Recycling in the Puerto Rican mantle wedge, Greater Antilles Island Arc

Abstract The initial volcanic phase of Cretaceous island arc strata in central Puerto Rico, at the eastern end of the extinct Greater Antilles Arc, comprises a 6‐km thick pile of lava and volcanic breccia (Río Majada Group). Preserved within the sequence is a conspicuous shift in absolute abundances of the more incompatible elements, including Th, Nb, and the light rare earth elements (LREE: La, Ce, Pr and Nd). The compositional shift is marked by a decrease in La/Sm from averages of 2.11 in the lowest third of the pile (Formation A) to 1.48 at the top (Formation C), and by a distinctive flattening of LREE segments of chondrite‐normalized REE patterns. i⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ?_Nd average about 0.7035 and 8.2, respectively, in early Formation A basalts. These ranges normally overlap samples from later Formations B and C. Isotope compositions of the latter group are more variable, however, and several samples are considerably more radiogenic than Formation A basalts, such that i⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr averages almost 0.7042 while ?_Nd‐values decrease to 7.5 in Formation B and C basalts. Theoretical models of non‐modal melting processes in both amphibole peridotite and spinel lherzolite sources provide insight into the origin of depleted Th, Nb, and LREE abundances in Puerto Rican basalts. Low Nb concentrations less than normal mid‐oceanic ridge basalts in Formation A basalts indicate the wedge was slightly depleted by low‐volume decompression fusion due to induced convection in the back‐arc region prior to entry of the source into the arc melting zone. However, depleted patterns in Formation C basalts cannot be generated by relatively greater degrees of decompression fusion in the back‐arc, because addition of the La‐enriched slab‐derived component to more depleted source material invariably produces elevated rather than decreased La/Sm. Refluxing of Formation A harzburgitic residua is similarly precluded. In contrast, the observed patterns are readily reproduced by multistage melting models involving hybridized sources containing normal Formation A lherzolite source material blended with recycled, unrefluxed harzburgite residua. Successful models require hybrid sources containing large volumes of recycled harzburgite (up to 50%) during generation of Formation C basalts. Slightly elevated radiometric Sr and Nd isotopes in a few flows from Formation C are attributed to partial refluxing of the hybrid sources within the wedge.     

Study on dynamics of tectonic evolution in the Fushun Basin, Northeast China

The updated study shows that the taphrogenesis of basement of the Fushun Basin is not a kind of instantaneous process. It intensified gradually and went to extreme in the sedimentary stage of the Guchengzi formation, and then, it weakened rapidly and stopped soon afterwards; the depression did not take place after the taphrogenesis. On the contrary, it almost happened simultaneously with the taphrogenesis. The depression went at a high speed from the beginning of the sedimentary period of the Xilutian formation, and then weakened gradually in the sedimentary period of the Gengjiajie formation. The evolution course of the synsedimentary structure of the Fushun Basin can be summarized as the following six stages: slow taphrogenesis and high speed depression to accelerated taphrogenesis and high speed depression to high speed taphrogenesis and high speed depression to retarded taphrogenesis and high speed depression to gradual halt of taphrogenesis and reduced depression to slow depression and gradual halt of depression. The tectonic evolution resulted in the formation of the "lower taphrogenesis and upper depression" structure. The formation of the binary structure might be due to the suspension of taphrogenesis and the change of the regional structure stress field, but the depression kept going. The result of calculation combining the analysis of the synsedimentary structural frame, the back-stripping method of the subsidence history of the basin basement and the simulation of thermo-settlement history indicates that the great sedimentary space required by the "upper depression part" consists of two parts, namely, 40% from compaction of sediments and 60% from slow depression of the basin basement during a long period of time. Gradual halt of the depression in the Fushun Basin may be attributed to the reversal of the lithosphere hot-recession and gravity isostasy adjustment which may be the result of new hot-events in the depths and accompanied invasion of extremely thick diabase sill, thus revealing a new forming mechanism of "fault subsidence at the base and depression on the top" structure.     

Sandy desertification in the north of China

With the economic and social development, desertification exerted increasingly profound influences on natural environment and social development and attracted widespread attention of international communities. China, as one of the countries facing severe desertification problems, has witnessed some progress in understanding and combating the process of desertification through many years of hard work. Based on the experiences and research achievements, this paper briefly discusses the causes, developmental processes, damage assessment and control mechanism of desertification in the north of China so as to provide some basic experiences for the further study of desertification.     

Damage and recovery of the Gurbantunggut Desert vegetation following engineering activities

The fragile ecological environment of the Gurbantunggut Desert is damaged/disturbed by human activities relating to the development of oil-gas resources and the constructions of desert road and great engineering in the Jungger Basin. It was mainly represented: soil compaction, vegetation cleaning, burial of vegetation, oil polluting, and soil disturbance. With investigation and experiment, we found that when the way and intensity of engineering activities disturbing the eco-environment does not make its ecological stability disintegrated, the desert vegetation has a capacity of natural recovery. To speed and strengthen the process of vegetation recovery efficient assistant measurements, including stabilizing mobile sands promptly and sowing seeds of shrub and herb plants in good time will be needed.     

Precise revision of the garnet-muscovite geothermometer

The garnet-muscovite geothermometer was refined through empirical calibration by using natural rocks metamorphosed under the physical conditions of 238—1306 MPa and 490—700℃. Input temperatures and pressures were determined through simultaneously applying the garnet-biotite geothermometer and the garnet-biotite-plagioclase-quartz barometer, assuming that all FeO in muscovite and garnet be ferrous. Garnet was treated as the asymmetric quaternary solid solution, and muscovite as the symmetric binary solid solution. Input muscovite compositions include Fe atoms between 0.03—0.19 and Mg atoms between 0.04—0.16 on the basis of 11 oxygen atoms, and input garnet compositions include spessartine fractions between 0.01—0.289, grossular fractions between 0.028—0.273, and the Fe/Mg ratio between 3.387-18.986. The resulting garnet-muscovite geothermometer reproduces temperatures within (50℃ compared with the garnet-biotite thermometer. Total random error of ±37℃ of the new thermometer may stem from the pressure uncertainty of ±200 MPa, and uncertainties of ±5% of Fe and Mg components in muscovite, and ±5% of Fe, Mg, Mn and Ca components in garnet, altogether. When there exist 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% Fe3+ in muscovite, respectively, the computed garnet-muscovite temperatures will be 1—6℃, 2—12℃, 3—16℃, 5—24℃ and 7—29℃, respectively, lower than those obtained when assuming that all FeO be ferrous. The new garnet-muscovite geothermometer can efficiently reflect temperature change of typical prograde sequences and contact aureole rocks, and may be applied to low- to high-grade and low- to high-pressure metamorphic rocks.     

基于DEM的黄河流域天文辐射空间分布

基于1 km×1 km分辨率的数字高程模型(DEM) 数据,利用建立的起伏地形下天文辐射分布式计算模型,计算了黄河流域1 km×1 km分辨率各月天文辐射的空间分布。结果表明:局部地形对黄河流域年和四季天文辐射的空间分布影响明显;在太阳高度角较低的冬季,地理和地形因子对天文辐射的影响相当强烈,山区天文辐射的空间差异大,1月份向阳山坡(偏南坡) 天文辐射可为背阴山坡(偏北坡) 的2~3倍,极端天文辐射的差异可达10倍以上;而在太阳高度角较高的夏季,天文辐射空间差异较小,7月份不同地形极端天文辐射的差异仅在16%左右;四季中,地形对天文辐射影响的程度为冬季>秋季>春季>夏季。     

皖西南地区南华纪—志留纪层序地层分析

在1：25万区域地质调查基础上，通过对宿松—东至地区南华纪-志留纪地层露头剖面研究，对其相应的沉积环境、沉积相进行了分析，并根据生物地层、岩石地层和年代地层等成果，将南华纪-志留纪地层划分为1个一级层序，5个二级层序和15个三级层序组。一级和二级层序在沉积相序上总的趋势表现为浅→深→浅的变化，且与海平面变化曲线相吻合；三级层序组海平面上升和下降往往受构造运动、海平面变化；冰川事件影响。     

Isotopic Tracing of Trophication Processes over the Last Millennia on Lake Chenghai

Multi-parameter studies (stable isotopes in carbonate and organic matter, pigment,organic carbon and nitrogen contents) from a 660-yr continuous sediment core from Lake Cheng-hai, a closed, eutropic lake in southern China, provide information on lake historical eutrophi-cation. During the last 660 years, great changes have taken place in productivity and eutrophi-cation of Lake Chenghai in response to human activities. In 1690, the productivity of the lakebegan to increase as Lake Chenghai became closed from agriculture in the lake‘‘ s watershed. In 1942, Lake Chenghai evolved to eutrophic state, marked by an increase in organic carbon, ni-trogen, CaC03, pigment contents and obvious negative values of stable isotopes, which is more or less simultaneous with the large-scale population immigration during the period. In 1984, in-tensive human activities induced modern lacustrine productivity and eutrophic level. Human-in-duced trophic changes during the past few decades have affected the Lake Chenghai ecosystem tosuch an extent that it has never experienced before in the last 660 years.     

辽西朝阳盆地早白垩世一新的无齿翼龙化石

采自辽西朝阳盆地早白垩世九佛堂组的一翼龙化石被记述。化石材料是一接近完整骨架的无齿的翼龙，带有一不完全的头骨。作者将其归于翼手龙类(Pteroclactyloidea)，并建一新属、新种一无齿吉大翼龙(Jidapterus edentus gen．et sp．nov．)。