The effects of Dissolution–Precipitation Creep on quartz fabrics within the Purgatory Conglomerate,Rhode Island

Quartz Crystallographic Preferred Orientation (CPO) patterns are most commonly a result of deformation by dislocation creep. We investigated whether Dissolution–Precipitation Creep (DPC), a process that occurs at lower differential stresses and temperatures, may result in CPO in quartz. The Purgatory Conglomerate is part of the SE Narragansett basin where strain intensity increases from west to east and is associated with top-to-the-west transport and folding during the Alleghanian orogeny. Within the Purgatory Conglomerate, DPC led to quartz dissolution along cobble surfaces perpendicular to the shortening direction, and quartz precipitation in overgrowths at the ends of the cobbles (strain shadows), parallel to the maximum extension direction. Quartz c-axis orientations as revealed by Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) methods were random in all analyzed domains within the cobbles and strain shadows irrespective of the intensity of strain or metamorphic grade of the sample. Quartz dissolution probably occurred exclusively along the cobbles' margins, leaving the remaining grains unaffected by DPC. The fact that quartz precipitated in random orientations may indicate that the strain shadows were regions of little or no differential stress.     

A geometric model for the formation of deformation band clusters

Arrays of closely-spaced (approximately <70 mm) sub-parallel cataclastic deformation bands are common structures in deformed, high-porosity (∼10–35%) sandstones. The distribution of strain onto many small-displacement deformation bands is thought by some to result from strain-hardening of the cataclasite within individual bands. Examination of both normal and strike-slip faults with displacements ≤7 m from southeastern Utah, USA, and the North Island of New Zealand suggests, however, that clusters of deformation bands systematically develop at fault geometric irregularities (e.g., fault bends, steps, relays, intersections and zones of normal drag). The strain-hardening model does not account for clustering of deformation bands at fault geometric irregularities or the associated widespread coalescence of bands, and is not unequivocally demonstrated by post-peak macroscopic mechanical responses in laboratory rock deformation experiments. A geometric model is proposed in which individual bands within clusters develop sequentially due to migration of incremental shear strains at fault geometric irregularities as part of a slip localisation, asperity removal and strain weakening process. The geometric model, which does not require strain hardening of the fault rock, applies for the duration of faulting and a range of rock types in the brittle upper crust.     

Mercury distribution amongst co-existing silicates within the Bushveld Complex

Thirty separates of plagioclase, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene from the lower Main Zone of the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex were analysed for their mercury contents using combustion atomic absorption spectroscopy with gold amalgamation pre-concentration. The average mercury contents of plagioclase, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene were found to be 0.9 ppb, 1.2 ppb and 1.1 ppb, respectively. Mercury within the separates does not vary systematically with any of the major element oxides present in the minerals. Based on a positive 1:1 correlation between mercury in orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene, we estimate D^Opx_Hg ≈ D^Cpx_Hg, and on this basis, can exclude the presence of significant Hg²⁺ within the melts from which these minerals crystallised. The lack of correlation between mercury in plagioclase and that in the mafic silicates may suggest diffusional loss of the element from the former during slow cooling under magmatic conditions and better retention of mercury by the mafic silicates under the same conditions. Alternatively and more likely, this lack of correlation may support earlier arguments based on distinct Sr-isotopic disequilibrium between co-existing plagioclase and mafic silicates, that plagioclase and the mafic silicates in the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex may have crystallised from different melts within a variably contaminated, sub-Bushveld staging chamber.     

New insights into the deformation of a Middle Pleistocene glaciotectonised sequence in Norfolk,England through magnetic and structural analysis

North Norfolk is a classic area for the study of glacial sediments with a complex glaciotectonic deformational history, but the processes leading to the formation of some structures can be ambiguous. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) analyses, providing quantitative fabric data, have been combined with the analysis of visible structures and applied to the Bacton Green Till Member, exposed at Bacton, Norfolk. Thermomagnetic curves, low temperature susceptibility and acquisition of isothermal remanent magnetism (IRM) reveal that the magnetic mineralogy is dominated by paramagnetic phases. The magnetic foliation is parallel to fold axial planes and weakly inclined to bedding, whilst the magnetic lineation is orientated parallel to stretching, indicated by the presence of stretching lineations and the trend of sheath folds. Variations in the orientation of the magnetic lineation suggest that the Bacton section has been subject to polyphase deformation. After subaqueous deposition, the sequence was overridden by ice and glaciotectonically deformed which involved stretching initially north–south, then east–west. These results show that AMS can be used to detect strain in three dimensions through a glaciotectonite where paramagnetic mineralogy is dominant. This approach therefore provides further support to the use of AMS as a fast, objective and accurate method of examining strain within deformed glacial sediments.     

屯1井差应变分析法地应力测量

介绍了差应变分析法(DSA)原地应力测量技术原理,并采用此法对河南省洛阳—伊川盆地屯1井岩样进行了测试,结果显示该井1153.4～1167.8 m处最大水平主应力为北西向(141°—157°),与钻孔崩落椭圆长轴方位统计得到的最大水平主应力方向一致;最大水平应力数值小于铅直应力,属于正断层应力状态;主应力随深度线性增大。对该区域注采井网布局给出了建议,即本区注采井网布设应避免与141°—157°方向平行。     

Pore pressure generation in silty sands during cyclic loading

Recent developments in studies of soil response to earthquake loadings have made it possible to incorporate the rates of pore water pressure build-up in soils in to nonlinear response analyses of the grounds. Such pore pressure changes help in computing the changes in stress-strain behaviour of soils in the deposit progressively as the earthquake progresses. The rate and magnitude of pore pressure generation in soils during seismic loading will have important effects on the shear strength, stability, and settlement characteristics of a soil mass, even if the soil does not liquefy. The results in terms of pore pressure response in soils from a series of experimental investigations using strain-controlled cyclic triaxial tests on soils samples collected from liquefied sites are presented in this paper. The effect of relative density, amplitude of cyclic shear strain, number of loading cycles, confining pressure and frequency of cyclic loading on the pore pressure build-up are studied. Analytical expressions are proposed using regression analysis to define mean relationships between normalized pore water pressure and normalized cycles for the prediction of pore water pressure build-up in silty sands. Also, the pore water pressure build-up in soils is independent of frequency of loading.     

库车坳陷克拉苏构造带分层收缩构造变形及其主控因素

库车坳陷中段克拉苏构造带广泛发育盐相关收缩构造变形,总体具有"垂向叠置、分层变形"的整体挤压变形特征。沿东-西向克拉苏构造带不同区段深浅层构造变形样式、断层位移存在明显差异,北部盐下层由1～2条高角度基底卷入逆冲断层为主导,并在断层下盘发育捷径断层。区域结构平衡剖面和先存构造活动趋势分析结果表明,克拉苏构造带北侧变形属于基底卷入变形,早期先存断裂在后期收缩变形中重新活动,形成高角度的逆冲断裂。物理和数值砂箱模拟结果表明,盐岩层先于其上、下地层发生变形,其厚度、分布及边界条件差异是造成垂向分层收缩变形的主要控制因素。     

Vortex evolution due to straining: a mechanism for dominance of strong,interior anticyclones

In this article we address two questions: Why do freely evolving vortices weaken on average, even when the viscosity is very small? Why, in the fluid's interior, away from vertical boundaries and under the influence of Earth's rotation and stable density stratification, do anticyclonic vortices become dominant over cyclonic ones when the Rossby number and deformation radius are finite? The context for answering these questions is a rotating, conservative, Shallow-water model with Asymmetric and Gradient-wind Balance approximations. The controlling mechanisms are vortex weakening under straining deformation (with a weakening that is substantially greater for strong cyclones than strong anticyclones) followed by a partially compensating vortex strengthening during a relaxation phase dominated by Vortex Rossby Waves (VRWs) and their eddy–mean interaction with the vortex. The outcome is a net, strain-induced vortex weakening that is greater for cyclones than anticyclones when the deformation radius is not large compared to the vortex radius and the Rossby number is not small. Furthermore, when the exterior strain flow is sustained, the vortex changes also are sustained: for small Rossby number (i.e., the quasigeostrophic limit, QG), vortices continue to weaken at a relatively modest rate, but for larger Rossby number, cyclones weaken strongly and anticyclones actually strengthen systematically when the deformation radius is comparable to the vortex radius. The sustained vortex changes are associated with strain-induced VRWs on the periphery of the mean vortex. It therefore seems likely that, in a complex flow with many vortices, anticyclonic dominance develops over a sequence of transient mutual straining events due to the greater robustness of anticyclones (and occasionally their net strengthening).     

地球内部应变与应力固体潮

本文详细介绍了地球内部应变和应力固体潮的计算理论,基于PREM地球模型计算了地球内部的Love数,并计算了地球内部的应力和应变的6个独立分量在不同深度和纬度处的时间变化序列.结果表明:应力潮汐的振幅达到10³Pa,应变潮汐振幅达到10^-8;不管应力或是应变潮汐,其振幅随深度的不同都有较大的变化;6个应力和应变分量对纬度依赖较大,但没有表现出南北纬度上的严格的对称性,与纬度的对应关系由引潮位展开的大地系数确定.本文结果可有效应用于地球内部应变或应力潮汐观测的固体潮改正;另外,将本文结果应用于研究潮汐触发地震问题,给出了中国中部地区的一个算例,结果表明地震断层正应力潮汐和应力张量第一不变量潮汐与发震时刻具有明显的相关性,而这种相关性并未在其他如剪切应力以及库伦破坏应力潮汐中表现出来.     

张渤带洞体应变参数解算及结果分析

采用张渤带2002年以来的洞体应变观测资料,首先利用Venedikov调和分析方法计算带内各个台站洞体应变测项的潮汐因子和相位滞后,并以潮汐因子的稳定性对观测资料进行了质量评价.其后,以怀来台伸缩仪为例讨论了3分量和2分量观测解算平面应变参数的模型及其适用性,结果表明二者的相关系数在0.9以上.在此基础上,选取张渤带上资料较稳定的16个洞体应变台站资料进行了应变参数时间序列计算,并对华北M5.0地震前应变参数同步变化现象进行了总结.最后对比了洞体应变与GPS应变的差异,并分析了可能的原因.