The Forming Conditions of and Ore-searching Direction for B, Mg,Pb, Zn and Au Deposits in the Liaoji Proterozoic Rift

The Proterozoic was the first of severa1 impor-tant transitional periods in the earth's evolutionaryhistory. Linear .rifts over1apped on the b4se ofArchean granite -- greenstone and high -- grade gneissregimes. Along with the formation and evolution ofthe…     

冀北金台子盆地早白垩世酸性火山岩地球化学、锆石年代学及其地质意义

华北克拉通在中生代以来遭受了显著破坏。前人的研究对克拉通破坏的机制和峰期取得了较大共识, 但是关于克拉通破坏的启动时间一直存在争议。本文通过对冀北金台子中生代盆地构造特征及其填充的火山岩地球化学和年代学进行分析, 为华北克拉通破坏启动时间提供新的约束。研究表明, 金台子盆地为一伸展断陷盆地。盆地呈北东-南西向展布, 东侧被正断层控制, 西侧为地层超覆边界。盆地内自下而上发育后城组、白旗组、啕北营组、九佛堂组火山-沉积组合。后城组是一套稳定的河流相红色砂砾岩沉积地层;白旗组和啕北营组主体为巨厚层流纹岩、流纹质凝灰熔岩, 局部夹安山岩和火山碎屑岩;九佛堂组是一套以砾岩、砂砾岩等为主体的碎屑岩。地球化学分析表明金台子盆地中发育的酸性火山岩源于地壳重熔。锆石U-Pb年代学研究显示, 金台子盆地内流纹岩自约145 Ma开始广泛喷发并形成巨厚层的酸性火山岩地层, 表明此时在华北北缘地区的岩石圈减薄和破坏可能就已非常剧烈, 据此华北克拉通在其北缘的破坏至少应早于145 Ma。     

Tectonic inversion events in the western San Jorge Gulf Basin from seismic,borehole and field data

The San Jorge Gulf Basin, located in Central Patagonia, has been interpreted as a Jurassic-Cretaceous rift basin that was later inverted mainly in its western sector. Consequently, the Bernardides System formed as a set of foreland contractional structures that constitute the core of the Patagonian broken foreland, exhuming continental deposits of the Cretaceous Chubut Group, 500 km away from the Pacific trench. In spite of the intense research done in the San Jorge Gulf Basin many aspects remain under discussion, particularly those regarding the age of uplift of the Bernárdides System. In order to unravel the tectonic evolution of the western San Jorge Gulf Basin (Río Mayo Sub-Basin), we analyzed subsurface information (2D and 3D seismic lines and oil wells) located in the western area of the basin and compared this with surface data of the southern Bernárdides System. Based on our interpretation, the western part of the basin could have been uplifted in a series of deformational events that began as early as late Early Cretaceous, related to the initial uplift of the Patagonian broken foreland, during the early stages of South Atlantic opening. Subsequent stages of tectonic reactivation identified in this system have selectively inverted previous extensional structures according to the variable direction of the greatest horizontal stress (σ1) acting at each time.     

Complex rift geometries resulting from inheritance of pre-existing structures: Insights and regional implications from the Barmer Basin rift

Structural studies of the Barmer Basin in Rajasthan, northwest India, demonstrate the important effect that pre-existing faults can have on the geometries of evolving fault systems at both the outcrop and basin-scale. Outcrop exposures on opposing rift margins reveal two distinct, non-coaxial extensional events. On the eastern rift margin northwest–southeast extension was accommodated on southwest- and west-striking faults that form a complex, zig-zag fault network. On the western rift margin northeast–southwest extension was accommodated on northwest-striking faults that form classical extensional geometries.Combining these outcrop studies with subsurface interpretations demonstrates that northwest–southeast extension preceded northeast–southwest extension. Structures active during the early, previously unrecognised extensional event were variably incorporated into the evolving fault systems during the second. In the study area, an inherited rift-oblique fault transferred extension from the rift margin to a mid-rift fault, rather than linking rift margin fault systems directly. The resultant rift margin accommodation structure has important implications for early sediment routing and depocentre evolution, as well as wider reaching implications for the evolution of the rift basin and West Indian Rift System. The discovery of early rifting in the Barmer Basin supports that extension along the West Indian Rift System was long-lived, multi-event, and likely resulted from far-field plate reorganisations.     

河南卢氏—西峡地区小寨组的沉积相

石界河群小寨组主要为砂、泥质碎屑沉积,按岩性可分为四个组合,下部黑云母石英片岩与变质杂砂岩组合及变质副砾岩与变质杂砂岩组合为浊流及碎屑流沉积,上部的变质砾岩与变质含砾砂岩组合及变质杂砂岩、千枚岩组合为扇三角洲沉积。综合上述沉积相组合,提出小寨组并非大洋或深海盆地,而应为靠近陆源地的断陷盆地中的碎屑沉积。     

Volcanism in the Vitim Volcanic Field, Siberia: Geochemical Evidence for a Mantle Plume Beneath the Baikal Rift Zone

The Baikal Rift is a zone of active lithospheric extension adjacentto the Siberian Craton. The 6–16 Myr old Vitim VolcanicField (VVF) lies approximately 200 km east of the rift axisand consists of 5000 km³ of melanephelinites, basanites, alkaliand tholeiitic basalts, and minor nephelinites. In the volcanicpile, 142 drill core samples were used to study temporal andspatial variations. Variations in major element abundances (e.g.MgO = 3·3–14·6 wt %) reflect polybaric fractionalcrystallization of olivine, clinopyroxene and plagioclase. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i(0·7039–0·7049), ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd_i (0·5127–0·5129)and ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf_i (0·2829–0·2830) ratiosare similar to those for ocean island basalts and suggest thatthe magmas have not assimilated significant amounts of continentalcrust. Variable degrees of partial melting appear to be responsiblefor differences in Na₂O, P₂O₅, K₂O and incompatible trace elementabundances in the most primitive (high-MgO) magmas. Fractionatedheavy rare earth element (HREE) ratios (e.g. [Gd/Lu]_n > 2·5)indicate that the parental magmas of the Vitim lavas were predominantlygenerated within the garnet stability field. Forward major elementand REE inversion models suggest that the tholeiitic and alkalibasalts were generated by decompression melting of a fertileperidotite source within the convecting mantle beneath Vitim.Ba/Sr ratios and negative K anomalies in normalized multi-elementplots suggest that phlogopite was a residual mantle phase duringthe genesis of the nephelinites and basanites. Relatively highlight REE (LREE) abundances in the silica-undersaturated meltsrequire a metasomatically enriched lithospheric mantle source.Results of forward major element modelling suggest that meltingof phlogopite-bearing pyroxenite veins could explain the majorelement composition of these melts. In support of this, pyroxenitexenoliths have been found in the VVF. High Cenozoic mantle potentialtemperatures (1450°C) predicted from geochemical modellingsuggest the presence of a mantle plume beneath the Baikal RiftZone. KEY WORDS: Baikal Rift; mafic magmatism; mantle plume; metasomatism; partial melting     

Geochemical and O-isotope constraints on the evolution of lithospheric mantle in the Ross Sea rift area (Antarctica)

Peridotite xenoliths found in Cenozoic alkali basalts of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, vary from fertile spinel-lherzolite to harzburgite. They often contain glass-bearing pockets formed after primary pyroxenes and spinel. Few samples are composite and consist of depleted spinel lherzolite crosscut by amphibole veins and/or lherzolite in contact with poikilitic wehrlite. Peridotite xenoliths are characterized by negative Al₂O₃–Mg# and TiO₂–Mg# covariations of clino- and orthopyroxenes, low to intermediate HREE concentrations in clinopyroxene, negative Cr–Al trend in spinel, suggesting variable degrees of partial melting. Metasomatic overprint is evidenced by trace element enrichment in clinopyroxene and sporadic increase of Ti–Fe_tot. Preferential Nb, Zr, Sr enrichments in clinopyroxene associated with high Ti–Fe_tot contents constrain the metasomatic agent to be an alkaline basic melt. In composite xenoliths, clinopyroxene REE contents increase next to the veins suggesting metasomatic diffusion of incompatible element. Oxygen isotope data indicate disequilibrium conditions among clinopyroxene, olivine and orthopyroxene. The highest δ¹⁸O values are observed in minerals of the amphibole-bearing xenolith. The δ¹⁸O_cpx correlations with clinopyroxene modal abundance and geochemical parameters (e.g. Mg# and Cr#) suggest a possible influence of partial melting on oxygen isotope composition. Thermobarometric estimates define a geotherm of 80°C/GPa for the refractory lithosphere of NVL, in a pressure range between 1 and 2.5 GPa. Clinopyroxene microlites of melt pockets provide P–T data close to the anhydrous peridotite solidus and confirm that they originated from heating and decompression during transport in the host magma. All these geothermometric data constrain the mantle potential temperature to values of 1250–1350°C, consistent with the occurrence of mantle decompressional melting in a transtensive tectonic regime for the Ross Sea region.     

Tertiary Mafic Lavas of Turkana, Kenya: Constraints on East African Plume Structure and the Occurrence of High-{micro} Volcanism in Africa

The East African Rift System is important to understanding plume-initiatedrifting as manifest in the geochemistry of mafic lavas eruptedalong the rift throughout its evolution. We present new datafrom high-MgO Tertiary lavas from Turkana, northern Kenya, toinvestigate regional melt source components, to identify thedepths and degrees of melting, and to characterize spatiallyand temporally the chemical structure of the underlying mantle.The Turkana area is a region of high lithospheric extensionthat sits between two topographic uplifts thought to be surfaceexpressions of one or more upwelling mantle plumes. Thinningof local crust is believed to be accompanied by widespread removalof the mantle lithosphere, causing the asthenosphere to be inclose contact with the overlying crust. New geochemical dataon basanites, picrites and basalts (MgO >7 wt %) tightlyconstrain the primary melt source regions of Tertiary volcanism.Initial isotopic signatures (¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd = 0·51267–0·51283,⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0·7031–0·7036) and trace elementabundances (Ce/Pb 30, La/Nb = 0·6–0·8 andBa/Nb = 3–10) in these lavas are consistent with derivationfrom sub-lithospheric sources. Basalts and picrites eruptedbetween 23 and 20 Ma have Sr–Nd–Pb–He isotopiccharacteristics indicative of high-µ influence, recordhigh depths and degrees of partial melting, and are associatedwith rift propagation to the north and south. Accordingly, theselavas sample a source region that is geochemically distinctfrom that reflected both in Oligocene Ethiopian flood basaltsand in the modern Afar region. The geochemical data supportnumerical and theoretical models as well as tomographic resultsproviding for a complex thermal structure in the mantle beneathEast Africa and are interpreted to reflect isotopically distinctplume heads beneath Tanzania and Afar that are derived fromthe chemically heterogeneous South African superplume. KEY WORDS: East African Rift System; mantle plumes; HIMU; geochemistry; Afar     

Limiting hydrochemical factors for sustainability of water resources: The Cisjordanian experience

In Cisjordan, surface- and groundwater flow are either towards the Jordan Valley-Dead Sea-Arava Valley (the Rift) or the Mediterranean Sea. Due to upstream exploitation by riparians to the Jordan River, the historical annual flow, which fluctuated between 250 and 1100 Mm³, has declined to a mere 100-200 Mm³. The remaining flow south of Lake Kinneret is highly polluted and heavily loaded with salts. Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) is one of the major water resources in the area. Annually, between 200 and 700 Mm³ reach the Lake as surface and groundwater flow. The relatively high salinity of the Lake is caused by thermomineral water discharging from springs and seepages located onshore and on the bottom of the Lake. The main factors causing deterioration of the groundwater quality in the Rift are of geogenic character. These are different types of brines, whose outflow and penetration into freshwater aquifers was triggered by overpumpage. Contemporary encroachment of seawater caused by intensive water exploitation in the Coastal Plain is manageable and reversible. However, due to lack of hydrogeological evidence, no such statement can be made about the circulation of seawater beneath the Coastal Plain and into the deep-seated Yarkon-Taninim aquifer or the upflow of brines in the Rift.The flow regimes of the different brine bodies could not be elucidated. Whether each such brine-body flows by its particular hydrological regime or whether the movement of the different bodies is intradependent or interdependent with the regional movement of fresh groundwater, remain open questions. Therefore, sustainable development of groundwater resources is clearly dependent on the elucidation of the relationship between changes in the pressure of the brine with depth and its relationship to the overlying freshwater.The average total annual recharge of all water sources in Cisjordan is 1820 Mm³, which means that the total production of water must be managed within the limits of this annual volume. During drought years, total groundwater extraction exceeds the safe yield, causing drastic lowering of water levels and upflow of saline waters from greater depths.Because of the structural complexity of aquifers and hydrochemical variability of the numerous groundwater bodies, new hydrochemical methods have been developed for the identification of groundwater bodies and for the elucidation of their origins. These methods combine macrochemical, microchemical, and isotopic evidences. By combining distribution patterns of rare earths, yttrium and stable isotopes, a complete picture of catchment lithology and the altitude and latitude of precipitation could be obtained.The area west of the Jordan River is characterized by the occurrence of transboundary surface- and groundwater basins in which fresh and saline water and brines flow across political borders between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. It is very difficult to assess separately the annual safe yield of water resources for each of the two national entities. Neither country may dispose independently of its waters and is usually at the mercy of the other riparian. There is as yet no general multilateral international treaty in force allocating the water resources of international watercourses. At present there are two rules for the management of the waters of an international drainage basin—the rule of Equitable Distribution, and the obligation Not to Cause Significant Harm. The rules of equitable distribution have tended to focus on the issue of quantities of water rather than on quality of water, which is really relevant to the issue of equitable distribution. Future negotiations on the uses of the basin will need to deal with issues of characteristic salinities and geochemical features and on their impact on equitable sharing of water resources.     

Lithologic Hydrocarbon Deposits in Rift Lake Basins in Eastern China

The rift lake basins in the eastern China have abundant hydrocarbon resources of lithologic deposits, which resulted from excellent source rocks and multi-type sandbodies developed during strong rifting. Vertically, the lithologic deposits are mainly distributed in the lowstand, lacustrine invasion and early highstand systems of third-order sequence corresponding to a secondary tectonic episode of strong rifting, and laterally they are closely related to various fans and turbidite sandbodies controlled by syn-sedimentary faults. A variety of lithologic traps have been developed in the rift lake basins, and they generally have favorable conditions of source-reservoir-seal assemblage and hydrocarbon accumulation dynamics, indicating that there is a great exploration potential of lithologic deposits in the rift lake basins. In order to obtain satisfactory effects of lithologic deposit exploration, it is required to combine new theories with advanced technical methods.