Nature Geoscience:大洋海底地幔扩张的2种方式

大洋中脊周围的大洋地壳一般是由熔岩流动形成圆丘状岩石表层。然而,2013年第6期在线发表在《自然:地球科学》(NatureGeoscience)上的《地质构造:横跨整个海底的地幔扩张》(Tectonics:Mantle spreadacross the sea floor)研究有了新的发现。该研究利用西南印度洋洋脊的大洋地壳遥感影像,发现由于地壳扩张和剥离作用,海底暴     

华北东部地区地壳结构的初步研究

综合国家地震局地球物理勘探大队在华北地区开展以人工地震测深为主的深部探测成果,认为该地区地壳结构具有如下特点; (1)纵向的分层特性。沿纵向可划分为上层地壳、中层地壳和下层地壳三部分。在很多地震剖面上,中层地壳为一低速层,出现了速度逆转现象。 (2)莫霍界面沿横向的波浪起伏性和不连续性。莫氏面多在其波浪起伏的“拐点”处被断开。在此基础上,分析了华北东部地区强震的深部构造背景,地热活动和深部物质活动     

中国东部地幔岩包体的产出及其与地球内部构造的关系

中国东部橄榄岩和榴辉岩深源包体的地理分布构成了全球环太平洋深源包体分布带的重要组成部分。深源包体的产出与地球内部构造密切相关。尖晶石橄榄岩和镁铝榴石橄榄岩两种包体与上地幔的构造分带相一致,榴辉岩包体代表上地幔中局部的分凝体。碱性玄武岩浆的活动和深源岩石带的形成应为板块构造运动的结果。     

中国东部地幔岩包体的产出及其与地球内部构造的关系

中国东部橄榄岩和榴辉岩深源包体的地理分布构成了全球环太平洋深源包体分布带的重要组成部分。深源包体的产出与地球内部构造密切相关。尖晶石橄榄岩和镁铝榴石橄榄岩两种包体与上地幔的构造分带相一致,榴辉岩包体代表上地幔中局部的分凝体。碱性玄武岩浆的活动和深源岩石带的形成应为板块构造运动的结果。     

大陆深钻：探秘地球的“望远镜”

大陆科学钻探,被称为伸入地球内部的“望远镜”,是带动21世纪地球科学和相关工程技术发展的大科学工程,同时也是解决人类社会所面临的资源、灾害和环境等问题的重要基础研究课题之一,具有划时代的意义。     

Earth mantle conductivity beneath the Ukrainian territory

Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica - Magnetovariation methods, which are applicable to study the mantle conductivity, require long lasting registration of natural magnetic field variations. Such data...     

Influence of mantle anelasticity on the phase and amplitude of Earth tides

The effect of the anelasticity of the mantle on the phase and amplitude of Earth tides is calculated for recent models of the internal structure of the Earth and its rheological characteristics. The anelastic properties of the mantle are modelled by the Maxwell and Knopoff-Lomnitz rheological bodies. For numerical calculations two different methods of solution are used. Results indicate that the effect of mantle anelasticity on tidal amplitudes is practically zero. For both types of rheological models the phase shifts of the functions characterizing solid tides are small, none of them exceeding values of some minutes of arc. These phase shifts have a very weak dependence on the variation of attenuation and viscosity within the mantle. The present study is closely related to an important problem: what proportion of the observed tidal friction arises not in the ocean but is due to the anelasticity of the mantle? The results suggest that dissipation by solid friction at present is an insignificant, almost negligible component of tidal energy sink.     

Attenuation of seismic waves and the universal rheological model of the Earth’s mantle

Analysis of results of laboratory studies on creep of mantle rocks, data on seismic wave attenuation in the mantle, and rheological micromechanisms shows that the universal, i.e., relevant to all time scales, rheological model of the mantle can be represented as four rheological elements connected in series. These elements account for elasticity, diffusion rheology, high temperature dislocation rheology, and low temperature dislocation rheology. The diffusion rheology element is described in terms of a Newtonian viscous fluid. The high temperature dislocation rheology element is described by the rheological model previously proposed by the author. This model is a combination of a power-law non-Newtonian fluid model for stationary flows and the linear hereditary Andrade model for flows associated with small strains. The low temperature dislocation rheology element is described by the linear hereditary Lomnitz model.     

地幔对流与深部物质运移研究的新进展

现代固体地球科学已经认识到,地幔对流不再是少数动力学家的假想,它是地幔热动力系统的主要构架.地幔对流和板块运动驱动机理关系的研究已经从简单的主动或被动驱动的讨论转向对统一热动力系统的探讨.包括地幔热柱在内的地幔对流的深入研究不仅成为研究地幔热动力系统演化的主线,也成为研究大陆形成和演化驱动机理的主线.与此同时,以地震层析成像为主体的地震、地球物理观测资料和以地幔岩石化学组份为主体的地球化学观测成为认识地幔对流的强有力的工具.然而,地球化学和地球物理观测之间存在明显的差异,一些依赖于地球化学数据构思的新的热动力学框架对地幔对流的研究构成了强烈的挑战.     

Xenon isotope systematics, giant impacts, and mantle degassing on the early Earth

The relationships between the major terrestrial volatile reservoirs are explored by resolving the different components in the Xe isotope signatures displayed by Harding County and Caroline CO₂ well gases and mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB). For the nonradiogenic isotopes, there is evidence for the presence of components enhanced in the light ^124–128Xe/¹³⁰Xe isotope ratios with respect to the terrestrial atmosphere. The observation of small but significant elevations of these ratios in the MORB and well gas reservoirs means that the nonradiogenic Xe in the atmosphere cannot be the primordial base composition in the mantle. The presence of solar-like components, for example U–Xe, solar wind Xe, or both, is required.For radiogenic Xe generated by decay of short-lived ¹²⁹I and ²⁴⁴Pu, the ¹²⁹Xe_rad/¹³⁶Xe₂₄₄ ratios are indistinguishable in MORB and the present atmosphere, but differ by approximately an order of magnitude between the MORB and well gas sources. Correspondence of these ratios in MORB and the atmosphere within the relatively small uncertainties found here significantly constrains possible mantle degassing scenarios. The widely held view that substantial early degassing of ¹²⁹Xe_rad and ¹³⁶Xe₂₄₄ from the MORB reservoir to the atmosphere occurred and then ended while ¹²⁹I was still alive is incompatible with equal ratios, and so is not a possible explanation for observed elevations of ¹²⁹Xe/¹³⁰Xe in MORB compared to the atmosphere. Detailed degassing chronologies constructed from the isotopic composition of MORB Xe are therefore questionable.If the present estimate for the uranium/iodine ratio in the bulk silicate Earth (BSE) is taken to apply to all interior volatile reservoirs, the differing ¹²⁹Xe_rad/¹³⁶Xe₂₄₄ ratios in MORB and the well gases point to two episodes of major mantle degassing, presumably driven by giant impacts, respectively  20–50 Ma and  95–100 Ma after solar system origin assuming current values for initial ¹²⁹I/¹²⁷I and ²⁴⁴Pu/²³⁸U. The earlier time range, for degassing of the well gas source, spans Hf–W calculations for the timing of a moon-forming impact. The second, later impact further outgassed the upper mantle and MORB source. A single event that degassed both the MORB and gas well reservoirs at the time of the moon-forming collision would be compatible with their distinct ¹²⁹Xe_rad/¹³⁶Xe₂₄₄ ratios only if the post-impact iodine abundance in the MORB reservoir was about an order of magnitude lower than current estimates. In either case, such late dates require large early losses of noble gases, so that initial inventories acquired throughout the Earth must have been substantially higher.The much larger ¹²⁹Xe_rad/¹³⁶Xe₂₄₄ ratio in the well gases compared to MORB requires that these two Xe components evolve from separate interior reservoirs that have been effectively isolated from each other for most of the age of the planet, but are now seen within the upper mantle. These reservoirs have maintained distinct Xe isotope signatures despite having similar Ne isotope compositions that reflect similar degassing histories. This suggests that the light noble gas and radiogenic Xe isotopes are decoupled, with separate long-term storage of the latter. However, without data on the extent of heterogeneities within the upper mantle, this conclusion cannot be easily reconciled with geophysical observations without significant re-evaluation of present noble gas models. Nevertheless the analytic evidence that two different values of ¹²⁹Xe_rad/¹³⁶Xe₂₄₄ exist in the Earth appears firm. If the uranium/iodine ratio is approximately uniform throughout the BSE, it follows that degassing events from separate reservoirs at different times are recorded in the currently available terrestrial Xe data.     

地球内部壳幔介质地震各向异性与动力学响应

实际的地球介质十分复杂,远非当今人们所采用的理想模型可以概括,因为其属性和结构的变异是非均匀、非线性和各向异性的.在研究地球内部壳幔介质与结构、构造与属性差异、金属矿产资源和油、气、煤能源的勘查中,无论是区域构造格局、岩相和结构特征(如裂缝、破碎带、不同尺度的洞穴以及一些不规则几何体)均十分复杂.近年来基于成山、成盆、成矿、成岩和成灾研究的不断深化,对地下介质各向异性的研究受到广泛的关注.地震波动传播理论和介质与结构的物理属性研究结果表明:地震各向异性在成因上主要是由岩石、矿物和晶体的晶格优势取向、应力场异常变异和构造裂缝与深部物质运移造成的.为此,本文对14次地震各向异性会议的主体内涵进行分析,在此基础上,指出了在各向异性研究的发展进程中、特别是在应用中尚存在着的一些问题.在深化认识地球内部物质物理属性的基础上,探讨了S波分裂和偏振效应与地震各向异性与介质结构分区、构造活动,油气田勘探与岩相特征,裂隙与构造精细刻划和地震活动区(带)深部介质与构造环境的深层过程和动力学响应的关系.最后提出了地震各向异性在地球物理学发展中的作用和今后的任务.     

Chemical differentiation of the Earth: the relationship between mantle, continental crust, and oceanic crust

The average chemical compositions of the continental crust and the oceanic crust (represented by MORB), normalized to primitive mantle values and plotted as functions of the apparent bulk partition coefficient of each element, form surprisingly simple, complementary concentration patterns. In the continental crust, the maximum concentrations are on the order of 50 to 100 times the primitive-mantle values, and these are attained by the most highly incompatible elements Cs, Rb, Ba, and Th. In the average oceanic crust, the maximum concentrations are only about 10 times the primitive mantle values, and they are attained by the moderately incompatible elements Na, Ti, Zr, Hf, Y and the intermediate to heavy REE.This relationship is explained by a simple, two-stage model of extracting first continental and then oceanic crust from the initially primitive mantle. This model reproduces the characteristic concentration maximum in MORB. It yields quantitative constraints about the effective aggregate melt fractions extracted during both stages. These amount to about 1.5% for the continental crust and about 8–10% for the oceanic crust.The comparatively low degrees of melting inferred for average MORB are consistent with the correlation of Na₂O concentration with depth of extrusion [1], and with the normalized concentrations of Ca, Sc, and Al ( 3) in MORB, which are much lower than those of Zr, Hf, and the HREE ( 10). Ca, Al and Sc are compatible with clinopyroxene and are preferentially retained in the residual mantle by this mineral. This is possible only if the aggregate melt fraction is low enough for the clinopyroxene not to be consumed.A sequence of increasing compatibility of lithophile elements may be defined in two independent ways: (1) the order of decreasing normalized concentrations in the continental crust; or (2) by concentration correlations in oceanic basalts. The results are surprisingly similar except for Nb, Ta, and Pb, which yield inconsistent bulk partition coefficients as well as anomalous concentrations and standard deviations.The anomalies can be explained if Nb and Ta have relatively large partition coefficients during continental crust production and smaller coefficients during oceanic crust production. In contrast, Pb has a very small coefficient during continental crust production and a larger coefficient during oceanic crust production. This is the reason why these elements are useful in geochemical discrimination diagrams for distinguishing MORB and OIB on the one hand from island arc and most intracontinental volcanics on the other.The results are consistent with the crust-mantle differentiation model proposed previously [2]. Nb and Ta are preferentially retained and enriched in the residual mantle during formation of continental crust. After separation of the bulk of the continental crust, the residual portion of the mantle was rehomogenized, and the present-day internal heterogeneities between MORB and OIB sources were generated subsequently by processes involving only oceanic crust and mantle. During this second stage, Nb and Ta are highly incompatible, and their abundances are anomalously high in both OIB and MORB.The anomalous behavior of Pb causes the so-called “lead paradox”, namely the elevated U/Pb and Th/Pb ratios (inferred from Pb isotopes) in the present-day, depleted mantle, even though U and Th are more incompatible than Pb in oceanic basalts. This is explained if Pb is in fact more incompatible than U and Th during formation of the continental crust, and less incompatible than U and Th during formation of oceanic crust.     

Electrical conductivities of pyrolitic mantle and MORB materials up to the lowermost mantle conditions

The electrical conductivities of natural pyrolitic mantle and MORB materials were measured at high pressure and temperature covering the entire lower mantle conditions up to 133 GPa and 2650 K. In contrast to the previous laboratory-based models, our data demonstrate that the conductivity of pyrolite does not increase monotonically but varies dramatically with depth in the lower mantle; it drops due to high-spin to low-spin transition of iron in both perovskite and ferropericlase in the mid-lower mantle and increases sharply across the perovskite to post-perovskite phase transition at the D″ layer. We also found that the MORB exhibits much higher conductivity than pyrolite. The depth–conductivity profile measured for pyrolite does not match the geomagnetic field data below about 1500-km depth, possibly suggesting the existence of large quantities of subducted MORB crust in the deep lower mantle. The observations of geomagnetic jerks suggest that the electrical conductivity may be laterally heterogeneous in the lowermost mantle with high anomaly underneath Africa and the Pacific, the same regions as large low shear-wave velocity provinces. Such conductivity and shear-wave speed anomalies are also possibly caused by the deep subduction and accumulation of dense MORB crust above the core–mantle boundary.     

Lagging mantle convection,the geoid and mantle structure

In numerical models of convection incorporating migration of a simulated subduction zone, the main descending flow lags far behind the migrating trench, and a geoid low is associated with the main descending flow. This provides physical plausibility for the suggestion by Chase and Sprowl that present very long-wavelength (degree 2–4) geoid lows are associated with Mesozoic trench locations, and suggests further that the present long-wavelength geoid, deep mantle structure and hotspot distribution may be straightforward consequences of plate evolution since the Upper Paleozoic.