Crustal recycling through intraplate magmatism: Evidence from the Trans-North China Orogen

The North China Craton (NCC) preserves the history of crustal growth and craton formation during the early Precambrian followed by extensive lithospheric thinning and craton destruction in the Mesozoic. Here we present evidence for magma mixing and mingling associated with the Mesozoic tectonic processes from the Central NCC, along the Trans-North China Orogen, a paleo suture along which the Eastern and Western Blocks were amalgamated at end of Paleoproterozoic. Our investigations focus on two granitoids – the Chiwawu and the Mapeng plutons. Typical signatures for the interaction of mafic and felsic magmas are observed in these plutons such as: (1) the presence of diorite enclaves; (2) flow structures; (3) schlierens; (4) varying degrees of hybridization; and (5) macro-, and micro-textures. Porphyritic feldspar crystals show numerous mineral inclusions as well as rapakivi and anti-rapakivi textures. We present bulk chemistry, zircon U–Pb geochronology and REE data, and Lu–Hf isotopes on the granitoids, diorite enclaves, and surrounding basement rocks to constrain the timing of intraplate magmatism and processes of interaction between felsic and mafic magmas. Our LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb data show that the pophyritic granodiorite was emplaced at 129.7 ± 1.0 Ma. The diorite enclaves within this granodiorite show identical ages (128.2 ± 1.5 Ma). The basement TTG (tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite) gneisses formed at ca. 2.5 Ga coinciding with the major period of crustal accretion in the NCC. The 1.85 Ga age from zircons in the gabbro with positive Hf isotope signature may be related to mantle magmatism during post-collisional extension following the assembly of the Western and Eastern Blocks of the NCC along the Trans-North China Orogen. Our Hf isotope data indicate that the Neoarchean–Paleoproterozoic basement rocks were derived from complex sources of both juvenile magmas and reworked ancient crust, whereas the magma source for the Mesozoic units are dominantly reworked basement rocks. Our study provides a window to intraplate magmatism triggered by mantle upwelling beneath a paleosuture in the North China Craton.     

Upwarped high velocity mafic crust, subsurface tectonics and causes of intraplate Latur-Killari (M 6.2) and Koyna (M 6.3) earthquakes, India – A comparative study

A unique attempt is made to understand the genesis of intraplate seismicity in the Latur-Killari and Koyna seismogenic regions of India, through derived crustal structure by synthesizing active and passive seismic, magnetotelluric, gravity and heat flow data. It has indicated presence of relatively high velocity/density intermediate granulite (and amphibolite) facies rocks underneath the Deccan volcanic cover caused mainly due to a continuous geodynamic process of uplift and erosion since Precambrian times. These findings have been independently confirmed by detailed borehole geological, geochemical and mineralogical investigations. The crystalline basement rock is found to contain 2 wt% of carbon-di-oxide fluid components. The presence of geodynamic process, associated with thermal anomalies at subcrustal depths, is supported by a high mantle heat flow (29–36 mW/m²) beneath both regions, although some structural and compositional variations may exist as evidenced by P- and S-wave seismic velocities. We suggest that the stress, caused by ongoing uplift and a high mantle heat flow is continuously accumulating in this denser and rheologically stronger mafic crust within which earthquakes tend to nucleate. These stresses appear to dominate over and above those generated by the India–Eurasia collision. The role of fluids in stress generation, as advocated through earlier studies, appears limited.     

华南岛弧系统的近期活动

在新的地震活跃期中，台湾海峡７．３级地震和北部湾两次６级地震的发生，标志着华南弧岛系统相应了进入了强烈活动阶段，它们虽然都受控于太平洋板块（包括菲律宾海弧块）的西向挤压，但由于块体运动的主支与被动，作用力量级的不同和地质构造的差异而存在强度和诸多参数的差别。尽管如此，两处地震无疑都属于板内地震，利用它们和板缘地震的关系，可宏观地观测华南大陆的地震活动趋势。     

浅谈大陆构造-板块构造的回顾与反思

60年代提出的板块构造理论拓宽了人们的思路,给地球科学带来了活力。但是随着对大陆区域地质调查的深入,发现大陆板块与大洋板块差异很大,用刚性板块运动学理论不能解释大陆内部复杂的构造形变和板内地震活动。J. Dewey(1986)和P. Molnar(1988)相继提出大陆构造及其研究方法。我国青藏高原是一个典型而独特的大陆构造单元,是最强烈的板内形变带和地震活动区,同时是亚洲大气环流的启博器。青藏高原很可能成为新的地球科学理论的诞生地。     

Principal horizontal stresses in Southern Africa

A review ofin situ stress measurements at eight regional localities in Africa south of the 15°S parallel shows that average directions of the horizontal pricipal stresses are N-S and E-W. These directions agree with principal stress orientations deduced from earthquake fault plane solutions. However, the maximum and minimum principal horizontal stresses are not consistently oriented parallel to either the N-S or E-W direction; they may vary within an individual region because of local geological structures and from region to region. At the sites within the Witwatersrand sediments (all at depths greater than 500 m) the maximum stress tends to lie NW-SE but at three of the four sites outside the Witwatersrand sediments (all at depths less than 500 m) this stress is oriented approximately N-S.The data reported here are compared with horizontal stresses predicted for Southern Africa bySolomon, Sleep andRichardson (1975) from various plate tectonic driving force models. The agreement between orientations is fair for all sites but only the deép sites in the Witwatersrand sediments have comparable stress magnitudes.     

Tikhonov's regularization for deconvolution in the empirical Green function method and vertical directivity effect

Application of Tikhonov's technique, using input errors for the parameter of regularization estimation, enhances the accuracy and stability of the reconstruction of a source time function (STF) by the empirical Green function (EGF) method that gives us an opportunity to use simultaneously for analysis body and surface waves data, and to estimate the horizontal and vertical directivity effects. Knowledge of the last is particularly useful for the choice of an active nodal plane of earthquakes with the dip slip fault orientation that allows us to classify these earthquakes to the interplate or intraplate types and thereby to reach the better understanding of tectonic processes in the region of interest.By way of illustration, an attempt to estimate average parameters of faulting in a first approximation is made herein for two Russian Far East large events with opposite types of focal mechanism orientation, strike slip and dip slip. The former is not a matter of interest in the context of vertical directivity effect but enables us to test the method.The directivity analysis of pulse durations and inverse amplitudes of the relative source time functions (RSTFs) restored at eight globally distributed stations IRIS indicates that the destruction in the source of the Neftegorsk earthquake (05/27/1995 M_W=7.1) propagated roughly horizontally in the direction 8±11° during 19.2±0.4 s along the rupture extending 35.5±4.9 km. The calculated slip distribution along the rupture coincides within the error with the results of field geological measurements on the causal surface fault that proves that the Neftegorsk earthquake source is well described by the model of the linear unilateral fault and gives a good assessment of the method applied.The average parameters of faulting in the Kamchatka earthquake (03/08/1999 M_W=6.9) have been determined from data of 13 station IRIS. It was shown that the destruction in its source propagated downward at an angle of about 60° with horizon, in the direction about S156° E, during 13.4±0.2 s, along the rupture totaling 25.5±2.3 km in length. Therefore, the nodal plane, steeply dipped to the SE, was active and this event can be regarded as an intraplate type. Two asperities can be selected; the first with the maximum slip 3.3 m located at a distance of about 7 km from the onset of rupture, and the second with the maximum slip about 0.9 m centered at approximately 19 km from that.     

The Kaliningrad, West Russia earthquakes on the 21st of September 2004—Surprise events in a very low-seismicity area

The earthquakes in Kaliningrad, West Russia on the 21st of September 2004 were unexpected in a seismically quiet area. The main shock of magnitude m_b = 5 was widely felt around the Baltic Sea. A comparison with some historic earthquakes in Northern Europe shows that its perceptibility area is smaller than that of the 1904 Oslo Graben earthquake of an estimated magnitude (M_L) 5.4 but larger than those of the 1759 Kattegat and 1819 Lurøy earthquakes. The latter are claimed to have had magnitudes (M_S) in the range of 5.7-6.0. An analysis of the Lg phase of the Kaliningrad earthquakes as recorded at a number of European stations accords only weakly with the macroseismic intensity pattern that shows fast attenuation towards west-northwest and southeast. The strike-slip focal mechanism of the main shock is discussed in the context of remnant glacial rebound stresses in generating present-day seismicity in N. Europe.     

Stratigraphic evidence for millennial-scale temporal clustering of earthquakes on a continental-interior fault: Holocene Mississippi River floodplain deposits, New Madrid seismic zone, USA

The earthquake cycles that characterize continental-interior areas that are far from active plate boundaries have proven highly cryptic and difficult to resolve. We used a novel paleoseismic proxy to address this issue. Namely, we reconstructed Holocene Mississippi River channels from maps of floodplain strata in order to identify channel perturbations reflective of major displacement events on the high-hazard and mid-plate Reelfoot thrust fault, New Madrid seismic zone, U.S.A. Only three discrete slip events are currently documented for the Reelfoot fault ( AD 900,  AD 1450, and AD 1812). This study extends this record and, thus, illustrates the utility of stratigraphic proxies as paleoseismic tools. We concurrently offer here some of the first quantified response times for tectonically induced channel pattern changes in large alluvial rivers.

We identified at least two cycles of pervasive meandering that were interrupted by channel-straightening responses occurring upstream of the Reelfoot fault scarp. These straightening responses initiated at 2244 BC +/− 269 to 1620 BC +/− 220 and  AD 900, respectively, and each records initiation of a period of Reelfoot fault slip after millennia of relative tectonic quiescence. The second (or New Madrid) straightening response was triggered by the previously known  AD 900 fault slip event, and this initial low sinuosity has been protracted until the modern day by the latter  AD 1450 and AD 1812 events. The first (or Bondurant) straightening response began a period of several hundred to  1400 years of low river sinuosity which evidences a similar period of multiple recurrent displacement events on the Reelfoot fault. These Bondurant events predate the existing paleoseismic record for the Reelfoot fault.

These data offer initial evidence that slip events on the Reelfoot fault were temporally clustered on millennial scales and, thus, offers the first direct evidence for millennial-scale clustering of earthquakes on a continental-interior fault. This carries additional ramifications. Namely, faults that have been quiescent and non-hazardous for millennia could re-enter an enduring period of recurrent hazardous earthquakes with little warning. Likewise, the Reelfoot fault also reveals evidence of temporal clustering of earthquakes on short-term cycles (months), as well as evidence for longer-term reactivation cycles (10⁴–10⁶ years). This introduces the possibility that temporal clustering could be hierarchical on some continental-interior faults.     

Insights into the “tectonic topography” of the present-day landscape of the central Iberian Peninsula (Spain)

The landscape of today's central Iberian Peninsula has been shaped by ongoing tectonic activity since the Tertiary. This landscape comprises a mountain ridge trending E–W to NW–SE, the Central System, separating two regions of smooth topography: the basins of the rivers Duero and Tajo. In this study, we explore interrelationships between topography and tectonics in the central Iberian Peninsula. Regional landscape features were analysed using a digital elevation model (DEM). Slope gradients and slope orientations derived from the DEM were combined to describe topographic surface roughness. Topography trend-surfaces inferred from harmonic analysis were used to define regional topographic features. Low roughness emphasizes the smooth nature of the basins' topography, where surfaces of homogeneous slope gradient and orientation dominate. High roughness was associated with abrupt changes in gradient and slope orientation such as those affecting crests, valley bottoms and scarp edges present in the mountain chain and in some deep incised valleys in the basins. One of the applications of roughness mapping was its capacity to isolate incised valley segments. The area distribution of incised rivers shows their prevalence in the east. On a regional scale, the topographic surface can be described as a train of NE–SW undulations or waves of 20 km wavelength. These undulations undergo changes in direction and interruptions limited by N–S-trending breaks. E–W and NE–SW troughs and ridges clearly mark structural uplifts and depressions within the Central System. These structures are transverse to the compressive NW–SE stress field that controlled the deformation of the central Iberian Peninsula from the Neogene to the present. They represent the upper crustal folding that accommodates Alpine shortening. N–S breaks coincide with Late Miocene faults that control the basins' sedimentation. Further, associated palaeoseismic structures suggest the recent tectonic activity of N–S faults in the eastern part of the Tajo Basin. Apatite fission track analysis data for this area suggest the occurrence of a significant uplift episode from 7 to 10 Ma which induced the river incisions appearing in the roughness map. N–S and NE–SW faults could be seismogenic sources for the current moderate to low seismic activity of the east Tajo Basin and southeast Central System. Although N–S fault activity has already been established, we propose its significant contribution to shaping the landscape.     

Coseismic reactivation of the Samambaia fault, Brazil

Northeastern Brazil is, within the present knowledge of historical and instrumental seismicity, one the most seismic active areas in intraplate South America. Seismic activity in the region has occurred mainly around the Potiguar basin. This seismicity includes earthquake swarms characterized by instrumentally-recorded events ≤ 5.2 m_b and paleoseismic events ≥ 7.0. Our study concentrates in the João Câmara (JC) epicentral area, where an earthquake swarm composed of more than 40,000 aftershocks occurred mainly from 1986 to 1990 along the Samambaia fault; 14 of which had m_b > 4.0 and two of which had 5.1 and 5.0 m_b. We describe and compare this aftershock sequence with the present-day stress field and the tectonic fabric in an attempt to understand fault geometry and local control of seismogenic faulting. Earthquake data indicate that seismicity decreased steadily from 1986 to 1998. We selected 2,746 epicenters, which provided a high-quality and precise dataset. It indicates that the fault trends 37° azimuth, dips 76°–80° to NW, and forms an alignment  27 km long that cuts across the NNE–SSW-trending ductile Precambrian fabric. The depth of these events ranged from  1 km to  9 km. The fault forms an echelon array of three main left-bend segments: one in the northern and two in the southern part of the fault. A low-seismicity zone, which marks a contractional bend, occurs between the northern and southern segments. Focal mechanisms indicate that the area is under an E–W-oriented compression, which led to strike–slip shear along the Samambaia fault with a small normal component. The fault is at 53° to the maximum compression and is severely misoriented for reactivation under the present-day stress field. The seismicity, however, spatially coincides with a brittle fabric composed of quartz veins and silicified-fault zones. We conclude that the Samambaia fault is a discontinuous and reactivated structure marked at the surface by a well-defined brittle fabric, which is associated with silica-rich fluids.