Genetic algorithm for fitting a mixed Bingham distribution to 3D orientations: a tool for the statistical and paleostress analyses of fracture orientations

The clustering of fracture orientations is important for tectonic studies and for geotechnical engineering. In this study, a real‐coded genetic algorithm was adopted to fitting a mixed Bingham distribution to orientation data by maximizing the log‐likelihood function of the distribution. The maximization is a difficult problem, because the function has multimodality and singularity. It was found that the algorithm was effective for this problem. Given the orientations of dilational fractures, the present method determines not only the stress axes and stress ratio of each of the fracture groups but also the maximum non‐dimensionalized fluid pressure at the time of their formation. In addition, the software calculates the 95 % error ellipses of the concentration axes. The present method found that the orientations of ore veins of the Akenobe Mine, SW Japan, should be partitioned into three clusters. It is shown that two of the groups had distinctive Zn and Sn contents, and that the ore fluids had overpressures only slightly greater than the minimum principal stress at the time of the deposition of Zn‐ and Sn‐rich veins.     

用远震接收函数研究滇西地区的深部结构

滇西地区地处欧亚板块碰撞或俯冲的边界地带,曾受到多期构造运动的影响,其地质环境和构造背景十分复杂,是我国地震活动比较活跃的地区之一. 本文选用国家、地方和流动数字台网的16个台站的远震记录. 其中PASSCAL甚宽频带流动地震台站4个,提取有效接收函数近2 000条. 两条测线的直线距离分别为650 km和450 km, 横切了滇西地区的一些主要构造单元. 研究表明,怒江断裂可能是一条具有俯冲性质的缝合线. 川滇菱形块体东西两侧的分界线¾红河断裂和小江断裂可能是直立的缝合线或碰撞带. 攀西构造带仍具有大陆裂谷的特征,即地表凹陷、上地幔隆起. 滇西地区的构造格局具有一定的规律性,造山带与缝合线相间分布. 滇西地区由北向南地壳厚度渐次减薄,S波速度整体偏低.     

大巴山前陆西段叠加构造变形分析及其构造应力场特征

大巴山前陆西段发育典型的横跨叠加褶皱,清楚地记录了自身构造演化历史,为查明大巴山前陆构造体制转换提供了非常有利的条件。本文通过野外褶皱形态分析,结合层面和断层面滑动矢量的观测,获得大巴山前陆西段中生代主要的两期挤压构造应力场,即早期(T3—J1)的构造应力场以近南北向挤压为主,大巴山地区受其控制,发生近东西向展布褶皱变形,这期构造变形与印支运动有关;晚期,即J3—K1期间,大巴山构造体制发生重大转变,本区构造应力场由近南北挤压转变为近东西向强烈挤压,大巴山发生强烈构造变形,大巴山推覆构造带以断裂活动为主,镇巴—城口—房县断裂带强烈向大巴山前陆逆掩。而大巴山前陆则以强烈的近南北向延伸的褶皱变形为主,早期近东西向褶皱遭受强烈改造,形成大巴山前陆西段较为典型的横跨叠加褶皱构造。这期构造变形是燕山运动早期活动的结果。大巴山叠加变形的研究不仅为研究中国盆—山系统变形特征提供了具体例证,而且对大巴山前陆油气勘探起重要指导作用。     

Fault slip and modern tectonic stress field in and around Kunming basin

Kunming basin is a Cenozoic faulted basin under the control of mainly SN-trending active faults. In and around the basin, there are a total of eight major active faults. Seismo-geological survey and fault slip observation show that the SN- and NE-trending active faults are mostly sinistral strike-slip faults, while the NW-trending faults are mostly dextral strike-slip faults. Using stress tensor inversion method with 706 active fault striation data at 22 measurement sites, we determined tectonic stress field of the study area. The result shows that modern tectonic stress field in and around Kunming basin is characterized by NNW-SSE compression, ENE-WSW extension, and strike-slip stress regimes. The maximum principal compressional stress (σ1) is oriented 335o~2o, with an average dip angle of 21°; the minimum (σ3) is oriented 44o~93o, with an average dip angle of 14°, and the intermediate (σ2) has a high, or nearly vertical, dip angle. The inversion result from fault slip data is consistent with the result from focal mechanism solutions.     

甘肃武山鸳鸯镇蛇绿岩构造年代学特征及其构造意义探讨

本文通过对甘肃武山县鸳鸯镇蛇绿岩构造年代学的深入研究,结合野外实测地质剖面对鸳鸯镇蛇绿岩的形成,其代表的构造意义进行了探讨,该带蛇绿岩中采集的蛇纹石Sm-Nd同位素等时线年龄为473±23Ma;在该带硅化碳酸盐化变玄武岩中采用锆石U-Pb法测年,测得模式年龄值为546Ma。研究认为武山蛇绿岩其岩石组合中与显生宙的蛇绿岩大致相近,所不同的是组合中含深水碳酸盐岩;蛇绿岩中基性岩类的REE球粒陨石标准化配分模式接近平坦型及微量元素的环境判别图式都表明该蛇绿岩的生成环境很可能是初始洋盆;武山蛇绿岩代表古生代大陆裂解的产物,两组年龄值基本代表了本次大陆裂解成海盆的时代。     

The Shape and Volume of the Skaergaard Intrusion, Greenland: Implications for Mass Balance and Bulk Composition

Re-examination of the Skaergaard intrusion in the context ofits regional setting, combined with new data from explorationdrilling, has resulted in a revised structural model for theintrusion. It is modelled as an irregular box, c. 11 km fromnorth to south, up to 8 km from east to west, and 3·4–4km from the lower to the upper contact. The walls of the intrusionare inferred to follow pre-existing and penecontemporaneoussteep faults, and the floor and roof seem largely controlledby bedding planes in the host sediments and lavas, similar toregional sills. The suggested shape and volume are in agreementwith published gravimetric modelling. Crystallization alongall margins of the intrusion concentrated the evolving meltin the upper, central part of the intrusion, best visualizedas an ‘onion-skin’ structure inside the box. Thetotal volume is estimated to c. 280 ± 23 km³, of which13·7% are referred to the Upper Border Series (UBS),16·4% to the Marginal Border Series (MBS) and 69·9%to the Layered Series (LS). In the LS, the Lower Zone (LZ) isestimated to constitute 66·8%, the Middle Zone (MZ) 13·5%and the Upper Zone (UZ) 19·7%. The new volume relationshipsprovide a mass balance estimate of the major and trace elementbulk composition of the intrusion. The parental magma to theSkaergaard intrusion is similar to high-Ti East Greenland tholeiiticplateau basalts with Mg number c. 0.45. The intrusion representsthe solidification of contemporary plateau basalt magma trappedand crystallized under closed-system conditions in a crustalreservoir at the developing East Greenland continental margin. KEY WORDS: bulk composition; emplacement; mass proportions; Skaergaard intrusion; structure     

K-Ar dating of ring complexes and fault systems in Northern Kordofan,Sudan: evidence for independent magmatic and tectonic activity

From an area of brittle shearing and ring complexes in Northern Kordofan, Sudan 28 K-Ar ages were calculated to determine the geochronology of tectonic and magmatic events. The age results for deformational episodes are 560, 340 and 255 Ma, whereas alkaline magma was intruded at 280, 220 and 165 Ma. The incompatibility of age marks leads to the conclusion that magmatic and tectonic activity in this area have to be regarded as independent events. This holds true even when all dated intrusions from the entire region are compared with post-Pan-African continental tectonic features.     

The mapping methods and division of tectonic units of the regional tectonic map in the eastern China seas and adjacent regions

The geological-geophysical map series of the eastern China seas and adjacent region (1:1 000 000) will be published in the late half year of 2009. The regional tectonic map is one of the main professional maps. The Mapping methods, the division method of geological tectonic units and the main geological tectonic units are mainly discussed. The strata from Pliocene to Holocene are peeled off so as to display the Pre-Pliocene structures. In basins, isopaches are drawn for the Cenozoic deposits. The plate tectonic theory and present tectonic pattern are adopted as the priorities in tectonic division. As to the division of intraplate tectonic units, it is a revision, complement and improvement of previous dividing systems, and the nomenclature for each tectonic unit follows the current system in China. The first-order tectonic unit is plate (Pacific Plate, Eurasian Plate and Philippine Sea Plate). The second-order tectonic unit is tectonic domain (East Asian continental tectonic domain,East Asian continental margin tectonic domain and west Pacific tectonic domain). The Philippine Sea Plate and the west part of the Pacific Plate are called the West Pacific tectonic domain. The part of the Eurasian Plate involved in this study area can be further divided into East Asian continental tectonic domain and East Asian continental margin tectonic domain. The East Asian continental margin domain is composed of the Ryukyu island arc, the Okinawa Trough back-arc basin and the back-arc basin of Sea of Japan. The East Asian continental tectonic domain in this study area is composed of the Sino-Korea Massif, the Changjiang River (Yangtze) Massif and South China Massif. In turn, these massifs consist of basins, folded belts or uplift zones. The basins,the folded belts or the uplift zones are further divided into uplifts and depressions made up of sags and swells.     

Soft‐sediment deformation structures in Cretaceous non‐marine deposits of southeastern Gyeongsang Basin,Korea: Occurrences and origin

A variety of soft‐sediment deformation structures formed during or shortly after deposition occurs in the Cretaceous Seongpori and Dadaepo Formations of the southeastern Gyeongsang Basin exposed along coastal areas of southeastern Korean Peninsula for 0.5–2 km. These are mostly present in a fluvial plain facies, with interbedded lacustrine deposits. In this study, the features of different kinds of soft‐sediment deformation structures have been interpreted on the basis of sedimentology of structure‐bearing deposits, comparison with normal sedimentary structures, timing and mechanism of deformation, and triggering mechanisms. The soft‐sediment deformation structures can be classified into four morphological groups: (i) load structures (load casts, ball‐and‐pillow structures); (ii) soft‐sediment intrusive structures (dish‐and‐pillars, clastic dykes, sills); (iii) ductile disturbed structures (convolute folds, slump structures); and (iv) brittle deformation structures (syndepositional faulting, dislocated breccia). The most probable triggering mechanisms resulting in these structures were seismic shocks. These interpretations are based on the following field observations: (i) location of the study area within tectonically active fault zone reactivated several times during the Cretaceous; (ii) deformation structures confined to single stratigraphic levels; (iii) lateral continuity and occurrences of various soft‐sediment deformation structures in the deformed level over large areas; (iv) absence of depositional slope to indicate gravity sliding or slumping; and (v) similarity to the structures produced experimentally. The soft‐sediment deformation structures in the study areas are thus interpreted to have been generated by seismic shocks with an estimated magnitude of M > 5, representing an intermittent record of the active tectonic and sedimentary processes during the development and evolution of two formations from the late Early Cretaceous to the Late Cretaceous.     

略阳─石泉边界地质体特征

略阳─石泉构造带是一板块缝合带，经历了长期复杂的演化历史。现由不同时期、不同构造体制下的断裂构造系统，裹挟不同构造演化阶段的各类建造─蛇绿混杂岩、陆缘楔状体，岛孤岩浆岩及外来岩块等，共同组成了分隔秦岭、扬子地块的一个特殊边界地质体。