First finds of Late Tithonian and middle-late Albian radiolarian assemblages in volcanogenic-siliceous rocks of the Amur River right lower reaches and their tectonic significance

The lithological-stratigraphic study of volcanogenic-siliceous rocks developed on the left side of the Machtovaya River, a right tributary of the Amur River, yielded the first radiolarian assemblages of the late Late Tithonian, the late Late Tithonian-early Valanginian, and the middle-late Albian age. It is established that the stratigraphic succession of volcanogenic-siliceous rocks in this area is composed of upper Tithonian-Valanginian dark red to red-brown cherts with basalts in the lower part of the section and Albian dark gray clayey cherts, olive-gray siliceous-tuffaceous argillites, and tufaceous siltstones in its upper part. The replacement of cherts by their clayey varieties likely occurred in the Aptian. The composition, structure, and age of these strata and the rocks constituting the Kiselevka-Manoma accretionary complex are different, which indicates their different tectonic origin.     

A new concept of pedogenic nodule formation in landscapes of the Russian Far East

The typification of ferromanganese nodules (FMN) formed in subaqueous and subaerial settings and in residual materials, as well as FMN localization in various sediments and soils, is discussed. The genetic diversity of morphologically similar FMN and the transformation of FMN-bearing complexes with changes in landscapes have been established.     

Paleomagnetic studies of the Late Mesozoic deformation stage in the southern Primorye region

The analysis of paleomagnetic data available for the southern Primiorye region revealed that the studied objects were magnetized under regional remagnetization presumably during the Late Mesozoic folding and this magnetization can be interpreted as being synfolding. The interpretation is based on the parameter that characterizes the folding completion degree immediately before regional remagnetization. It is shown that the relaxation of Late Mesozoic horizontal stresses was irregular. The obtained estimates of the degree of folding completion are consistent with the available geological data and Talitskii’s model for tectonic deformations.     

Paleozoic granitoid magmatism of the eastern part of the Central Asian Fold Belt and formation of large ore deposits

Evidence on the Paleozoic granitoids of the eastern part of the Central Asian Fold Belt (CAFB) was analyzed. A tectonic chart of orogenic belts was compiled. Sketch maps were constructed for the geodynamic settings of the formation of Paleozoic granitoids and the extensiveness of their occurrence. Two types of deep controlling structures were distinguished: zones of lithospheric faults and plumes, including the newly recognized Jiamusi-Bureya plume. It was sown that the distribution of large and superlarge Paleozoic ore deposits is related to these structures, primarily to plumes. Sites promising for large and superlarge deposits related to the Paleozoic granitoid magmatism were determined in the Russian Far East.     

北京及邻区微震活动的初步分析

通过对北京遥测地震台网近年来记录到的北京及邻区地震的震中分布,地震活动频度及能量释放强度的分析,得到本区地震活动在时间分布上具有“聚堆性”。在年发震频度,地震强度和能释放方面均具有双峰值特征,并且具有较好的一致性和同步性,在空间分布上具有条带特征,且形成北东～南西和北西～南东的两条相互交汇的条带。又通过统计分析得到本区发震概率最大的时间段是每年的１０月前后,而地震主要发生在北西～南东带上。     

Provenance of Conglomerate and Sandstone from Early Permian Shoushangou Formation in Xi Ujimqin, Inner Mongolia: Implications for Understanding Paleo-Asian Ocean Subduction

During the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian, a rift was formed by post-collisional extension after ocean closure or an island arc-related basin formed by Paleo-Asian Ocean (PAO) subduction in the Xi Ujimqin area. Nevertheless, the closure time of the PAO is still under debate. Thus, to identify the origin of the PAO, the geochemistry and U-Pb age of zircons were analyzed for the extra-large deep marine, polymict clastic boulders and sandstones in the Shoushangou Formation within the basin. The analyses revealed magmatic activity and tectonic evolution. The conglomerates include megaclasts of granite (298.8 ± 9.1?Ma) and granodiorite porphyry (297.1 ± 3.1?Ma), which were deposited by muddy debris flow. Results of this study demonstrated that the boulders of granitoids have the geochemistry of typical I-type granite, characterized by low Zr + Nb + Ce + Y and low Ga/Al values. The granitoid boulders were formed in island arc setting, indicating the presence of arc magmatism in the area that is composed of the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian subduction-related granitoid in southern Xi Ujimqin. Multiple diagrams for determining sedimentary provenance using major and trace elements indicate that Shoushangou sediments originated from continental island arc-related felsic rocks. Detrital zircon U-Pb age cluster of 330–280?Ma was obtained, indicating input from granite, ophiolite, Xilin Gol complex, and Carboniferous sources to the south. The basin was geographically developed behind the arc during the Early Permian period because the outcropped intrusive rocks in the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian form a volcanic arc. The comprehensive analyses of source areas suggest that Shoushangou sediments developed in a backarc basin in response to the northward subduction of the PAO. The backarc basin and intrusive rocks, in addition to previously published Late Carboniferous to Early Permian magmatic rocks of arc unit in Xilin Gol, confirm the presence of an Early Permian trench-arc-basin system in the region, represented by the Baolidao arc and Xi Ujimqin backarc basin. This study highlights the importance and potential of combined geochemical and geochronological studies of conglomerates and sandstone for reconstructing the geodynamic setting of a basin.     

敦煌北部岩浆-变质杂岩构造环境初步探讨:对中亚造山带南缘扩展方式的启示

中亚造山带南缘如何向南扩展，对深入理解增生型造山作用和大陆地壳生长机制以及中亚构造域与特提斯构造域的衔接具有重要科学意义。作为中亚造山带南缘的关键构造单元，敦煌构造带大地构造属性长期备受关注且颇有争议。传统观点认为敦煌构造带是古亚洲洋南侧的前寒武纪稳定大陆地块，以刚性块体的形式参与了中亚造山带南缘的最终拼贴过程。然而，近年来研究认为敦煌构造带卷入了古亚洲洋南部的俯冲增生造山过程，属于中亚造山带南缘的增生系统。显然，这一争议限制了对中亚造山带南缘向南扩展方式及增生造山过程的理解。敦煌北部三危山地区出露一套古生代岩浆-变质杂岩，是解开这一争论的关键。本文综合前人研究基础及新的资料，归纳了这套岩浆-变质杂岩的野外岩石-构造组合、地球化学和年代学等方面特征：该岩浆-变质杂岩整体显示"二元结构"特征，即较老的增生杂岩为基底，弧岩浆岩侵入或不整合覆盖其上；其中岩浆岩属于中钾-高钾钙碱性系列中酸性岩浆岩，富集大离子亲石元素（LILE）和轻稀土元素（LREE），亏损高场强元素（HFSE），与典型的弧岩浆岩类似，并且微量元素组成特征反映中酸性岩浆的源区与俯冲沉积物部分熔融有关；岩浆作用大致归为510Ma、460~410Ma和370~360Ma三期。岩浆岩中结晶锆石不一致的ε_Hf（t）值（既有正值，又有负值）以及继承锆石的存在表明，岩浆源区既有古老地壳物质的加入，也有新生地壳物质的形成。以上这些特征与发育在增生杂岩之上的增生弧十分类似，因此本文提出敦煌北部岩浆-变质杂岩的属性为古生代增生弧，并且该增生弧与其南部的红柳峡俯冲增生杂岩共同勾勒出敦煌构造带自北向南增生弧-增生杂岩的基本构造格架，即敦煌构造带的大地构造属性实为造山带而非稳定地块。结合区域地质背景及敦煌地区与北山地区古生代至早中生代构造-热事件的对应关系，认为敦煌造山带属于中亚造山带中段南缘的增生系统，中亚造山带中段以增生弧-增生杂岩的形式向南扩展至敦煌地区。     

半干旱区高效生态农业发展问题及对策研究——以陇东黄土高原环县为例

生态农业是当今农业发展的方向。也是区域农业高效发展的必由之路，环县农业存在结构不合理，产业化进程缓慢，生产基础薄弱，生态环境恶化等问题。欲使生态农业高效发展，应把资源、环境与农业经济发展结合起来，采取调整产业结构、建立高效生态农业发展模式、加快龙头企业的发展、加大资金和科技投入、保护和改善生态环境等措施。     

Increasing critical sensitivity of the Load/Unload Response Ratio before large earthquakes with identified stress accumulation pattern

The Load/Unload Response Ratio (LURR) method is proposed for short-to-intermediate-term earthquake prediction [Yin, X.C., Chen, X.Z., Song, Z.P., Yin, C., 1995. A New Approach to Earthquake Prediction — The Load/Unload Response Ratio (LURR) Theory, Pure Appl. Geophys., 145, 701–715]. This method is based on measuring the ratio between Benioff strains released during the time periods of loading and unloading, corresponding to the Coulomb Failure Stress change induced by Earth tides on optimally oriented faults. According to the method, the LURR time series usually climb to an anomalously high peak prior to occurrence of a large earthquake. Previous studies have indicated that the size of critical seismogenic region selected for LURR measurements has great influence on the evaluation of LURR. In this study, we replace the circular region usually adopted in LURR practice with an area within which the tectonic stress change would mostly affect the Coulomb stress on a potential seismogenic fault of a future event. The Coulomb stress change before a hypothetical earthquake is calculated based on a simple back-slip dislocation model of the event. This new algorithm, by combining the LURR method with our choice of identified area with increased Coulomb stress, is devised to improve the sensitivity of LURR to measure criticality of stress accumulation before a large earthquake. Retrospective tests of this algorithm on four large earthquakes occurred in California over the last two decades show remarkable enhancement of the LURR precursory anomalies. For some strong events of lesser magnitudes occurred in the same neighborhoods and during the same time periods, significant anomalies are found if circular areas are used, and are not found if increased Coulomb stress areas are used for LURR data selection. The unique feature of this algorithm may provide stronger constraints on forecasts of the size and location of future large events.     

3-D seismic structure of the source area of the 1993 Latur, India, earthquake and its implications for rupture nucleations

The Latur earthquake (M_w 6.1) of 29 September 1993 is a rare stable continental region (SCR) earthquake that occurred on a previously unknown blind fault. In this study, we determined detailed three-dimensional (3-D) P- and S-wave velocity (V_p, V_s) and Poisson's ratio (σ) structures by inverting the first P- and S-wave high-quality arrival time data from 142 aftershocks that were recorded by a network of temporary seismic stations. The source zone of the Latur earthquake shows strong lateral heterogeneities in V_p, V_s and σ structures, extending in a volume of about 90 × 90 × 15 km³. The mainshock occurred within, but near the boundary, of a low-V_p, high-V_s and low-σ zone. This suggests that the structural asperities at the mainshock hypocenter are associated with a partially fluid-saturated fractured rock in a previously unknown source zone with intersecting fault surfaces. This might have triggered the 1993 Latur mainshock and its aftershock sequence. Our results are in good agreement with other geophysical studies that suggest high conductivity and high concentration of radiogenic helium gas beneath the source zone of the Latur earthquake. Our study provides an additional evidence for the presence of fluid related anomaly at the hidden source zone of the Latur earthquake in the SCR and helps us understand the genesis of damaging earthquakes in the SCR of the world.