Archean greenstone-tonalite duality: Thermochemical mantle convection models or plate tectonics in the early Earth global dynamics?

Mantle convection and plate tectonics are one system, because oceanic plates are cold upper thermal boundary layers of the convection cells. As a corollary, Phanerozoic-style of plate tectonics or more likely a different version of it (i.e. a larger number of slowly moving plates, or similar number of faster plates) is expected to have operated in the hotter, vigorously convecting early Earth. Despite the recent advances in understanding the origin of Archean greenstone–granitoid terranes, the question regarding the operation of plate tectonics in the early Earth remains still controversial. Numerical model outputs for the Archean Earth range from predominantly shallow to flat subduction between 4.0 and 2.5 Ga and well-established steep subduction since 2.5 Ga [Abbott, D., Drury, R., Smith, W.H.F., 1994. Flat to steep transition in subduction style. Geology 22, 937–940], to no plate tectonics but rather foundering of 1000 km sectors of basaltic crust, then “resurfaced” by upper asthenospheric mantle basaltic melts that generate the observed duality of basalts and tonalities [van Thienen, P., van den Berg, A.P., Vlaar, N.J., 2004a. Production and recycling of oceanic crust in the early earth. Tectonophysics 386, 41–65; van Thienen, P., Van den Berg, A.P., Vlaar, N.J., 2004b. On the formation of continental silicic melts in thermochemical mantle convection models: implications for early Earth. Tectonophysics 394, 111–124]. These model outputs can be tested against the geological record. Greenstone belt volcanics are composites of komatiite–basalt plateau sequences erupted from deep mantle plumes and bimodal basalt–dacite sequences having the geochemical signatures of convergent margins; i.e. horizontally imbricated plateau and island arc crust. Greenstone belts from 3.8 to 2.5 Ga include volcanic types reported from Cenozoic convergent margins including: boninites; arc picrites; and the association of adakites–Mg andesites- and Nb-enriched basalts.Archean cratons were intruded by voluminous norites from the Neoarchean through Proterozoic; norites are accounted for by melting of subduction metasomatized Archean continental lithospheric mantle (CLM). Deep CLM defines Archean cratons; it extends to  350 km, includes the diamond facies, and xenoliths signify a composition of the buoyant, refractory, residue of plume melting, a natural consequence of imbricated plateau-arc crust. Voluminous tonalites of Archean greenstone–granitoid terranes show a secular trend of increasing Mg#, Cr, Ni consistent with slab melts hybridizing with thicker mantle wedge as subduction angle steepens. Strike-slip faults of 1000 km scale; diachronous accretion of distinct tectonostratigraphic terranes; and broad Cordilleran-type orogens featuring multiple sutures, and oceanward migration of arcs, in the Archean Superior and Yilgarn cratons, are in common with the Altaid and Phanerozoic Cordilleran orogens. There is increasing geological evidence of the supercontinent cycle operating back to  2.7 Ga: Kenorland or Ur  2.7–2.4 Ga; Columbia  1.6–1.4 Ga; Rodinia  1100–750 Ma; and Pangea  230 Ma. High-resolution seismic reflection profiling of Archean terranes reveals a prevalence of low angle structures, and evidence for paleo-subduction zones. Collectively, the geological–geochemical–seismic records endorse the operation of plate tectonics since the early Archean.     

DEM制作检查及精度问题的解决方法

介绍了通过数字化仪手扶跟踪及扫描仪半自动采集现有地形图等高线的步骤,再通过内插方法生成DEM,并对如何提高DEM精度提出了解决方案。     

ArcGIS环境下地图符号库的实现

地图符号作为地图语言在地图的制作和输出中起着非常重要的作用。但是,由于ArcGIS中的数据输入、编辑、查询与制图模块Arc Map中自带的符号库不能满足我国基本比例尺地图输出的要求,因此,必须为它建立符合地图图式要求的符号库。对于在Arc GIS中不能实现的符号,如电力线,将由Arc Object来制作完成。应用VB程序设计将电力线做出并且加入到Arc GIS环境中去。本文重点论述了Arc GIS环境下地图符号库的设计方法,并分别讨论了点状符号、线状符号和面状符号的实现方式。     

胶东金矿研究进展及约束金物质来源的新思路

作为全球最主要的金成矿带之一,胶东地区仅占全国国土面积的0.27%,黄金储量却约占全国的25%,特别是胶西北地区的金矿更是星罗棋布,引起了国内外地质学家的广泛关注,进行了大量的生产和科研工作。该文总结了近年来取得的关于胶东金矿在构造、岩浆、流体及成矿物质、富集机制等方面取得的研究进展,并且针对颇具争议的金成矿物质来源问题,提出了新的研究思路,并初步论证了其可行性。以期抛砖引玉,引起广大地学同仁对此科学问题的关注。     

新疆喀拉通克铜镍硫化物矿床成矿岩浆作用过程

喀拉通克铜镍硫化物矿床3个主要含矿镁铁质岩体的主量元素、微量元素和铂族元素组成分析及母岩浆组成估算结果表明:3个岩体中不同类型岩石的主要氧化物含量的变化具玄武质岩浆结晶分异的特征;在MgO含量为10%～15%区间,SiO2含量迅速增高;微量元素和稀土元素原始地幔标准化配分模式相似,具Nb和Ta亏损,K、Sr富集的特征.与1号和2号岩体相比,3号岩体中大离子亲石元素及轻稀土元素相对富集,(La/Yb)N介于6.8～9.2之间,δEu显示轻微负异常,在460 m深度表现出Cu-Ni等成矿元素与SiO2含量同时剧变的特征,铂族元素配分模式与2号岩体相似.上述结果显示,3个岩体可能是同源岩浆不同期次的产物,原始岩浆为高镁玄武岩浆.成矿岩浆演化过程中经历的岩浆分离结晶作用和富硅地壳组分混染可能是成矿岩浆硫饱和及硫化物熔离的主要诱因.     

Crystallization Conditions and Mineral Chemistry in the East of Tafresh,Central Iran,with Insights into Magmatic Processes

The Tafresh granitoids are located at the central part of the Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Arc(UDMA) in Iran. These rocks, mainly consisting of diorite and granodiorite, were emplaced during the Early Miocene. They are composed of varying proportions of plagioclase + K-feldspar + hornblende ± quartz ± biotite. Discrimination diagrams and chemical indices of amphibole phases reveal a calc-alkaline affinity and fall clearly in the crust-mantle mixed source field. The estimated pressure, derived from Al in amphibole barometry, is approximately 3 Kb. The granitoids are I-type, metaluminous and belong to the calc-alkaline series. They are all enriched in light rare earth elements and large ion lithophile elements, depleted in high field strength elements and display geochemical features typical of subduction-related calc-alkaline arc magmas. Most crystal size distribution(CSD) line patterns from the granitoids show a non-straight trend which points to the effect of physical processes during petrogenesis.The presence of numerous mafic enclaves, sieve texture and oscillatory zoning along with the CSD results show that magma mixing in the magma chamber had an important role in the petrogenesis of Tafresh granitoids. Moreover, the CSD analysis suggests that the plagioclase crystals were crystallized in a time span of less than 1000 years, which is indicative of shallow depth magma crystallization.     

Late Triassic granites from the northwestern margin of the Tibetan Plateau,the Dahongliutan example: petrogenesis and tectonic implications for the evolution of the Kangxiwa Palaeo-Tethys

The Dahongliutan granitic pluton consists of two-mica granites and is located in the eastern part of the Western Kunlun Orogen, northwestern Tibetan Plateau. Zircon separates from the pluton yield a SIMS U–Pb age of 217.5 ± 2.8 Ma. Rocks from the pluton contain relatively high and uniform SiO₂ (72.32–73.48 wt%) and total alkalis (Na₂O + K₂O = 8.07–8.67 wt%) and are peraluminous and high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic in composition. The Dahongliutan granites are relatively depleted in the high-field-strength elements and the heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) and have relatively high Rb, and low Ba and Sr concentrations. They contain low total rare earth element (REE) concentrations. The light REEs are strongly enriched relative to the HREEs, with (La/Yb)_N values of 28.56–37.01. The ε_Nd(t) values range from ?10.6 to ?8.8, and (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_i = 0.7142–0.7210. Zircons from the pluton yield ε_Hf(t) values of ?13.8 to ?1.6, and δ¹⁸O = 10.5–11.6‰. Petrographic and geochemical features of the pluton indicate that the granites are S-type and were derived from parting melting of a mixture of metasedimentary and minor metaigneous sources in the middle–lower crust. Magmatic differentiation was dominated by the fractional crystallization of plagioclase, K-feldspar, muscovite, biotite, and accessory monazite, allanite, and Fe–Ti oxides. Regional granitoids were emplaced in the Early-to-Middle Triassic. Other younger granitoids, with ages of 240–200 Ma, are mostly I-type in character and were likely derived from multiple types of source rock, suggesting the source was heterogeneous Triassic crust. Such a scenario is consistent with their formation in a post-collisional setting. Our new data, combined with other geological evidence, suggest that the collision between the Tianshuihai and southern Kunlun terranes occurred between ca. 250 and 240 Ma, resulting in the closure of the Palaeo-Tethys. Post-collisional tectono-magmatic events may have occurred between 240 and 200 Ma.     

三维地层开挖的可视化表达方法与实现

智慧城市实际上就是利用现代化信息技术,实现对城市的智慧管理。城市市政工程中地层智能开挖和智能施工是智慧城市运用现代化信息技术的重要标志。GIS三维可视化的主要工具之一就是Arc Scene,是三维可视化的展示平台。本文主要通过ArcEngine组件库,以钢企管线管理平台为例,利用多面片理论,详细地介绍了从三维地层的开挖区域选择,到开挖基坑的实现,再到施工量的计算整个流程,最终为城市或者工厂地下施工的设计者和决策者提供依据。     

岩浆型Cu-Ni-PGE硫化物矿床研究的几个问题探讨

文章简述了岩浆型Cu—Ni—PGE硫化物矿床的主要特点和研究现状,探讨了矿床的成矿机制,认为其成矿的首要条件是岩浆中硫达到饱和而使硅酸盐岩浆与硫化物熔体发生熔离。综述了如何利用同位素方法确定其成矿物质来源,介绍了如何判别硫饱和度的方法。     

Combining machine learning techniques,microanalyses and large geochemical datasets for tephrochronological studies in complex volcanic areas: New age constraints for the Pleistocene magmatism of central Italy

Characterization, correlation and provenance determination of tephra samples in sedimentary sections (tephrochronological studies) are powerful tools for establishing ages of depositional events, volcanic eruptions, and tephra dispersion. Despite the large literature and the advancements in this research field, the univocal attribution of tephra deposits to specific volcanic sources remains too often elusive. In this contribution, we test the application of a machine learning technique named Support Vector Machine to attempt shedding new light upon tephra deposits related to one of the most complex and debated volcanic regions on Earth: the Pliocene-Pleistocene magmatism in Italy. The machine learning algorithm was trained using one of the most comprehensive global petrological databases (GEOROC); 17 chemical elements including major (SiO₂, TiO₂, Al₂O₃, Fe₂O_3T, CaO, MgO, MnO, Na₂O, K₂O, P₂O₅) and selected trace (Sr, Ba, Rb, Zr, Nb, La, Ce) elements were chosen as input parameters. We first show the ability of support vector machines in discriminating among different Pliocene-Pleistocene volcanic provinces in Italy and then apply the same methodology to determine the volcanic source of tephra samples occurring in the Caio outcrop, an Early Pleistocene sedimentary section located in Central Italy. Our results show that: 1) support vector machines can successfully resolve high-dimensional tephrochronological problems overcoming the intrinsic limitation of two- and three-dimensional discrimination diagrams; 2) support vector machines can discriminate among different volcanic provinces in complex magmatic regions; 3) in the specific case study, support vector machines indicate that the most probable source for the investigated tephra samples is the so-called Roman Magmatic Province. These results have strong geochronological and geodynamical implications suggesting new age constraints (1.4 Ma instead of 0.8 Ma) for the starting of the volcanic activity in the Roman Magmatic Province.