Stagnant lids and mantle overturns:Implications for Archaean tectonics,magmagenesis,crustal growth,mantle evolution,and the start of plate tectonics

The lower plate is the dominant agent in modern convergent margins characterized by active subduction,as negatively buoyant oceanic lithosphere sinks into the asthenosphere under its own weight.This is a strong plate-driving force because the slab-pull force is transmitted through the stiff sub-oceanic lithospheric mantle.As geological and geochemical data seem inconsistent with the existence of modernstyle ridges and arcs in the Archaean,a periodically-destabilized stagnant-lid crust system is proposed instead.Stagnant-lid intervals may correspond to periods of layered mantle convection where efficient cooling was restricted to the upper mantle,perturbing Earth's heat generation/loss balance,eventually triggering mantle overturns.Archaean basalts were derived from fertile mantle in overturn upwelling zones(OUZOs),which were larger and longer-lived than post-Archaean plumes.Early cratons/continents probably formed above OUZOs as large volumes of basalt and komatiite were delivered for protracted periods,allowing basal crustal cannibalism,garnetiferous crustal restite delamination,and coupled development of continental crust and sub-continental lithospheric mantle.Periodic mixing and rehomogenization during overturns retarded development of isotopically depleted MORB(mid-ocean ridge basalt)mantle.Only after the start of true subduction did sequestration of subducted slabs at the coremantle boundary lead to the development of the depleted MORB mantle source.During Archaean mantle overturns,pre-existing continents located above OUZOs would be strongly reworked;whereas OUZOdistal continents would drift in response to mantle currents.The leading edge of drifting Archaean continents would be convergent margins characterized by terrane accretion,imbrication,subcretion and anatexis of unsubductable oceanic lithosphere.As Earth cooled and the background oceanic lithosphere became denser and stiffer,there would be an increasing probability that oceanic crustal segments could founder in an organized way,producing a gradual evolution of pre-subduction convergent margins into modern-style active subduction systems around 2.5 Ga.Plate tectonics today is constituted of:(1)a continental drift system that started in the Early Archaean,driven by deep mantle currents pressing against the Archaean-age sub-continental lithospheric mantle keels that underlie Archaean cratons;(2)a subduction-driven system that started near the end of the Archaean.     

Rock-magnetic characteristics and mechanisms of the Titel loess-paleosol sequence in northern Serbia since late Middle Pleistocene

The changing pattern of magnetic characteristics in eastern European loess deposits is the most similar across the world to that of the Chinese Loess Plateau,both of which are dominated by the strength of pedogenesis.Hence a systematical study to the rock magnetism of eastern European loess is not only helpful for understanding the paleoclimatic information preserved by themselves,but also beneficial for promoting the cognition of the pedogenic mechanism in loess records.In this study,a detailed rock-magnetic analysis of seventy loess/paleosol samples,taken from the Titel Loess Plateau in northern Serbia,is carried out for a better understanding of the magnetic records since late Middle Pleistocene.The results provide us some implications.First,the magnetic susceptibility values of the paleosols in the Titel loess-paleosol sequence are generally less than 100×10^-8m³kg^-1,significantly lower than those of the loess sections in the Chinese Loess Plateau,even though they are under similar climatic conditions.However,the behaviors of the parameters related to the distributions of magnetic particles in these two regions are similar.The difference in the contents of ferrimagnetic minerals is the leading reason that caused the difference in their magnetic characteristics,but the mechanism is still open to study.Second,based on the analysis of thermomagnetic curves,a gradually increasing trend of the relative contents of maghemite over the last four glacial-interglacial cycles is identified.The realization of thermally unstable maghemite from Chinese loess leads us to speculate that the long-term increasing trend of the relative contents of maghemite in Titel loess-paleosol sequence likely is a mineralogical response to the progressive enhancement of continental climate in the Pannonian Basin since the Middle Pleistocene.     

Geochemistry of volcanic glass from Mahanadi offshore region,eastern continental margin of India:Constraints on the contribution of latest Toba super-eruption

The tephra layers in multiple sediment cores from the offshore region of the Mahanadi basin in the northern Bay of Bengal were investigated for possible volcanic sources. The glass shards from those tephra layers were studied for size distribution, texture, and elemental geochemistry to establish chronostratigraphic markers for regional and global Quaternary correlation. The textural features of fine-grained(silty) volcanic glasses suggest the distal source of these tephra deposits. Major elemen...     

俄罗斯极地乌拉尔硬玉岩成因矿物学研究

俯冲带是壳-幔物质循环的重要场所,硬玉岩可以记录这一循环过程。文中总结了俄罗斯极地乌拉尔硬玉岩的研究进展。硬玉岩呈脉状或透镜状产在蛇纹石化的方辉橄榄岩中,主要由硬玉和绿辉石组成。根据结构和颜色,硬玉可识别出两个世代。硬玉韵律环带发育,含有H₂O和CH₄流体包裹体,显示从流体中结晶的特征。硬玉岩中的锆石为热液锆石,锆石稀土元素中La_N/Yb_N=0.001~0.01,Lu_N/Gd_N=10~83,Ce/Ce^*=2.8~72,显示正异常,δEu=0.53~1.02,类似于岩浆锆石。锆石的¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf=0.282 708~0.283 017,ε_Hf(t)=+6~+17,类似于N-MORB的Hf同位素组成,锆石δ¹⁸O组成为5.03‰~6.04‰,平均δ¹⁸O为(5.45±0.11)‰,类似于岩浆热液和地幔的氧同位素组成。这可能反映了锆石是被俯冲带流体从途经火成岩中捕获的或者形成锆石的流体与寄主岩(方辉橄榄岩)达到了平衡。硬玉岩稀土元素配分模式近平坦或轻稀土元素略显富集,La_N/Yb_N比值为0.82~2.42,δEu为1.2~1.6,显示正异常,这与寄主岩稀土元素配分模式相似。富集Sr、Ba、Zr、Hf,Nb为负异常,与岛弧岩浆特征类似。(⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_t为0.703 400~0.703 519(t=368 Ma),变化较小,与古海水差别明显;ε_Nd(t)值为+0.77~+5.61,变化较大,与寄主岩(方辉橄榄岩)的Nd同位素组成类似,但不同于海水及沉积物的Nd同位素组成,表明硬玉岩的物质来源与寄主岩有明显继承关系,海水与沉积物的贡献不是主要的。矿物学和岩石学证据支持极地乌拉尔的硬玉岩主要是俯冲带流体与橄榄岩相互作用后并在其中结晶的产物。     

大西洋中脊轴部裂谷与佛得角断裂东部连接处的地貌构造

大西洋中脊轴部裂谷与佛得角断裂东部连接处的地貌构造Г．В．Аганова等大洋中脊和与其共轭的断裂区是详细研究的主要对象之一,研究中运用了综合技术手段,首先是多道回声仪,旁侧声纳和下潜仪器。对大西洋中脊不同地段获取的资料,揭示了以前未知的大西洋中脊轴...     

青藏高原的地质学演化

在比印度-欧亚碰撞区更广阔的范围最好地察看了青藏高原的地质学演化。在碰撞之后的50Ma,西藏的中部和西部的地壳缩短,而巨大的岩石层块体从碰撞区域向西太平洋和印度尼西亚的海沟俯冲回转区移动。快速的太平洋海沟迁移的停止（大约15～20Ma前）,与该高原远处块体挤出的变慢相一致,而且可能是由于西藏东部快速的地表隆升和地壳变厚导致的。后来出现的深部地壳快速向东流动可能是和西藏东部下面由地震成像的地壳通道有关。这些事件标志着向符合西藏内部形变的现代结构系统的转变。     

海南地幔柱上地幔结构新的地震学约束

给出了由近震和远震数据确定的海南地幔柱上地幔高分辨率层析成像结果。远震到时数据是由海南岛和雷州半岛9个固定地震台站记录的地震波形中精确提取的。我们的结果显示,在海南热点下方从地表到250km深度,地壳中存在高达-5％而在地幔仅-2％的明显低速异常。海南地幔柱被成像为西北-东南向倾斜的、直径约80km的连续低速柱状异常体。由于较密集数据覆盖和精细模型参数化,我们的结果相对于先前的局部和全球层析成像研究有了明显的改进。海南地幔柱的这种倾斜可以用数值模拟的结果来解释。地幔柱在上地幔中的倾斜可能与海洋板块的俯冲有关,特别是与菲律宾海板块和欧亚板块的挤压有关。但最可能的是,这种倾斜是地幔柱在下地幔扭曲后靠浮力上浮至上地幔形成的。     

Detection of spatial fluctuations of non-point source fecal pollution in coral reef surrounding waters in southwestern Puerto Rico using PCR-based assays

Human fecal contamination of coral reefs is a major cause of concern. Conventional methods used to monitor microbial water quality cannot be used to discriminate between different fecal pollution sources. Fecal coliforms, enterococci, and human-specific Bacteroides (HF183, HF134), general Bacteroides-Prevotella (GB32), and Clostridium coccoides group (CP) 16S rDNA PCR assays were used to test for the presence of non-point source fecal contamination across the southwestern Puerto Rico shelf. Inshore waters were highly turbid, consistently receiving fecal pollution from variable sources, and showing the highest frequency of positive molecular marker signals. Signals were also detected at offshore waters in compliance with existing microbiological quality regulations. Phylogenetic analysis showed that most isolates were of human fecal origin. The geographic extent of non-point source fecal pollution was large and impacted extensive coral reef systems. This could have deleterious long-term impacts on public health, local fisheries and in tourism potential if not adequately addressed.     

基于NEESgrid网络的子结构拟动力实验:Mini-MOST实验

美国国家科学基金(US National Sc ience Foundation,简称NSF)资助研制开发的地震工程模拟网络(Network for Earthquake Engineering S imu lation,简称NEES)包括15个分布在不同地点的设备站点,并使用NEESgrid网络相互连接。NEESgrid是一个先进的网络设施,它为地震工程研究,尤其是多地点的子结构拟动力实验(Mu lti-site Substructure Pseudo-dynam ic,缩写为MS-PSD)提供了丰富的工具。本文首先简单地介绍了NEES和NEESgrid,然后使用了一个小尺寸的模型实验(M in i-MOST)演示了利用NEESgrid进行MS-PSD实验的过程。实验原型为一个单层二跨的框架结构,实验将该结构划分为两个实验子结构和一个模拟子结构。实验中,这三个子模块使用一个基于M atlab仿真协调程序SIMCOR进行协调,实验的每一步,SIMCOR发送位移请求给各个子模块并接收各子模块恢复力反馈,同时使用a-OS方法计算结构反应以及下一步的位移。实验结果与分析结果吻合相当好,展示了NEESgrid在多地点远程拟动力实验方面的能力。