Tectonic geomorphology of the easternmost extension of the Gulf of Corinth (Beotia, Central Greece)

The easternmost sector of the Gulf of Corinth, the Beotia area in Central Greece, is an area with active normal faults located between the two major rift structures of Central Greece, the Gulf of Corinth and the North Gulf of Evia. These active normal faults include WNW to E–W and NE to ENE-trending faults affect the landscape and generate basin and range topography within the Beotia. We study four normal fault zones and drainage basin geometry in the easternmost sector of the Gulf of Corinth to document the impact of active tectonics on the landscape evolution. Fault and drainage geometry are investigated based on detailed field mapping and high-resolution digital elevation models. Tectonic geomorphic analysis using several parameters of active tectonics provides information concerning the relative tectonic activity and fault growth. In order to detect areas of lateral stream migration that could indicate recent tectonic activity, the Transverse Topographic Symmetry Factor and the Asymmetry Factor are used to analyse drainage basin geometry in six large drainage basins and a drainage domain covering the study area. Our results show that vertical motions and tilting associated with normal faulting influence the drainage geometry and its development. Values of stream-gradient indices (S_L) are relatively high close to the fault traces of the studied fault zones suggesting high activity. Mountain-front sinuosity (S_mf) mean values along the fault zones ranges from 1.08 to 1.26. Valley floor width to valley height ratios (V_f) mean values along the studied fault zones range between 0.5 and 1.6. Drainage basin shape (B_S) mean values along the fault zones range from 1.08 to 3.54. All these geomorphic parameters and geomorphological data suggest that the analyzed normal faults are highly active. Lateral fault growth was likely produced by primarily eastward propagation, with the WNW to E–W trending faults being the relatively more active structures.     

Spatial Variation in Diameter Structures of Forests in Lassen Volcanic National Park,California*

Variation in seedling/sapling densities and stand diameter forms for six coniferous tree species is related to stand structural development and to elevation and topography in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California. Understory density patterns reflect differences in species tolerance; densities decrease with stand development for shade intolerant pines, but increase for shade tolerant firs and mountain hemlock. Pine species exhibit reverse-J diamter structures on recently disturbed sites, and decreaser and random forms elsewhere. More tolerant fir species show topographically mediated patterns of diameter structure, with reverse-J form common on northerly exposures and upland sites, but with decreaser and random forms on more xeric slopes. Interaction among species tolerance, environmental setting, and disturbance history yields a complex mosaic of stand diameter structures in the Lassen landscape.     

What do fault patterns reveal about the latest phase of extension within the Northern Snake Range metamorphic core complex,Nevada, USA?

The Northern Snake Range is a classic example of a metamorphic core complex, Basin-and-Range province, United States. It is composed of a plastically deformed footwall and a brittlely deformed hanging wall, separated by the Northern Snake Range low-angle detachment (NSRD). Brittle deformation, however, is not confined to the hanging wall.This paper focuses on exposures in Cove Canyon, located on the SE flank of the Northern Snake Range, where penetrative, homogeneous faults are well exposed throughout the hanging wall, footwall and NSRD, and overprint early plastic deformation. These late-stage fault sets assisted Eocene-Miocene extension. Detailed analysis of the faults reveals the following: (1) The shortening direction defined by faults is similar to the shortening direction defined by the stretching lineation in the footwall mylonites, indicating that the extensional kinematic history remained unchanged as the rocks were uplifted into the elastico-frictional regime. (2) After ∼17 Ma, extension may have continued entirely within elastic-frictional regime via cataclastic flow. (3) This latest deformation phase may have been accommodated by a single, continuous event. (3) Faults within NSRD boudins indicate that deformation within the detachment zone was non-coaxial during the latest phase of extension.     

小兴安岭“晚古生代”地层的时代与物源：地质与碎屑锆石 U-Pb 年代学证据

本文对出露于小兴安岭的"晚古生代"红山组和黑龙宫组进行了碎屑锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb定年,旨在准确限定红山组和黑龙宫组的沉积时限,并揭示其物源组成。样品中大多数锆石呈自形—半自形,显示典型的岩浆生长环带或条痕状吸收,暗示其岩浆成因。研究结果显示,采自红山组标准剖面泥板岩中的碎屑锆石42个分析点产生以下年龄峰值:747、807、849、903、956、1 167和1 811 Ma,表明红山组沉积于747 Ma之后;采自伊春地区黑龙宫组泥板岩中的碎屑锆石97个分析点产生以下年龄峰值:700(发生Pb丢失)、805、902、1 764、2 446和2 467Ma,确定黑龙宫组沉积于805Ma之后。近年来在该地区"晚古生代"地层中碎屑锆石的定年结果显示普遍存在561 Ma年龄,鉴于红山组和黑龙宫组中缺乏上述锆石年龄组合,认为研究区的红山组和黑龙宫组的形成时代分别为747~561 Ma和805~561 Ma,时代置于新元古代。基于两组碎屑锆石的年龄频数和区域地质年代学资料的对比分析,两个地层单元中出现大量新元古代岩浆锆石,证明研究区可能存在新元古代岩浆事件,岩浆产物为两组地层提供物源;而中—古元古代碎屑锆石的存在,同时暗示该区沉积时地表或地表浅部应存在更为古老的前寒武纪残片。     

内蒙古大兴安岭地区火山岩型铅锌矿矿产预测

内蒙古自治区已发现的火山岩型铅锌矿(陆相)规模较大,集中分布于大兴安岭地区,与中晚侏罗世火山活动联系密切,已知矿床的深部及外围找矿潜力巨大。依据前人的地质、矿产、物探、化探等资料,采用"火山岩型"预测方法类型,分别以比利亚谷铅锌矿、甲乌拉铅锌矿和扎木钦铅锌矿作为典型矿床,在全区选取比利亚谷、甲乌拉和扎木钦3个预测工作区进行矿产预测。圈定铅锌矿最小预测区109个,其中A级最小预测区18个,B级最小预测区37个,C级最小预测区54个。预测334-1级别Pb+Zn总资源量1732548t,334-2级别Pb+Zn总资源量588930t,334-3级别Pb+Zn总资源量4608682t。可利用的Pb+Zn总资源量为3179267t。反映内蒙古大兴安岭地区中生代火山岩型铅锌矿(陆相)找矿潜力较大。     

The present-day state of tectonic stress in the Darling Basin,Australia: Implications for exploration and production

Knowledge of the full present-day stress tensor and pore pressure has significant applications in the exploration and production of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs. The Darling Basin of New South Wales, Australia, is an old sedimentary basin (Late Cambrian/Silurian to Early Carboniferous) in which there was limited information about the present-day stress field prior to this study. In this paper we evaluate the contemporary stress field of the Darling Basin using a dataset from recent exploration wells and perform a geomechanical risk assessment with respect to borehole stability, fracture/fault generation and reactivation. Our interpretations of borehole failures in borehole image logs reveal a prevailing east-west orientation of the maximum horizontal stress throughout the Darling Basin. The estimates of the magnitudes for the vertical, minimum and maximum horizontal stress in the studied wells indicate a transition between thrust and strike-slip faulting stress regime at 600–700 m depths, where the magnitude of vertical stress and minimum horizontal stress are close to each other. However, the presence of borehole breakouts and drilling-induced tensile fractures, that we observe in the image logs at greater depths (900–2100 m) indicate a transition into a strike-slip tectonic stress regime below a depth range of approximately 700–900 m. These findings are in agreement with overcoring stress measurements east and west of the investigated wells. Furthermore, there are several Neogene-to-Recent geological structures in the study area that indicate thrust faulting with an east-west oriented maximum horizontal stress orientation around this old sedimentary basin. The consistency between the orientation of maximum horizontal stress determined from wellbore data and neotectonic structures is significant, and implies that horizontal stress orientations derived from very recent geological features may be valuable inputs to geomechanical models in the absence of wellbore or other data. However, the recent surface geological structures suggest a thrust faulting stress regime that is in slight contrast to the transition between thrust and strike-slip stress regime (S_H > S_h ∼ S_v) indicated by petroleum data, and highlights a potential pitfall of using neotectonic structures in geomechanical models. In particular, careful attention and verification should be made when using neotectonic structures for input, calibration or confirmation of geomechanical models, especially in intraplate tectonic settings such as Australia.     

Properties of fluids attending variable recrystallization of quartzite during contact metamorphism in the White‐Inyo Range,California

Fluid inclusions in the metamorphic aureole of the Eureka Valley‐Joshua Flat‐Beer Creek (EJB) pluton in the White‐Inyo Range, California, reveal the compositions and origin of fluids that were present during variable recrystallization of quartzite with sedimentary grain shapes to metaquartzite with granoblastic texture. Metamorphosed sedimentary formations, including quartzites, marbles, calcsilicates and schists, became ductile and strongly attenuated in the aureole during growth of the magma chamber. The microstructures of quartzites have an unusual distribution in that within ~250 m from the pluton, where temperatures exceeded 650 °C, they exhibit relict sedimentary grain shapes, only small amount of grain boundary migration (GBM), and crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) dominated by <a> slip. At distances >250 m, quartzites were completely recrystallized by GBM and CPOs are indicative of prism [c] slip, characteristics that are typically associated with H₂O‐assisted, high‐T recrystallization. The lack of extensive GBM in the inner aureole can be attributed to rapid replacement of H₂O by CO₂ produced by reaction of quartz grains with calcite cement that also produced interstitial wollastonite. Fluid inclusions in the inner aureole generally occur in margins of quartz grains and are either wholly aqueous (Type 1) or also contain H₂S, CO₂ and CH₄ (Type 2). Type 2 inclusions occur only in some stratigraphic layers. In both inclusion types, NaCl and CaCl₂, in variable proportions, dominate the solutes in the aqueous phase, whereas FeCl₂ and KCl are less abundant solutes. The solutes indicate attainment of a degree of equilibrium with carbonates and schists that are interbedded with the quartzites. Some Types 1 and 2 inclusions in the inner aureole show evidence of decrepitation due to high amounts of strain and/or heating suffered by the host rocks, which suggests that they represent pore fluids that existed in the rocks prior to contact metamorphism. In addition to Type 1 inclusions, outer aureole quartzites also contain inclusions that contain CO₂ vapour bubbles in addition to aqueous phase (Type 3). These inclusions only occur in interiors of granoblastic quartz that was produced by large amounts of GBM. The aqueous phase has identical ranges of first melting and final ice melting temperatures as Type 1 inclusions, suggesting that they have the same solute compositions. These inclusions are thought to represent the interstitial pore H₂O that promoted recrystallization of quartz and reacted with graphite to produce CO₂. Absence of significant amounts of CH₄ in Type 3 inclusions is attributed to elevated fO₂ that was buffered by mineral assemblages in interbedded schists. As opposed to the large amount of CO₂ that was produced by the wollastonite‐forming reaction in the inner aureole to inhibit GBM, the amount of CO₂ produced in the outer aureole by reaction between H₂O and graphite was apparently insufficient to inhibit recrystallization of quartz.     

Acraman – Bunyeroo impact event (Ediacaran), South Australia,and environmental consequences: twenty-five years on

Multidisciplinary research during the past 25 years has established that the Acraman impact structure in the 1.59 Ga Gawler Range Volcanics on the Gawler Craton, and an ejecta horizon found 240?–?540 km from Acraman in the ??580 Ma Bunyeroo Formation in the Adelaide Fold Belt and Dey Dey Mudstone in the Officer Basin, record a Late Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) event of major environmental importance. Research since 1995 has verified Acraman as a complex impact structure that has undergone as much as 3?–?5 km of denudation and which originally had a transient cavity up to 40 km in diameter and a final structural rim possibly 85?–?90 km in diameter. The estimated impact energy of 5.2?×?10⁶ Mt (TNT) for Acraman exceeds the threshold of 10⁶ Mt nominally set for global catastrophe, and the impact probably caused a severe perturbation of the Ediacaran environment. The occurrence of the impact at a low palaeolatitude (12.5 +?7.1/???6.1°) may have magnified the environmental effects by perturbing the atmosphere in both hemispheres. These findings are consistent with independent data from the Ediacaran palynology of Australia and from isotope and biomarker chemostratigraphy that the Acraman impact induced major biotic change. Future research should seek geological, isotopic and biological imprints of the Acraman?–?Bunyeroo impact event across Australia and on other continents.     

Conductively driven,high‐thermal gradient metamorphism in the Anmatjira Range,Arunta region,central Australia

LA–ICP–MS in situ U–Pb monazite geochronology and P–T pseudosections are combined to evaluate the timing and physical conditions of metamorphism in the SE Anmatjira Range in the Aileron Province, central Australia. All samples show age peaks at c. 1580–1555 Ma, with three of five samples showing additional discrete age peaks between c. 1700 and 1630 Ma. P–T phase diagrams calculated for garnet–sillimanite–cordierite–K‐feldspar–ilmenite–melt bearing metapelitic rocks have overlapping peak mineral assemblage stability fields at ~870–920 °C and ~6.5–7.2 kbar. P–T modelling of a fine‐grained spinel–cordierite–garnet–biotite reaction microstructure suggests retrograde P–T conditions evolved down pressure and temperature to ~3–5.5 kbar and ~610–850 °C. The combined geochronological and P–T results indicate the SE Anmatjira Range underwent high‐temperature, low‐pressure metamorphism at c. 1580–1555 Ma, and followed an apparently clockwise retrograde path. The high apparent thermal gradient necessary to produce the estimated P–T conditions does not appear to reflect decompression of high‐P assemblages, nor is there syn‐metamorphic magmatism or structural evidence for extension. Similar to previous workers, we suggest the high‐thermal gradient P–T conditions could have been achieved by heating, largely driven by high heat production from older granites in the region.     

Precipitation stable isotope variability and subcloud evaporation processes in a semi‐arid region

The stable isotopic (²H/¹H and ¹⁸O/¹⁶O) composition of precipitation has been used for a variety of hydrological and paleoclimate studies, a starting point for which is the behaviour of stable isotopes in modern precipitation. To this end, daily precipitation samples were collected over a 7‐year period (2008–2014) at a semi‐arid site located at the Macquarie Marshes, New South Wales (Australia). The samples were analysed for stable isotope composition, and factors affecting the isotopic variability were investigated. The best correlation between δ ¹⁸O of precipitation was with local surface relative humidity. The reduced major axis precipitation weighted local meteoric water line was δ ²H = 7.20 δ ¹⁸O + 9.1. The lower slope and intercept (when compared with the Global Meteoric Water Line) are typical for a warm dry climate, where subcloud evaporation of raindrops is experienced. A previously published model to estimate the degree of subcloud evaporation and the subsequent isotopic modification of raindrops was enhanced to include the vertical temperature and humidity profile. The modelled results for raindrops of 1.0 mm radius showed that on average, the measured D‐excess (=δ ²H ? 8 δ ¹⁸O) was 19.8‰ lower than that at the base of the cloud, and 18% of the moisture was evaporated before ground level (smaller effects were modelled for larger raindrops). After estimating the isotopic signature at the base of the cloud, a number of data points still plotted below the global meteoric water line, suggesting that some of the moisture was sourced from previously evaporated water. Back trajectory analysis estimated that 38% of the moisture was sourced over land. Precipitation samples for which a larger proportion of the moisture was sourced over land were ¹⁸O and ²H‐enriched in comparison to samples for which the majority of the moisture was sourced over the ocean. The most common weather systems resulting in precipitation were inland trough systems; however, only East Coast Lows contributed to a significant difference in the isotopic values. Copyright © 2016 Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. Hydrological Processes. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.