Stress amplification in the upper crust and the development of normal faulting

Finite element analysis of lithosphere deformation, incorporating failure criteria based on the Modified Griffith Theory for an elastic upper crust and a visco-elastic rheology for the lower crust and lithospheric mantle, demonstrates that normal faulting as a result of comparatively small, horizontal tensile stresses acting throughout the lithosphere can occur by the phenomenon of stress amplification. The use of a simple, Newtonian viscosity or of power law creep for the visco-elastic material does not significantly change the results. The time to failure is dependent upon the magnitude of the applied stress and the effective viscosity of the underlying material. For an applied stress of 20 MPa and a constant viscosity of 10²³ Pa s failure is predicted after 1.19 Ma, with a fault plane hade of about 30°. A decrease of one order of magnitude in the viscosity of the lower crust results in a slightly shorter time to failure whereas an increase of one order of magnitude results in a very much greater failure time.     

Lower crust indentation or horizontal ductile flow during continental collision?

Conditions for indentation and channelised flow are investigated with two-dimensional thermomechanical models of Alpine-type continental collision. The models mimic the development of an orogen at an initial central portion of weakened lithosphere 150 km wide, coherent with several geological reconstructions. We study in particular the role of lower crustal strength in developing peculiar geometries after 20 Ma of shortening at 1 cm/year. Crustal layers produce geometries of imbricate layers, which result from two contrasted mechanisms of either channelised ductile lateral flow or horizontal rigid-like indentation:

– Channelised lateral flow develops when the lateral lower crust has a viscosity less than 10²¹ Pa s, exhibiting velocities opposite to the direction of convergence. This mechanism of deformation produces subhorizontal shear zones at the boundaries between the lower crust and the more competent upper crust and lithospheric mantle. It is also associated with a topographic plateau that equilibrates with a wide (about 200 km) but quasi-constant crustal root about 50 km deep.

– In contrast, indentation occurs with lateral lower crust layers that have a viscosity greater than about 10²³ Pa s, producing significant shortening and thickening of the central crust. In this case topography develops steep and narrow (around 100 km wide), associated with a thickened crust exceeding 60 km depth. A crustal-scale pop-up forms bounded by subvertical shear zones that root into the mantle lithosphere.

UPPER CENOZOIC MAGMATIC EVOLUTION OF THE ARGENTINE PUNA—A MODEL FOR CHANGING SUBDUCTION GEOMETRY

The spatial and temporal distribution and chemistry of Late Oligocene to Recent Central Andean Puna volcanic rocks can be broadly explained by temporal changes in the dip of the subducting Nazca plate and the thickness of the lithospheric mantle and crust beneath the Puna plateau. Temporal changes in lithospheric and crustal thickness are tracked by using REE elements as guides to pressure-sensitive residual mineralogy and source melting percentages. Thin lithosphere is tracked by large dacitic ignimbrite eruptions and the distribution of mafic lavas. The data suggest that the southern Puna has been in an intermediate position between a steepening slab to the north and a shallowing slab to the south throughout the late Tertiary.     

Buoyancy‐driven deformation and contemporary tectonic stress in the lithosphere beneath Central Italy

We studied the continental deformation and modelled the contemporary flow and stress distribution in the lithosphere beneath Central Italy. We made use of a revisited crust and uppermost mantle Earth structure that supports delamination processes. The model behaviour is primarily determined by the thick high density lithospheric root to the east and the low‐viscosity shallow mantle wedge to the west. The rate of the modeled crustal motion is in agreement with GPS data and the pattern of lithospheric flow explains the heat flux, the regional geology and provides a new background for the genesis and age of the recent Tuscan magmatism. The modelled stress in the lithosphere is spatially correlated with the prevailing stress field and the gravitational potential energy patterns and shows that buoyancy forces, solely, can explain the coexisting regional contraction and extension and the unusual sub‐crustal seismicity.     

中国大陆岩石圈等效粘滞系数的计算和讨论

大陆岩石圈的流变结构对岩石圈动力学过程有很大的影响,因此对岩石圈等效粘度的估计是大陆动力学研究中基础和重要的问题。文中对利用实验室流变实验结果估算岩石圈流变结构的计算方法中包含的多种不确定性进行了讨论,包括岩性、温度、应变速率、实验室速率数据外推到地质构造运动速率等因素对等效粘滞系数估算的影响,并以温度和应变速率的新研究成果为基础,对中国大陆地壳和上地幔等效粘滞系数做出了估计。中国中地壳等效粘滞系数一般在1021~1024Pa.s,下地壳等效粘滞系数在1021~1022Pa.s,其中青藏高原下地壳等效粘滞系数较低,约为1019~1020Pa.s;与前人研究认为青藏高原存在柔性下地壳流动的结论吻合。     

Crustal and mantle strengths in continental lithosphere: is the jelly sandwich model obsolete?

The relative importance of the contribution of the lower crust and of the lithospheric mantle to the total strength of the continental lithosphere is assessed systematically for realistic ranges of layer thickness, composition, and temperature. Results are presented as relative strength maps, giving the ratio of the lower crust to upper mantle contribution in terms of crustal thickness and surface heat flow. The lithosphere shows a “jelly sandwich” rheological layering for low surface heat flow, thin to average crustal thickness, and felsic or wet mafic lower crustal compositions. On the other hand, most of the total strength resides in the seismogenic crust in regions of high surface heat flow, crust of any thickness, and dry mafic lower crustal composition.     

Interaction of metamorphism, deformation and exhumation in large convergent orogens

Coupled thermal‐mechanical models are used to investigate interactions between metamorphism, deformation and exhumation in large convergent orogens, and the implications of coupling and feedback between these processes for observed structural and metamorphic styles. The models involve subduction of suborogenic mantle lithosphere, large amounts of convergence (≥ 450 km) at 1 cm yr^?1, and a slope‐dependent erosion rate. The model crust is layered with respect to thermal and rheological properties — the upper crust (0–20 km) follows a wet quartzite flow law, with heat production of 2.0 μW m^?3, and the lower crust (20–35 km) follows a modified dry diabase flow law, with heat production of 0.75 μW m^?3. After 45 Myr, the model orogens develop crustal thicknesses of the order of 60 km, with lower crustal temperatures in excess of 700 °C. In some models, an additional increment of weakening is introduced so that the effective viscosity decreases to 10¹⁹ Pa.s at 700 °C in the upper crust and 900 °C in the lower crust. In these models, a narrow zone of outward channel flow develops at the base of the weak upper crustal layer where T≥600 °C. The channel flow zone is characterised by a reversal in velocity direction on the pro‐side of the system, and is driven by a depth‐dependent pressure gradient that is facilitated by the development of a temperature‐dependent low viscosity horizon in the mid‐crust. Different exhumation styles produce contrasting effects on models with channel flow zones. Post‐convergent crustal extension leads to thinning in the orogenic core and a corresponding zone of shortening and thrust‐related exhumation on the flanks. Velocities in the pro‐side channel flow zone are enhanced but the channel itself is not exhumed. In contrast, exhumation resulting from erosion that is focused on the pro‐side flank of the plateau leads to ‘ductile extrusion’ of the channel flow zone. The exhumed channel displays apparent normal‐sense offset at its upper boundary, reverse‐sense offset at its lower boundary, and an ‘inverted’ metamorphic sequence across the zone. The different styles of exhumation produce contrasting peak grade profiles across the model surfaces. However, P–T–t paths in both cases are loops where P_max precedes T_max, typical of regional metamorphism; individual paths are not diagnostic of either the thickening or the exhumation mechanism. Possible natural examples of the channel flow zones produced in these models include the Main Central Thrust zone of the Himalayas and the Muskoka domain of the western Grenville orogen.     

Lithospheric transition from the Variscan Iberian Massif to the Jurassic oceanic crust of the Central Atlantic

A 1000-km-long lithospheric transect running from the Variscan Iberian Massif (VIM) to the oceanic domain of the Northwest African margin is investigated. The main goal of the study is to image the lateral changes in crustal and lithospheric structure from a complete section of an old and stable orogenic belt—the Variscan Iberian Massif—to the adjacent Jurassic passive margin of SW Iberia, and across the transpressive and seismically active Africa–Eurasia plate boundary. The modelling approach incorporates available seismic data and integrates elevation, gravity, geoid and heat flow data under the assumptions of thermal steady state and local isostasy. The results show that the Variscan Iberian crust has a roughly constant thickness of 30 km, in opposition to previous works that propose a prominent thickening beneath the South Portuguese Zone (SPZ). The three layers forming the Variscan crust show noticeable thickness variations along the profile. The upper crust thins from central Iberia (about 20 km thick) to the Ossa Morena Zone (OMZ) and the NE region of the South Portuguese Zone where locally the thickness of the upper crust is <8 km. Conversely, there is a clear thickening of the middle crust (up to 17 km thick) under the Ossa Morena Zone, whereas the thickness of the lower crust remains quite constant (6 km). Under the margin, the thinning of the continental crust is quite gentle and occurs over distances of 200 km, resembling the crustal attitude observed further north along the West Iberian margins. In the oceanic domain, there is a 160-km-wide Ocean Transition Zone located between the thinned continental crust of the continental shelf and slope and the true oceanic crust of the Seine Abyssal Plain. The total lithospheric thickness varies from about 120 km at the ends of the model profile to less than 100 km below the Ossa Morena and the South Portuguese zones. An outstanding result is the mass deficit at deep lithospheric mantle levels required to fit the observed geoid, gravity and elevation over the Ossa Morena and South Portuguese zones. Such mass deficit can be interpreted either as a lithospheric thinning of 20–25 km or as an anomalous density reduction of 25 kg m⁻³ affecting the lower lithospheric levels. Whereas the first hypothesis is consistent with a possible thermal anomaly related to recent geodynamics affecting the nearby Betic–Rif arc, the second is consistent with mantle depletion related to ancient magmatic episodes that occurred during the Hercynian orogeny.     

青藏高原东北缘海原-六盘山断裂带现今地壳应力环境的数值分析

海原-六盘山断裂是青藏高原东北缘的大型边界断裂带,是中国大陆典型的地震危险区。地壳构造加载特征的定量研究有助于分析区域孕震环境,参考青藏高原东北缘GPS形变和岩石圈精细结构等资料,本文建立海原-六盘山断裂带周缘的三维岩石圈分层模型,分析现今构造加载作用下区域地壳形变和应力演化特征。数值计算结果显示:青藏高原东北缘现今处于以北东-南西向的水平挤压为主导和北西-南东向的水平引张的变形特征。青藏高原东北缘中-下地壳流变性质影响上覆脆性地壳应力环境,中地壳较低粘滞系数对应的模型地壳应力计算值与研究区实际地壳应力场相近。海原断裂中-西段构造加载作用显著,具有相对较高的库仑应力积累和最大剪应力分布;而六盘山断裂周缘地壳应力和最大剪应力小于海原断裂带。构造应力积累的空间分布差异说明六盘山断裂具有较弱的构造孕震环境,而研究区走滑型断裂的孕震加载作用显著。尽管六盘山处于较低的应力状态,但仍不能轻易忽视其长期存在的强震空区所暗示的发震潜力。     

冈底斯带甲玛矿区花岗斑岩类年代学、地球化学及岩石成因

藏南冈底斯带中新世斑岩成因主要存在残留洋壳的部分熔融、加厚下地壳的部分熔融、陆下岩石圈的部分熔融和俯冲流体交代基性下地壳的部分熔融四种观点.为了进一步阐明该时期的岩浆成因和大地构造背景,对冈底斯带甲玛矿区不同类型的斑岩体进行了岩石学分析和LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb测试,并运用X荧光光谱仪和电感耦合等离子体质谱仪分别对样品进行了全岩主、微量元素测试.测试结果显示冈底斯带甲玛矿区的斑岩类形成于16.7~14.4 Ma,总体上具有埃达克质岩石的地球化学特征.其中花岗斑岩类来自于藏南加厚的基性新生下地壳的部分熔融,而辉长闪长玢岩来源于富集的岩石圈地幔.早中新世以来（18~13 Ma）青藏高原处于构造转换阶段,含矿的埃达克质岩浆沿断裂通道上升,并且在上升过程中遭受到了中上地壳物质的混染,演化形成甲玛矿区内石英闪长玢岩、花岗闪长斑岩、二长花岗斑岩和花岗斑岩,而近乎同时期来自于岩石圈地幔的岩浆则演化形成辉长闪长玢岩;矿区内含矿热液流体在岩浆热驱动和构造应力作用下,在林布宗组砂板岩、角岩与多底沟组大理岩、灰岩的层间滑脱带或褶皱的构造虚脱空间就位,形成冈底斯带甲玛矽卡岩型铜多金属主矿体.      

中国东部壳-幔、岩石圈-软流圈之间的相互作用带：特征及转换时限

中国东部中—新生代,下部岩石圈存在壳与幔、岩石圈与软流圈两个相互作用带,它们是重要的岩浆源区,在层圈相互作用中,热和物质的交换及其动力学过程是引起中、新生代岩石圈内部层圈间的厚度调整、岩石圈不均匀减薄以及区域构造-岩浆-成矿作用的重要机理。大陆内部的壳-幔作用有3种类型:地幔来源的底侵熔体与下地壳的作用;下地壳拆沉进入弱化(weakening)了的岩石圈地幔二者发生的作用以及陆-陆碰撞深俯冲带的壳-幔相互作用。它们形成的火山岩组合有一定的差别,但源区都含有地壳组分。岩石圈-软流圈的作用带也是重要的岩浆源区,源区是以软流圈地幔为主,基本不含地壳组分。东部岩石圈的减薄时间大体与出现大规模软流圈来源的玄武岩喷发的时间一致,也与上述两类层圈作用转换的时间一致,大约在100Ma以后。     

Lithospheric evolution of the Andean fold–thrust belt, Bolivia, and the origin of the central Andean plateau

We combine geological and geophysical data to develop a generalized model for the lithospheric evolution of the central Andean plateau between 18° and 20° S from Late Cretaceous to present. By integrating geophysical results of upper mantle structure, crustal thickness, and composition with recently published structural, stratigraphic, and thermochronologic data, we emphasize the importance of both the crust and upper mantle in the evolution of the central Andean plateau. Four key steps in the evolution of the Andean plateau are as follows. 1) Initiation of mountain building by 70 Ma suggested by the associated foreland basin depositional history. 2) Eastward jump of a narrow, early fold–thrust belt at 40 Ma through the eastward propagation of a 200–400-km-long basement thrust sheet. 3) Continued shortening within the Eastern Cordillera from 40 to 15 Ma, which thickened the crust and mantle and established the eastern boundary of the modern central Andean plateau. Removal of excess mantle through lithospheric delamination at the Eastern Cordillera–Altiplano boundary during the early Miocene appears necessary to accommodate underthrusting of the Brazilian shield. Replacement of mantle lithosphere by hot asthenosphere may have provided the heat source for a pulse of mafic volcanism in the Eastern Cordillera and Altiplano at 24–23 Ma, and further volcanism recorded by 12–7 Ma crustal ignimbrites. 4) After 20 Ma, deformation waned in the Eastern Cordillera and Interandean zone and began to be transferred into the Subandean zone. Long-term rates of shortening in the fold–thrust belt indicate that the average shortening rate has remained fairly constant (8–10 mm/year) through time with possible slowing (5–7 mm/year) in the last 15–20 myr. We suggest that Cenozoic deformation within the mantle lithosphere has been focused at the Eastern Cordillera–Altiplano boundary where the mantle most likely continues to be removed through piecemeal delamination.     

Origin of high-velocity anomalies beneath the Siberian craton: A fingerprint of multistage magma underplating since the Neoarchean

Despite the violent eruption of the Siberian Traps at ~ 250 Ma, the Siberian craton has an extremely low heat flow (18–25 mW/m²) and a very thick lithosphere (300–350 km), which makes it an ideal place to study the influence of mantle plumes on the long-term stability of cratons. Compared with seismic velocities of rocks, the lower crust of the Siberian craton is composed mainly of mafic granulites and could be rather heterogeneous in composition. The very high V_p (> 7.2 km/s) in the lowermost crust can be fit by a mixture of garnet granulites, two-pyroxene granulites, and garnet gabbro due to magma underplating. The high-velocity anomaly in the upper mantle (V_p = 8.3-8.6 km/s) can be interpreted by a mixture of eclogites and garnet peridotites. Combined with the study of lower crustal and mantle xenoliths, we recognized multistage magma underplating at the crust-mantle boundary beneath the Siberian craton, including the Neoarchean growth and Paleoproterozoic assembly of the Siberian craton beneath the Markha terrane, the Proterozoic collision along the Sayan-Taimyr suture zone, and the Triassic Siberian Trap event beneath the central Tunguska basin. The Moho becomes a metamorphism boundary of mafic rocks between granulite facies and eclogite facies rather than a chemical boundary that separates the mafic lower crust from the ultramafic upper mantle. Therefore, multistage magma underplating since the Neoarchean will result in a seismic Moho shallower than the petrologic Moho. Such magmatism-induced compositional change and dehydration will increase viscosity of the lithospheric mantle, and finally trigger lithospheric thickening after mantle plume activity. Hence, mantle plumes are not the key factor for craton destruction.     

介绍一个产生玄武岩的模型

地幔柱存在的一个主要证据是大规模高熔玄武岩省的出现,而且多认为玄武岩的来源依赖于地幔柱从下地幔输送。Michele Lustrino研究了造山时下地壳和岩石圈地幔的拆沉和拆离作用,提出了产生玄武岩的一个新模型。该模型认为即使地幔柱不存在,拆沉到地幔的下地壳物质再循环同样可以解释小规模的板内(大洋岛弧和大陆内部)火山岩和大洋、大陆溢流玄武岩及洋中脊玄武岩的生成及其常见的几种地球化学特征。在陆-陆碰撞过程中,下地壳中的变质反应生成石榴石,导致岩石的密度增大,致使过厚岩石圈底部(下地壳和岩石圈地幔)和上地壳分离并沉入上地幔。下地壳发生部分熔融形成富SiO2的熔体,和上涌的软流圈地幔(充填在下沉的岩石圈地幔和下地壳的空间)发生变质交代反应,导致具有强烈的地壳特点的富含斜方辉石层的形成。这个变质交代地幔体可以在拆沉后保持不变长达几个百万年。这种源的部分熔体可以保有下地壳的明显特征,产生类似富集地幔1型玄武岩浆作用。因此,该模型是提供了玄武岩浆来源的一个新选择。     

On the role of heat flow, lithosphere thickness and lithosphere density on gravitational potential stresses

Gravitational potential stresses (GPSt) are known to play a first-order role in the state of stress of the Earth's lithosphere. Previous studies focussed mainly on crust elevation and structure and little attention has been paid to modelling GPSt using realistic lithospheric structures. The aim of the present contribution is to quantify gravitational potential energies and stresses associated with stable lithospheric domains. In order to model realistic lithosphere structures, a wide variety of data are considered: surface heat flow, chemical depletion of mantle lithosphere, crustal thickness and elevation. A numerical method is presented which involves classical steady-state heat equations to derive lithosphere thickness, geotherm and density distribution, but additionally requires the studied lithosphere to be isostatically compensated at its base. The impact of varying surface and crustal heat flow, topography, Moho depth and crust density on the signs and magnitudes of predicted GPSt is systematically explored. In clear contrast with what is assumed in most previous studies, modelling results show that the density structure of the mantle lithosphere has a significant impact on the value of the predicted GPSt, in particular in the case of thick lithospheres. Using independent information from the literature, the method was applied to get insights in the state of stress of continental domains with contrasting tectono-thermal ages. The modelling results suggest that in the absence of tectonic stresses Phanerozoic and Proterozoic lithospheres are spontaneously submitted to compression whereas Archean lithospheres are in a neutral to slightly tensile stress state. These findings are in general in good agreement with global stress measurements and observed geoid undulations.     

Late Cenozoic magmatism of the Bolivian Altiplano

Small basalt to dacite volcanic centers are distributed sparsely over the Bolivian Altiplano, behind the Andean volcanic front. Most are Pliocene to Recent in age, and are characterized by textural and mineralogical disequilibrium with abundant xenoliths and xenocrysts. True phenocrysts are rare in the more mafic samples. Compared with Recent volcanic rocks from Andean stratovolcanoes, the Bolivian centers overlap in major element trends. Incompatible element contents tend to be higher, particularly in the eastern Altiplano. The ranges of isotopic compositions reflect ubiquitous crustal contamination. Pb isotope compositions are dominated by Pb from isotopically heterogeneous basement, resulting in a wide scatter of data lying between inferred crustal compositions and showing little overlap with possible mantle sources in the region. Rocks sampled from the Bolivian Altiplano were probably derived from asthenospheric mantle and subjected to extensive open system differentiation during ascent through the 70 km thick crust of the region. Major element trends are largely controlled by the fractionating phase assemblage (olivine, clinopyroxene and amphibole). Trace element and isotope systematics, however, defy realistic attempts at modeling due to the geographic scatter of samples, the uniformity of compositions at a given center, and the heterogeneity of the contaminant. Nevertheless, there are first order systematic trace element variations that appear to relate to the geometry of the subduction zone. In particular, LIFE/HFSE (exemplified by Ba/Nb), and Zr/Nb ratios decrease from the arc front eastward into the Altiplano. These variations are not easily reconciled with control by crustal contamination alone. A model is proposed in which the asthenospheric source is fluxed by high Ba/Nb slab-derived fluid to induce melting. Beneath the arc, high fluid flux increases the Ba/Nb ratio of the asthenosphre and leads to high degrees of partial melting (high Zr/Nb). To the east, lower or no fluid flux leads to low Ba/Nb and low degrees of partial melting (low Zr/Nb). Melting in the back arc region of the Altiplano may be facilitated by lithospheric delamination that leads to decompression melting of counter-flowing asthenosphere. There is no unequivocal evidence that requires a significant role for the lithospheric mantle.     

Pb, Sr and Nd isotope study of two co-existing magmas in the Nízke Tatry Mountains, Western Carpathians (Slovakia)

Summary Two co-existing plutonic rocks (diorite and granodiorite) were studied from an intrusion of Variscan age in the Raztocna Valley – Nízke Tatry Mountains, Western Carpathians. Geochemical analyses of major and trace elements constrain a volcanic arc as emplacement environment and give the first hints of a mixture of two magmatic end-members: the so-called Prasivá granodiorite and the Raztocna diorite. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr₍₀₎ ratios vary between 0.7075 and 0.7118, the ε Nd₍₀₎ values range from −1.4 to −5.0. Common Pb isotopes reveal a dominant crustal source with minor influences from a mantle and a lower crustal source. Modelling based on Sr and Nd isotope data and using three component mixing calculations indicates that mixing of 2/3 of upper mantle material with 1/3 upper crustal material can produce the isotopic composition of the Raztocna diorite. Very minor amounts of lower crust were incorporated in the diorite. For the Prasivá granodiorite, the mixing ratio of upper mantle and upper crust is similar, but a lower crustal reservoir contributed about 5–10% of the source material.     

The isostatic state of the southern Urals crust

The Uralide orogen, in Central Russia, is the focus of intense geoscientific investigations during recent years. The international research is motivated by some unusual lithospheric features compared with other collisional belts including the preservation of (a) a collisional architecture with an orogenic root and a crustal thickness of 55–58 km, and (b) large volumes of very low-grade and non-metamorphic oceanic crust and island arc rocks in the upper crust of a low–relief mountain belt. The latter cause anomalous gravity highs along the thickened crust and the isostatic equilibrium inside the Uralides lithosphere as well as the overthrust high-metamorphic rocks. The integrated URSEIS '95 seismic experiment provides fundamentally new data revealing the lithospheric architecture of an intact Paleozoic collisional orogen that allows the construction of density models. In the Urals' lithosphere different velocity structures resolved by wide-angle seismic experiments along both the URSEIS '95- and the Troitsk profile. They can be used to constrain lithospheric density models: a first model consists of a deep subducted continental lower crust which has been highly eclogitized at depths of 60–90 km to a density of 3550 kg/m³. The second model shows a slightly eclogitized lower crust underlying the Uralide orogen with a crustal thickness of 60 km. The eclogitized lower crust causes a too-small impedance contrast to the lithospheric mantle resulting in a lack of reflectors in the area of the largest crustal thickness. Both models fit the measured gravity field. Analyzing the isostatic state of the southern Urals' lithosphere, both density models are in isostatic equilibrium.     

Destruction of the North China Craton: a perspective based on receiver function analysis

The North China Craton (NCC), which is composed of the eastern NCC and the western NCC sutured by the Palaeoproterozoic Trans‐North China Orogen, is one of the oldest continental nuclei in the world and the largest cratonic block in China. The eastern NCC is widely known for its significant lithospheric thinning and destruction during the Late Mesozoic. Models on the destruction of the eastern NCC can be principally grouped into two: (1) thermal/mechanical and/or chemical erosion, and (2) lower crustal and (or) lithospheric delamination. The erosion model suggests that the NCC lithospheric thinning resulted from chemical and/or mechanical interactions of lithospheric mantle with melts or hydrous fluids derived from the asthenosphere, whereas the delamination model proposes lithospheric destruction through foundering of eclogitic lower crust together with lithospheric mantle into the underlying convecting mantle. However, those models lack seismic evidence to explain the destruction process. Here, we analyse the crustal structure and upper mantle discontinuity by employing the H–k stacking technique of receiver function as well as the depth domain receiver function. Our results indicate deep mantle upwelling and lower crustal delamination beneath the eastern NCC, and suggest that either or both of these processes contributed to the unique lithospheric thinning and destruction of the eastern NCC. © 2013 The Authors. Geological Journal published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

板块俯冲带水流体活动及其效应的定量化数值模拟

为探讨水流体活动对板块俯冲隧道过程及大陆碰撞造山的制约作用,采用热力学和动力学耦合的数值模拟方法,建立了系统的数值模型.结果显示俯冲隧道内的混杂岩存在两种不同的折返路径:（1）平行于俯冲隧道斜向上折返,形成靠近缝合带的高压-超高压变质岩;（2）近垂直穿过上覆地幔楔侵入地壳深度.这两种差异性的模式主要受控于俯冲带热结构.俯冲带的温度结构控制俯冲隧道内水流体和熔体活动,从而影响上覆地幔楔的弱化程度,最终导致俯冲带内物质的不同运移过程和折返路径.同时,大陆俯冲碰撞带的岩石圈变形和拆沉作用均与俯冲带的流体-熔体活动所导致的岩石圈弱化息息相关.数值模拟结果极大促进了对于板块俯冲带流体-熔体活动及其动力学过程的理解.