Intraplate mountain building in response to continent–continent collision—the Ancestral Rocky Mountains (North America) and inferences drawn from the Tien Shan (Central Asia)

The intraplate Ancestral Rocky Mountains of western North America extend from British Columbia, Canada, to Chihuahua, Mexico, and formed during Early Carboniferous through Early Permian time in response to continent–continent collision of Laurentia with Gondwana—the conjoined masses of Africa and South America, including Yucatán and Florida. Uplifts and flanking basins also formed within the Laurentian Midcontinent. On the Gondwanan continent, well inboard from the marginal fold belts, a counterpart structural array developed during the same period. Intraplate deformation began when full collisional plate coupling had been achieved along the continental margin; the intervening ocean had been closed and subduction had ceased—that is, the distinction between upper versus lower plates became moot. Ancestral Rockies deformation was not accompanied by volcanism. Basement shear zones that formed during Mesoproterozoic rifting of Laurentia were reactivated and exerted significant control on the locations, orientations, and modes of displacement on late Paleozoic faults.Ancestral Rocky Mountain uplifts extend as far south as Chihuahua and west Texas (28° to 33°N, 102° to 109°W) and include the Florida-Moyotes, Placer de Guadalupe–Carrizalillo, Ojinaga–Tascotal and Hueco Mountain blocks, as well as the Diablo and Central Basin Platforms. All are cored with Laurentian Proterozoic crystalline basement rocks and host correlative Paleozoic stratigraphic successions. Pre-late Paleozoic deformational, thermal, and metamorphic histories are similar as well. Southern Ancestral Rocky Mountain structures terminate along a line that trends approximately N 40°E (present coordinates), a common orientation for Mesoproterozoic extensional structures throughout southern to central North America.Continuing Tien Shan intraplate deformation (Central Asia) has created an analogous array of uplifts and basins in response to the collision of India with Eurasia, beginning in late Miocene time when full coupling of the colliding plates had occurred. As in the Laurentia–Gondwana case, structures of similar magnitude and spacing to those in Eurasia have developed in the Indian plate. Within the present orogen two ancient suture zones have been reactivated—the early Paleozoic Terskey zone and the late Paleozoic Turkestan suture between the Siberian and East Gondwanan cratons. Inverted Proterozoic to early Paleozoic rift structures and passive-margin deposits are exposed north of the Terskey zone. In the Alay and Tarim complexes, Vendian to mid-Carboniferous passive-margin strata and the subjacent Proterozoic crystalline basement have been uplifted. Data on Tien Shan uplifts, basins, structural arrays, and deformation rates guide paleotectonic interpretations of ancient intraplate mountain belts. Similarly, exhumed deep crustal shear zones in the Ancestral Rockies offer insight into partitioning and reorientation of strain during contemporary intraplate deformation.     

Seismotectonic implications of sand blows in the southern Mississippi Embayment

We explore seismically-induced sand blows from the southern Mississippi Embayment and their implications in resolving the question of near or distal epicentral source region. This was accomplished using aerial photography, field excavations, and cone penetration tests. Our analysis shows that three sand blow fields exhibit a distinct chronology of strong ground motion for the southern embayment: (1) The Ashley County, Arkansas sand blow field, near the Arkansas/Louisiana state border, experienced four Holocene sand venting episodes; (2) to the north, the Desha County field experienced at least three episodes of liquefaction; and (3) the Lincoln–Jefferson Counties field experienced at least one episode. Cone penetration tests (CPT) conducted in and between the sand blow fields suggest that the fields may not be distal liquefaction associated with New Madrid seismic zone earthquakes but rather are likely associated with strong earthquakes on local faults. This conclusion is consistent with the differences in timing of the southern embayment sand venting episodes and those in the New Madrid seismic zone. These results suggest that active tectonism and strong seismicity in intraplate North America may not be localized at isolated weak spots, but rather widespread on fault systems that are favorably oriented for slip in the contemporary stress field.     

板内造山作用与成矿

中国大陆广泛分布强烈的板内变形和造山作用,传统的板块构造理论常常将其解释为板块边缘汇聚力的远程效应。然而,中国大陆的板内造山作用与汇聚板块边界之间缺乏可预期的动力学联系,不能简单地解释为大陆碰撞或板块俯冲的远程效应。本文提出另一种可供选择的解释,认为板内变形主要取决于岩石圈不均一性。相邻的板块拼合在一起形成统一板块之后,区域地质演化进入板内阶段。板块碰撞导致的岩石圈不均一性和重力不稳定性可以触发强烈的板内变形甚至造山作用,其延迟时间的长短取决于岩石圈不稳定性的程度和地球深部的热扰动。与板缘造山带相比,板内造山作用缺少板块俯冲-碰撞过程,板内造山带的演化历史相对简单,通常是以岩石圈拆沉作用开始,以地壳的垂向增生为特征,最后以岩石圈拆沉作用结束或形成重力不稳定岩石圈。因此,板内造山作用一般沿着古造山带发育。古造山带岩石圈结构低成熟度的特点不仅是岩石圈不稳定性的主要原因之一,而且由于挥发分和含矿元素的富集在活化过程中具有很强的成矿潜力。板内造山带的成矿作用依赖于深埋在岩石圈-软流圈系统不同深度水平上含矿流体的突然释放,主要发生在造山作用初始阶段和造山后伸展阶段。     

Mantle heterogeneity,plume-lithosphere interaction at rift controlled ocean-continent transition zone: Evidence from trace-PGE geochemistry of Vempalle flows,Cuddapah Basin,India

This study reports major, trace, rare earth and platinum group element compositions of lava flows from the Vempalle Formation of Cuddapah Basin through an integrated petrological and geochemical approach to address mantle conditions, magma generation processes and tectonic regimes involved in their formation. Six flows have been identified on the basis of morphological features and systematic three-tier arrangement of vesicular-entablature-colonnade zones. Petrographically, the studied flows are porphyritic basalts with plagioclase and clinopyroxene representing dominant phenocrystal phases.Major and trace element characteristics reflect moderate magmatic differentiation and fractional crystallization of tholeiitic magmas. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns corroborate pronounced LREE/HREE fractionation with LREE enrichment over MREE and HREE. Primitive mantle normalized trace element abundances are marked by LILE-LREE enrichment with relative HFSE depletion collectively conforming to intraplate magmatism with contributions from sub-continental lithospheric mantle(SCLM) and extensive melt-crust interaction. PGE compositions of Vempalle lavas attest to early sulphur-saturated nature of magmas with pronounced sulphide fractionation, while PPGE enrichment over IPGE and higher Pd/Ir ratios accord to the role of a metasomatized lithospheric mantle in the genesis of the lava flows. HFSEREE-PGE systematics invoke heterogeneous mantle sources comprising depleted asthenospheric MORB type components combined with plume type melts. HFSE-REE variations account for polybaric melting at variable depths ranging from garnet to spinel lherzolite compositional domains of mantle. Intraplate tectonic setting for the Vempalle flows with P-MORB affinity is further substantiated by(i) their origin from a rising mantle plume trapping depleted asthenospheric MORB mantle during ascent,(ii) interaction between plume-derived melts and SCLM,(iii) their rift-controlled intrabasinal emplacement through Archeane Proterozoic cratonic blocks in a subduction-unrelated ocean-continent transition zone(OCTZ). The present study is significant in light of the evolution of Cuddapah basin in the global tectonic framework in terms of its association with Antarctica, plume incubation, lithospheric melting and thinning, asthenospheric infiltration collectively affecting the rifted margin of eastern Dharwar Craton and serving as precursors to supercontinent disintegration.     

Cenozoic tectonic jumping and implications for hydrocarbon accumulation in basins in the East Asia Continental Margin

Tectonic migration is a common geological process of basin formation and evolution. However, little is known about tectonic migration in the western Pacific margins. This paper focuses on the representative Cenozoic basins of East China and its surrounding seas in the western Pacific domain to discuss the phenomenon of tectonic jumping in Cenozoic basins, based on structural data from the Bohai Bay Basin, the South Yellow Sea Basin, the East China Sea Shelf Basin, and the South China Sea Continental Shelf Basin. The western Pacific active continental margin is the eastern margin of a global convergent system involving the Eurasian Plate, the Pacific Plate, and the Indian Plate. Under the combined effects of the India-Eurasia collision and retrogressive or roll-back subduction of the Pacific Plate, the western Pacific active continental margin had a wide basin-arc-trench system which migrated or ‘jumped’ eastward and further oceanward. This migration and jumping is characterized by progressive eastward younging of faulting, sedimentation, and subsidence within the basins. Owing to the tectonic migration, the geological conditions associated with hydrocarbon and gashydrate accumulation in the Cenozoic basins of East China and its adjacent seas also become progressively younger from west to east, showing eastward younging in the generation time of reservoirs, seals, traps, accumulations and preservation of hydrocarbon and gashydrate. Such a spatio-temporal distribution of Cenozoic hydrocarbon and gashydrate is significant for the oil, gas and gashydrate exploration in the East Asian Continental Margin. Finally, this study discusses the mechanism of Cenozoic intrabasinal and interbasinal tectonic migration in terms of interplate, intraplate and underplating processes. The migration or jumping regimes of three separate or interrelated events: (1) tectonism-magmatism, (2) basin formation, and (3) hydrocarbon-gashydrate accumulation are the combined effects of the Late Mesozoic extrusion tectonics, the Cenozoic NW-directed crustal extension, and the regional far-field eastward flow of the western asthenosphere due to the India-Eurasia plate collision, accompanied by eastward jumping and roll-back of subduction zones of the Pacific Plate.     

Long aftershock sequences in North China and Central US: implications for hazard assessment in mid-continents

Because seismic activity within mid-continents is usually much lower than that along plate boundary zones, even small earthquakes can cause widespread concerns, especially when these events occur in the source regions of previous large earthquakes. However, these small earthquakes may be just aftershocks that continue for decades or even longer. The recent seismicity in the Tangshan region in North China is likely aftershocks of the 1976 Great Tangshan earthquake. The current earthquake sequence in the New Madrid seismic zone in central United States, which includes a cluster of M ~ 7.0 events in 1811–1812 and a number of similar events in the past millennium, is believed to result from recent fault reactivation that releases pre-stored strain energy in the crust. If so, this earthquake sequence is similar to aftershocks in that the rates of energy release should decay with time and the sequence of earthquakes will eventually end. We use simple physical analysis and numerical simulations to show that the current sequence of large earthquakes in the New Madrid fault zone is likely ending or has ended. Recognizing that mid-continental earthquakes have long aftershock sequences and complex spatiotemporal occurrences are critical to improve hazard assessments.     

胶东北部碱性超基性脉岩地球化学特征及环境和成因探讨

胶东地区脉岩属碱性超基性岩系(Na₂O+K₂O=4.67%～5.43%;SiO₂=36.70%～39.99%),岩性为单一的橄榄辉石岩。从主量元素(包括CIPW标准矿物组成)和过渡元素组成来看,该岩系近似原始岩浆组成。电子探针结果显示:橄榄石为富镁质橄榄石(贵橄榄石)(Fo=71～90),单斜辉石为透辉石(次透辉石为主)。岩石富集大离子亲石元素(K、Rb、Sr、Th和Ba),但不具有高场强元素(Nb、Ta、Zr和Hf)的亏损,表明岩石形成于大陆板内环境,为地幔橄榄岩低度部分熔融(3.4%)的产物。同时,它具有大陆边缘弧的特性,暗示其为一种滞后型弧岩浆作用的产物。稀土元素特征显示,岩石强烈富集LREE,而相对亏损HREE,暗示了源区的富集特性。Eu/Eu^*=0.89～1.00,总体不表现明显的负Eu异常,暗示斜长石不是主要的分馏矿物相。结合板内碱性岩石的矿物结晶顺序认为,本区岩浆分馏以较弱的橄榄石分馏为主。     

Evolution of intraplate stress fields under multiple remote compressions: The case of the Iberian Chain (NE Spain)

The stress evolution of the central-eastern Iberian Chain during the Tertiary compression has been a matter of discussion during the last decades. In particular, there is not a complete agreement on whether the tectonic evolution is controlled by different external stress fields or it is essentially related to a single stress field with multiple stress perturbations. A systematic procedure to discriminate between these two hypotheses is proposed. The procedure involves statistical computing of local compression directions, identifying and ‘filtering’ stress deviations on outcrop to map scale, and timing of paleostresses. The latter has been interpreted from both analysis of cross-cut relationships of structures and consideration of the palaeostress record through the sequence of syntectonic sedimentary units. The results suggest that a single stress field with multiple perturbations cannot explain the ensemble of compression directions inferred in the region. The final proposed model includes three different, partially superposed Intraplate Stress Fields ISF (NE–SW, ESE–WNW to SSE–NNW, and NNE–SSW ISFs), driven by genetically independent far-field tectonic forces related with the active Iberia plate margins, and showing both local and regional deflection of stress trajectories.     

滇西新生代富碱斑岩的岩石特征与成因

对滇西金沙江-墨江缝合带中段新生代富碱斑岩的岩石地球化学和同位素组成的研究表明,这一套岩石形成在板内造山后的剪切和拉张构造环境,是壳-幔混合层物质部分熔融,快速上升浅部定位所形成。本区壳-幔过渡带可能是先期生成的一种富集源区。文中还讨论了壳-幔过渡带的成因及富碱斑岩岩浆活动与岩石圈演化的关系。     

博格达山东段石炭纪火山岩地球化学及构造属性

博格达东段石炭系火山岩发育,通过1:5万区域地质调查工作,将该区划分为3个组,即下石炭统七角井组、上石炭统下部柳树沟组及上石炭统中上部祁家沟组.文中对3组地层中火山岩地质及岩石学、主量元素、稀土元素、微量元素地球化学特征研究表明,下石炭统七角井组、上石炭统下部柳树沟组是以拉斑玄武岩为主的双峰式火山岩建造,上石炭统中上部祁家沟组是小范围火山岩-碎屑岩-碳酸盐岩建造,各组火山岩均为钙碱性拉斑系列,岩浆源是幔源岩浆与地壳物质混合物,形成环境为板内裂谷环境.