Anatomy and genesis of a subduction-related orogen: A new view of geotectonic subdivision and evolution of the Japanese Islands

Abstract The Japanese Islands represent a segment of a 450 million year old subduction-related orogen developed along the western Pacific convergent margin. The geotectonic subdivision of the Japanese Islands is newly revised on the basis of recent progress in the 1980s utilizing microfossil and chronometric mapping methods for ancient accretionary complexes and their high-P/T metamorphic equivalents. This new subdivision is based on accretion tectonics, and it contrasts strikingly with previous schemes based on‘geosyncline’tectonics, continent-continent collision-related tectonics, or terrane tectonics. Most of the geotectonic units in Japan are composed of Late Paleozoic to Cenozoic accretionary complexes and their high-PIT metamorphic equivalents, except for two units representing fragments of Precambrian cratons, which were detached from mainland Asia in the Tertiary. These ancient accretionary complexes are identified using the method of oceanic plate stratigraphy. The Japanese Islands are comprised of 12 geotectonic units, all noted in southwest Japan, five of which have along-arc equivalents in the Ryukyus. Northeast Japan has nine of these 12 geotectonic units, and East Hokkaido has three of these units. Recent field observations have shown that most of the primary geotectonic boundaries are demarcated by low-angle faults, and sometimes modified by secondary vertical normal and/or strike-slip faults. On the basis of these new observations, the tectonic evolution of the Japanese Islands is summarized in the following stages: (i) birth at a rifted Yangtze continental margin at ca 750–700 Ma; (ii) tectonic inversion from passive margin to active margin around 500 Ma; (iii) successive oceanic subduction beginning at 450 Ma and continuing to the present time; and (iv) isolation from mainland Asia by back-arc spreading at ca 20 Ma. In addition, a continent-continent collision occurred between the Yangtze and Sino-Korean cratons at 250 Ma during stage three. Five characteristic features of the 450 Ma subduction-related orogen are newly recognized here: (i) step-wise (not steady-state) growth of ancient accretionary complexes; (ii) subhorizontal piled nappe structure; (iii) tectonically downward-younging polarity; (iv) intermittent exhumation of high-P/T metamorphosed accretionary complex; and (v) microplate-induced modification. These features suggest that the subduction-related orogenic growth in Japan resulted from highly episodic processes. The episodic exhumation of high-P/T units and the formation of associated granitic batholith (i.e. formation of paired metamorphic belts) occurred approximately every 100 million years, and the timing of such orogenic culmination apparently coincides with episodic ridge subduction beneath Asia.     

新疆塔里木盆地及邻区深部岩石圈结构特征

依据横穿塔里木盆地及其周缘造山带的三条大地电磁测深剖面，建立了贯穿盆地并联系周缘山系的三个条带域。通过对条带域内的大地电磁测深、区域重力以及１：２０万高精度航磁资料的综合解释，获取了盆地及周缘造山带的岩石图结构构造信息。分析和描述了盆地及周缘造山带的岩石围电性结构、磁性结构及地壳厚度结构的展布特征     

Late Cenozoic transpression in southwestern Mongolia and the Gobi Altai-Tien Shan connection

The Gobi Altai region of southwestern Mongolia is a natural laboratory for studying processes of active, transpressional, intracontinental mountain building at different stages of development. The region is structurally dominated by several major E—W left-lateral strike-slip fault systems. The North Gobi Altai fault system is a seismically active, right-stepping, left-lateral, strike-slip fault system that can be traced along the surface for over 350 km. The eastern two-thirds of the fault system ruptured during a major earthquake (M = 8.3) in 1957, whereas degraded fault scarps cutting alluvial deposits along the western third of the system indicate that this segment did not rupture during the 1957 event but has been active during the Quaternary. The highest mountains in the Gobi Altai are restraining bend uplifts along the length of the fault system. Detailed transects across two of the restraining bends indicate that they have asymmetric flower structure cross-sectional geometries, with thrust faults rooting into oblique-slip and strike-slip master faults. Continued NE-directed convergence across the fault system, coupled with left-lateral strike-slip displacements, will lead to growth and coalescence of the restraining bends into a continuous sublinear range, possibly obscuring the original strike-slip fault system; this may be a common mountain building process.

The largely unknown Gobi-Tien Shan fault system is a major left-lateral strike-slip fault system (1200 km + long) that links the southern ranges of the Gobi Altai with the Barkol Tagh and Bogda Shan of the easternmost Tien Shan in China. Active scarps cutting alluvial deposits are visible on satellite imagery along much of its central section, indicating Quaternary activity. The total displacement is unknown, but small parallel splays have apparent offsets of 20 + km, suggesting that the main fault zone has experienced significantly more displacement. Field investigations conducted at two locations in southwestern Mongolia indicate that late Cenozoic transpressional uplift is still active along the fault system. The spatial relationship between topography and active faults in the Barkol Tagh and Bogda Shan strongly suggests that these ranges are large, coalescing, restraining bends that have accommodated the fault's left-lateral motion by thrusting, oblique-slip displacement and uplift. Thus, from a Mongolian perspective, the easternmost Tien Shan formed where it is because it lies at the western termination zone of the Gobi-Tien Shan fault system. The Gobi-Tien Shan fault system is one of the longest fault systems in central Asia and, together with the North Gobi Altai and other, smaller, subparallel fault systems, is accommodating the eastward translation of south Mongolia relative to the Hangay Dome and Siberia. These displacements are interpreted to be due to eastward viscous flow of uppermost mantle material in the topographically low, E–W trending corridor between the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and the Hangay Dome, presumably in response to the Indo-Eurasian collision 2500 km to the south.     

碰撞后的造山过程及造山带巨量花岗岩的成因

传统上认为造山作用是板块碰撞的结果，即近水平碰撞挤压引起物质的垂向加厚。事实上，许多山脉却是碰撞后“造山”隆升的。     

Horizontal contraction or horizontal extension? Heterogeneous Late Eocene and early Oligocene general shearing during blueschist and greenschist facies metamorphism at the Pennine-Austroalpine boundary zone in the Western Alps

Mylonitic structures related to two orogenic events are described from the upper and lower contacts of the Combin zone and the immediately overlying upper Austroalpine Dent Blanche nappe/Mont Mary klippe and the directly underlying lower Austroalpine Etirol-Levaz slice. The first event, Late Eocene in age, commenced during blueschist facies P-T conditions, but pre-dated the peak of subsequent greenschist facies overprint. The second event, Early Oligocene in age, took place during retrograde greenschist facies conditions. Most sense of shear indicators associated with the retrograde mylonites indicate top SE shearing, but subordinate top NW displacing shear sense indicators have also been mapped. Mylonitic top SE shearing appears to be restricted to the Combin zone and its upper and lower contacts. Within the Dent Blanche nappe and Mont Mary klippe and at the base of the Etirol-Levaz slice, structures were observed which developed during blueschist/greenschist facies conditions and are, in conjunction with the P-T-t history of these rocks, inferred to be older. Associated kinematic data indicate a top NW shear sense. Comparable blueschist/greenschist facies shear sense indicators have not been observed in the Combin zone. Nonetheless, the foliation in the Combin zone shows a progressive evolution from blueschist facies to greenschist facies to retrograde greenschist facies conditions. This indicates that the Combin zone and the immediately over- and underlying Austroalpine units shared a common tectono-metamorphic evolution since the Late Eocene. Finite strain data reveal oblate strain fabrics, which are thought to result from a true flattening strain geometry. Flow path modelling reveals a general non-coaxial deformation régime and corroborates significant departures from a simple shear deformation. In the study area, mylonitic top SE shearing in the Combin zone is attributed to Early Oligocene backfolding and backthrusting of the Mischabel phase. Temperature-time curves suggest slight reheating in the Monte Rosa nappe underneath and cooling in the Dent Blanche nappe above the Combin zone, hence confirming a thrust interpretation for this event. The top NW displacing structures are thought to result from Late Eocene emplacement of the Dent Blanche nappe and the Combin zone onto the Middle Pennine Barrhorn series along the Combin fault. As related structures initiated during mildly blueschist facies conditions in the Dent Blanche nappe and the underlying Combin zone and both were emplaced together onto the greenschist facial Barrhorn series, it is concluded that the structures developed as the nappes moved upward relative to the earth's surface. Thus the Combin fault is regarded as a thrust. The geometry of this structure indicates that the Combin fault is an out of sequence thrust that locally cut down section. Hence, top NW out of sequence thrusting caused local thinning of the metamorphic/structural section in association with horizontal shortening. Out of sequence thrusts cutting down section, and back-thrusts, offer the possibility of explaining the pronounced break in the grade of metamorphism across the Combin fault, i.e. the contact between the eclogite facial Zermatt-Saas zone and the overlying lower grade Combin zone, by contractional deformation.     

Heartbeat of a mountain: diagnosing the age of depositional events in the Karoo (Gondwana) Basin from the pulse of the Cape Orogen

Careful consideration of the effects of the Cape orogeny on sedimentation in the Carboniferous-Jurassic Karoo Basin provides an indirect tool for accurately dating these rocks. Fossil and radiometric data, especially when combined with sedimentological and structural information, yield partly overlapping age brackets which can be used to correlate the successive tectonic pulses with specific depositional events. Application of these principles to associated basins in Gondwanaland can provide a firm foundation for more dependable stratigraphic correlation on a global scale. The exercise also suggests that a number of widely held opinions on the age of certain stratigraphic units in the Karoo Supergroup may be incorrect.     

川、滇毗邻地区新构造运动与活动断裂

对川、滇毗邻地区新构造运动作区域让运动学研究认为，该区在总体隆升过程中，沿断块间主干活动断裂带的强烈构造运动与断块内部的相对稳定同时并存。依据对重点断裂剖面的观察和年代样品鉴定结果，对区内活断裂的特征及活动时期作了综合归纳，重点阐述了则木河（南段）－小江断裂（北段）的几何学和运动学特征。     

Continental margin magmatism and migmatisation in the west-central Fennoscandian Shield

The Ljusdal Batholith (LjB) is a major component of the central Svecofennian Domain in Sweden. It is separated from the Bothnian Basin to the north by the 1.82–1.80 Ga crustal-scale Hassela Shear Zone (HSZ). The LjB has emplacement ages of 1.86–1.84 Ga, is mainly alkali-calcic, metaluminous, has _Nd values between − 0.3 and + 1.2 and was formed in a magmatic arc setting.

During the Svecokarelian orogeny the LjB was affected by at least three fold episodes. Large-scale folded screens of migmatised metasedimentary rocks occur in the eastern part of the batholith, and to the north of the HSZ, there is a 50 km wide diatexite belt. The Transition Belt (TrB), consisting of 1.88–1.85 Ga granitoids, is located at the northwestern extension of this belt. A calc-alkaline and peraluminous composition combined with negative _Nd values (− 1.7 to − 0.8) indicates a large proportion of metasediments in the source for these granitoids.

U–Pb SIMS data on zircon rims from migmatites and leucogranites to the north and east of LjB yield ages of 1.87–1.86 Ga, i.e. coeval with the granitoids of the LjB and the TrB. There is thus a close relationship between the LjB, the TrB and the migmatites in both space and time. Syn-migmatitic shearing along the HSZ indicates that a proto-HSZ was initiated already at c. 1.86 Ga, and the location of the proto-HSZ is inferred to be controlled by two older nuclei present in the lower parts of the crust. As crustal-scale shear zone systems are known to act as ascent pathways for sheet-like flow in active orogenies the TrB may represents accumulations of melts that were attracted and extracted by the proto-HSZ and intruded in a block that was not pervasively affected by subsequent shear along the HSZ.

An active continental margin setting for the LjB implies subduction at c. 1.86 Ga, and provides a heat source for both the migmatites and the TrB.

A later migmatisation at 1.82 Ga has been recorded to the south of the HSZ. Within the LjB the 1.82 Ga stromatic migmatites are folded by F₂ folds, and the fabric is truncated by 1.80 Ga pegmatites.     

Formation of clinopyroxene + spinel and amphibole + spinel symplectites in coronitic gabbros from the Sierra de San Luis (Argentina): a key to post-magmatic evolution

The El Arenal metagabbros preserve coronitic shells of orthopyroxene ± Fe‐oxide around olivine, as well as three different types of symplectite consisting of amphibole + spinel, clinopyroxene + spinel and, more rarely, orthopyroxene + spinel. The textural features of the metagabbros can be explained by the breakdown of the olivine + plagioclase pair, producing orthopyroxene coronas and clinopyroxene + spinel symplectites, followed by the formation of amphibole + spinel symplectites, reflecting a decrease in temperature and, possibly, an increase in water activity with respect to the previous stage. The metagabbros underwent a complex P–T history consisting of an igneous stage followed by cooling in granulite, amphibolite and greenschist facies conditions. Although the P–T conditions of emplacement of the igneous protolith are still doubtful, the magmatic assemblage suggests that igneous crystallization occurred at a pressure lower than 6 kbar and at 900–1100 °C. Granulitic P–T conditions have been estimated at about 900 °C and 7–8 kbar combining conventional thermobarometry and pseudosection analysis. Pseudosection calculation has also shown that the formation of the amphibole + spinel symplectite could have been favoured by an increase in water activity during the amphibolite stage, as the temperature of formation of this symplectite strongly depends on aH₂O (<740 °C for aH₂O = 0.5; <790 °C for aH₂O = 1). Furthermore, but not pervasive, re‐equilibration under greenschist facies P–T conditions is documented by retrograde epidote and chlorite. The resulting counterclockwise P–T path consists of progressive, nearly isobaric cooling from the igneous stage down to the granulite, amphibolite and greenschist stage.     

南天山南缘早二叠世酸性火山岩的地球化学、同位素年代学及其构造意义

南天山南缘小提坎里克组酸性火山岩高碱（Na2O＋K2O=6．03％～7．70％）且富钾（K2O／Na2O=2．35,5．03）,铝饱和指数A／CNK=0．89～1．59（平均1．24）,里特曼指数（σ）为1．48,属于过铝质高钾钙碱性火山岩系。轻稀土强烈富集,亏损Ba、Cs、Nb、Ta、Sr等大离子亲石元素,Hf、Zr等高场强元素基本无亏损,具有明显的负铕异常（δEu=0．44～0．66）,总体具有碰撞晚期花岗岩类的地球化学特点。岩石的Nd／Th（1．78—3．50）、Th／U（4．10～9．79）、La/Ta（17．69～35．77）和Nb／Ta（10．48～11．84）比值显示了壳源特征。对火山岩中锆石进行的激光探针等离子体质谱（LA-ICP—MS）U—Pb微区测定获得了289．4&#177;5．5Ma的形成年龄。结合区域构造分析认为,早二叠世初南天山地区处于碰撞晚期冲断造山作用阶段,小提坎里克组火山岩是对南天山造山带南缘碰撞晚期冲断变形和前陆盆地发育的响应。