焉耆盆地活动断层的晚第四纪右行走滑

本研究对天山东南侧山间盆地——焉耆盆地的晚第四纪右行走滑活动断层的位移和滑动速率进行了测量.详细的卫星图像分析和野外调查表明活动断层(开都河断层带)主要分布在盆地的南缘,具典型的走滑断层特征.发育在晚更新世—全新世冲积扇中的水系记录了3～250 m的右行错断和位移的累积.冲积扇中的断层陡坎高1 m到25 m,沿断层带走向左行雁列状断层崖呈现,向NE和SW倾.基于河道的错断,14C数据和断层岩组构的分析可以得出:①活动断层的平均右行走滑速率为8 mm/a,垂直分量的速率为1 mm/a,(②典型的单次地震断裂事件产生的错断量为3～7 m,③大地震事件(Ms>7)的平均重复间隔约为500年,④开都河断层带最新的地震断裂事件发生在过去2 500 a间.与印度—欧亚板块碰撞相关联的天山是一个逆冲构造占主导地位的造山带,而山间盆地中晚第四纪的走滑断层表明了这种造山机制中具有水平滑动.     

Slip sense inversion on active strike-slip faults in southwest Japan and its implications for Cenozoic tectonic evolution

Analyses of deflected river channels, offset of basement rocks, and fault rock structures reveal that slip sense inversion occurred on major active strike-slip faults in southwest Japan such as the Yamasaki and Mitoke fault zones and the Median Tectonic Line (MTL). Along the Yamasaki and Mitoke fault zones, small-size rivers cutting shallowly mountain slopes and Quaternary terraces have been deflected sinistrally, whereas large-size rivers which deeply incised into the Mio-Pliocene elevated peneplains show no systematically sinistral offset or complicated hairpin-shaped deflection. When the sinistral offsets accumulated on the small-size rivers are restored, the large-size rivers show residual dextral deflections. This dextral offset sense is consistent with that recorded in the pre-Cenozoic basement rocks. S–C fabrics of fault gouge and breccia zone developed in the active fault zones show sinistral shear sense compatible with earthquake focal mechanisms, whereas those of the foliated cataclasite indicate a dextral shear sense. These observations show that the sinistral strike-slip shear fabrics were overprinted on dextral ones which formed during a previous deformation phase. Similar topographic and geologic features are observed along the MTL in the central-eastern part of the Kii Peninsula. Based on these geomorphological and geological data, we infer that the slip sense inversion occurred in the period between the late Tertiary and mid-Quaternary period. This strike-slip inversion might result from the plate rearrangement consequent to the mid-Miocene Japan Sea opening event. This multidisciplinary study gives insight into how active strike-slip fault might evolves with time.     

Middle Miocene to Pleistocene magneto-biostratigraphy of ODP Sites 1150 and 1151, northwest Pacific: Sedimentation rate and updated regional geological timescale

Abstract Shipboard and shore‐based investigation on siliceous and calcareous microfossil biostratigraphy, magneto‐stratigraphy and tephrostratigraphy identified numerous datum events from the sedimentary sequences of Sites 1150 and 1151 drilled on the forearc basin of northern Japan by the Ocean Drilling Program Leg 186. Some 83 datum events were selected to construct new age–depth models for the sites. Based on the reliable magneto‐stratigraphy from the Pleistocene to the Upper Miocene, which were correlated to the standard geomagnetic polarity timescale, and on excellent records of diatom and radiolarian biostratigraphy throughout the sequences, the shipboard age model was revised. Major revisions referred to stratigraphic position of the Miocene–Pliocene boundary that has been shifted more than 200 m downward in each sequence. The age–depth relations of the forearc sites represent drastic changes in the sedimentation rate—extremely high (40 cm/k.y. on average) in the Early Pliocene and low (less than 2 cm/k.y. on average) in the Middle Miocene—and several hiatuses exist throughout the sequence. The drastic changes can be related mostly to changes in diatom sedimentation and the tectonics of the Japanese Island Arc. Local ages for some foraminiferal, calcareous nannofossil and radiolarian bioevents are estimated from the age–depth models at each site. These newly calibrated bioevents and biozones as well as established diatom biostratigraphy are incorporated into the updated magneto‐biochronologic timescale, which will contribute to an improvement in biochronologic accuracy of Neogene sediments in northern Japan and adjacent areas.     

Evolution of the tertiary volcanic rocks in the Izu-Mariana arc

Petrological evolution of the Tertiary island arc in the Izu-Mariana region has been accompanied by the development of three different volcanic suites: 1) oceanridge basalt now exposed as the metamorphic basement on Yap; 2) island-arc tholeiites of Eocene to early Oligocene age characterized by low contents of incompatible elements at all levels of silica enrichment; and 3) calc-alkalic rocks of late Oligocene to early Miocene age showing higher contents of silica and incompatible elements. All these three suites have primitive, undifferentiated basalts or andesites (boninites) characterized by high Mg/Fe, Cr, and Ni, suggesting that they have been derived from an upper mantle peridotite at relatively high temperatures. The earliest volcanism appears to have occurred at a spreading ridge. Later, as subduction proceeded, the island-arc tholeiite magma may have been produced by the introduction of a smaller amount of water into the locus of fusion from the subducted oceanic crust. An increasingly larger amount of water introduced into the same region could have led to the development of the more siliceous, calc-alkalic magma, as represented typically by the boninite.     

Large P–T gap between Ballantrae blueschist/garnet pyroxenite and surrounding ophiolite, southern Scotland, UK: Diapiric exhumation of a Caledonian serpentinite mélange

The Ballantrae ophiolite in southern Scotland includes a NEE–SWW-trending serpentinite mélange that contains blocks of mafic blueschist and high-pressure, granulite facies, metapyroxenite (Sm–Nd metamorphic age: 576 ± 32 and 505 ± 11 Ma). Tectonic blocks of mafic schist are less than 3 × 3 m in size, and have greenschist, blueschist or epidote amphibolite facies assemblages corresponding to the high-pressure intermediate-type metamorphic facies series.Adjacent rocks of the serpentinite mélange are hydrothermally-altered MORB-like ophiolitic basalt (prehnite–pumpellyite facies), dolerite (actinolite–oligoclase sub-facies) and gabbro (amphibolite facies), all with assemblages that are diagnostic of the low-pressure metamorphic facies series.The difference in metamorphic facies series and parageneses of minerals between the high-pressure mafic blocks and the adjacent, low-pressure ophiolitic meta-basic rocks suggests that the former were exhumed from > 25 km depth within a cold subducted slab, and were juxtaposed with the latter, the bottom of a MORB-like ophiolite in the hanging wall of a trench. An ENE–WSW-trending, 501 ± 12 Ma volcanic arc belt extends for 3 km south of the serpentinite mélange. We suggest that ridge subduction associated with a slab window created arc-related gabbro (483 ± 4 Ma) at Byne Hill and within-plate gabbro (487 ± 8 Ma) at Millenderdale. Final continental collision created the duplex structure of the Ballantrae complex that includes the HP blocks and serpentinite mélange. These relations define diapiric exhumation in the Caledonian orogen of SW Scotland.     

Late Quaternary activity and dextral strike-slip movement on the Karakax Fault Zone, northwest Tibet

Field observations and interpretations of satellite images reveal that the westernmost segment of the Altyn Tagh Fault (called Karakax Fault Zone) striking WNW located in the northwestern margin of the Tibetan Plateau has distinctive geomorphic and tectonic features indicative of right-lateral strike-slip fault in the Late Quaternary. South-flowing gullies and N–S-trending ridges are systematically deflected and offset by up to ~ 1250 m, and Late Pleistocene–Holocene alluvial fans and small gullies that incise south-sloping fans record dextral offset up to ~ 150 m along the fault zone. Fault scarps developed on alluvial fans vary in height from 1 to 24 m. Riedel composite fabrics of foliated cataclastic rocks including cataclasite and fault gouge developed in the shear zone indicate a principal right-lateral shear sense with a thrust component. Based on offset Late Quaternary alluvial fans, ¹⁴C ages and composite fabrics of cataclastic fault rocks, it is inferred that the average right-lateral strike-slip rate along the Karakax Fault Zone is ~ 9 mm/a in the Late Quaternary, with a vertical component of ~ 2 mm/a, and that a M 7.5 morphogenic earthquake occurred along this fault in 1902. We suggest that right-lateral slip in the Late Quaternary along the WNW-trending Karakax Fault Zone is caused by escape tectonics that accommodate north–south shortening of the western Tibetan Plateau due to ongoing northward penetration of the Indian plate into the Eurasian plate.     

Neoproterozoic glaciation in the mid-oceanic realm: An example from hemi-pelagic mudstones on Llanddwyn Island, Anglesey, UK

We report the first occurrence of ice-rafted dropstones in mid-oceanic sediments belonging to an ocean plate stratigraphy within a Neoproterozoic accretionary complex on Llanddwyn Island, Wales, UK. Dropstones of sandstone, chert, and basalt occur as matrix-supported exotic clasts in a 1 m-thick, hemi-pelagic mafic mudstone; the largest clast is 20 × 25 cm across. These dropstones occur specifically in hemi-pelagic mafic mudstone that is located at the structural top of ocean plate stratigraphy that records a ridge-trench transition; they are supplementary to dropstones associated with extensive tillites reported in shallow marine sequences of continental shelf facies and in back-arc basins.     

Nine requirements for the origin of Earth's life:Not at the hydrothermal vent,but in a nuclear geyser system

The origin of life on Earth remains enigmatic with diverse models and debates.Here we discuss essential requirements for the first emergence of life on our planet and propose the following nine requirements:(1)an energy source(ionizing radiation and thermal energy);(2)a supply of nutrients(P.K.REE.etc.);(3)a supply of life-constituting major elements;(4)a high concentration of reduced gases such as CH_4,HCN and NH_3;(5)dry-wet cycles to create membranes and polymerize RNA;(6)a non-toxic aqueous environment;(7)Na-poor water;(8)highly diversified environments,and(9)cyclic conditions,such as dayto-night,hot-to-cold etc.Based on these nine requirements,we evaluate previously proposed locations for the origin of Earth's life,including:(1)Darwin's "warm little pond",leading to a "prebiotic soup" for life;(2)panspermia or Neo-panspermia(succession model of panspermia);(3)transportation from/through Mars;(4)a deepsea hydrothermal system;(5)an on-land subduct ion-zone hot spring,and(6)a geyser systems driven by a natural nuclear reactor.We conclude that location(6)is the most ideal candidate for the o rigin point for Earth's life because of its efficiency in continuously supplying both the energy and the necessary materials for life,thereby maintaining the essential "cradle" for its initial development.We also emphasize that falsifiable working hypothesis provides an important tool to evaluate one of the biggest mysteries of the universe-the origin of life.     

Propagation of seismic slip from brittle to ductile crust: Evidence from pseudotachylyte of the Woodroffe thrust, central Australia

The Woodroffe thrust, central Australia, is a > 1.5-km-wide mylonitized shear zone marked by large volumes of mm- to cm-scale pseudotachylyte veins. The pseudotachylytes display typical melt-origin features, including rounded and embayed clasts, spherulitic and dentritic microlites, and flow structures within a fine-grained matrix. Three types of pseudotachylyte are identified on the basis of deformation texture, vein morphology, and host-rock lithology: cataclasite-related (C-Pt), mylonite-related (M-Pt), and ultramylonite-related (Um-Pt). The M-Pt and Um-Pt veins intrude into mylonite and ultramylonite and are themselves overprinted by subsequent mylonitization. These pseudotachylytes contain an internal foliation defined by flattened porphyroclasts and layering of the fine-grained vein matrix, and the foliation is generally oriented parallel to foliation in the surrounding mylonite and ultramylonite. These observations constrain the timing and environment of M-Pt and Um-Pt pseudotachylyte formation to a protracted period of deformation and mylonitization within the ductile regime of the crust. The M-Pt and Um-Pt veins, as well as the host mylonite, are overprinted by cataclasis and multiple generations of late-stage C-Pt veins that were generated in the brittle-dominated regime of the upper crust during uplift and exhumation of the shear zone.The coexistence of multiple generations of voluminous C-Pt, M-Pt, and Um-Pt veins indicates that the pseudotachylyte veins represent a large number of large earthquakes and accompanying seismic slip over an extended period of seismicity on the Woodroffe thrust. The timing and distribution of pseudotachylyte indicate that the earthquakes nucleated at the base of the brittle-dominated seismogenic zone and propagated down through the brittle–ductile transition into the ductile-dominated regime of the crust.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112001065

It has been thought that granitic crust,having been formed on the surface,must have survived through the Earth’s evolution because of its buoyancy.At subduction zones continental crust is predominantly created by arc magmatism and is returned to the mantle via sediment subduction,subduction erosion, and continental subduction.Granitic rocks,the major constituent of the continental crust,are lighter than the mantle at depths shallower than 270 km,but we show here,based on first principles calculations, that beneath 270 km they have negative buoyancy compared to the surrounding material in the upper mantle and transition zone,and thus can be subducted in the depth range of 270-660 km.This suggests that there can be two reservoirs of granitic material in the Earth,one on the surface and the other at the base of the mantle transition zone(MTZ).The accumulated volume of subducted granitic material at the base of the MTZ might amount to about six times the present volume of the continental crust.Our calculations also show that the seismic velocities of granitic material in the depth range from 270 to 660 km are faster than those of the surrounding mantle.This could explain the anomalous seismic-wave velocities observed around 660 km depth.The observed seismic scatterers and reported splitting of the 660 km discontinuity could be due to jadeite dissociation,chemical discontinuities between granitic material and the surrounding mantle,or a combination thereof.