Progress in the Study of Deep Profiles of Tibet and the Himalayas (INDEPTH)

This paper introduces 8 major discoveries and new understandings with regard to the deep structure and tectonics of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau obtained in Project INDEPTH, They are mainly as follows. (1) The upper crust, lower crust and mantle lithosphere beneath the blocks of the plateau form a "sandwich" structure with a relatively rigid-brittle upper crust, a visco-plastic lower crust and a relatively rigid-ductile mantle lithosphere. This structure is completely different from that of monotonous, cold and more rigid oceanic plates. (2) In the process of north-directed collision-compression of the Indian subcontinent, the upper crust was attached to the foreland in the form of a gigantic foreland accretionary wedge. The interior of the accretionary wedge thickened in such tectonic manners as large-scale thrusting, backthrusting and folding, and magmatic masses and partially molten masses participated in the crustal thickening. Between the upper crust and lower crust lies a large detachment (e.g     

Density inhomogeneity of the lithosphere in the southeastern periphery of the North Asian craton

The study addresses the space distribution of lithospheric density contrasts in 3D and 2D surface (spherical) sources of gravity anomalies to depths of 120 km below the geoid surface and their relationship with shallow deformation and Archean, Early Paleozoic, and Late Mesozoic geodynamic environments. The lithospheric section in northeastern Transbaikalia and the Upper Amur region includes two layers of low-density gradients attendant with low seismic velocities and low electrical resistivity. The lower layer at depths of 80–120 km is attributed to an asthenospheric upwarp that extends beneath the North Asian craton from the Emuershan volcanic belt and the Songliao basin. The concentric pattern of density contrasts in the middle and lower crust beneath the Upper Amur region may be produced by the activity of the Aldan-Zeya plume, which spatially correlates with the geometry of the asthenospheric upwarp as well as with the regional seismicity field, magnetic and heat flow anomalies, and stresses caused by large earthquakes and recent vertical crustal movements. The relationship between shallow and deep structures in the crust and upper mantle bears signature of horizontal displacement (subduction) of the lower crust of the Baikal-Vitim and Amur superterranes beneath the North Asian craton.     

Certain problems of the structure and evolution of transition zones between continents and oceans

A type of continental-oceanic transition zone, referred to as the Columbian transition zone, is distinguished from two other commonly known types of these zones. The subsidence of the Earth's crust, typical of all transition zones, is shown to be connected (by geophysical properties) to the transformation of continental crust into intermediate crust and later into oceanic. The most likely mechanisms of such changes are the basification of continental crust, its foundering, block by block, into the heated upper mantle, and its substitution by new oceanic crust. The evolution of transition zones of the Pacific type is largely influenced by deep faults, which reach down to the level of undepleted mantle. From this level, the volatile products rise to the surface which results in the formation of calc-alkali magmas on island arcs. The Benioff zones are deep faults, whose inclinations are dependent on the density contrasts in the upper mantle on either side of the Benioff zones. The denser mantle flows beneath the mantle of lower density. This phenomenon is depicted by plate tectonics as subduction.On the whole, the evolution of transition zones gives rise to the growth of the oceans at the expense of the continents, though oceanic crust becomes thicker by addition of volcanogenic layers composed of andesite, in the transition zones (type two) of the Pacific type at island arcs.     

Seismic refraction study of the continental edge off the eastern united states

Three long, strike-parallel, seismic-refraction profiles were made on the continental shelf edge, slope and upper rise off New Jersey during 1975. The shelf edge line lies along the axis of the East Coast Magnetic Anomaly (ECMA), while the continental rise line lies 80 km seaward of the shelf edge. Below the unconsolidated sediments (1.7–3.6 km/sec), high-velocity sedimentary rocks (4.2–6.2 km/sec) were found at depths of 2.6–8.2 km and are inferred to be cemented carbonates. Although multichannel seismic-reflection profiles and magnetic depth-to-source data predicted the top of oceanic basement at 6–8 km beneath the shelf edge and 10–11 km beneath the rise, no refracted events occurred as first arrivals from either oceanic basement (layer 2, approximately 5.5 km/ sec) or the upper oceanic crust (layer 3A, approximately 6.8 km/sec). Second arrivals from 10.5 km depth beneath the shelf edge are interpreted as events from a 5.9 km/sec refractor within igneous basement. Other refracted events from either layers 2 or 3A could not be resolved within the complex second arrivals. A well-defined crustal layer with a compressional velocity of 7.1–7.2 km/sec, which can be interpreted as oceanic layer 3B, occurred at 15.8 km depth beneath the shelf and 12.9 km beneath the upper rise. A well-reversed mantle velocity of 8.3 km/sec was measured at 18–22 km depth beneath the upper continental rise. Comparison with other deep-crustal profiles along the continental edge of the Atlantic margin off the United States, specifically in the inner magnetically quiet zone, indicates that the compressional wave velocities and layer depths determined on the U.S.G.S. profiles are very similar to those of nearby profiles. This suggests that the layers are continuous and that the interpretation of the oceanic layer 3B under the shelf edge east of New Jersey implies progradation of the shelf outward over the oceanic crust in that area. This agrees with magnetic anomaly evidence which shows the East Coast Magnetic Anomaly landward of the shelf edge off New Jersey and with previous seismic reflection data which reveal extensive outbuilding of the shelf edge during the Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous, probably by carbonate bank-margin accretion.     

Typification of the Earth’s crust of Central Arctic Uplifts in the Arctic Ocean

The modern views on the structure of the oceanic and continental crust are discussed. The presented geological-geophysical information on the deep structure of the Earth’s crust of the Lomonosov Ridge, Mendeleev Rise, and Alpha Ridge, which make up the province of the Central Arctic Uplifts in the Arctic Ocean, is based on CMP, seismic-reflection, and seismic-refraction data obtained by Russian and Western researchers along geotraverses across the Amerasia Basin. It is established that the crust thickness beneath the Central Arctic Uplifts ranges from 22 to 40 km. Comparison of the obtained velocity sections with standard crust sections of different morphostructures in the World Ocean that are underlain by the typical oceanic crust demonstrates their difference with respect to the crustal structure and to the thickness of the entire crust and its individual layers. Within the continental crust, the supercritical waves reflected from the upper mantle surface play the dominant role. Their amplitude exceeds that of head and refracted waves by one to two orders of magnitude. In contrast, the refracted and, probably, interferential head waves are dominant within the oceanic crust. The Moho discontinuity is the only first-order boundary. In the consolidated oceanic crust, such boundaries are not known. The similarity in the velocity characteristics of the crust of the Alpha Ridge and Mendeleev Rise, on the one hand, and the continental crust beneath the Lomonosov Ridge, on the other, gives grounds to state that the crust of the Mendeleev Rise and Alpha Ridge belongs to the continental type. The interference mosaic pattern of the anomalous magnetic field of the Central Arctic Uplifts is an additional argument in favor of this statement. Such patterns are typical of the continental crust with intense intraplate volcanism. Interpretation of seismic crustal sections of the Central Arctic Uplifts and their comparison with allowance for characteristic features of the continental and oceanic crust indicate that the Earth’s crust of the uplifts has the continental structure.     

The terrane concept and its manifestation by deep reflection studies in the Variscides

The terrane concept is understood as an important extension of plate tectonics and is based on the recognition of allochthonous, mobile geological units. The concept is successfully applied to the Variscides with their wide range of collisional belts. It is mainly supported by the dense deep-seismic network of DEKORP, which reveals certain reflectivity patterns and succeeds in mapping old and new deep fault zones between the terranes. Variscan terranes are rooted in the ductile lower crust and seem to consist of continental crust only, partly exclusively of rigid upper crust. Oceanic terranes, on the other hand, are always rooted in the asthenosphere. The development of continental terranes and their boundaries depends strongly on their thermal and rheological history. In the case of post-orogenic collapse with heating and extension of the lower crust, seismic lamellae develop and often truncate former thrust faults.     

Mesozoic subduction of the paleo-pacific plate along the eastern margin of the Xing-Meng orogenic belt北大核心CSCD

The eastern pari of the Xing-Meng Orogenic Belt( XMOB )consists of the Lesser Xing'an-Zhangguangcai Range Orogenic belt, the Bureya-Jiamusi-khanka Block and the Sikhote-Alin accretionary belt. This area is located between the Paleo-Asian oceanic and Paleo-Pacific tectonic regimes. Recent researches imply that the Paleo-Pacific subduction might have begun since early Permian and influenced the both sides of the Mudanjiang Fault during Triassic, which generated a N-S trending magmatic belt and accretionary complexes, such as the Heilongjiang Complex. In Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, some tectono st rati graph ic terranes were produced in Sikhote-Alin, which were then dismembered and migrated northwards in late Early Cretaceous by sinistral strike-slip faults. The continental margin parallel transportion weakened subduction-related magmatism in NE China which was under an extensional setting. However, in Lite Cretaceous, the Paleo-Pacific subduction was re-Activated in the eastern XMOB, which contributed to the magmatism in Sikhote-Alin.     

Moho depth variation beneath southwestern Japan revealed from the velocity structure based on receiver function inversion

The Philippine Sea plate is subducting under the Eurasian plate beneath the Chugoku-Shikoku region, southwestern Japan. We have constructed depth contours for the continental and oceanic Mohos derived from the velocity structure based on receiver function inversion. Receiver functions were calculated using teleseismic waveforms recorded by the high-density seismograph network in southwestern Japan. In order to determine crustal velocity structure, we first improved the linearized time-domain receiver function inversion method. The continental Moho is relatively shallow ( 30 km) at the coastline of the Sea of Japan and at the Seto Inland Sea, and becomes deeper–greater than 40 km–around 35°N and 133.8°E. Near the Seto Inland Sea, a low-velocity layer of thickness 10 km lies under the continental Moho. This low-velocity layer corresponds to the subducting oceanic crust of the Philippine Sea plate. The oceanic Moho continues to descend from south to northwest and exhibits complicated ridge and valley features. The oceanic Moho runs around 25 km beneath the Pacific coast and 45 km beneath the Seto Inland Sea, and it extends to at least to 34.5°N. The depth variation of the Moho discontinuities is in good qualitative agreement with the concept of isostasy. From the configurations of both the continental and oceanic Mohos, we demonstrate that the continental lower crust and the subducting oceanic crust overlap beneath the southern and central part of Shikoku and that a mantle wedge may exist beneath the western and eastern part of Shikoku. The southern edge of the overlapping region coincides with the downdip limit of the slip area of a megathrust earthquake.     

The Scandinavian Caledonides: a complexity of collisions

Thrust sheets dominate the structural framework of the Scandinavian Caledonides. Sheets at lower tectonostratigraphic levels comprise the shortened margin of the continent Baltica and, at higher levels, terranes derived outboard from this continent in oceanic or foreign continental environments. Amalgamation of these terranes with the margin of Baltica occurred during closure of the Iapetus Ocean in the early Palaeozoic. Closure involved subduction of oceanic crust, extensional tectonics and continent-arc collisions during the late Cambrian and early Ordovician, and ultimate continent-continent collision during the Silurian and Devonian.     

Crustal structure beneath the Faroe Islands and the Faroe–Iceland Ridge

We have mapped the transition from the continental Faroe block (the Faroe Islands and surrounding shelf) to the thickened oceanic crust of the Faroe–Iceland Ridge in the North Atlantic using the results of a detailed sea-to-land seismic profile with wide-angle to normal-incidence recordings of explosive and airgun shots fired at sea along the Faroe–Iceland Ridge. Interpretation of all available seismic and gravity data indicates that this aseismic ridge is composed of 30±3-km-thick oceanic crust, with a gradual transition to ancient continental crust from 100 to 40 km northwest of the Faroe Islands, close to the shelf edge. This confirms that the crust beneath the Faroe Islands, which may be up to 46 km thick, comprises continental material in agreement with previous seismic and geochemical results. Results suggest that the upper 5.2±0.7 km of the Faroe crust consists of Tertiary basalts generated during continental breakup, overlying the continental crust beneath. The lower crust, where seismic constraint is poor, may exhibit high seismic velocities (7.1–7.6 km s⁻¹) which we attribute to underplating or intrusion by mafic melts during continental breakup in the early Tertiary.     

Seismic imaging of the transitional crust across the northeastern margin of the South China Sea

Crustal structure across the passive continental margin of the northeastern South China Sea (SCS) is presented based on a deep seismic survey cooperated between Taiwan and China in August 2001. Reflection data collected from a 48-hydrophone streamer and the vertical component of refraction/reflection data recorded at 11 ocean-bottom seismometers along a NW–SE profile are integrated to image the upper (1.6–2.4 km/s), lower (2.5–2.9 km/s), and compacted (3–4.5 km/s) sediment, the upper (4.5–5.5 km/s), middle (5.5–6.5 km/s) and lower (6.5–7.5 km/s) crystalline crust successively. The velocity model shows that the thickness (0.5–3 km) and the basement of the compacted sediment are strongly varied due to intrusion of the magma and igneous rocks after seafloor spreading of the SCS. Furthermore, several volcanoes and igneous rocks in the upper/middle crust (7–10 km thick) and a high velocity layer (0–5 km thick) in the lower crust of the model are identified as the ocean–continent transition (OCT) below the lower slope in the northeastern margin of the SCS. A thin continent NW of the OCT and a thick oceanic crust SE of the OCT in the continental margin of the northeastern SCS are also imaged, but these transitional crusts cannot be classified as the OCT due to their crustal thickness and the limited amount of the volcano, the magma and the high velocity layer. The extended continent, next to the gravity low and a sag zone extended from the SW Taiwan Basin, may have resulted from subduction of the Eurasian Plate beneath the Manila Trench whereas the thick oceanic crust may have been due to the excess volcanism and the late magmatic underplating in the oceanic crust after seafloor spreading of the SCS.     

The building blocks of continental crust: Evidence for a major change in the tectonic setting of continental growth at the end of the Archean

Oceanic arcs are commonly cited as primary building blocks of continents, yet modern oceanic arcs are mostly subducted. Also, lithosphere buoyancy considerations show that oceanic arcs (even those with a felsic component) should readily subduct. With the exception of the Arabian–Nubian orogen, terranes in post-Archean accretionary orogens comprise < 10% of accreted oceanic arcs, whereas continental arcs compose 40–80% of these orogens. Nd and Hf isotopic data suggest that accretionary orogens include 40–65% juvenile crustal components, with most of these (> 50%) produced in continental arcs.Felsic igneous rocks in oceanic arcs are depleted in incompatible elements compared to average continental crust and to felsic igneous rocks from continental arcs. They have lower Th/Yb, Nb/Yb, Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios, reflecting shallow mantle sources in which garnet did not exist in the restite during melting. The bottom line of these geochemical differences is that post-Archean continental crust does not begin life in oceanic arcs. On the other hand, the remarkable similarity of incompatible element distributions in granitoids and felsic volcanics from continental arcs is consistent with continental crust being produced in continental arcs.During the Archean, however, oceanic arcs may have been thicker due to higher degrees of melting in the mantle, and oceanic lithosphere would be more buoyant. These arcs may have accreted to each other and to oceanic plateaus, a process that eventually led to the production of Archean continental crust. After the Archean, oceanic crust was thinner due to cooling of the mantle and less melt production at ocean ridges, hence, oceanic lithosphere is more subductable. Widespread propagation of plate tectonics in the late Archean may have led not only to rapid production of continental crust, but to a change in the primary site of production of continental crust, from accreted oceanic arcs and oceanic plateaus in the Archean to primarily continental arcs thereafter.     

中国大陆现今构造作用的地块运动和连续变形耦合模型

板块构造基本理论（特别是其刚性块体假设）能否应用于大陆，是大陆动力学研究所面临的主要问题之一，不同的理论模型给出不同的回答。缺乏完整、可靠的构造变形运动学图像使得无法对不同的理论模型给予约束和检验，以至于无法回答上述基本问题。本文以中国大陆及其周边近年来的1350个GPS观测资料为主，结合活动断裂和地震活动性资料，研究中国大陆现今构造变形的运动学特征。中国大陆的现今构造变形既有刚性地块的运动，如塔里木、鄂尔多斯、华南等地块；又有非刚性的连续变形，如青藏高原和天山。在大陆构造变形过程中，由于岩石圈性质的不同而造成变形的分区差异和上部脆性地壳的分块运动，不仅有整体性好的刚性地块运动，也有刚性很差的连续变形。以粘塑性流变为特征的下地壳和上地幔在周边板块作用下发生连续流动，从底部驱动着上覆脆性地块的运动，而不同活动地块本身的性质决定着地块的整体性和变形方式，中国大陆的现今构造变形可以用耦合的地块运动和连续变形模式来描述。     

Archean geotherms and supracrustal assemblages

Metamorphic mineral assemblages suggest the existence of variable geotherms and lithospheric thicknesses beneath late Archean continental crust. Archean granite-greenstone terranes reflect steep geotherms (50–70°C/km) while high-grade terranes reflect moderate geotherms similar to present continental crust with high heat flow (25–40°C/km). Corresponding lithosphere thicknesses for each terrane during the late Archean are 35–50 km and 50–75 km, respectively.Early Archean ( 3.0 b.y.) greenstones differ from late Archean ( 2.7 b.y.) greenstones by the rarity or absence of andesite and graywacke and the relative abundance of pelite, quartzite, and komatiite. Mature clastic sediments in early greenstones reflect shallow-water, stable-basin deposition. Such rocks, together with granite-bearing conglomerate and felsic volcanics imply the existence of still older granitic source terranes. The absence or rarity of andesite in early greenstones reflects the absence of tectonic conditions in which basaltic and tonalitic magmas are modified to produce andesite.A model is presented in which early Archean greenstones form at the interface between tonalite islands and oceanic lithosphere, over convective downcurrents; high-grade supracrustals form on stable continental edges or interiors; and late Archean greenstones form in intracontinental rifts over mantle plumes.     

Insights about the structure and development of Zhongsha Bank in the South China Sea from integrated geophysical modelling

ABSTRACT

We construct a complete density transection based on the velocity structures across the Zhongsha Bank in the South China Sea. Gravity modelling of the lateral density contrasts between tectonic units helps us to determine the structural attributes and boundaries between continental blocks and deep basins. The configuration of the continent–ocean boundary (COB) around the Zhongsha Bank is mapped based on the gravity/magnetic anomaly and crustal structures. A low-density mantle is found beneath the Zhongsha Bank and the oceanic basins, and this mantle is associated with the high heat-flow background. The COB orientation is northeast-east in the north of the bank, with faulted linear structures. In further southeast, where there is a more intact crust, the COB orientation changed to north-northeast. The reconstructed density model and gravity/magnetic map indicate that the Zhongsha Bank is conjugated with the Liyue Bank by a rifted basin, where the crust had experienced localized deformation before the seafloor spreading. Because of the insufficient magmatism in the oceanic basin, the spreading ridge propagates into the weakened continental lithosphere between the two continental blocks, thus completely separating the Zhongsha Bank from the Liyue Bank. Seafloor spreading ridge jumps within the South China Sea may also be affected by the heterogeneous lithosphere beneath the continental blocks and oceanic basins.     

华北地台与秦岭地槽构造关系初探

边界问题或构造关系问题,一直是地质学家最为关心的问题之一。华北地台与秦岭地槽构造关系的实质是洋壳与陆壳的矛盾统一和相互转化。中晚元古代时,秦岭地槽为洋壳演化区,华北地台为陆壳区,幸岭洋壳板块俯冲至华北陆壳板块之下:黑沟—铁炉子断裂相当俯冲带,其北洛南—栾川断隆是陆壳被改造而具陆缘弧性质;陆缘弧发展晚期在其南缘发育有弧前坳陷;陆缘弧之北的熊耳断坳则为弧后裂陷盆地;陆缘弧与弧后裂陷盆地之间的马超营—石门断裂为前陆断裂带。因此,秦岭地槽与华北地台的具体界线应以中晚元古代时大洋与大陆的分界线——黑沟—铁炉子断裂为准,而马超营—石门断裂仅为陆壳改造区内次级单位的分界.     

青藏高原地壳的低速层与部分熔融

青藏高原各地体的地壳结构与厚度存在明显差异,依据过去多年中法合作的地震探测资料结合其它资料给出了青藏高原的地壳结构图。对高原多数地体的地壳中存在的低速层进行了研究,表明低速层的形成主要来自地体碰撞时,地壳的推覆叠置,使部分高原浅部上地壳的中酸性成分地层进入中下地壳的位置,仍为长英质岩性成分,尚未跨越固相点进入部分熔融状态。     

Geophysical Study of the Valle Fértil Lineament Between 28°45′S and 31°30′S: Boundary Between the Cuyania and Pampia Terranes

A gravimetric and magnetometric study was carried out in the north-eastern portion of the Cuyania terrane and adjacent Pampia terrane. Gravimetric models permitted to interpret the occurrence of dense materials at the suture zone between the latter terranes. Magnetometric models led to propose the existence of different susceptibilities on either side of the suture. The Curie temperature point depth, representing the lower boundary of the magnetised crust, was found to be located at 25 km, consistent with the lower limit of the brittle crust delineated by seismic data; this unusually thick portion of the crust is thought to release stress producing significant seismicity.

Moho depths determined from seismic studies near western Sierras Pampeanas are significantly greater than those obtained from gravimetric crustal models.

Considering mass and gravity changes originated by the flat-slab Nazca plate along Cuyania and western Pampia terranes, it is possible to reconcile Moho thickness obtained either by seismic or by gravity data. Thus, topography and crustal thickness are controlled not only by erosion and shortening but by upper mantle heterogeneities produced by: (a) the oceanic subducted Nazca plate with “normal slope” also including asthenospheric materials between both continental and oceanic lithospheres; (b) flat-slab subducted Nazca plate (as shown in this work) without significant asthenospheric materials between both lithospheres. These changes influence the relationship between topographic altitudes and crustal thickness in different ways, differing from the simple Airy system relationship and modifying the crustal scale shortening calculation. These changes are significantly enlarged in the study area. Future changes in Nazca Plate slope will produce changes in the isostatic balance.     

Gravitational model of the Taiwan lithosphere (along the profile Taiwan Strait-Taiwan Island-West Philippine basin)

Based on two-dimensional gravity modeling, the density section of the lithosphere beneath Taiwan and the surrounding areas is constructed. According to the density parameters, the lithosphere of this region comprises both the continental and oceanic types. The continental lithosphere is lighter than the oceanic one and demonstrates insignificant density differentiation through the entire section. The oceanic lithosphere is more contrasting with respect of both the crust and mantle density. The complicated Taiwan density structure corresponding to Taiwan Island is defined to be superimposed on the transition zone between the continental and oceanic lithospheric blocks. This structure with contrasting density boundaries is characterized by the elevated and high density values of its constituting heterogeneities. The formation of the Taiwan density structure is related to geodynamic processes in the Taiwan area marking the collision zone between the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates.     

大别山前寒武纪变质地体基本组成

本文以新城－圻春断裂为界将大别山前寒武纪变质地体划分为华北陆块南缘和场子陆块北缘两个次级变质地体，两个次级地体不仅在地球物理，构造变形方面明显不同，而且在物质成分上有显著差异，它们有各自独立的变质地层系统，遭受了不同类型的变质作用，有完全不同的岩浆活动图象，上述差异均可指示华北，扬子两古陆碰掸对接时扬子陆块北缘向北俯冲至华北陆块南缘之下，这可能包括两次合作用，从元古代开始至中生代最终结束的长期复杂