Palaeoenvironment reconstruction,volcanic evolution and geochronology of the Cerro Blanco subcomplex,Nevados de Chillán volcanic complex,central Chile

Nevados de Chillán Volcanic Complex, central Chile, has been active for at least 640 ka—a period spanning a number of glacial and interglacial periods. Geologic mapping, radiometric dating and geochemical analysis have identified six new volcanic units and produced four new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages for Cerro Blanco, the northern subcomplex of Nevados de Chillán volcano. Compositions range from dacite to basaltic-andesite and a new geologic map is presented. Examination of lava fracture structures on both newly mapped lavas and those mapped during previous studies has enabled interpretations of former eruptive environments. Palaeoenvironment reconstructions, combined with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages and comparison with the marine oxygen isotope record, show that at least three phases of volcanic activity have occurred during the evolution of Cerro Blanco: (1) a constructive, pre-caldera collapse period; (2) a period of caldera formation and collapse; and (3) a constructive period of dome growth forming the modern day volcanic centre. This style of volcanic evolution, whereby large-scale caldera collapse is followed by growth of a new stratocone is common at Andean volcanoes.     

P wave velocity structure of upper and middle crust beneath the Three Gorges reservoir dam and adjacent regions

The three-dimensional P wave velocity structures of upper and middle crust beneath the Three Gorges reservoir dam and adjacent regions were reconstructed by means of the seismic tomography, using the absolute P-arrivals from the events observed by the Three Gorges seismic network. Our preliminary study of the deep structure shows: (1) the lithology of the Huangling anticline, integral and highly solidified, exhibits a uniformity. Down to a depth of 20 km, the Huangling anticline still shows high-velocity anomalies. Note that the characteristics of the velocity images with the different depths are not the same; (2) the depth of the sedimentary rocks beneath the entire Zigui basin is not constant, which is less than 6 km; (3) the top boundary of the crystalline basement varies from 0 to 7 km, whereas the bottom one between 14 and 16 km; (4) the partially molten substances of the upper mantle are located in the Badong-Zigui and its adjacent regions as well as nearby Peishi area. The development and evolution of the current tectonics are associated with the cooling and solidifying process of the molten substances within the upper mantle; (5) the different velocity structures of the deep crust in both east and west side of the Jiuwanxi fault are to be investigated in order to understand the origin of gravitational gradient zone in the Three Gorge areas; and (6) the velocities within the upper crust would be affected by reservoir water permeability. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40574039), National Key Technology R& D Program (Grant No. 2008BAC38B02)     

Geophysical evidence of the Eastern Marginal Fault of the Cheb Basin (Czech Republic)

The western part of the Bohemian Massif hosts an intersection of two regional fault zones, the SW-NE trending Oh?e/Eger Graben and the NNW-SSE trending Mariánské Lázně Fault, which has been reactivated several times in the geological history and controlled the formation of the Tertiary Cheb Basin. The broader area of the Cheb Basin is also related to permanent seismic activity of M_L 3+ earthquake swarms. The Eastern Marginal Fault of the Cheb Basin (northern segment of the Mariánské Lázně Fault) separates the basin sediments and underlying granites in the SW from the Kru?né Hory/Erzgebirge Mts. crystalline unit in the NE. We describe a detailed geophysical survey targeted to locating the Eastern Marginal Fault and determining its geometry in the depth. The survey was conducted at the Kopanina site near the Nový Kostel focal zone, which shows the strongest seismic activity of the whole Western Bohemia earthquake swarm region. Complex geophysical survey included gravimetry, electrical resistivity tomography, audiomagnetotellurics and seismic refraction. We found that the rocks within the Eastern Marginal Fault show low resistivity, low seismic velocity and density, which indicates their deep fracturing, weathering and higher water content. The dip of the fault in shallow depths is about 60° towards SW. At greater depths, the slope turns to subvertical with dip angle of about 80°. Results of geoelectrical methods show blocky fabric of the Cheb Basin and deep weathering of the granite bedrock, which is consistent with geologic models based on borehole surveys.     

Application of various methods for 2D inverse modeling of residual gravity anomalies

This paper presents a neural network approach to determine 2D inverse modeling of a buried structure from gravity anomaly profile. The results of the applied neural network method are compared with the results of two other methods, least-squares minimization and the simple method. Sphere, horizontal cylinder and vertical cylinder and their gravity effects are considered as the synthetic models and the synthetic data, respectively. The synthetic data are also corrupted with noise to evaluate the capability of the methods. Then the Dehloran bitumen map in Iran is chosen as a real data application. Anomaly value of the cross-section, which is taken from the gravity anomaly map of Dehloran bitumen, is very close to those obtained from these methods.     

Paleoenvironment evolution of the East Philippine Sea recorded in the new-type ferromanganese crust since the terminal Late Miocene

From systemic research of microstructure, geochemistry, uranium-series and 10Be isotope dating on a new-type deepwater ferromanganese crust from the East Philippine Sea, the paleoenvironment evolu-tion of the target area since the terminal Late Miocene was recovered. The vertical section changes of microstructure and chemical composition are consistent in the studied crust, which indicate three major accretion periods and corresponding paleoenvironment evolution of the crust. The bottom crust zone was formed in the terminal Late Miocene (5.6 Ma) with loose microstructure, high detritus content and high growth rate. Reductions of mineral element content, accretion rate and positive Ce-anomaly degree at 4.6 Ma indicate temporal warming, which went against the crust accretion and finally formed an accretion gap in the terminal Middle Pliocene (2.8―2.7 Ma). The more active Antarctic bottom sea-waters in the Late Pliocene (2.7 Ma) facilitated the fast transfer to the top pure crust zone. Hereafter, with the further apart of volcanic source and the keeping increase of eolian material (1.0 Ma), although surrounding conditions were still favorable, mineral element content still shows an obvious reducing trend. It thereby offers new carrier and data for the unclear paleoceanographic research of the target area since the terminal Late Miocene.     

Gold contents of both mantle-derived xenoliths and sulfides in them from eastern China

The gold contents of 59 samples of mantle-derived xenoliths, along with 85 samples of sulfide assem-blages in them, of Cenozoic basalt from eight districts in eastern China are analyzed. The gold contents of mantle xenoliths usually fall in the range of 10-9―10-8, whereas those of the sulfide assemblages fall in the range of 10-4―10-2. This implies that the latter are several hundred thousand times higher than the former, and thus that Au in the mantle is concentrated mostly in sulfide assemblages. Gold con-tents of both mantle-derived xenoliths and sulfide assemblages in them are inhomogeneous spatially, but their distribution rules are similar. Except the samples from Hainan Province, either the mantle xenoliths with high gold content or sulfide assemblages of the mantle-derived xenoliths with high gold content are distributed mostly on the north and south margins of the North China platform (Hannuoba of Hebei Province and Linqu, Changle of Shandong Province), corresponding to districts with concen-trated gold deposits in northwest Hebei Province and Jiaodong Peninsula of Shandong Province. This may reflect the correlativity in age, nature and composition between the continental crust and the un-derlying lithospheric mantle. The underlying lithospheric mantle of the North China platform is an an-cient gold-rich lithospheric mantle. The gold-rich lithospheric mantle may be the material source of later activation, enrichment, transportation and mineralization of gold by auriferous CO2 mantle fluids.     

Paleomagnetic result of the Lower-Cretaceous from Luanping basin,Hebei Province and its tectonic implications*

A paleomagnetic study of about 95 samples from 16 sites sampled in the Early Cretaceous in Luanping basin in Hebei Province was reported. Stepwise thermal demagnetization was used to isolate magnetic components. Most samples have a characteristic direction with a high temperature component above 500°C. The tectonic-corrected data areD = 347.8°,I = 50.4°, α₉₅ = 7.l°, and the corresponding pole position is at 76.1°N, 346.3°E,with dp =6.4°,dm = 3.8°, paleolatitude λ = 31.1°N. This result indicates a counterclockwise post-Cretaceous rotation of 30.7° ±9.8° with respect to the stable Ordos basin in the west of North China Block, and a non-significant northward motion. This rotation could be related to local fault action or structural detachment, or regional NNW-NWWward motion and collision of Kula-Pacific plate with eastern China since the Early Cretaceous.     

Subsidence history and forming mechanism of anomalous tectonic subsidence in the Bozhong depression, Bohaiwan basin

The Bozhong depression of the Bohaiwan basin belongs to a family of extensional basins in East China, but is quite different from other parts of the basin. The Cenozoic subsidence of the depression is controlled by a combination of lithospheric thinning and polycyclic strike-slip movements. Three episodic rifts have been identified, i.e. Paleocence-early Eocene, middle-late Eocene and Oligocene age. The depression underwent syn-rift and post-rift stages, but two episodic dextral movement events of the strike-slip faults modify the subsidence of the Bozhong depression since the Oligocene. The early dextral movement of the Tan-Lu fault associated with crustal extension resulted in accelerated subsidence during the time of deposition of the Dongying Formation with a maximum thickness of 4000 m. A late reactivation of dextral movement of the Tan-Lu fault began in late Miocene (about 12 Ma), which resulted in the intense subsidence of Minghuazhen Formation and Quaternary. In addition, dynamic mantle convection-driven topography also accelerated the post-rift anomalous subsidence since the Miocene (24.6 Ma). Our results indicate that the primary control on rapid subsidence both during the rift and post-rift stages in the Bozhong depression originates from a combination of multiple episodic crustal extension and polycyclic dextral movements of strike-slip faults, and dynamic topography.     

A parallel domain decomposition algorithm for coastal ocean circulation models based on integer linear programming

This paper presents a new parallel domain decomposition algorithm based on integer linear programming (ILP), a mathematical optimization method. To minimize the computation time of coastal ocean circulation models, the ILP decomposition algorithm divides the global domain in local domains with balanced work load according to the number of processors and avoids computations over as many as land grid cells as possible. In addition, it maintains the use of logically rectangular local domains and achieves the exact same results as traditional domain decomposition algorithms (such as Cartesian decomposition). However, the ILP decomposition algorithm may not converge to an exact solution for relatively large domains. To overcome this problem, we developed two ILP decomposition formulations. The first one (complete formulation) has no additional restriction, although it is impractical for large global domains. The second one (feasible) imposes local domains with the same dimensions and looks for the feasibility of such decomposition, which allows much larger global domains. Parallel performance of both ILP formulations is compared to a base Cartesian decomposition by simulating two cases with the newly created parallel version of the Stevens Institute of Technology’s Estuarine and Coastal Ocean Model (sECOM). Simulations with the ILP formulations run always faster than the ones with the base decomposition, and the complete formulation is better than the feasible one when it is applicable. In addition, parallel efficiency with the ILP decomposition may be greater than one.