Paleogeographic maps of the Japanese Islands: Plate tectonic synthesis from 750 Ma to the present

Abstract A series of paleogeographic maps of the Japanese Islands, from their birth at ca 750–700 Ma to the present, is newly compiled from the viewpoint of plate tectonics. This series consists of 20 maps that cover all of the major events in the geotectonic evolution of Japan. These include the birth of Japan at the rifted continental margin of the Yangtze craton ( ca 750-700 Ma), the tectonic inversion of the continental margin from passive to active ( ca 500 Ma), the Paleozoic accretionary growth incorporating fragments from seamounts and oceanic plateaux ( ca 480-250 Ma), the collision between Sino-Korea and Yangtze (250–210 Ma), the Mesozoic to Cenozoic accretionary growth (210 Ma-present) including the formation of the Cretaceous paired metamorphic belts (90 Ma), and the Miocene back-arc opening of the Japan Sea that separated Japan as an island arc (25-15 Ma).     

ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITE DIAGNOSIS OF OCEANIC EXPLOSIVE CYCLONES*

Using the data of ECMWF (European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts) to undertake composite diagnoses of 16 explosive cyclones occurring at the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans,it is found that there are a lot of obvious discrepancies on the basic fields between these strong and weak explosive cyclones.The major reasons why the explosive cyclones over the Atlantic are stronger than those over the Pacific Ocean are that the non-zonal upper jet and the low-level warm moist flow over the Atlantic are stronger.The non-zonal upper jet offers stronger divergence,baroclinicity and baroclinic instability fields for explosive cyclones.Anticyclonic curvature at the high level of strong explosive cyclones is easy to make the inertia-gravitational wave developing at the moment of northward transfer of energy and stimulate the cyclones deepening quickly.Warm advection and diabatic heating can cause the upper isobaric surface lifting,as a result,the anticyclone curvature of cyclones enlarges,and wave energy develops easily as well.The most powerful period of the development of explosive cyclones is just the time when the positive vorticity advection center is located over the low vortex.At the upper level,when the distribution of potential vorticity contours changes suddenly from rareness to denseness,and the large values of the potential vorticity both in the west and north sides of cyclones extend downwards together,then cyclones are easy to explosively develop.The formation of strong explosive cyclones is closely related with the non-zonality of upper jet and the anticyclonic curvature.     

利用ARGO资料改进海洋资料同化和海洋模式中的物理过程

国际ARGO计划的实施每年将可提供多达 10万个剖面 (0～ 2 0 0 0m水深 )的海水温度和盐度资料 ,这些资料的获取无疑将会大大促进海洋和大气科学的发展 ,使人们加深对海洋过程的了解 ,揭示海 气相互作用的机理 ,为长期天气预报和短期气候预测提供模式初始场 ,提高长期天气预报和短期气候预测的能力。如何利用这些资料开展研究工作以及在实际业务中应用这些资料是目前大气和海洋科学界的一个前沿课题。本研究将ARGO浮标资料引入了国家气候中心的NCC GODAS同化系统 ,结果分析表明 ,同化ARGO资料后所得到的海温场在三大洋中不仅在温度数值的大小 ,而且在分布形式方面都与观测场具有较好的一致性 ,可以很好地反映出观测到的冬季和夏季海温的分布形式以及海温的季节变化特征和异常特征。本研究还应用最新的ARGO海洋观测资料 ,通过建立新的热带西太平洋次表层海温参数化方案 ,改进了Zebiak Cane(1987)海洋模式 (ZC模式 ) ,克服了ZC模式几乎没有模拟赤道西太平洋表层和次表层海温变化能力的缺陷。在ZC模式中引用新的次表层海温参数化方案后 ,在赤道西太平洋不仅次表层海温的模拟得到了改善 ,对海面温度异常的模拟也有了较大的改进 ,不仅模拟出了赤道西太平洋表层和次表层海温异常的年际变化特征 ,也模拟出了与观     

加强埃达克岩研究，开创中国Cu、Au等找矿工作的新局面

埃达克岩与浅成低温热液Au-Ag及斑岩型Cu、Cu-Au矿床有密切的关系，环太平洋地区多数大型和世界级的斑岩铜矿均与埃达克岩有关。埃达克岩有利于成矿的关键因素与埃达克岩形成时角闪石转变为石榴石的脱水作用有关，而水能萃取出在地幔和基性岩中富集的金属元素。因此，埃达克岩集中分布的地区有利于铜、金等矿化的聚集。中国铜矿资源严重不足，解决这个紧迫问题的出路在寻找斑岩铜矿。全球铜矿主要分布在环太平洋地区，中国与环太平洋类似的地区不是中国东部，而是古亚洲洋造山带、东北吉黑东部和西藏冈底斯。从国家目标出发，建议实施铜、金等找矿工作的战略转移，把浅成低温热液和斑岩型Au、Cu、Ag等矿床找矿的重点放在古生代的古亚洲洋造山带、晚古生代-中生代的吉黑东部和中-新生代的冈底斯地区。古亚洲洋造山带首选阿尔泰西南缘-东准噶尔、东天山和内蒙古中部3个地区。埃达克岩可以作为找矿标志来使用，因此，在找矿思路上也应当有一个变化，即：先找埃达克岩，再找矿。     

Evidence for Neotethys rooted within the Vardar suture zone from the Voras Massif, northernmost Greece

Three conflicting models are currently proposed for the location and tectonic setting of the Eurasian continental margin and adjacent Tethys ocean in the Balkan region during Mesozoic–Early Tertiary time. Model 1 places the Eurasian margin within the Rhodope zone relatively close to the Moesian platform. A Tethyan oceanic basin was located to the south bordering a large “Serbo-Pelagonian” microcontinent. Model 2 correlates an integral “Serbo-Pelagonian” continental unit with the Eurasian margin and locates the Tethys further southwest. Model 3 envisages the Pelagonian zone and the Serbo-Macedonian zone as conjugate continental units separated by a Tethyan ocean that was sutured in Early Tertiary time to create the Vardar zone of northern Greece and former Yugoslavia. These published alternatives are tested in this paper based on a study of the tectono-stratigraphy of a completely exposed transect located in the Voras Mountains of northernmost Greece. The outcrop extends across the Vardar zone, from the Pelagonian zone in the west to the Serbo-Macedonian zone in the east.Within the Voras Massif, six east-dipping imbricate thrust sheets are recognised. Of these, Units 1–4 correlate with the regional Pelagonian zone in the west (and related Almopias sub-zone). By contrast, Units 5–6 show a contrasting tectono-stratigraphy and correlate with the Paikon Massif and the Serbo-Macedonian zone to the east. These units form a stack of thrust sheets, with Unit 1 at the base and Unit 6 at the top. Unstacking these thrust sheets places ophiolitic units between the Pelagonian zone and the Serbo-Macedonian zone, as in Model 3. Additional implications are, first, that the Paikon Massif cannot be seen as a window of Pelagonian basement, as in Model 1, and, secondly, Jurassic andesitic volcanics of the Paikon Massif locally preserve a gneissose continental basement, ruling out a recently suggested origin as an intra-oceanic arc.We envisage that the Almopias (Vardar) ocean rifted in Triassic time, followed by seafloor spreading. The Almopias ocean was consumed beneath the Serbo-Macedonian margin in Jurassic time, generating subduction-related arc volcanism in the Paikon Massif and related units. Ophiolites were emplaced onto the Pelagonian margin in the west and covered by Late Jurassic (pre-Kimmeridgian) conglomerates. Other ophiolitic rocks formed within the Vardar zone (Ano Garefi ophiolite, Unit 4) in latest Jurassic–Early Cretaceous time and were not deformed until Early Tertiary time. The Vardar zone finally sutured in the Early Tertiary creating the present imbricate thrust structure of the Voras Mountains.     

Middle Campanian–lowermost Maastrichtian nannofossil and foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the northwestern Australian margin

The middle–late Campanian was marked by an increase in the bioprovinciality of calcareous microfossil assemblages into distinct Tethyan, Transitional, and Austral Provinces that persisted to the end of the Maastrichtian. The northwestern Australian margin belonged to the Transitional Province and the absence of key Tethyan marker species such as Radotruncana calcarata and Gansserina gansseri has led petroleum companies operating in the area to use the locally developed KCCM integrated calcareous microfossil zonation scheme. The KCCM zonation is a composite scheme comprising calcareous nannofossil (KCN), planktonic foraminiferal (KPF) and benthonic foraminiferal (KBF) zones. This paper presents the definitions and revisions of Zones KCCM8–19, from the highest occurrence (HO) of Aspidolithus parcus constrictus to the lowest occurrence (LO) of Ceratolithoides aculeus, and builds on our previous early–late Maastrichtian study. The presence of a middle–upper Campanian disconformity is confirmed by microfossil evidence from the Vulcan Sub-basin, Exmouth and Wombat plateaus, and the Southern Carnarvon Platform. In the Vulcan Sub-basin and on the Exmouth Plateau (ODP Hole 762C) the hiatus extends from slightly above the LO of common Rugoglobigerina rugosa to above the LO of Quadrum gothicum. On the Wombat Plateau (ODP Hole 761B) it spans from above the LO of Heterohelix semicostata to above the LO of Quadrum gothicum; and in the Southern Carnarvon Platform the disconformity has its longest duration from above the HO of Heterohelix semicostata to above the LO of Quadrum sissinghii. A significant revision of the events which define Zones KCCM18 and 19 was necessary owing to the observation that the LO of Ceratolithoides aculeus occurs below the HOs of Archaeoglobigerina cretacea and Stensioeina granulata incondita and the LO of common Rugoglobigerina rugosa. In the original zonation these events were considered to be coincident.     

Variability of the Intertropical Convergence Zone recorded in coral isotopic records from the central Indian Ocean (Chagos Archipelago)

We have analyzed the stable oxygen isotopic composition of two Porites corals from the Chagos Archipelago, which is situated in the geographical center of the Indian Ocean. Coral δ¹⁸O at this site reliably records temporal variations in precipitation associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Precipitation maxima occur in boreal winter, when the ITCZ forms a narrow band across the Indian Ocean. The Chagos then lies within the center of the ITCZ, and rainfall is strongly depleted in δ¹⁸O. A 120-yr coral isotopic record indicates an alternation of wet and dry intervals lasting 15 to 20 yr. The most recent 2 decades are dominated by interannual variability, which is tightly coupled to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). This is unprecedented in the 120 yr of coral record. As the ITCZ is governed by atmospheric dynamics, this provides evidence of a major change in the coupled ENSO-monsoon system.     

A study of microearthquake seismicity and focal mechanisms within the Sea of Marmara (NW Turkey) using ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs)

We have carried out seismological observations within the Sea of Marmara (NW Turkey) in order to investigate the seismicity induced after Gölcük–İzmit (Kocaeli) earthquake (M_w 7.4) of August 17, 1999, using ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs). High-resolution hypocenters and focal mechanisms of microearthquakes have been investigated during this Marmara Sea OBS project involving deployment of 10 OBSs within the Çınarcık (eastern Marmara Sea) and Central-Tekirdağ (western Marmara Sea) basins during April–July 2000. Little was known about microearthquake activity and their source mechanisms in the Marmara Sea. We have detected numerous microearthquakes within the main basins of the Sea of Marmara along the imaged strands of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF). We obtained more than 350 well-constrained hypocenters and nine composite focal mechanisms during 70 days of observation. Microseismicity mainly occurred along the Main Marmara Fault (MMF) in the Marmara Sea. There are a few events along the Southern Shelf. Seismic activity along the Main Marmara Fault is quite high, and focal depth distribution was shallower than 20 km along the western part of this fault, and shallower than 15 km along its eastern part. From high-resolution relative relocation studies of some of the microearthquake clusters, we suggest that the western Main Marmara Fault is subvertical and the eastern Main Marmara Fault dips to south at 45°. Composite focal mechanisms show a strike-slip regime on the western Main Marmara Fault and complex faulting (strike-slip and normal faulting) on the eastern Main Marmara Fault.     

REE and (э)Nd of clay fractions in sediments from the eastern Pacific Ocean: Evidence for clay sources

Clay fractions in the non-calcareous surface sediments from the eastern Pacific were analyzed for clay minerals, REE and 143Nd/144Nd. Montmorillonite/illite ratio (M/I ratio), total REE contents ((REE), LREE/HREE ratio and cerium anomaly (бCe) may effectively indicate the genesis of clay minerals. Clay fractions with M/I ratio >1, бCe (0.85, (REE (400 μg/g, LREE/HREE ratio (4, and REE patterns similar to those of pelagic sediments are terrigenous and autogenetic mixed clay fractions and contain more autogenetic montmorillonite. Clay fractions with M/I ratio <1, бCe=0.86 to 1.5, ΣREE=200 to 350 μg/g, LREE/HREE ratio (6 and REE distribution patterns similar to that of China loess are identified as terrigenous clay fraction. The 143Nd/144Nd ratios or (э)Nd values of clay fractions inherit the features of terrigenous sources of clay minerals. Clay fractions are divided into 4 types according to (э)Nd values. Terrigenous clay minerals of type I with the (э)Nd values of -8 to -6 originate mainly from North American fluvial deposits. Those of type II with the (э)Nd values of -9 to -7 are mainly from the East Asia and North American fluvial deposits. Those of type III with (э)Nd values of -6 to -3 could come from the central and eastern Pacific volcanic islands. Those of type IV with (э)Nd values of -13 to -12 may be from East Asia eolian. The terrigenous and autogenetic mixed clay fractions show patchy distributions, indicating that there are volcanic or hot-spot activities in the eastern Pacific plate, while the terrigenous clay fractions cover a large part of the study area, proving that the terrigenous clay minerals are dominant in the eastern Pacific.