Continental margins as global oil-accumulation belts: The Gondwana belt

Most present-day petroliferous basins are localized in one of the five global oil and gas accumulation belts confined to continent—ocean transition zones that existed in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The Gondwana belt is formed by basins developed on continental margins of the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic (Konyukhov, 2009). All of them are riftogenic in nature and were formed during either the Late Paleozoic (basins on continental margins of the Indian Ocean) or the Late Mesozoic (basins in peripheral zones of the South Atlantic). During the most part of geological history, they were located in zones dominated by the humid climate, which determined the prevalent role of terrigenous rocks in their sedimentary cover.     

雅鲁藏布中新生代深水沉积盆地形成和演化(Ⅲ)——喜马拉雅被动大陆边缘构造沉降分析

喜马拉雅特提斯中、新生代属印度板块北部被动大陆边缘。对充填这个被动大陆边缘的沉积物用“反剥法”(backstrippiog)进行研究,恢复了从被动大陆边缘到前陆盆地的抓降史。对分离出的盆地构造沉降曲线与McKenzie模式图版进行对比相关性分析,判断认为被动大陆边缘成熟期主要为热耗散沉降,前陆盆地时逆冲推覆动力为主要影响因素。     

川东北元坝地区长兴组-飞仙关组碳酸盐台地边缘沉积特征及演化

川东北元坝地区长兴组-飞仙关组碳酸盐岩台地边缘以生物礁滩和鲕粒滩沉积为特征:台地边缘最初在吴家坪晚期出现,在经历了长兴期台地边缘礁滩的形成和消亡、印度早期台地边缘鲕粒滩形成和消亡两个阶段的演化后,最终在印度晚期被填平补齐。碳酸盐岩台地边缘演化受到包括地形的几何形态、水动力条件、沉积速率及空容纳空间增长速率的控制。     

On the origin of ophiolite complexes in the southern Tethys region

Regional geological evidence appears to be incompatible with the hypothesis that the alpine-type ophiolites, which are found at numerous localities on the northern margins of the Arabian and Indian continental blocks, represent oceanic lithosphere emplaced by obduction. All of them were emplaced during the same brief period in the Late Cretaceous, at which time these Gondwana continents were at varying distances from Eurasia and were drifting passively northwards towards a north-dipping subduction zone at the opposing, northern side of the closing Tethys ocean: they were apparently emplaced on inactive continental margins which show no evidence of underlying subduction or, necessarily, of compression. As a possible solution to the problem of their origin, it is suggested that they reached their present positions above the miogeosynclines on the continental margins by means of gravitational gliding from an uplift, caused by the intrusion/extrusion of mantle material at a locus of weakness along those margins. Although some material from the former Tethys floor may be included, the ophiolites are thought to consist primarily of mantle material that has broken through the earth's surface under conditions of tension. The necessary identification of ophiolites as fragments of oceanic lithosphere, as marking former plate boundaries, and as indicative of a compressive environment, should be regarded with caution.     

Continental margins: Global belts of oil and gas accumulation

Most of recent oil- and gas-bearing basins are incorporated in the group of five belts of oil-and-gas accumulation. They are confined to continent/ocean transition zones, which existed in the Cenozoic. Three belts (Tethyan, Gondwanan, and Laurasian) are latitudinal structures that include continental margins in the Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic oceans. The other two belts are elongated in the N-S direction and located in the western and eastern peripheral parts of the Pacific Ocean. Taken together, they unite basins with 75 to 80% of oil reserves discovered to date in our planet.     

Recent volcanism in relation to plate interaction and deep-level geodynamics

The spatial distribution of recent (under 2 Ma) volcanism has been studied in relation to mantle hotspots and the evolution of the present-day supercontinent which we named Northern Pangea. Recent volcanism is observed in Eurasia, North and South America, Africa, Greenland, the Arctic, and the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Several types of volcanism are distinguished: mid-ocean ridge (MOR) volcanism; subduction volcanism of island arcs and active continental margins (IA + ACM); continental collision (CC) volcanism; intraplate (IP) volcanism related to mantle hotspots, continental rifts, and transcontinental belts. Continental volcanism is obviously related to the evolution of Northern Pangea, which comprises Eurasia, North and South America, India, Australia, and Africa. The supercontinent is large, with predominant continental crust. The geodynamic setting and recent volcanism of Northern Pangea are determined by two opposite processes. On one hand, subduction from the Pacific Ocean, India, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa consolidates the supercontinent. On the other hand, the spreading of oceanic plates from the Atlantic splits Northern Pangea, changes its shape as compared with Wegener’s Pangea, and causes the Atlantic geodynamics to spread to the Arctic. The long-lasting steady subduction beneath Eurasia and North America favored intense IA + ACM volcanism. Also, it caused cold lithosphere to accumulate in the deep mantle in northern Northern Pangea and replace the hot deep mantle, which was pressed to the supercontinental margins. Later on, this mantle rose as plumes (IP mafic magma sources), which were the ascending currents of global mantle convection and minor convection systems at convergent plate boundaries. Wegener’s Pangea broke up because of the African superplume, which occupied consecutively the Central Atlantic, the South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean and expanded toward the Arctic. Intraplate plume magmatism in Eurasia and North America was accompanied by surface collisional or subduction magmatism. In the Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, deep-level plume magmatism (high-alkali mafic rocks) was accompanied by surface spreading magmatism (tholeiitic basalts).     

Making ends meet in Gondwana: retracing the transforms of the Indian Ocean and reconnecting continental shear zones

Interpretation of the detailed patterns of ocean-floor transforms revealed by satellite altimetry enables the creation of the Indian Ocean to be described quantitatively as four consecutive plate-tectonic regimes separated at 200, 136, 89 and 43 Ma. Each regime is reversed in turn by keeping transform termini coincident and colinear until conjugate points on the margins of pre-existing plates regain their pre-regime integrity. Progressive elimination of the Indian Ocean, demonstrable as a smooth computer animation ( http://www.kartoweb.itc.nl/gondwana ), leads to a refined re-assembly of the continental fragments of central Gondwana that is substantiated by new geological data. A sequence of Euler interval poles that describes the dispersal of the Gondwana fragments, time-calibrated against available magnetic anomaly data, is given. The model requires a mid-Cretaceous position for India's southern tip about 1000 km south of Madagascar, prior to India's rapid northward migration.     

DISCUSSIONS ON STRUCTURAL COUPLING

The structural coupling is a common geological phenomenon. The structural differences between eastern and western active continental margins of modern Pacific and between paleo-Pacific and modern-Pacific continental margins are related to the characteristics and status of the subducting oceanic plate, namely, 1. subducting angle; 2. change in subducting angle; 3. subducting velocity; 4. change in subducting velocity; 5. subduction depth; 6. horizontal distance between the leading edge of the subducting plate and the trench; 7. the structural form of the subducting plate at the 670kin boundary between the upper and lower mantle; 8. the displacement and the direction of displacement of subducting plate. The control and influence toward the shallow-level structures by the deep-level structural activities is a detailed representation of the structural coupling on active continental margin. The basin-maintain coupling phenomenon is an intracontinental structural coupling. The far field effect of collision be     

西南三江构造体系及演化、成因

西南三江构造体系突出表现为以昌都-兰坪-思茅地块为中轴的不对称走滑对冲构造,次为与走滑断裂相伴的伸展滑脱、走滑拉分盆地构造体系,再次为块体内部的近北东、北西向走滑断裂系.西南三江造山带构造体系演化分为挤压收缩变形、走滑深熔热隆、走滑剪切伸展、走滑剥蚀隆升等4个阶段.自晚白垩世开始,印度板块与欧亚板块碰撞,西南三江造山带...     

板块运动对中国近海新生代盆地沉降及充填的控制作用

太平洋板块、印度板块和欧亚板块的演化对中国近海沉积盆地的沉降及充填具有控制作用。根据地幔对流及地壳拉伸特征可将中国近海沉积盆地沉降类型划分为被动、主动和组合热沉降型3种。不同沉降类型分别具有不同的盆地结构,其中被动热沉降型以断陷为主,主动热沉降型以坳陷为主,组合热沉降型则是两种盆地结构的叠加或侧加。中国近海北部板内沉积盆地沉降类型以被动热沉降为主,远离海洋,受海侵影响较小,以陆相沉积体系为主;中部板缘沉积盆地沉降类型为被动侧加主动热沉降,水体整体较浅,坡折及三角洲发育规模小;南部板缘沉积盆地沉降类型也为被动侧加主动热沉降,水体整体较深,坡折及三角洲发育规模大。     

雅鲁藏布中新生代深水沉积盆地形成和演化(Ⅱ)——喜马拉雅碳酸盐台地动力演化

喜马拉雅地区的碳酸盐台地产生、发展和消亡与特提斯造山带形成的动力演化息息相关。三叠纪时,碳酸盐台地较稳定地在聂拉木陆架边缘发展起来,主要受陆源碎屑强烈干扰,碳酸盐台地在其生长面附近发育。早、中侏罗世,碳酸盐台地受构造沉降和海平面变化强烈影响,从潮下低能带向高能变浅的镶边台地旋回性发展。在台地边缘斜坡—盆地中发育一套特殊的碳酸盐“喷溢流”沉积。晚侏罗世,碳酸盐台地受被动大陆边缘初期快速热沉降影响,被黑色页岩覆盖,台地被淹没死亡。早白垩世,陆架边缘台地可能以孤立台地为特征,相当多的碳酸盐台地碎裂或崩塌,靠大陆一侧则主要为末端变陡缓坡。晚白垩世开始,碳酸盐台地主要在岗巴一带发育,发育向上变深的沉积序列,为受前陆挠曲影响产物。第三纪初,碳酸盐台地主要为缓坡,属于前陆盆地远离造山带一侧的碳酸盐台地沉积。喜马拉雅碳酸盐台地的最终消亡是由于造山抬升暴露。     

雅鲁藏布江缝合带日喀则群的蛇绿岩质海底扇及其板块构造意义

沿雅鲁藏布江缝合带分布的日喀则群(K_2TK)砂泥质细粒复理石中发育着一种独特的沉积单元——蛇绿岩质砂砾质海底扇。这些扇体规模小,内扇和中扇相序典型。无论是内扇还是中扇,水道都特别发育,而且水道游荡作用明显。盛行砂砾质高密度浊流和粘性碎屑流沉积,沉积物粒度粗,含大量卵石级以上的粗碎屑,具有近源、快速堆积的特点。其碎屑组分为世界现代和古代海底扇沉积所罕见,主要是蛇绿岩碎屑,并含少量岛弧火山-岩浆岩碎屑和老地层的碎屑。这些扇体具有活动边缘型海底扇的典型特征,但又有其特殊性,它们发育在雅鲁藏布洋盆闭合、印度板块与藏北板块开始碰撞时的残留复理石盆地边缘。板块碰撞导致蛇绿岩质杂岩体和洋壳物质逆冲、抬升形成一个外弧造山带。该外弧造山带成为这些扇体的主要物源区。同时,强烈的逆掩和纳布作用也可将部分岛弧岩和老地层带到残留盆地边缘,一起作为来源母岩。     

Evolution of the Kerguelen plume and its impact upon the continental and oceanic magmatism of East Antarctica

Petrological–geochemical study showed that the alkaline-ultramafics of the Jetty Oasis (rift zone of the Lambert glacier, East Antarctica) are similar in the age (117–110 Ma) and geochemistry to the ultrapotassic alkali basalts of eastern India (Jharia and Raniganj intrusions). Alkaline magmatism in India and Antarctica is related to the activity of the Kerguelen plume, which significantly affected the evolution of the entire eastern Indian Ocean, in particular, determined geodynamic peculiarities of the ocean opening (existence of non-spreading blocks, fragments of the Gondwana lithosphere in oceanic areas) and geochemical characteristics of erupted tholeiitic magmas. Enriched magma sources related to the Kerguelen plume were formed by melting of ancient Gondwana-derived continental fragments, which experienced multiple transformations during its evolution up to the formation of metasomatized mantle under the impact of the Kerguelen plume on the Antarctic and India margins.     

Tectonic types of deepwater basins in the Indian Ocean

Among 16 deepwater basins located in the central Indian Ocean and along its western, eastern, and southern margins, the central, perioceanic, and perispreading tectonic types are recognized. The Central, Cocos, Wharton, and Crozet basins belong to the first type. The second type comprises the Somalia, Mascarene, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Agulhas basins localized along the western margin of the ocean; the Argo, Gascoyne, Cuvier, and Perth basins that are situated along its eastern periphery; and the African-Antarctic Basin in the southern periphery. The South Australian and Australian-Antarctic basins pertain to the third type. Spatially and tectonically, the pericontinental basins are conjugated with continental blocks in the ocean (rises, plateaus, microcontinents). Together, they make up specific tectonic systems that extend parallel to the continents. The formation of such systems is controlled by horizontal movement of continental blocks and tectonic subsidence of the oceanic bottom.     

Phanerozoic plate history and structural evolution of the Tarim Basin,northwestern China

ABSTRACT

As the largest inland oil-bearing basin in China, the Tarim Basin is a large-scale composite basin that has experienced a complex tectonic evolutionary history from the Ediacaran to the Cenozoic. From the Ediacaran to the Ordovician, the Tarim Basin was in an extensional tectonic environment. From the Silurian to the Devonian, the Tarim Block switched from the presence of passive margins to active margins along its northern and southern edges, eventually colliding with the North Kunlun Terrane in the Silurian. From the Carboniferous to the Triassic, the transition of the Tarim Block from an independent landmass to an internal component of the Eurasian Plate resulted from collisions with the Yili-Central Tianshan Terrane to the north during the Late Carboniferous and the Qiangtang Terrane to the south during the Triassic. From the Jurassic to the Paleogene, several unconformities developed because of the subduction of the Meso-Tethys oceanic plate during the Late Jurassic and the Neo-Tethys oceanic plate during the Paleogene. After the Neogene, as a rejuvenated foreland basin, the Tarim Basin was activated along its margins and became an intermountain basin due to the intense regional compression induced by the Indian Plate. Based on a seismic profile cross-section of the basin, we conclude that the extension and shortening in the profile reflects the block amalgamation history and the structural evolution of the Tarim Basin. The structural-sedimentary evolution of this basin is closely related to the movement of the peripheral plates.     

The age and nature of Mesozoic-Tertiary magmatism across the Indus Suture Zone in Kashmir and Ladakh (N. W. India and Pakistan)

We report the following new⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages: 130–150 and 90–100 Ma from monzodiorite and tremolite-actinolite schist of the Kohistan Complex; 44±0.5, 39.7±0.2 Ma from dikes cutting the Ladakh-Deosai Batholith Complex; 130–145 Ma from a diorite in the Shyok melange; and 7.8±0.1 Ma from a late stage monzogranite of the Kärakorum Batholith. A 261±13 Ma age from gneiss of the Karakorum Batholith is of uncertain significance. These dates, previously published ones which we summarize here, and some Sr isotope data suggest the following, (due to subduction switching between the Indian and Asian margins during closing of the Tethys ocean): Late Cretaceous emplacement of the Dras-Kohistan Cretaceous Island arc, followed by rapid cooling between abut 85 and 45 Ma. A quiet phase tectonically on the northern Indian plate during the Palaeocene to early Eocene, when subduction was occurring on the Asian margin. Further southward thrusting of the Indian continental margin associated with the development of an Andean-type arc (the Ladakh-Desosai Batholiths) on the northern Indian margin during the Eocene. An Oligocene Andean arc (the Karakorum Batholiths) on the Asian margin, followed by Miocene collision of the two continents and intrusion of ‘true’ granites derived from partial melting of continental crust.     

West Pacific and North Indian Ocean Seafloor and Their Ocean-Continent Connection Zones: Evolution and Debates

The Indian Ocean and the West Pacific Ocean and their ocean-continent connection zones are the core area of "the Belt and Road". Scientific and in-depth recognition to the natural environment, disaster distribution, resources, energy potential of “the Belt and Road” development, is the cut-in point of the current Earth science community to serve urgent national needs. This paper mainly discusses the following key tectonic problems in the West Pacific and North Indian oceans and their ocean-continent connection zones (OCCZs): 1. modern marine geodynamic problems related to the two oceans. Based on the research and development needs to the two oceans and the ocean-continent transition zones, this item includes the following questions. (1) Plate origin, growth, death and evolution in the two oceans, for example, 1) The initial origin and process of the triangle Pacific Plate including causes and difference of the Galapagos and West Shatsky microplates; 2) spatial and temporal process, present status and trends of the plates within the Paleo- or Present-day Pacific Ocean to the evolution of the East Asian Continental Domain; 3) origin and evolution of the Indian Ocean and assembly and dispersal of supercontinents. (2) Latest research progress and problems of mid-oceanic ridges: 1) the ridge-hot spot interaction and ridge accretion, how to think about the relationship between vertical accretion behavior of thousands years or tens of thousands years and lateral spreading of millions years at 0 Ma mid-oceanic ridges; 2) the difference of formation mechanisms between the back-arc basin extension and the normal mid-oceanic ridge spreading; 3) the differentials between ultra-slow dian Ocean and the rapid Pacific spreading, whether there are active and passive spreading, and a push force in the mid-oceanic ridge; 4) mid-oceanic ridge jumping and termination: causes of the intra-oceanic plate reorganization, termination, and spatial jumps; 5) interaction of mantle plume and mid-oceanic ridge. (3) On the intra-oceanic subduction and tectonics: 1) the origin of intra-oceanic arc and subduction, ridge subduction and slab window on continental margins, transform faults and transform-type continental margin; 2) causes of the large igneous provinces, oceanic plateaus and seamount chains. (4) The oceanic core complex and rheology of oceanic crust in the Indian Ocean. (5) Advances on the driving force within oceanic plates, including mantle convection, negative buoyancy, trench suction and mid-oceanic ridge push, is reviewed and discussed. 2. The ocean-continent connection zones near the two oceans, including: (1) Property of continental margin basement: the crusts of the Okinawa Trough, the Okhotsk Sea, and east of New Zealand are the continental crusts or oceanic crusts, and origin of micro-continent within the oceans; (2) the ocean-continent transition and coupling process, revealing from the comparison of the major events between the West Pacific Ocean seamount chains and the continental margins, mantle exhumation and the ocean-continent transition zones, causes of transform fault within back-arc basin, formation and subduction of transform-type continental margin; (3) strike-slip faulting between the West Pacific Ocean and the East Asian Continent and its temporal and spatial range and scale; (4) connection between deep and surface processes within the two ocean and their connection zones, namely the assembly among the Eurasian, Pacific and India-Australia plates and the related effect from the deep mantle, lithosphere, to crust and surface Earth system, and some related issues within the connection zones of the two oceans under the super-convergent background. 3. On the relationship, especially their present relations and evolutionary trends, between the Paleo- or Present-day Pacific plates and the Tethyan Belt, the Eurasian Plate or the plates within the Indian Ocean. At last, this paper makes a perspective of the related marine geology, ocean-continent connection zone and in-depth geology for the two oceans and one zone.     

Regional tectonic framework,structure and evolution of the western marginal basins of India

The Kutch-Saurashtra, Cambay and Narmada basins are pericontinental rift basins in the western margin of the Indian craton. These basins were formed by rifting along Precambrian tectonic trends. Interplay of three major Precambrian tectonic trends of western India, Dharwar (NNW-SSE), Aravalli-Delhi (NE-SW) and Satpura (ENE-WSW), controlled the tectonic style of the basins. The geological history of the basins indicates that these basins were formed by sequential reactivation of primordial faults. The Kutch basin opened up first in the Early Jurassic (rifting was initiated in Late Triassic) along the Delhi trend followed by the Cambay basin in the Early Cretaceous along the Dharwar trend and the Narmada basin in Late Cretaceous time along the Satpura trend. The evolution of the basins took place in four stages. These stages are synchronous with the important events in the evolution of the Indian sub-continent—its breakup from Gondwanaland in the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic, its northward drifting during the Jurassic-Cretaceous and collision with the Asian continent in the Early Tertiary. The most important tectonic events occurred in Late Cretaceous time. The present style of the continental margins of India evolved during Early Tertiary time.The Saurashtra arch, the extension of the Aravalli Range across the western continental shelf, subsided along the eastern margin fault of the Cambay basin during the Early Cretaceous. It formed an extensive depositional platform continuous with the Kutch shelf, for the accumulation of thick deltaic sediments. A part of the Saurashtra arch was uplifted as a horst during the main tectonic phase in the Late Cretaceous.The present high thermal regime of the Cambay-Bombay High region is suggestive of a renewed rifting phase.     

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

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