Assessing volcanic origins within detrital zircon populations——A case study from the Mesozoic non-volcanic margin of southern Australia

Detrital zircon U/Pb geochronology is a common tool used to resolve stratigraphic questions,inform basin evolution and constrain regional geological histories.In favourable circumstances,detrital zircon populations can contain a concomitant volcanic contribution that provides constraints on the age of deposition.However,for non-volcanic settings,proving isolated detrital zircon grains are from contemporaneous and potentially remote volcanism is challenging.Here we use same grain(U-Th)/He thermochronology coupled with U/Pb geochronology to identify detrital zircon grains of contemporary volcanic origin.(U-Th)/He ages from Cretaceous zircon grains in southern Australia define a single population with a weighted mean age of 104±6.1 Ma.indistinguishable from zircon U/Pb geochronology and palynology(～104.0-107.5 Ma).Detrital zircon trace-element geochemistry is consistent with a continental signature for parent rocks and coupled with detrital grain ages,supports derivation from a2000 km distant early-to mid-Cretaceous Whitsunday Volcanic Province in eastern Australia.Thus,integration of biostratigraphy,single-grain zircon double-dating(geochronology and thermochronology)and grain geochemistry enhances fingerprinting of zircon source region and transport history.A distal volcanic source and rapid continental-scale transport to southern Australia is supported here.     

中国四川2008年5月12日汶川地震的地质与地球物理背景

2008年5月12日, 在青藏高原东缘的龙门山, 发生了MW7.9地震. 这一地震是在青藏高原长期隆升和向东推挤的背景下形成的. 发生地震的区域有以下典型的地质特征: 不是陡峭山前的活动汇聚造山带(包括地形起伏大于4 km的情况), 而是缺少高活动强度的低角度逆冲断层;虽拥有年轻的高地形(距今15 Ma)和加厚的地壳, 但是却只有低的GPS缩短率(小于3 mm/a), 并且缺少同时代的前陆沉积. 在我们看来, 青藏高原东部下面的地壳加厚不是因为上部地壳的大范围缩短, 而是由于位于软弱层(低速层)中的深部地壳的韧性增厚. 横跨龙门山的晚新生代缩短量可能仅有10～20 km, 且伴有主要造成青藏高原和四川盆地差异抬升的褶皱和断裂. 5月12日的地震可能反映了青藏高原东部相对四川盆地的带有缓慢的汇聚和右旋走滑的长期抬升. 5月12日地震邻区内GPS确定的速率表明, 该地震的平均复发间隔大约为2 000～10 000年.     

辽宁北票早白垩世具真正两性花的始花古果（新种）

被子植物起源问题被达尔文称为一个厌恶之谜，至今尚未解决。根据现代和化石植物的形态学研究，最早的被子植物被认为像尼藤类那样在两性生殖枝上有苞片和次生生殖枝(假花说／花序说)或像本内苏铁那样在两性生殖枝上有苞片和生殖孢片(真花说)。最近基因分子学研究结果认为尼藤类与松柏类最接近，从而间接地反对假花说。基因分子学研究结果还假定睡莲、八角等四科为基底被子植物，而这些植物的花和真花说所期盼的一致。孙革等人(1998，200l，2002)发现于辽西的辽宁古果和中华古果的两性生殖枝上具有簇生的雄蕊和心皮，其簇生小柄上因没有孢片被解释成花件，而整个两性枝条则被解释成具多重花件的两性花(相当于真花)。然后孙革等人(2002)将古果的17个形态特征并入具有108植物形态特征和1628植     

西藏班公湖-怒江缝合带--深部地球物理结构给出的启示

通过跨越缝合带的综合地球物理和地质调查研究，查明了地质上推测的“班公湖一怒江缝合带”的深部结构和构造，提出了下述观点：现有资料尚不足以证明，“班公湖一怒江缝合带”是严格意义上的缝合带，而趋向表明是一个老的弧后拉张区，在后来的印度大陆与拉萨地块碰撞挤压过程中，先是沉积了巨厚的第三纪地层，仅在20Ma(?)以来才转变成挤压体制，形成多条逆冲断裂；纳木错一申扎逆冲的蛇绿岩片带代表着侏罗纪洋的主要缝合带位置，在其闭合过程中洋壳与陆壳一起向北发生俯冲，并形成班戈岩带所代表的岩浆弧，在岩浆弧后出现了拉张区；下地壳向北挤压增厚，物理性质不同的上、下地壳之间相互运动而形成了一条缓倾的剪切片理化带，南北长达300km，命名为主羌塘逆冲断裂带(MQT)；并使班戈岩片整体向南逆推上去，致使地壳分层增厚；在拉张期伦坡拉小地块向下运动，20Ma以后转变成压缩体制后又开始向上逆推，再加上后期的剥蚀，致使班戈深成岩体出露于地表；唐古拉山、各拉丹冬等年轻的火山岩浆带与地表显示的构造活动无直接关系，推测应是地壳深层作用引起的构造岩浆活动的显示。     

New Tapejarid Pterosaur from Western Liaoning, China

A new tapejarid pterosaur Huaxiapterus jii gen. et sp. nov. is erected based on a nearly complete skeleton with a skull. The skull morphology of Huaxiapterus jii gen. et sp. nov. appears transitional between the skulls of Sinopterus and Tapejara. The skull morphology （low crest） of Huaxiapterusjii indicates that Huaxiapterus is more closely related to Sinopterus than to Tapejara, which has a high crest. The relatively long and shallow skull of Sinopterus indicates that it is a primitive form. Huaxiapterus is more derived than Sinopterus but more primitive than Tapejara.     

Crust Cooling of Soft X-Ray Transients——the Uncertainties of Shallow Heating

Crust cooling of soft X-ray transients has been observed after outbursts,but an additional shallow heating during accretion in outburst is needed to explain the quiescent light curve.However,shallow heating is significantly different between sources and even within one source between different outbursts,and the source of shallow heat is as yet unknown.Using the open source code "dStar" which solves the fully general relativistic heat diffusion equation for the crust,we investigate the effect of ...     

青藏高原东部及其邻区力学耦合的岩石圈变形模式

根据青藏高原东部及其邻区布设的143个宽频带固定和流动地震台站的远震记录的SKS波分裂分析获得了各台站的快波偏振方向和快慢波之间的时间延迟。SKS分裂分析结果总体上反映了高原东部的上地幔物质流动方向,即高原内部表现为环绕喜马拉雅东构造结的顺时针旋转。在造山运动过程中有关岩石圈地壳和地幔力学耦合的造山变形方式,用从GPS和第四纪断裂滑动速率数据确定的地面变形场和由地震波各向异性数据推断的地幔变形场联合分析来定量求得。在青藏高原东部和云南、四川等地区新近快速增加的GPS和SKS波分裂观测数据,提供了对青藏高原岩石圈地幔实际变形方式的检验。这些新的数据不仅加强了高原内部力学耦合岩石圈的证据,而且也解释了高原外部相同的耦合特征。文中引入简单剪切变形和纯剪切变形的概念,用于解释高原内外不同的耦合变形特征。青藏高原和周围区域力学耦合岩石圈的垂直连贯变形有两个方面的大陆动力学含义:第一,岩石圈垂直强度剖面被一个重要的条件所约束,即要求与重力势能变化相关的应力能够从地壳传递到地幔;第二,青藏高原各向异性的空间变化反映了一个岩石圈变形的大尺度模式,以及从高原内部的简单剪切变形向高原外部的纯剪切变形的过渡带。文中提出的力学耦合岩石圈变形模型与当前已有的多种造山运动变形模型具有不同的变形含义,因此,地幔变形在青藏高原隆升过程中起主要作用。     

Active Tectonics of the Longmen Shan Region on the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

There is a massive amount of geomorphic evidence for active tectonics in the Longmen Shan at the eastern margin of the Tibetan plateau. We have surveyed some typical geomorphic markers including the Wenchuan-Maowen, Beichuan-Yingxiu and Pengxian-Guanxian faults, terrace offsets, scarps, fault-controlled saddles, dextral shutter ridges, dextral channel offsets, graben, shatter belts, and pull-apart basins. Electron spin resonance （ESR） and thermoluminescence（TL） ages were obtained using silty sand taken from below the surface of the sediments. According to these data, we calculated the rates of thrusting and strike-slip, and the results indicate that Cenozoic tectonic shortening at the plateau margin is minor with the rate of thrusting less than 1.10 mm/a and the rate of strike-slipping less than 1.46 mm/a. The Longmen Shan is a zone of NNE-trending dextral shear with slip-dip ratio of 6：1-1.3：1. From NW to SE, the thrust component becomes smaller, whereas the strike-slip component becomes larger.     

黄土高原东北缘矾山剖面的古地磁新结果

黄土高原不同地区发育的黄土-古土壤序列在东亚冬、夏季风记录上存在一定的差异性,而目前的研究多集中在黄土高原腹地.本文以黄土高原东北缘北京邻区矾山剖面S6～L9段地层为研究对象,开展了详细的古地磁、岩石磁学、粒度及地球化学测试分析.结果表明:1)与黄土高原腹地典型剖面同时段地层相比,矾山黄土成壤程度偏低,所受夏季风的影响...     

Arsenic mobility from arsenopyrite-rich gold mine waste in Snow Lake, Manitoba, Canada

Local water contamination by arsenic can be caused by gold mining activities as in Snow Lake, Manitoba. This project was to f＇md the source （s） and pathways of the arsenic contamination and describe arsenic attenuation in ground and surface water. The project was initiated because arsenic concentrations average 16.0 mg/L in one groundwater monitoring well （MW17）. One potential source of arsenic is the 50 year-old Arsenopyrite Residue Stockpile （ARS）, 100 m upgrade of MW17. Between 1948 and 1959, 250000 tons of cyanide treated, arsenopyrite concentrate were stored in a waste rock impoundment, which was left open until 2000 when it was capped with layers of waste rock, clay and silt to minimize water infiltration and the oxidative release of arsenic.