青藏高原西北部晚第四纪以来的隆升作用 ——来自西昆仑阿什库勒多级河流阶地的证据

青藏高原的隆升是新生代最壮观的地质事件,关于青藏高原隆升研究一直是地学界的研究焦点.河流阶地的发育记录了丰富的构造运动和气候变化的信息,近年来被广泛应用于构造运动和气候演变的研究,但前人研究的河流阶地基本分布在青藏高原的周缘,阶地的形成可能是气候与构造运动共同作用的结果.本文通过高分辨率卫星影像的解译,在青藏高原内部的西昆仑阿什库勒地区发现了多达七级的河流阶地.对该处河流阶地结构、沉积特征、几何特征的研究表明该阶地是典型的构造成因阶地.野外利用全站仪对河流阶地地貌形态进行了精细的测量,获得了各级阶地的拔河高度分别为4～5m(T1)、9～ 10m(T2)、16 ～ 18m(T3)、28～31m(T4)、45～48m(T5).通过宇宙成因核素10Be测年方法对各级阶地面的暴露年龄进行了测定,获得了各级阶地的形成时代分别为7.7±0.7ka(T1)、32.7±3.lka (T2)、53.6±2.5ka(T3)、115.7±23.2ka(T4)、166.8±10.4ka (T5)、19.5±8.5ka (T6).由此确定了晚第四纪166.8ka以来不同时期的河流下切速率总体介于0.2～0.35mm/yr,该速率代表了青藏高原西北部晚第四纪166.8ka以来的平均隆升速率.     

Apatite fission track evidence for Neogene uplift in the eastern Kunlun Mountains, northern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China

Forty-one apatite fission track ages (AFT) were determined on samples collected along a N–S section of the eastern Kunlun Mountains across the Middle and South Kunlun Faults between Buqingshan and Dulan. Measured AFT ages lie between 25±2 and 130±10 Ma, and all are significantly younger than their host rock formation or sediment deposition ages. Modelling the AFT data identifies a two stage regional cooling history that spans the last 100 Myrs. The earliest cooling phase occurred between the late Jurassic and early Tertiary and involved a moderate level of cooling between 20 and 40 °C, equivalent to average exhumation rates of =15 m/Myr. The second phase of cooling took place from 20 Ma with cooling rates increasing tenfold. Average exhumation rates for this period are estimated to be in the range of 100–150 m/Myr. The first stage of protracted cooling is consistent with regional evidence from the Qiantang and Lhasa terrans where previous studies have noted low rates of denudation in relation to a back-arc extensional setting. The more recent acceleration in cooling seen in the Kunlun data coincides with an increase in sedimentation rates in the adjacent Qaidam Basin. This points to a phase of Neogene uplift and increased erosion of the Kunlun Range, although contemporaneous monsoon strengthening may also have had a role.     

祁连山地区河流阶地与第四纪构造隆升

祁连山及邻区河流阶地系列是反映区域构造隆升的重要地貌标志。对祁连山地区东北部的沙沟河、西北部的洪水坝河、东南部的黄河共和段及渭河陇西段、东部的黄河兰州段河流阶地进行了阶地抬升幅度、年代对比研究,分析了祁连山及邻区第四纪构造隆升的特点及其对青藏高原隆升的响应。研究表明,1.6Ma以来祁连山及邻区至少存在5期构造活动,即1.6Ma左右的第1期构造活动;1.2~0.6Ma的第2期构造活动,包括1.2Ma、0.8Ma、0.6Ma的次一期构造活动;0.45~0.25Ma的第3期构造活动;0.2~0.08Ma的第4期构造活动,包括0.15Ma、0.1Ma次一期构造活动;0.08Ma以来的第5期构造活动。祁连山及邻区在第1、2、4、5期构造活动中表现为同步抬升,第3期不同区域抬升时间存在差异。在构造活动强度方面,1.2~0.6Ma(第2期)祁连山东部活动较强,0.45~0.25Ma(第3期)构造活动强度表现为北部强于南部,在北部表现为由西向东不断增强,0.2Ma以来在南、北方向上表现为构造活动强度沿着北东方向减弱,在东、西方向上表现为祁连山西北部的构造活动明显强于东北部。祁连山及邻区东部1.80Ma以来平均抬升速率为0.25mm/a,平均抬升了450m左右,粗略计算2.6Ma以来该区域抬升了600m左右。祁连山及邻区西部河流阶地反映的构造抬升强于东部,据此推断,第四纪以来祁连山及邻区西部抬升或超过600m。     

A late Quaternary paleotemperature record from Hanging Lake, northern Yukon Territory, eastern Beringia

The late Quaternary paleoclimate of eastern Beringia has primarily been studied by drawing qualitative inferences from vegetation shifts. To quantitatively reconstruct summer temperatures, we analyzed lake sediments for fossil chironomids, and additionally we analyzed the sediments for fossil pollen and organic carbon content. A comparison with the δ¹⁸O record from Greenland indicates that the general climatic development of the region throughout the last glaciation–Holocene transition differed from that of the North Atlantic region. Between  17 and 15 ka, mean July air temperature was on average 5°C colder than modern, albeit a period of near-modern temperature at  16.5 ka. Total pollen accumulation rates ranged between  180 and 1200 grains cm^− 2 yr^− 1. At  15 ka, approximately coeval with the Bølling interstadial, temperatures again reached modern values. At  14 ka, nearly 1000 yr after warming began, Betula pollen percentages increased substantially and mark the transition to shrub-dominated pollen contributors. Chironomid-based inferences suggest no evidence of the Younger Dryas stade and only subtle evidence of an early Holocene thermal maximum, as temperatures from  15 ka to the late Holocene were relatively stable. The most recognizable climatic oscillation of the Holocene occurred from  4.5 to 2 ka.     

Middle and Late Quaternary depositional sequences and cycles in the eastern Mediterranean

Although most of the Quaternary sediments of the eastern Mediterranean appear reworked, extensive areas of hemipelagic sediments occur, mainly in the central part of the basin (Mediterranean Ridge). The most obvious character of these muddy sediments is the numerous changes in colour. They result from the organic carbon content as well as from concentration and chemical form of metallic elements (Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn). The succession of coloured layers is arranged into sequences developed between two sharp contacts; a complete sequence involves five lithofacies, from an oxidized layer at the base to a reduced sapropel at the top, and displays progressive internal changes of colour from ochre, beige, greyish-beige, grey and black layers: several sequence-variants (top-truncated, base-truncated, recurrent) are identified. These sequences are a consequence of changes in oceanographic conditions, i.e. from oxidizing to reduced environments, resulting in different organic and mineral contents. Based on detailed studies of Quaternary sediments collected by coring, a synthesized standard succession representative of the ordered sequences in the eastern Mediterranean is proposed, from about 650 000 yr as deduced from the calculated rate of sedimentation of 1·7 mm 1000yr^?1. This succession appears modulated by cyclic events: large-scale periods (200 000 yr) of reduced and oxidized sequences correlate with major alternate phases of flooding and reduced flow of the Nile River during the Quaternary. Subsequent sequences of shorter time-scale (20 000–50 000 yr) results from two factors: heaviest monsoons leading to an increase of the influx of the Nile River and global climatic changes (Eurasian ice sheet meltwater); these two factors act synchronously or independently along the studied time-span. These interplaying factors result in periodic stages of increasingly restricted conditions in the basin and explain the complexity of the eastern Mediterranean succession, at least since 650 000 yr ago.     

Revisiting Late Quaternary Slip-rate along the Maqu Segment of the Eastern Kunlun Fault,Northeast Tibet

The Late Quaternary slip rate along the Maqu segment of the eastern Kunlun Fault was estimated using a combination of high-resolution remote sensing imagery interpretation, field observations and differential Global Positioning System(GPS) measurements of offset river terraces, and 14 C dating of snail shells collected from offset risers. The results show that the left-slip rate along the segment is 3–5 mm/a, and that the vertical slip rate is 0.3–0.5 mm/a. Both the horizontal and vertical slips on the segment remain consistent over a distance of ~100 km. It means that no slip gradient as previously suggested occurred along the Maqu segment, and which thus might behave as an independent seismogenic fault. Judging from multiple relationships among young terrace offsets, we infer that co-seismic surface rupture produced by a characteristic earthquake with a magnitude of Ms7.0–7.5 on the Maqu fault could generate a horizontal slip of 4.5–5 m and a vertical slip of 0.45–0.5 m, with a corresponding ratio(Dh/Dv) of about 9. Two surface rupture events must have occurred over the past 3300 years, the latest one possibly between 1485 cal BP and 1730 cal BP.     

The Somme valley terrace system (northern France); a model of river response to Quaternary climatic variations since 800,000 bp

Recent research on the Somme Valley terrace deposits, that began in 1987, has resulted in an integrated sequence of geological and geomorphological evidence for this area that is of particular significance for prehistoric investigations. This has been achieved using previous evidence and new results from archaeological and geological excavations. These include longitudinal profiles, cartography and detailed synthesis of sections of alluvial deposits, stratigraphy of river deposits and overlying loess sequences. The work, based on a study of the geometry of the terrace system, has resulted in the identification of ninestepped alluvial formations that occur along 70 km of the valley. Detailed study permits the integration of the various alluvial sequences. This suggests that each alluvial sequence results from sedimentation through a single glacial-interglacial climatic cycle. This hypothesis is confirmed by investigation of soil and loess sequences of the deposits overlying the fluvial sediments. The synthesis presented provides a basis for understanding the deposition of the terrace system and an initial chronostratigraphic interpretation for the deposits.     

Formation and evolution of the Eastern Kunlun Range,northern Tibet: Evidence from detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and Hf isotopes

The Eastern Kunlun Range, as a high-elevation and granitoid-rich tectonic element in northern Tibet, records Paleozoic–Mesozoic amalgamation process of the East Asia continent and Cenozoic uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. However, Precambrian evolution of the Eastern Kunlun remains poorly understood and relations between Eastern Kunlun and adjacent terranes (e.g., Qaidam and Qilian) during the Phanerozoic accretion process are still highly controversial. We use detrital zircon U-Pb geochronological and Hf isotopic data of Proterozoic and Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks from the Eastern Kunlun Range, to reconstruct its origin and subsequent evolutionary history. Detrital zircons of the Proterozoic rocks are dominated by early–middle Neoproterozoic ages (700–1000 Ma), with two age peaks at ca. 800 Ma and ca. 920 Ma and εHf(t) values ranging from −10 to 5. The youngest detrital zircon ages (648–788 Ma) demonstrate that these investigated Proterozoic strata, which were previously mapped as Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic, were most likely deposited in the middle–late Neoproterozoic. Abundant 0.9–1.0 Ga detrital zircon crystals are consistent with those crystalline rocks of similar ages across the Kunlun-Qaidam and Qilian terranes, which are generally interpreted as the product of Grenvillian orogenesis. These findings support the hypothesis that these terranes were probably within a single continental landmass (named as KQQ block) during the Neoproterozoic. The high similarity of detrital zircon ages, Hf isotopes and Neoproterozoic lithostratigraphy between western Yangtze and KQQ blocks, supports a temporary connection of the KQQ block to western Yangtze in Rodinia supercontinent. Detrital zircons of the analyzed Paleozoic rocks are characterized by 390–490 Ma age populations. These results, in combination with published granitoids data of the northern Tibet, favor a scenario in which the Kunlun-Qaidam and Qilian terranes underwent separated subduction and accretion processes during the late Cambrian–Devonian, but together formed an upper plate to northward subduction of the Paleo-Tethys during the Permian–Triassic.     

Late Quaternary vegetational and climatic change in the Popayán region,southern Colombian Andes

Late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetational and climatic change have been studied palynologically at a site at 1750 m elevation in the subandean vegetation belt near Popayán, in the southern Colombian Andes. Time control on the pollen record is based on six AMS ¹⁴C ages, ranging from possibly Middle Pleniglacial time (around 50000 yr BP) to 1092 ± 44 yr BP. Because of the presence of two hiatuses only the Middle Pleniglacial and Late Holocene periods (the last 2300 yr BP) are represented. Pollen data indicate the presence of closed subandean forest during glacial time. Changes in the contribution of pollen originating from the uppermost and lowermost subandean forest belts, changes in the contribution of a number of other subandean forest taxa, and changes in species composition between the three pollen zones, suggest that the climate during the Middle Pleniglacial was markedly colder, and perhaps also wetter, than during the Late Holocene. Pollen assemblages from the Late Holocene indicate that the landscape has been affected by deforestation and agriculture since at least 2300 yr BP, but that human impact decreased in the last 780 yr BP. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Quaternary climatic control on erosion and weathering in the eastern Tibetan Plateau and the Mekong Basin

High-resolution siliciclastic grain size and bulk mineralogy combined with clay mineralogy, rubidium, strontium, and neodymium isotopes of Core MD01-2393 collected off the Mekong River estuary in the southwestern South China Sea reveals a monsoon-controlled chemical weathering and physical erosion history during the last 190,000 yr in the eastern Tibetan Plateau and the Mekong Basin. The ranges of isotopic composition are limited throughout sedimentary records: ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.7206–0.7240 and ε_Nd(0) = −11.1 to −12.1. These values match well to those of Mekong River sediments and they are considered to reflect this source region. Smectites/(illite + chlorite) and smectites/kaolinite ratios are used as indices of chemical weathering rates, whereas the bulk kaolinite/quartz ratio is used as an index of physical erosion rates in the eastern Tibetan Plateau and the Mekong Basin. Furthermore, the 2.5–6.5 μm/15–55 μm siliciclastic grain size population ratio represents the intensity of sediment discharge of the Mekong River and, in turn, the East Asian summer monsoon intensity. Strengthened chemical weathering corresponds to increased sediment discharge and weakened physical erosion during interglacial periods. In contrast, weakened chemical weathering associated with reduced sediment discharge and intensified physical erosion during glacial periods. Such strong glacial–interglacial correlations between chemical weathering/erosion and sediment discharge imply the monsoon-controlled weathering and erosion.     

Interpreting the response of a dryland river system to Late Quaternary climate change

A U-series calcrete chronology has been constructed for three Late Quaternary terrace units, termed the D1, D2 and D3 terraces in age descending order, from the Rio Aguas river system of the Sorbas basin, southeast Spain. The D1 terrace formed between 30,300±4400 year BP and 12,140±360 year BP, correlating well with the Last Glacial Maximum when rates of sediment supply would have increased greatly, because of higher rates of weathering, reduced vegetation cover and weak soil development. The D2 terrace formed between 12,800±1100 year BP and 9,600±530 year BP, correlating well with the Younger Dryas event. The D3 terrace could only be poorly constrained to the early Holocene and no unequivocal cause could be assigned to this period of aggradation. The sedimentology and geomorphology of the D2 terrace suggests, however, that the aggradation of this unit was a response to diapirism/karstic processes occurring within the underlying Messinian gypsum strata and the subsequent damming of the Aguas system. Therefore, despite its coincident occurrence with the Younger Dryas, aggradation of the D2 terrace is unrelated to climate change. The style of this response, controlled predominantly by the characteristics of the underlying bedrock, makes correlating the terrace record of the Aguas with other systems in the Mediterranean unreliable. This study, therefore, highlights the problems of correlating fluvial sequences in regions of variable tectonics, climatic history and bedrock geology and emphasises the need to properly understand the main controls on individual fluvial systems before any attempt is made to correlate their depositional histories.     

Late Cenozoic uplift of the eastern United States revealed by fluvial sequences of the Susquehanna and Ohio systems: coupling between surface processes and lower-crustal flow

Fluvial and karstic data sets indicating Late Cenozoic surface uplift in the eastern United States are modelled for the first time using a technique, incorporating coupling between surface processes and flow in the lower continental crust, which has been extensively used for modelling similar data sets elsewhere in the world, notably in Europe. Distinct phases of lower-crustal flow forcing, starting in the early Middle Miocene, Late Pliocene, and late Early Pleistocene, are evident, as observed elsewhere, and relate to combinations of cyclic surface loading (by sea-level variations and ice loads) and to variations in regional erosion rates, as elsewhere. However, the detailed uplift histories inferred are rather different from those indicated in many other regions, notably Europe, primarily because of different properties of the crust. In particular, in the Late Proterozoic/Phanerozoic crust of the Appalachians, the mobile lower-crustal layer seems to be relatively thick, causing a prolonged uplift response for each phase of lower-crustal flow forcing, whereas in the Early Proterozoic crust of the Yavapai crustal province farther west, underlain by a thick basal mafic layer, this mobile layer is much thinner, leading to a very different response consisting of abrupt alternations of uplift and subsidence, as is also observed in other regions of Early Proterozoic crust. Another important difference relative to western and central Europe is the much smaller number of terraces in the eastern US rivers that have been studied. The general applicability of this type of physics-based modelling technique is thus confirmed.     

Late Quaternary record of sea-level changes in the Antarctic

The Late Quaternary sediment sequence of the continental margin in the eastern Weddell Sea is well suited for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Two cores from the upper slope, which contain the sedimentary record of the last 300 ky, have been sedimentologically investigated. Age models are based on lithostratigraphy and are correlated with the stable isotope record. As a result of a detailed analysis of the clay mineral composition, grain size distributions and structures, this sedimentary record provides the first marine evidence that the Antarctic ice sheet extended to the shelf edge during the last glacial.The variations in volume and size of the ice sheet were also simulated in numerical models. Changes in accumulation rate and ice temperature are of some importance, but the model revealed that fluctuations are primarily driven by changes in eustatic sea-level and that the ice edge extended to the shelf edge during the last glacial maximum. This causal relationship implies that the maximum ice extension strongly depends on the magnitude and duration of the sea-level depression during a glacial period. The results of the sedimentological investigations and of the numerical models show that the Antarctic ice sheet follows glacial events in the northern hemisphere by teleconnections of sea level. Correspondence to: H. Grobe     

利用拉分盆地和错断河流阶地定量评估康西瓦断裂晚第四纪平均左旋走滑速率

康西瓦断裂为青藏高原西北缘的一条大型左旋走滑断裂。目前,不同学者对康西瓦断裂晚第四纪的平均走滑速率仍存在较大争议。文章以青藏高原西北缘喀拉喀什河谷段一处冲洪积扇上发育的一个小型拉分盆地以及该冲洪积扇上发育的一个错断河流阶地为研究对象,基于拉分盆地演化的两种简单模式,分别利用拉分盆地的长边和斜边限定对应冲洪积扇的水平位错位量和错位量的上限值,而通过光释光定年技术约束该冲洪积扇的形成年代,结合相关数据,分别估算出康西瓦断裂晚第四纪以来的平均左旋走滑速率为小于或等于8.6±1.0 mm/a和小于约12.4 mm/a。与此同时,利用该冲洪积扇上发育的错断河流阶地的水平位错和对应阶地的放弃年龄,估算出康西瓦断裂晚第四纪以来的平均左旋走滑速率为8.4±1.0 mm/a。

     

藏东类乌齐地区辉长岩:冈瓦纳大陆北缘晚古生代裂解的记录

青藏高原处于冈瓦纳大陆与劳亚大陆的交汇部位,是研究冈瓦纳大陆裂解与聚合过程的关键地区。晚古生代伴随着特提斯洋的打开与扩张,冈瓦纳大陆北缘发生了广泛的裂解作用。大陆板内岩浆作用是超大陆裂解的重要证据。在青藏高原内部已有二叠纪大陆板内特征基性岩的报道,它们是该裂解事件的记录。然而,根据目前的相关报道,这些岩石主要出露在青藏高原的西部,以羌塘和潘伽地区为主,在其他地区尚无相关报道。首次报道的藏东类乌齐地区早二叠世辉长岩LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb定年结果显示,辉长岩的形成年龄为280±2Ma。全岩地球化学资料表明,辉长岩具有与典型大陆板内玄武岩类似的地球特征。辉长岩具有明显正的锆石εHf(t)值(5.1~11.5),暗示其岩浆起源于亏损的地幔源区。结合区域地质资料,认为类乌齐辉长岩是冈瓦纳大陆北缘早二叠世裂解的产物。因此,早二叠世大陆板内基性岩浆作用在青藏高原东部也有出露,它们是在羌塘-潘伽地幔柱活动的作用下,冈瓦纳大陆北缘裂解与班公湖-怒江洋打开和扩张的结果。     

A grain-size record from Beijing region in Northern China: Late Quaternary paleoclimate oscillation in response to global change

Numerous samples taken from one core at the Beijing plain were utilized to characterize the paleoclimatic configuration of the study area and its possible relation to global control since the last interglaciation. We presented here a detailed grain-size record for the full length of Late Pleistocene, along with the optical simulated luminescence (OSL) dating. Our findings revealed that Late Pleistocene of the study area started approximately at 110 ka B.P. represented by the thick sediments of 31 m in Changping depression. Four sedimentary cycles were outlined in the core during Late Pleistocene, corresponding to marine isotope stage (MIS) 5 to 2. Controlled by regional geology and global climatic setting, eight paleoclimatic periods were identified simultaneously in the study area on the time scale of 10⁴ year, with the warm and moist climate being found at 110 — 96, 92 — 76, 67 — 56, and 28 — 18 ka B.P.. The climatic instabilities on a millennial scale in Late Pleistocene were characterized largely by the occurrence of 6 strong Heinrich events shown by comparatively coarse groups. These variations correlate well with those documented in the GRIP Greenland and in the Northern Atlantic Ocean, though more complex features may exist on the long time scale.     

Pliocene and Quaternary regional uplift in western Turkey: the Gediz River terrace staircase and the volcanism at Kula

Along the upper reaches of the Gediz River in western Turkey, in the eastern part of the Aegean extensional province, the land surface has uplifted by 400 m since the Middle Pliocene. This uplift is revealed by progressive gorge incision, and its rate can be established because river terraces are capped by basalt flows that have been K–Ar and Ar–Ar dated. At present, the local uplift rate is 0.2 mm a⁻¹. Uplift at this rate began around the start of the Middle Pleistocene, following a span of time when the uplift was much slower. This was itself preceded by an earlier uplift phase, apparently in the late Late Pliocene and early Early Pleistocene, when the uplift rate was comparable to the present. The resulting regional uplift history resembles what is observed in other regions and is analogously interpreted as the isostatic response to changing rates of surface processes linked to global environmental change. We suggest that this present phase of surface uplift, amounting so far to 150 m, is being caused by the nonsteady-state thermal and isostatic response of the crust to erosion, following an increase in erosion rates in the late Early Pleistocene, most likely as a result of the first large northern-hemisphere glaciation during oxygen isotope stage 22 at 870 ka. We suggest that the earlier uplift phase, responsible for the initial 250 m of uplift, resulted from a similar increase in erosion rates caused by the deterioration in local climate at 3.1 Ma. This uplift thus has no direct relationship to the crustal extension occurring in western Turkey, the rate and sense of which are thought not to have changed significantly on this time scale. Our results thus suggest that the present, often deeply incised, landscape of western Turkey has largely developed from the Middle Pleistocene onwards, for reasons not directly related to the active normal faulting that is also occurring. The local isostatic consequences of this active faulting are instead superimposed onto this “background” of regional surface uplift. Modelling of this surface uplift indicates that the effective viscosity of the lower continental crust beneath this part of Turkey is of the order of 10¹⁹ Pa s, similar to a recent estimate for beneath central Greece. The lower uplift rates observed in western Turkey, compared with central Greece, result from the longer typical distances of fluvial sediment transport, which cause weaker coupling by lower-crustal flow between offshore depocentres and eroding onshore regions that provide the sediment source.