A tectonic model for the Tertiary evolution of strike–slip faults and rift basins in SE Asia

Models for the Tertiary evolution of SE Asia fall into two main types: a pure escape tectonics model with no proto-South China Sea, and subduction of proto-South China Sea oceanic crust beneath Borneo. A related problem is which, if any, of the main strike–slip faults (Mae Ping, Three Pagodas and Aliao Shan–Red River (ASRR)) cross Sundaland to the NW Borneo margin to facilitate continental extrusion? Recent results investigating strike–slip faults, rift basins, and metamorphic core complexes are reviewed and a revised tectonic model for SE Asia proposed. Key points of the new model include: (1) The ASRR shear zone was mainly active in the Eocene–Oligocene in order to link with extension in the South China Sea. The ASRR was less active during the Miocene (tens of kilometres of sinistral displacement), with minor amounts of South China Sea spreading centre extension transferred to the ASRR shear zone. (2) At least three important regions of metamorphic core complex development affected Indochina from the Oligocene–Miocene (Mogok gneiss belt; Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep; around the ASRR shear zone). Hence, Paleogene crustal thickening, buoyancy-driven crustal collapse, and lower crustal flow are important elements of the Tertiary evolution of Indochina. (3) Subduction of a proto-South China Sea oceanic crust during the Eocene–Early Miocene is necessary to explain the geological evolution of NW Borneo and must be built into any model for the region. (4) The Eocene–Oligocene collision of NE India with Burma activated extrusion tectonics along the Three Pagodas, Mae Ping, Ranong and Klong Marui faults and right lateral motion along the Sumatran subduction zone. (5) The only strike–slip fault link to the NW Borneo margin occurred along the trend of the ASRR fault system, which passes along strike into a right lateral transform system including the Baram line.     

Formation of sequential basins along a strike–slip fault–Geophysical observations from the Dead Sea basin

The Dead Sea basin is often cited as one of the classic examples for the evolution of pull-apart basins along strike–slip faults. Despite its significance, the internal structure of the northern Dead Sea basin has never been addressed conclusively. In order to produce the first comprehensive, high-resolution analysis of this area, all available seismic data from the northern Dead Sea (lake)–lower Jordan valley (land) were combined. Results show that the northern Dead Sea basin is comprised of a system of tectonically controlled sub-basins delimited by the converging Western and Eastern boundary faults of the Dead Sea fault valley. These sub-basins grow shallower and smaller to the north and are separated by structural saddles marking the location of active transverse faults. The sedimentary fill within the sub-basins was found to be relatively thicker than previously interpreted. As a result of the findings of this study, the “classic” model for the development of pull-aparts, based on the Dead Sea, is revised. The new comprehensive compilation of data produced here for the first time was used to improve upon existing conceptual models and may advance the understanding of similar basinal systems elsewhere.     

Impact of India–Asia collision on SE Asia: The record in Borneo

Borneo occupies a central position in the Sundaland promontory of SE Asia. It has a complex Cenozoic geological history of sedimentation and deformation which began at about the same time that India is commonly suggested to have started to collide with Asia. Some tectonic reconstructions of east and SE Asia interpret a large SE Asian block with Borneo at its centre which has been rotated clockwise and displaced southwards along major strike–slip faults during the Cenozoic due to the indentation of Asia by India. However, the geological history of Borneo is not consistent with the island simply forming part of a large block extruded from Asia. The large clockwise rotations and displacements predicted by the indentor model for Borneo are incompatible with palaeomagnetic evidence and there is no evidence that the major strike–slip faults of the Asian mainland reach Borneo. Seismic tomography shows there is a deep high velocity anomaly in the lower mantle beneath SE Asia interpreted as subducted lithosphere but it can be explained just as well by alternative tectonic models as by the indentor model. Very great thicknesses of Cenozoic sediments are present in Borneo and circum-Borneo basins, and large amounts of sediment were transported to the Crocker turbidite fan of north Borneo from the Eocene to the Early Miocene, but all evidence indicates that these sediments were derived from local sources and not from distant sources in Asia elevated by India–Asia collision. The Cenozoic geological history of Borneo records subduction of the proto-South China Sea and Miocene collision after this ocean lithosphere was eliminated, and a variety of effects resulting from long-term subduction beneath SE Asia. There is little to indicate that India–Asia collision has influenced the Cenozoic geological record in Borneo.     

Fault–valve action and vein development during strike–slip faulting: An example from the Ribeira Shear Zone, Southeastern Brazil

Fluid inclusion microthermometry and structural data are presented for quartz vein systems of a major dextral transcurrent shear zone of Neoproterozoic–Cambrian age in the Ribeira River Valley area, southeastern Brazil. Geometric and microstructural constraints indicate that foliation–parallel and extensional veins were formed during dextral strike–slip faulting. Both vein systems are formed essentially by quartz and lesser contents of sulfides and carbonates, and were crystallized in the presence of CO₂–CH₄ and H₂O–CO₂–CH₄–NaCl immiscible fluids following unmixing from a homogeneous parental fluid. Contrasting fluid entrapment conditions indicate that the two vein systems were formed in different structural levels. Foliation–parallel veins were precipitated beneath the seismogenic zone under pressure fluctuating from moderately sublithostatic to moderately subhydrostatic values (319–397 °C and 47–215 MPa), which is compatible with predicted fluid pressure cycle curves derived from fault–valve action. Growth of extensional veins occurred in shallower structural levels, under pressure fluctuating from near hydrostatic to moderately subhydrostatic values (207–218 °C and 18–74 MPa), which indicate that precipitation occurred within the near surface hydrostatically pressured seismogenic zone. Fluid immiscibility and precipitation of quartz in foliation–parallel veins resulted from fluid pressure drop immediately after earthquake rupture. Fluid immiscibility following a local pressure drop during extensional veining occurred in pre-seismic stages in response to the development of fracture porosity in the dilatant zone. Late stages of fluid circulation within the fault zone are represented dominantly by low to high salinity (0.2 to 44 wt.% equivalent NaCl) H₂O–NaCl–CaCl₂ fluid inclusions trapped in healed fractures mainly in foliation–parallel veins, which also exhibit subordinate H₂O–NaCl–CaCl₂, CO₂–(CH₄) and H₂O–CO₂–(CH₄)–NaCl fluid inclusions trapped under subsolvus conditions in single healed microcracks. Recurrent circulation of aqueous–carbonic fluids and aqueous fluids of highly contrasting salinities during veining and post-veining stages suggests that fluids of different reservoirs were pumped to the ruptured fault zone during faulting episodes. A fluid evolution trending toward CH₄ depletion for CO₂–CH₄–bearing fluids and salinity depletion and dilution (approximation of the system H₂O–NaCl) for aqueous–saline fluids occurred concomitantly with decrease in temperature and pressure related to fluid entrapment in progressively shallower structural levels reflecting the shear zone exhumation history.     

Structural similarity and variety at the tips in a wide range of strike–slip faults: a review

Strike–slip faults are often accompanied by a variety of structures, particularly at their tips. The zones of additional fracturing are classified as tip‐damage zones. These zones can be subdivided into several different damage patterns based on the nature and orientation of faults and fractures developed. Damage zones at the ends of small strike–slip faults (mode II tips) develop wing cracks, horsetail splays, antithetic faults, synthetic branch faults and solution surfaces. Similar tip‐damage patterns are also commonly observed at larger (regional) scales, but with a dominance of faulting over tensile cracks and solution surfaces. Wing cracks and horsetail splays developed at small‐scale faults are replaced by normal faults in large‐scale faults. Antithetic faults and synthetic branch faults are observed at small and large scales. Thrust faults are developed at large scales, in a similar pattern to solution surfaces at a small scale. All these structures may show slightly different angular relationships to the master fault at small and large scale, but develop in response similar stress distribution and mechanics around the fault. Thus, mode II tip‐damage zones show similar patterns over a wide range of fault scales.     

Seismotectonics of strike–slip earthquakes within the deep crust of southern Italy: Geometry, kinematics, stress field and crustal rheology of the Potenza 1990–1991 seismic sequences (Mmax 5.7)

We present a revision and a seismotectonic interpretation of deep crust strike–slip earthquake sequences that occurred in 1990–1991 in the Southern Apennines (Potenza area). The revision is motivated by: i) the striking similarity to a seismic sequence that occurred in 2002  140 km NNW, in an analogous tectonic context (Molise area), suggesting a common seismotectonic environment of regional importance; ii) the close proximity of such deep strike–slip seismicity with shallow extensional seismicity (Apennine area); and iii) the lack of knowledge about the mechanical properties of the crust that might justify the observed crustal seismicity. A comparison between the revised 1990–1991 earthquakes and the 2002 earthquakes, as well as the integration of seismological data with a rheological analysis offer new constraints on the regional seismotectonic context of crustal seismicity in the Southern Apennines. The seismological revision consists of a relocation of the aftershock sequences based on newly constrained velocity models. New focal mechanisms of the aftershocks are computed and the active state of stress is constrained via the use of a stress inversion technique. The relationships among the observed seismicity, the crustal structure of the Southern Apennines, and the rheological layering are analysed along a crustal section crossing southern Italy, by computing geotherms and two-mechanism (brittle frictional vs. ductile plastic strength) rheological profiles. The 1990–1991 seismicity is concentrated in a well-defined depth range (mostly between 15 and 23 km depths). This depth range corresponds to the upper pat of the middle crust underlying the Apulian sedimentary cover, in the footwall of the easternmost Apennine thrust system. The 3D distribution of the aftershocks, the fault kinematics, and the stress inversion indicate the activation of a right-lateral strike–slip fault striking N100°E under a stress field characterized by a sub-horizontal N142°-trending σ1 and a sub-horizontal N232°-trending σ3, very similar to the known stress field of the Gargano seismic zone in the Apulian foreland. The apparent anomalous depths of the earthquakes (> 15 km) and the confinement within a relatively narrow depth range are explained by the crustal rheology, which consists of a strong brittle layer at mid crustal depths sandwiched between two plastic horizons. This articulated rheological stratification is typical of the central part of the Southern Apennine crust, where the Apulian crust is overthrusted by Apennine units. Both the Potenza 1990–1991 and the Molise 2002 seismic sequences can be interpreted to be due to crustal E–W fault zones within the Apulian crust inherited from previous tectonic phases and overthrusted by Apennine units during the Late Pliocene–Middle Pleistocene. The present strike–slip tectonic regime reactivated these fault zones and caused them to move with an uneven mechanical behaviour; brittle seismogenic faulting is confined to the strong brittle part of the middle crust. This strong brittle layer might also act as a stress guide able to laterally transmit the deviatoric stresses responsible for the strike–slip regime in the Apulian crust and may explain the close proximity (nearly overlapping) of the strike–slip and normal faulting regimes in the Southern Apennines. From a methodological point of view, it seems that rather simple two-mechanism rheological profiles, though affected by uncertainties, are still a useful tool for estimating the rheological properties and likely seismogenic behaviour of the crust.     

准噶尔盆地中部永进地区走滑断裂发育特征及成因物理模拟

永进地区位于准噶尔盆地中部,最近发现了多个与走滑断层相关的含油气构造,但关于走滑断层的发育特征及成因机制研究程度不够深入。本文通过三维地震资料精细解释,在研究区三叠系—侏罗系内识别出近东西向、北西西向以及北东东向的三组走滑断裂体系,平面上呈“网格状”展布,剖面上具有不同深度几何学形态差异展布特征。在此基础上基于相似性原理设计四组砂箱模拟对比实验,重现研究区构造演化过程。模拟结果表明,这类走滑断裂的形成与基底先存断层的发育位置有关,是受先存构造和地层属性双重控制的广布式走滑断裂系统,从而建立了研究区的断裂系统成因模式。研究成果对具有相似地质背景地区的走滑断裂成因解释具有借鉴意义。     

塔里木盆地阿克库勒凸起东南斜坡走滑断裂构造特征及油气地质意义

塔里木盆地阿克库勒凸起东南斜坡发育大量走滑断裂。走滑断裂的几何学、运动学特征对油气的运移和富集起到了重要控制作用。本文以东南斜坡S118- AT22- YUKE2断裂、S113- AT13- YUKE3断裂、AT20断裂、AT18- YUKE5断裂为研究对象,依据中小尺度走滑断裂精细解析技术,对走滑断裂在不同层系的变形特征、平面分段性、断裂体系活动强度、后期活动性、通源性、演化模式和成因机制开展精细解析,结合生产动态资料研究其油气地质意义。阿克库勒凸起东南斜坡走滑断裂在垂向上呈深层线性断裂与浅层雁列式断裂组合的变形结构。中—下奥陶统发育的走滑断裂在平面上具有明显分段特征。阿克库勒凸起东南斜坡走滑断裂相对活动强度西强东弱,由北向南呈强—弱—次强的特征;晚海西期—燕山期断裂活动性近SN—NE向断裂体系强于NNE—NNW向断裂体系;断裂通源性受控于早期裂谷,主干断裂通源性优于次级断裂,NNE—NNW向断裂体系的主干断裂通源性优于近SN—NE向断裂体系,但次级断裂通源性较差。NNE—NNW向和近SN—NE向断裂体系都形成于中加里东期,NEE向断裂形成于晚加里东期—早海西期,东南斜坡走滑断裂经历了中加里东期、晚加里东期—早海西期、中晚海西期、印支期—燕山期多期构造活动垂向叠加,NNE向和近SN向主干断裂滑移方向相反是由于破裂方式的不同。阿克库勒凸起东南斜坡烃源岩排烃期为晚海西期—喜马拉雅期,断裂活动期与排烃期的耦合有利于油气充注;断裂活动强度控制了通源性和储集体规模,进而控制了油气富集程度。后期活动明显、断裂活动强、通源性好的走滑断裂是下一步勘探的有利目标。     

Pan-African strike–slip tectonics in eastern Cameroon—Magnetic fabrics (AMS) and structure in the Lom basin and its gneissic basement

Field, microstructural, and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) or magnetic fabric studies were applied to identify the sequence and character of the Pan-African structures in the basement of Eastern Cameroon at both sides of the regional scale Bétaré-Oya Shear Zone (BOSZ). The NE-SW trending BOSZ separates older gneisses and migmatites towards SE (domain I) from the younger rocks of the Lom meta-volcano-sedimentary basin towards NW (domain II). In domain I, early, ductile compressional deformation occurred in two events, D1 and D2, under relatively high T conditions. During subsequent cooling, strain partitioned between the competent basement gneisses with only mild compression and the bordering shear zone (BOSZ) with intense simple shear-wrenching (D3). Strain in the less competent rocks of domain II is dominated by simple shear, strike-slip wrenching (D3), with an earlier stage of compressional deformation preserved only in some low strain pods.Magnetic fabrics (AMS) document a progressive change from oblate ellipsoids towards prolate ellipsoids in domain I, when proceeding from the south towards the BOSZ. Foliations are mostly steep but define a girdle with a pole plunging gently towards WSW. The magnetic lineations also plunge mostly towards WSW at shallow angles. These fabrics indicate a compression approximately normal to the BOSZ, which is also the SE margin of the Lom Basin. In the Lom metasediments (domain II), AMS ellipsoids are typically oblate. Foliations trend NE-SW with mostly steep dips. Magnetic lineations plunge gently NE or SW. This fabric with foliations mostly steep and subparallel with the major BOSZ, combined with generally subhorizontal lineations implies the BOSZ as a Pan-African strike–slip shear zone with a subordinate component of compression.At a larger scale, the area is part of a continent-scale shear zone, separating external Pan-African domains of compression along the northern margin of the Congo craton from internal domains dominated by high-angle strike–slip and transpressional deformation. Together with published data, the present study thus demonstrates that transpression is a regional phenomenon in the Pan-African orogen of central and eastern Cameroon.     

Temporal variation in the geometry of a strike–slip fault zone: Examples from the Dead Sea Transform

The location of the active fault strands along the Dead Sea Transform fault zone (DST) changed through time. In the western margins of Dead Sea basin, the early activity began a few kilometers west of the preset shores and moved toward the center of the basin in four stages. Similar centerward migration of faulting is apparent in the Hula Valley north of the Sea of Galilee as well as in the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula. In the Arava Valley, seismic surveys reveal a series of buried inactive basins whereas the current active strand is on their eastern margins. In the central Arava the centerward migration of activity was followed by outward migration with Pleistocene faulting along NNE-trending faults nearly 50 km west of the center. Largely the faulting along the DST, which began in the early–middle Miocene over a wide zone of up to 50 km, became localized by the end of the Miocene. The subsidence of fault-controlled basins, which were active in the early stage, stopped at the end of the Miocene. Later during the Plio-Pleistocene new faults were formed in the Negev west of the main transform. They indicate that another cycle has begun with the widening of the fault zone. It is suggested that the localization of faulting goes on as long as there is no change in the stress field. The stresses change because the geometry of the plates must change as they move, and consequently the localization stage ends. The fault zone is rearranged, becomes wide, and a new localization stage begins as slip accumulates. It is hypothesized that alternating periods of widening and narrowing correlate to changes of the plate boundaries, manifest in different Euler poles.     

Quantitative subsidence-uplift analysis of the Bajo Segura Basin (eastern Betic Cordillera, Spain): tectonic control on the stratigraphic architecture

The Bajo Segura Basin is located in the eastern Betic Cordillera, at present connected with the Mediterranean Sea to the east. It has a complete stratigraphic record from the Tortonian to the Quaternary, which has been separated into six units bounded by unconformities. This paper is concerned with the northern edge of the basin, controlled by a major strike–slip fault (the Crevillente Fault Zone, CFZ), where the most complete stratigraphic successions are found. The results obtained (summarised below) are based on an integrated analysis of the sedimentary evolution and the subsidence-uplift movements. Unit I (Early Tortonian) is transgressive on the basin basement and is represented by ramp-type platform facies, organised in a shallowing-upward sequence related to tectonic uplift during the first stages of movement along the CFZ. Unit II (lower Late Tortonian) consists of shallow platform facies at bottom and pelagic basin facies at top, forming a deepening-upward sequence associated with tectonic subsidence due to sinistral motion along the CFZ. Unit III (middle Late Tortonian) is made up of exotic turbiditic facies related to a stage of uplift and erosion of the southern edge of the basin. Unit IV (upper Late Tortonian) consists of pelagic basin facies at bottom and shallow platform facies at top, defining a shallowing-upward sequence related to tectonic uplift during continued sinistral movement on the basin-bounding fault. Units V (latest Tortonian–Messinian) and VI (Pliocene–Pleistocene p.p.) consist of shallowing-upward sequences deposited during folding and uplift of the northern margin of the basin. No definitive evidence of any major eustatic sea-level fall, associated with the ‘Messinian salinity crisis’, has been recorded in the stratigraphic sections studied.     

Active strike–slip faulting and macroscopically nonrigid deformation of volcanic rocks in central Japan inferred from a paleomagnetic study

Detailed paleomagnetic investigation of a pyroclastic flow deposit has clarified the deformation mode around an active fault. In central Japan, the early Quaternary Nyukawa Pyroclastic Flow Deposit is cut by the active dextral Enako fault. Activity level of the fault is evaluated on the basis of geological and geomorphological surveys. Then, paleomagnetic samples are collected from 22 sites at exposures located on a lineament that is adjoining and parallel to the Enako fault. Stable thermoremanent magnetization (TRM) of the pyroclastic deposit is isolated through progressive thermal and/or alternating field demagnetization tests. Untilted site-mean directions of the TRMs simultaneously acquired during initial cooling indicate significant clockwise vertical-axis rotation. The lineament was then activated with right-lateral motions through the early Quaternary. Together with the late Quaternary activities along the adjoining Enako fault evaluated by our study, the present result exemplifies a migration of active segments within a fault system during the Quaternary. Paleomagnetic directions on the strike–slip fault are not concordant with uniform deformation predicted by the model of rotation of rigid blocks aligned on a master fault, but suggestive of a periodic deformation as a result of intense fracturing and differential rotation of blocks bounded by nested parallel faults.     

Influence of syn-sedimentary faults on orogenic structure: examples from the Neoproterozoic–Mesozoic east Siberian passive margin

The east margin of the Siberian craton is a typical passive margin with a thick succession of sedimentary rocks ranging in age from Mesoproterozoic to Tertiary. Several zones with distinct structural styles are recognized and reflect an eastward-migrating depocenter. Mesozoic orogeny was preceded by several Mesoproterozoic to Paleozoic tectonic events. In the South Verkhoyansk, the most intense pre-Mesozoic event, 1000–950 Ma rifting, affected the margin of the Siberian craton and formed half-graben basins, bounded by listric normal faults. Neoproterozoic compressional structures occurred locally, whereas extensional structures, related to latest Neoproterozoic–early Paleozoic rifting events, have yet to be identified. Devonian rifting is recognized throughout the eastern margin of the Siberian craton and is represented by numerous normal faults and local half-graben basins.Estimated shortening associated with Mesozoic compression shows that the inner parts of ancient rifts are now hidden beneath late Paleozoic–Mesozoic siliciclastics of the Verkhoyansk Complex and that only the outer parts are exposed in frontal ranges of the Verkhoyansk thrust-and-fold belt. Mesoproterozoic to Paleozoic structures had various impacts on the Mesozoic compressional structures. Rifting at 1000–950 Ma formed extensional detachment and normal faults that were reactivated as thrusts characteristic of the Verkhoyansk foreland. Younger Neoproterozoic compressional structures do not display any evidence for Mesozoic reactivation. Several initially east-dipping Late Devonian normal faults were passively rotated during Mesozoic orogenesis and are now recognized as west-dipping thrusts, but without significant reactivation displacement along fault surfaces.     

Uplift and subsidence from oblique slip: the Ganos–Marmara bend of the North Anatolian Transform, western Turkey

Bends that locally violate plate-motion-parallel geometry are common structural elements of continental transform faults. We relate the vertical component of crustal motion in the western Marmara Sea region to the NNW-pointing 18° bend on the northern branch of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF-N) between the Ganos segment, which ruptured in 1912, and the central Marmara segment, a seismic gap. Crustal shortening and uplift on the transpressive west side of the bend results in the Ganos Mountain; crustal extension and subsidence on the transtensional east side produce the Tekirdağ Basin. We propose that this vertical component of deformation is controlled by oblique slip on the non-vertical north-dipping Ganos and Tekirdağ segments of the North Anatolian Fault. We compare Holocene with Quaternary structure across the bend using new and recently published data and conclude the following. First, bend-related vertical motion is occurring primarily north of the NAF-N. This suggests that this bend is fixed to the Anatolian side of the fault. Second, current deformation is consistent with an antisymmetric pattern centered at the bend, up on the west and down on the east. Accumulated deformation is shifted to the east along the right-lateral NAF-N, however, leading to locally opposite vertical components of long- and short-term motion. Uplift has started as far west as the landward extension of the Saros trough. Current subsidence is most intense close to the bend and to the Ganos Mountain, while the basin deepens gradually from the bend eastward for 28 km along the fault. The pattern of deformation is time-transgressive if referenced to the material, but is stable if referenced to the bend. The lag between motion and structure implies a 1.1–1.4 Ma age for the basin at current dextral slip rate (2.0–2.5 cm/year). Third, the Tekirdağ is an asymmetric basin progressively tilted down toward the NAF-N, which serves as the border fault. Progressive tilt suggests that the steep northward dip of the fault decreases with depth in a listric geometry at the scale of the upper crust and is consistent with reactivation of Paleogene suture-related thrust faults. Fourth, similar thrust-fault geometry west of the bend can account for the Ganos Mountain anticline/monocline as hanging-wall-block folding and back tilting. Oblique slip on a non-vertical master fault may accommodate transtension and transpression associated with other bends along the NAF and other continental transforms.     

Trenching studies of active faults in Kamchatka, eastern Russia: Palaeoseismic, tectonic and hazard implications

The central part of the Kamchatka Peninsula is characterized by a well defined depression associated with active volcanism, aligned NE–SW. On the east, the depression is bounded by a prominent system of active faults known as the East Kamchatka Fault Zone (EKFZ). In order to improve understanding of the behaviour and kinematic role of this fault zone a fieldwork programme, including study of trenches, was conducted in the north-central part of this system. Aerial photograph analysis, ground-truthed, indicates a westward fault dip with predominantly normal slip, while lateral offsets of river terraces and stream channels demonstrate a combined dextral component. Over 20 excavated pits and natural exposures were examined to confirm a detailed tephra succession extending from the early Holocene to recent historic eruptions. This chronological framework then provided age control on five past faulting events recognised in three trenches. These events took place at about 10.5, 6.0, 4.5 and, in a two-event succession within a short time span, at 3.3–3.2 ka BP. Event clustering may be characteristic and fault length–displacement values suggest earthquakes of M6.5, thus representing a significant new element in regional seismic hazard evaluations; additional to events generated at the subduction interface. The relatively long gap in faulting since the two most recent events may also be significant for hazard scenarios and there is a possible link between the faulting and volcanic activity in the depression. Overall, the EKFZ, together with the Nachiki Transverse Zone farther south, is thought to define a regional-scale block that is extending eastwards independently from the rest of Kamchatka.     

柴达木盆地西部昆北断阶带基底花岗岩锆石U-Pb年龄、地球化学特征及其地质意义

柴达木盆地西部基底分布有大量的有花岗岩类岩石。通过对柴达木盆地西部昆北断阶带钻遇的基底花岗岩样品开展详细的岩石学、锆石激光探针等离子体质谱U-Pb同位素年代学及岩石地球化学研究表明,锆石U-Pb同位素年龄为467~450Ma,显示基底花岗岩的结晶年龄为中-晚奥陶世,属于加里东期岩浆侵入旋回。详细的岩石地球化学分析表明,昆北断阶带基底花岗岩属过铝高钾钙碱性系列,其稀土元素配分模式为具有Eu负异常的轻稀土元素富集型,昆北断阶带中南部基底花岗岩属上地壳物质熔融,同碰撞环境下形成的花岗岩。综合区域上的研究成果,昆北断阶带及其以西地区存在中奥陶世-早志留世的加里东期构造-岩浆事件,这对探讨柴达木盆地西部基底花岗岩成因类型及岩浆演化具有重要的意义。     

Genesis of Pb–Zn Mineralization Beneath the Xiangshan Uranium Orefield,South China: Constraints from H–O–S–Pb Isotopes and Rb–Sr Dating

The volcanic‐hosted Xiangshan uranium orefield is the largest uranium deposit in South China. Recent exploration has discovered extensive Pb–Zn mineralization beneath the uranium orebodies. Detailed geological investigation reveals that the major metallic minerals include pyrite, sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite, whilst the major non‐metallic minerals include quartz, sericite, and calcite. New δ¹⁸O_fluid and δD_fluid data indicate that the ore‐forming fluids were mainly derived from magmatic, and the sulfide δ³⁴S values (2.2–6.9‰) suggest a dominantly magmatic sulfur source. The Pb isotope compositions are homogeneous (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 18.120–18.233, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.575–15.698, and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 37.047–38.446). The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of sulfide minerals range from 0.7197 to 0.7204, which is much higher than volcanic rocks and fall into the range of metamorphic basement. Lead and strontium isotopic compositions indicate that the metallogenic materials probably were derived from metamorphic basement. Pyrite Rb–Sr dating of the ores yielded 131.3 ± 4.0 Ma, indicating that the Pb–Zn mineralization occurred in the Early Cretaceous.     

Genesis of the Weiquan Ag–Polymetallic Deposit in East Tianshan, China: Evidence from Zircon U–Pb Geochronology and C–H–O–S–Pb Isotope Systematics

The Weiquan Ag-polymetallic deposit is located on the southern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and in the western segment of the Aqishan-Yamansu arc belt in East Tianshan,northwestern China. Its orebodies, controlled by faults, occur in the lower Carboniferous volcanosedimentary rocks of the Yamansu Formation as irregular veins and lenses. Four stages of mineralization have been recognized on the basis of mineral assemblages, ore fabrics, and crosscutting relationships among the ore veins. Stage I is the skarn stage(garnet + pyroxene), Stage Ⅱ is the retrograde alteration stage(epidote + chlorite + magnetite ± hematite 士 actinolite ± quartz),Stage Ⅲ is the sulfide stage(Ag and Bi minerals + pyrite + chalcopyrite + galena + sphalerite + quartz ± calcite ± tetrahedrite),and Stage IV is the carbonate stage(quartz + calcite ± pyrite). Skarnization,silicification, carbonatization,epidotization,chloritization, sericitization, and actinolitization are the principal types of hydrothermal alteration. LAICP-MS U-Pb dating yielded ages of 326.5±4.5 and 298.5±1.5 Ma for zircons from the tuff and diorite porphyry, respectively. Given that the tuff is wall rock and that the orebodies are cut by a late diorite porphyry dike, the ages of the tuff and the diorite porphyry provide lower and upper time limits on the age of ore formation. The δ~(13)C values of the calcite samples range from-2.5‰ to 2.3‰, the δ~(18)O_(H2 O) and δD_(VSMOW) values of the sulfide stage(Stage Ⅲ) vary from 1.1‰ to 5.2‰ and-111.7‰ to-66.1‰, respectively,and the δ~(13)C, δ~(18)O_(H2 O) and δD_(V-SMOW) values of calcite in one Stage IV sample are 1.5‰,-0.3‰, and-115.6‰, respectively. Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen isotopic compositions indicate that the ore-forming fluids evolved gradually from magmatic to meteoric sources. The δ~(34)S_(V-CDT) values of the sulfides have a large range from-6.9‰ to 1.4‰, with an average of-2.2‰, indicating a magmatic source, possibly with sedimentary contributions. The ~(206)Pb/~(204)Pb, ~(207)Pb/~(204)Pb, and ~(208)Pb/~(204)Pb ratios of the sulfides are 17.9848-18.2785,15.5188-15.6536, and 37.8125-38.4650, respectively, and one whole-rock sample at Weiquan yields~(206)Pb/~(204)Pb,~(207)Pb/~(204)Pb, and ~(208)Pb/~(204)Pb ratios of 18.2060, 15.5674, and 38.0511,respectively. Lead isotopic systems suggest that the ore-forming materials of the Weiquan deposit were derived from a mixed source involving mantle and crustal components. Based on geological features, zircon U-Pb dating, and C-H-OS-Pb isotopic data, it can be concluded that the Weiquan polymetallic deposit is a skarn type that formed in a tectonic setting spanning a period from subduction to post-collision. The ore materials were sourced from magmatic ore-forming fluids that mixed with components derived from host rocks during their ascent, and a gradual mixing with meteoric water took place in the later stages.     

The record of tidal cycles in mixed silici–bioclastic deposits: examples from small Plio–Pleistocene peripheral basins of the microtidal Central Mediterranean Sea

The Pliocene–Pleistocene peripheral marine basins of the Mediterranean Sea in southern Italy, from Basilicata and western Calabria to northern and eastern Sicily, represent tectonically formed coastal embayments and narrow straits. Here, units of cross‐stratified, mixed silici–bioclastic sand, 25 to 80 m thick, record strong tidal currents. The Central Mediterranean Sea has had a microtidal range of ca 35 cm, and the local amplification of the tidal wave is attributed to tides enhanced in some of the bays and to the out‐of‐phase reversal of the tidal prism in narrow straits linking the Tyrrhenian and Ionian basins. The siliciclastic sediment was generated by local bedrock erosion, whereas the bioclastic sediment was derived from the contemporaneous, foramol‐type cool‐water carbonate factories. The cross‐strata sets represent small to medium‐sized (10 to 60 cm thick) two‐dimensional dunes with mainly unidirectional foreset dip directions. These tidalites differ from the classical tidal rhythmites deposited in mud‐bearing siliciclastic environments. Firstly, the foreset strata lack mud drapes and, instead, show segregation of siliciclastic and bioclastic sand into alternating strata. Secondly, the thickness variation of the successive silici–bioclastic strata couplets, measured over accretion intervals of 2 to 3 m and analysed statistically, reveal only the shortest‐term, diurnal and semi‐diurnal tidal cycles. Thirdly, the record of diurnal and semi‐diurnal tidal cycles is included within the pattern of neap‐spring cycles. Differences between these sediments and classical tidal rhythmites are attributed to the specific palaeogeographic setting of a microtidal sea, with the tidal currents locally enhanced in peripheral basins. It is suggested that this particular facies of mud‐free, silici–bioclastic arenite rhythmites in the stratigraphic record might indicate a specific type of depositional sub‐tidal environment of straits and embayments and the shortest‐term tidal cycles.     

Spatial Characteristics and Controlling Factors of the Strike‐slip Fault Zones in the Northern Slope of Tazhong Uplift,Tarim Basin: Insight from 3D Seismic Data

The detailed characteristics of the Paleozoic strike-slip fault zones developed in the northern slope of Tazhong uplift are closely related to hydrocarbon explorations. In this study, five major strike-slip fault zones that cut through the Cambrian-Middle Devonian units are identified, by using 3D seismic data. Each of the strike-slip fault zones is characterized by two styles of deformation, namely deeper strike-slip faults and shallower en-echelon faults. By counting the reverse separation of the horizon along the deeper faults, activity intensity on the deeper strike-slip faults in the south is stronger than that on the northern ones. The angle between the strike of the shallower en-echelon normal faults and the principal displacement zone(PDZ) below them is likely to have a tendency to decrease slightly from the south to the north, which may indicate that activity intensity on the shallower southern en-echelon faults is stronger than that on the northern ones. Comparing the reverse separation along the deeper faults and the fault throw of the shallower faults, activity intensity of the Fault zone S1 is similar across different layers, while the activity intensity of the southern faults is larger than that of the northern ones. It is obvious that both the activity intensity of the same layer in different fault zones and different layers in the same fault zone have a macro characteristic in that the southern faults show stronger activity intensity than the northern ones. The Late Ordovician décollement layer developed in the Tazhong area and the peripheral tectonic events of the Tarim Basin have been considered two main factors in the differential deformation characteristics of the strike-slip fault zones in the northern slope of Tazhong uplift. They controlled the differences in the multi-level and multi-stage deformations of the strike-slip faults, respectively. In particular, peripheral tectonic events of the Tarim Basin were the dynamic source of the formatting and evolution of the strike-slip fault zones, and good candidates to accommodate the differential activity intensity of these faults.