slab reached the Alpine wedge of Corsica by the end of the Oligocene without any breakoff of the European slab, and started retreating in Neogene times triggering the long-recognized basin opening in the backarc region.     

Stages of development in the Polish Carpathian Foredeep basin

In southern Poland, Miocene deposits have been recognised both in the Outer Carpathians and the Carpathian Foredeep (PCF). In the Outer Carpathians, the Early Miocene deposits represent the youngest part of the flysch sequence, while in the Polish Carpathian Foredeep they are developed on the basement platform. The inner foredeep (beneath the Carpathians) is composed of Early to Middle Miocene deposits, while the outer foredeep is filled up with the Middle Miocene (Badenian and Sarmatian) strata, up to 3,000mthick. The Early Miocene strata are mainly terrestrial in origin, whereas the Badenian and Sarmatian strata are marine. The Carpathian Foredeep developed as a peripheral foreland basin related to the moving Carpathian front. The main episodes of intensive subsidence in the PCF correspond to the period of progressive emplacement of the Western Carpathians onto the foreland plate. The important driving force of tectonic subsidence was the emplacement of the nappe load related to subduction roll-back. During that time the loading effect of the thickening of the Carpathian accretionary wedge on the foreland plate increased and was followed by progressive acceleration of total subsidence. The mean rate of the Carpathian overthrusting, and north to north-east migration of the axes of depocentres reached 12 mm/yr at that time. During the Late Badenian-Sarmatian, the rate of advance of the Carpathian accretionary wedge was lower than that of pinch-out migration and, as a result, the basin widened. The Miocene convergence of the Carpathian wedge resulted in the migration of depocentres and onlap of successively younger deposits onto the foreland plate.     

Forebulge dynamics and environmental control in Western Amazonia: The case study of the Arch of Iquitos (Peru)

The Iquitos Arch corresponds to a broad topographic high in the Western Amazonia. Morphostructural and geophysical data and flexural modeling show that the Iquitos Arch is the present-day forebulge of the Northwestern Amazonian foreland basin. A detailed tectono-sedimentary study of the Neogene and Quaternary deposits of the Iquitos area has been carried out in order to circumscribe the timing of the forebulge uplift and its environmental consequences. The Neogene and Quaternary sedimentary succession of the Iquitos Arch consists of six formations that evolved from tidal to fluvial environments. The first three formations exhibit Late Miocene gliding features and synsedimentary normal faults. Such soft-sediment deformations bear witness to tectonic activity ascribed to the growth of the forebulge. Regional erosive surfaces that separate the Neogene and Quaternary formations recorded the progressive forebulge emersion and the evolution of Amazonian drainage system. This uplift is related to an increase in tectonic activity within the Andes, which has provoked the eastern propagation of the orogenic wedge and caused an orogenic loading stage in the Amazonian foreland basin system. The emersion of the forebulge induced the retreat of the Pebas “marine megalake” nearby the Iquitos area and consequently caused important environmental changes in the Amazonian basin. From the end of the Late Miocene to the Pliocene, the forebulge acted as a barrier inducing the deposition of fluvial deposits in the forebulge depozone and the deposition of the “White Sand” deposits in the backbulge depozone. Since about 6 Ma, the forebulge is incised and crossed over by the modern Amazon River. The Iquitos forebulge is still growing as shown by the faulted Holocene terrace deposits.     

Clinoform deposition across a boundary between orogenic front and foredeep – an example from the Lower Cretaceous in Arctic Alaska

The Lower Cretaceous Fortress Mountain Formation occupies a spatial and temporal niche between syntectonic deposits at the Brooks Range orogenic front and post‐tectonic strata in the Colville foreland basin. The formation includes basin‐floor fan, marine‐slope and fan‐delta facies that define a clinoform depositional profile. Texture and composition of clasts in the formation suggest progressive burial of a tectonic wedge‐front that included older turbidites and mélange. These new interpretations, based entirely on outcrop study, suggest that the Fortress Mountain Formation spans the boundary between orogenic wedge and foredeep, with proximal strata onlapping the tectonic wedge‐front and distal strata downlapping the floor of the foreland basin. Our reconstruction suggests that clinoform amplitude reflects the structural relief generated by tectonic wedge development and load‐induced flexural subsidence of the foreland basin.     

库车前陆盆地的二维重力模拟与综合解释

通过对库车前陆盆地的2条MT测线和3条地震剖面的重力二维模拟与综合解释,提高了在复杂变形带进行的构造建模的可靠性。模拟结果表明,库车前陆盆地是以断层相关褶皱作为滑动机制的前陆冲断带。沿下第三系膏盐岩和膏泥岩、侏罗系一三叠系煤系地层发育的滑脱层控制了断层相关褶皱的变形模式,并导致浅层背斜与深部圈闭的位置不一致。在盆地北面,南天山古生界楔入了北部单斜带的中生代地层,导致剩余重力异常值升高;盆地南面,新生界沉积厚度的增加使剩余重力值逐渐降低,局部盐体的堆积可形成重力异常低谷。此外,拜城凹陷基底的密度较高,可能是凹陷形成初期岩浆底侵的结果。推覆变形自天山向塔里木盆地推移,反映了中新世以来逐渐增强的南北向挤压应力和地壳缩短,是印度板块与欧亚板块碰撞的远距离效应。     

漠河盆地上侏罗统沉积特征与构造背景

对晚侏罗世漠河盆地的沉积特征进行了分析,并探讨了其构造类型和成因机制。详细的沉积学研究表明:晚侏罗世漠河盆地主要发育冲积扇、扇三角洲和湖泊相沉积,属于前陆盆地的陆相磨拉石部分。晚侏罗世漠河盆地的物源来自南北两个方向,具有典型前陆盆地双向物源特点:北部物源区是蒙古-鄂霍茨克造山带,位于西伯利亚板块南缘;南部物源区是下伏板块基底,位于大兴安岭北部。根据沉积特征、区域大地构造背景和俄罗斯上阿穆尔盆地有关资料认为:晚侏罗世漠河盆地为漠河-上阿穆尔前陆盆地的南半部分,形成和演化受蒙古-鄂霍茨克造山带制约;晚侏罗世二十二站期和额木尔河期是漠河盆地的主要成盆期,该时期湖泊面积广阔、暗色泥岩发育,是烃源岩的重要形成期。     

冈底斯-喜马拉雅碰撞造山带前陆盆地系统及构造演化

碰撞带前陆盆地的建立是大陆碰撞的直接标志和随后造山带构造变形的忠实记录。本文对欧亚板块与印度板块碰撞前后发育在拉萨地块上的冈底斯弧背前陆盆地,同碰撞产生的雅鲁藏布江周缘前陆盆地,以及碰撞后陆内变形产生的喜马拉雅前陆盆地的沉积地层演化以及碎屑锆石物源特征等进行了系统分析,结合前人及我们近些年的研究成果,认为冈底斯岛弧北侧发育一个典型的弧背前陆盆地系统而不是以前普遍接受的伸展盆地。除传统认为的喜马拉雅前陆盆地系统外,在碰撞造山带中还发育一个雅鲁藏布江前陆盆地系统,它是欧亚板块与印度板块碰撞以后,欧亚板块加载到印度被动大陆边缘产生的典型周缘前陆盆地。上述2个造山带前陆盆地系统的识别,大大提高了对新特提斯洋俯冲、碰撞过程的认识。造山带前陆盆地证据指示,新特提斯洋至少于140 Ma以前就已开始俯冲, 110 Ma俯冲速度开始提高,在65 Ma前后印度大陆与欧亚大陆发生碰撞,喜马拉雅山于40 Ma开始隆升,其剥蚀物质大量堆积在喜马拉雅前陆盆地中。     

库车再生前陆盆地冲断构造楔特征

库车再生前陆盆地冲断构造楔由一系列向南运动的逆冲断层和相关褶皱组成。冲断楔的北部以断层转折褶皱、断层传播褶皱、双重逆冲构造为主。断层楔的前缘发育了很好的滑脱膝折背斜,全为盲断层控制,形成隐蔽式前锋。冲断层的就位从中新世开始,自北向南迁移,前锋的构造形成在第四纪。造成逆冲断层的地壳水平缩短作用速度在中新世较慢,平均为0．355mm/a,上新世中期达0．82mm/a,而到上新世晚期和第四纪速度增大了约一个数量级,达到1．29－3mm/a。     

Tectono‐stratigraphic history of the southern Junggar basin: seismic profiling evidences

The modern Tianshan is an active intracontinental range in central Asia. Its initial timing is poorly known and still hotly debated. As the subsidence of foreland basins is intrinsically coupled with the uplift of orogenic wedges, the foreland sedimentary records may accurately constrain the Tianshan uplifting history. To better address the question, we analyse a seismic profile across the southern Junggar foreland basin to decipher its tectonic and stratigraphic history. Four structural layers can be identified in an ascending order: the Permian – Lower Jurassic transtension‐related layer, the Jurassic – Cretaceous thermal‐subsistence layer, the Palaeogene layer and the Miocene – Quaternary foreland sedimentary layer. The oldest sedimentary sequence in the foreland succession is of the Shawan Formation deposited at ~24 Ma based on magnetostratigraphic constraints. This indicates that foreland deformation in the northern Tianshan and uplifting of the modern Tianshan probably initiated at the beginning of the Miocene.     

塔里木北部周缘前陆盆地早二叠世快速迁移与沉积相突变:俯冲板片拆沉的响应

塔里木北部周缘前陆盆地发育于泥盆纪末至早三叠世期间,完整地记录了南天山造山带的发育过程。该盆地在早二叠世由复理石盆地转化为磨拉石盆地,同时发生快速南移。同期幔源物质加入,有山根地壳熔融的岩浆活动、南天山造山带的整体隆升、热液成矿作用集中发育和变形、变质作用的激化使俯冲岩片的拆沉成为盆地转化与迁移的最佳机制。相同的转化过程及深部机制在其他造山带中也明显存在,表明俯冲岩片拆沉是造山作用一个不可或缺的环节。     

Deformation history of the ophiolite sequence from the Balagne Nappe,northern Corsica: insights in the tectonic evolution of Alpine Corsica

In Alpine Corsica, the Jurassic ophiolites represent remnants of oceanic lithosphere belonging to the Ligure‐Piemontese Basin located between the Europe/Corsica and Adria continental margins. In the Balagne area, a Jurassic ophiolitic sequence topped by a Late Jurassic–Late Cretaceous sedimentary cover crops out at the top of the nappe pile. The whole ophiolitic succession is affected by polyphase deformation developed under very low‐grade orogenic metamorphic conditions. The original palaeogeographic location and the emplacement mechanisms for the Balagne ophiolites are still a matter of debate and different interpretations for its history have been proposed. The deformation features of the Balagne ophiolites are outlined in order to provide constraints on their history in the framework of the geodynamic evolution of Alpine Corsica. The deformation history reconstructed for the Balagne Nappe includes five different deformation phases, from D1 to D5. The D1 phase was connected with the latest Cretaceous/Palaeocene accretion into the accretionary wedge related to an east‐dipping subduction zone followed by a Late Eocene D2 phase related to emplacement onto the Europe/Corsica continental margin. The subsequent D3 phase was characterized by sinistral strike‐slip faults and related deformations of Late Eocene–Early Oligocene age. The D4 and D5 phases were developed during the Early Oligocene–Late Miocene extensional processes connected with the collapse of the Alpine belt. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

西南天山造山带与前陆盆地系统

对比了前陆盆地与前陆盆地系统两个概念, 阐述了前陆盆地系统的基本含义, 引用这一概念分析和对比了库车前陆盆地与西南天山造山带及造山带内“卫星式”盆地的沉积、构造等特征。认为前陆盆地、造山带及造山带内“卫星式”沉积盆地三者之间是相关联的,造山带内的“卫星式”沉积盆地是前陆盆地系统楔顶的延伸部分, 受造山带的影响, 造山楔内不同部位沉积的楔顶存在明显的差异, 针对南天山“卫星式”沉积盆地而言, 尤尔都斯盆地的构造、沉积特征明显不同于焉耆盆地     

Tectonically-driven underfilled–overfilled cycles,the middle Cretaceous in the northern Cordilleran foreland basin

It is shown that the middle Cretaceous succession in the northern Cordilleran foreland basin consists of several-million-year tectonically-driven cycles comprising two components: strata deposited in an underfilled basin with a prominent forebulge zone and strata deposited in an overfilled basin lacking evidence of a forebulge. The episodic thrusting of the Cordilleran orogenic wedge and its rich sediment supply to the basin are two main controlling factors for the formation of these cycles. A qualitative model of several-million-year tectonically-driven underfilled–overfilled cycle for migration and stratigraphic fill in this basin is proposed. During the early underfilled period (orogenic loading period), due to orogenic loading of emplaced thrust sheets, flexural subsidence is created in the region proximal to the mountain belt and a prominent forebulge is developed. During the late underfilled period (early orogenic unloading period), as the cratonward migration of the subsidence center of sediment loading in the foredeep zone, forebulge zones and backbulge zones migrate cratonwards, forming a diachronic erosion surface in the central basin. During the overfilled period (late orogenic unloading period), a prominent erosion forms in the proximal basin and a peripheral sag develops above the forebulge area of the previous underfilled period. This model may provide a pattern to subdivide sedimentary successions in the Cordilleran foreland basin. Using this model, alternative interpretations are suggested for some important, but controversial stratigraphic phenomena in the Cretaceous Cordilleran foreland basin: traditionally defined eustatic highstands, wide sedimentation area of the basin, erosion surfaces and widespread subtle topographic uplifts in the central basin, high-frequency coarsening-up cycles, extensively distributed erosive-based sandstones and conglomerates enclosed in marine mudstones.     

Classic swiss clastics (flysch and molasse) The alpine connection

Abstract

Flysch and molasse are discussed in the light of alpine geodynamics. They are pre-collision and post-collision orogenic clastics which accumulated in basins under different geodynamic controls. We propose that in the case of the Alps, their succession records the change in geodynamics from pre-collision inversion of shallower extensio-nal structures, to post-collision inversion of one or more deep-seated features.

The classical flysch of the Prealps, lying within a pile of nappes at the front of the Western Alps, are invariably turbidite deposits. Flysch has therefore acquired a sedimentological connotation over the years, and this has been emphasized over the last few decades. Turbidite facies were also laid down in marginal and foreland locations during and a little after the collision between the South and North Tethyan Alpine margins, and this has obscured the possible deeper signification of flysch and molasse.

Geodynamic regimes dictate the subsidence behaviour of basins, so by use of geohistory analysis, the time and place of the onset of Molasse basin development may be located. This was at the southern margin of the Helvetic belt, from the start of the Oligocene. Along the Alpine traverse of Western Switzerland, the change in regime from flysch to molasse (i.e. from trench and forearc or retro-arc, to foreland basin deposits) suggests that a major deep-seated inversion structure was situated near the Helvetic-Ultrahelvetic boundary.     

Sedimentary characteristics of Cenozoic strata in central-southern Ningxia,NW China: Implications for the evolution of the NE Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Cenozoic sedimentary deposits in central-southern Ningxia province, NW China are an important record of Tertiary tectonic events along the evolving Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau’s northeast margin. Shortly after the onset of the Indo-Eurasia collision to the south, a thrust belt and adjoining foreland basin began to form during 40–30 Ma. The Eocene Sikouzi Formation developed in a distal setting to this basin, in normal fault-bound basins that may have formed in a forebulge setting. Subsequent deposition of the Oligocene Qingshuiying Formation occurred during a phase of apparently less intense tectonism and the previous underfilled foreland basin became overfilled. During the Early Miocene, contractional deformation was mainly distributed to the west of the Liupan Shan. This resulted in deformation of the Qingshuiying Formation as indicated by an unconformity with the overlying Miocene Hongliugou Formation. The unconformity occurs proximal to the Haiyuan Fault suggesting that the Haiyuan Fault may have begun movement in the Early Miocene. In the Late Miocene, thrusting occurred west of the southern Helan Shan and an unconformity developed between the Hongliugou and Qingshuiying Formations proximal to the the Cha-Gu Fault. Relationships between the Miocene stratigraphy and major faults in the region imply that during the Late Miocene the deformation front of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau had migrated to the Cha-Gu Fault along the western Ordos Margin, and the Xiang Shan was uplifted. Central-southern Ningxia was then incorporated into the northeast propagating thrust wedge. The driving force for NE propagation of the thrust wedge was most likely pronounced uplift of the northeastern plateau at the same time. Analysis of the sedimentary record coupled with consideration of the topographic evolution of the region suggests that the evolving fold-and-thrust belt experienced both forward-breaking fold-and-thrust belt development, and out-of-sequence fault displacements as the thrust wedge evolved and the foreland basin became compartmentalised. The documented sedimentary facies and structural relationship also place constraints on the Miocene-Recent evolution of the Yellow River and its tributaries.     

A thin orogenic wedge upon thick foreland lithosphere and the missing foreland basin

Along the Caledonian front in central Scandinavia, the expected peripheral or pro-foreland basin is neither physically present nor are there any significant traces in the sedimentary record. In order to explain and quantify this situation, the authors assess the major geometric and mechanical constraints on the Caledonian orogenic wedge and model the orogenic load and its influence on the foreland lithosphere of Baltica. Geologic and geophysical data show a strong foreland lithosphere with a flexural parameter (α) of approximately 100 km. The shape of the orogenic wedge and its critical taper angle are dependent mainly on basal friction and wedge strength. In the external part organic-rich black shales provide a low-friction horizon both at the basal detachment surface and within the wedge itself. The more internal part of the wedge is composed of metamorphic and crystalline rocks, which cooled and strengthened prior to thrusting. As a result, the external part of the wedge had a lower strength and a smaller critical taper angle than its internal part, so the orogenic load is upward concave. Modelling of the effect of such a load on the Baltica lithosphere shows a very small depression in front of the load (2 km). The flexural depression produced by the main part of the orogenic load is filled up by the thickening thrust-and-fold belt, so that there is little space left for a foreland basin. These results imply that the missing foreland basin in front of the central Scandinavian Caledonides is not due to subsequent erosion, but is a primary feature.     

The Recognition of the Chuxiong Foreland Basin System in Yunnan, China

THE RECOGNITION OF THE CHUXIONG FORELAND BASIN SYSTEM IN YUNNAN,CHINA     

库车新生代构造性质和变形时间

库车构造位于南天山古生代碰撞造山带之南,为塔里木盆地最北的一个构造带。它自北而南可分为边缘逆冲（ 隐伏构造楔） 、斯的克背斜带、北部线性背斜带、拜城盆地、南部背斜带。每个背斜带又包含有若干逆冲断层相关褶皱,它们是断层转折褶皱、断层传播褶皱、滑脱褶皱、断层传播 滑脱混生褶皱、双重逆冲构造、突发构造、三角带构造。底部逆冲断层向南变浅,堆叠逆冲岩席向南变薄,总体上形成一个向南的逆冲构造楔。逆冲断层在斯的克背斜带侵位最早（２５ Ｍａ） ,在北部线性背斜带为１６９ Ｍａ,拜城盆地中的大宛其背斜为３６ Ｍａ,南部背斜带为５３ Ｍａ（ 北部） 和１８ Ｍａ（ 南部） ,变形作用向南变新。库车构造是印 藏板块碰撞的内陆构造响应,是二叠纪前陆盆地复活而成的再生前陆盆地变形带