Characteristics of Tectonic Deformation and Mechanisms for the Active Maxianshan-Xinglongshan Fault System in the Lanzhou Area

A detailed investigation permitted us to obtain quantitative data concerning fine geometric structures of 4 faults of the active Maxianshan-Xinglongshan fault system and the latest movement along them. Of them the northern Maxianshan border fault is a large-scale, strongly active Holocene reverse sinistral strike-slip fault, the other 3 faults, the southern Maxianshan border fault and the southern Xinglongshan border and the northern Xinglongshan border faults are the accompanying active late-Pleistocene thrust faults, which are incorporated into the main strike-slip fault, the northern Maxianshan border fault at depth. It is the most important earthquake-controlling fault in the Lanzhou area, the fault influences and constrains the seismic activity in the area.     

Environmental determinants of species turnover of aquatic Heteroptera in freshwater ecosystems of the Western Ghats,India

Partitioning beta diversity into its two components of spatial turnover and nestedness is a more robust method for checking spatial variability in biological communities than calculating the total beta diversity alone. The relative contribution of spatial turnover and nestedness has been used to test the effects of climatic, environmental, spatial and temporal variables on community composition. In this study, we tested the effects of environmental factors and microhabitat features on total beta diversity and its spatial turnover and nestedness components using a comprehensive dataset of aquatic Heteroptera collected from four types of permanent freshwater habitats (i.e. streams, ponds, rock tanks and reservoirs) in the Western Ghats of India. We observed that communities in all four types of habitats were predominantly shaped by dissimilarity caused due to spatial turnover (>85 %). Each type of habitat showed the presence of one or more species uniquely associated with it, which might contribute to the turnover between communities. The abiotic environment (climatic factors, topological factors, soil characteristics and microhabitat features) as well as assemblage structure differed significantly between habitat types. Communities in each type of habitat were affected by different environmental factors, such as precipitation and temperature patterns for streams, altitude and rocky substrate for rock tanks, and soil characteristics and the presence of aquatic macrophytes for ponds and reservoirs. Assemblages observed in the four types of permanent habitats are thus compositionally distinct due to species replacements between local communities, which in turn are strongly influenced by environmental variables. Similar to previous studies, our results show that spatial turnover largely measures the same phenomenon as total beta diversity on a regional scale.     

The tectonic regime in Italy inferred from borehole breakout data

In Italy, the horizontal stress directions are well constrained in many regions, but the tectonic regime is not well known because the stress magnitudes are unknown. Our intention is to improve the knowledge of crustal stress in Italy, both at shallow depth and in low seismicity areas. Therefore, we inferred the tectonic regime from the comparison between the depth of breakout occurrence and the physical properties of the rocks in 20 boreholes. The critical value of the maximum horizontal stress, for which the effective tangential stress at the borehole wall overcomes the rock strength to form breakouts, could be computed from rock strength and density. Comparing the theoretical stress distributions for different tectonic regimes with the depth distribution of breakout occurrence, it is possible to infer the tectonic regime that fits best to the breakout depth distribution. We investigated boreholes up to 6 km deep located in different tectonic environments over the Italian peninsula: the Po Plain, the Apenninic chain, the Adriatic foredeep and the Tyrrhenian Quaternary volcanic region. These wells are characterised by breakout data of good quality (A, B and C, according to World Stress Map quality ranking system). The results are in general agreement with the style of faulting derived from earthquake focal mechanisms and other stress indicators. Our results show a predominance of a normal faulting (NF) regime in the inner Apennines and both normal faulting and strike–slip faulting (SS) style in the surrounding regions, possibly also associated with changes in the tectonic regime with depth.     

中国东部中一新生代活动大陆边缘构造—岩浆作用演化和发展

本文论述中国东部中－新生代由科迪勒拉型转变为西太平洋活动大陆边缘过程中的构造－岩浆作用及其演化。在印支旋回（２５０～１８５Ｍａ）,初始欧亚板块与古太平洋板块强烈挤压俯冲,并伴随大范围改造型花岗岩类的发育。在燕山早期（１８５～１４０Ｍａ）,继续俯冲,改造型花岗岩进一步发育,并开始有同熔型花岗岩类的形成。在约１４０Ｍａ两类花岗岩的形成达到高潮。在１４０～１００Ｍａ广泛发育安山－流纹岩系。燕山晚期（１００～７０Ｍａ）由于弧后扩张,配合红色盆地的广泛形成,发育碱性火山岩和碱性花岗岩带．新生代中国东部大陆花岗岩和中－酸性火山岩活动消失,代之以玄武岩活动;边缘海和岛弧逐渐形成,钙碱性火山岩系转入岛弧地带。     

甘肃祁连山主动源重复探测项目建设及震源重复性分析

甘肃祁连山主动源重复探测激发源位于甘肃省张掖市祁连山西流水水库,2015年7月9日各系统开始正式运行,11月10日完成了为期40天的连续激发实验。观测资料处理结果表明,气枪震源具有良好的一致性和可重复性,整个观测系统能比较清晰地记录到震源激发的信号。祁连山主动源项目建设取得的结果可为主动源探测工作提供宝贵经验和科学借鉴,不断取得的观测数据为跟踪了解祁连山地区的深部结构时空变化提供了可能。     

四川龙泉山断裂带变形特征及其活动性初步研究

文中通过野外调查和地震反射剖面研究,获取了龙泉山断裂带的变形特征。龙泉山断裂带主逆冲断层位于龙泉山背斜的西翼,具有明显的分段性特征,北段与南段断层面倾向NW,断续分布;中段断层面倾向SE,形成典型的断层传播褶皱,并且断层已经沿背斜前翼膝折带的轴突破,形成贯通的突破断层。因此,中段构成了龙泉山断裂的主体。地貌对断裂活动性的响应表明龙泉山断裂早更新世—晚更新世有过一定的活动,晚更新世以来活动速率较低,且活动性具有从南向北逐渐减弱的趋势     

Geodetic and geological evidence of active tectonics in south-western Sicily (Italy)

Integrated geological, geodetic and marine geophysical data provide evidence of active deformation in south-western Sicily, in an area spatially coincident with the macroseismic zone of the destructive 1968 Belice earthquake sequence. Even though the sequence represents the strongest seismic event recorded in Western Sicily in historical times, focal solutions provided by different authors are inconclusive on possible faulting mechanism, which ranges from thrusting to transpression, and the seismogenic source is still undefined. Interferometric (DInSAR) observations reveal a differential ground motion on a SW–NE alignment between Campobello di Mazara and Castelvetrano (CCA), located just west of the maximum macroseismic sector. In addition, new GPS campaign-mode data acquired across the CCA alignment documents NW–SE contractional strain accumulation. Morphostructural analysis allowed to associate the alignment detected through geodetic measurements with a topographic offset of Pleistocene marine sediments. The on-land data were complemented by new high-resolution marine geophysical surveys, which indicate recent contraction on the offshore extension of the CCA alignment. The discovery of archaeological remains displaced by a thrust fault associated with the alignment provided the first likely surface evidence of coseismic and/or aseismic deformation related to a seismogenic source in the area. Results of the integrated study supports the contention that oblique thrusting and folding in response to NW–SE oriented contraction is still active. Although we are not able to associate the CCA alignment to the 1968 seismic sequence or to the historical earthquakes that destroyed the ancient Greek city of Selinunte, located on the nearby coastline, our result must be incorporated in the seismic hazard evaluation of this densely populated area of Sicily.     

Active faulting at the Eurasian, North American and Pacific plates junction

The active faults known and inferred in the area where the major Pacific, North American and Eurasian plates come together group into two belts. One of them comprises the faults striking roughly parallel to the Pacific ocean margin. The extreme members of the belt are the longitudinal faults of islands arcs, in its oceanic flank, and the faults along the continental margins of marginal seas, in its continental flank. The available data show that all these faults move with some strike-slip component, which is always right-lateral. We suggest that characteristic right-lateral, either partially or dominantly, kinematics of the fault movements has its source in oblique convergence of the Pacific plate with continental Eurasian and North American plates. The second belt of active faults transverses the extreme northeast Asia as a continental extension of the active mid-Arctic spreading ridge. The two active fault belts do not cross but come close to each other at the northern margin of the Sea of Okhotsk marking thus the point where the Pacific, North American and Eurasian plates meet.     

Distribution and expression of gas seeps in a gas hydrate province of the northeastern Sakhalin continental slope, Sea of Okhotsk

Multidisciplinary surveys were conducted to investigate gas seepage and gas hydrate accumulation on the northeastern Sakhalin continental slope (NESS), Sea of Okhotsk, during joint Korean–Russian–Japanese expeditions conducted from 2003 to 2007 (CHAOS and SSGH projects). One hundred sixty-one gas seeps were detected in a 2000 km² area of the NESS (between 53°45′N and 54°45′N). Active gas seeps in a gas hydrate province on the NESS were evident from features in the water column, on the seafloor, and in the subsurface: well-defined hydroacoustic anomalies (gas flares), side-scan sonar structures with high backscatter intensity (seepage structures), bathymetric structures (pockmarks and mounds), gas- and gas-hydrate-related seismic features (bottom-simulating reflectors, gas chimneys, high-amplitude reflectors, and acoustic blanking), high methane concentrations in seawater, and gas hydrates in sediment near the seafloor. These expressions were generally spatially related; a gas flare would be associated with a seepage structure (mound), below which a gas chimney was present. The spatial distribution of gas seeps on the NESS is controlled by four types of geological structures: faults, the shelf break, seafloor canyons, and submarine slides. Gas chimneys that produced enhanced reflection on high-resolution seismic profiles are interpreted as active pathways for upward gas migration to the seafloor. The chimneys and gas flares are good indicators of active seepage.     

青藏高原新生代构造和第四纪研究的进展及问题讨论

简述了近年来国内外在青藏高原晚新生代构造和第四纪地质研究方面所取得的新进展，针对在活动构造研究中所存在的问题，提出 今后研究工作的方向，认为应当加强青藏高原及其周缘地区晚新生代构造变形方式、幅度和速率的研究，同时在研究中应当将第四纪地质与活动构造研究相结合，特别要注重深部构造的研究。