Conrad Deep, Northern Red Sea: Development of an early stage ocean deep within the axial depression

The northern Red Sea represents a continental rift in its final stage and close to the following stage of seafloor spreading. Ocean deeps within the evaporites of the northern Red Sea seem to accompany this process and are thought to be surface expressions of first seafloor spreading cells. In 1999 during R/V Meteor cruise M44/3 a dense multichannel seismic and hydroacoustic survey was conducted in order to investigate the initial formation process of the Conrad Deep, a young northern Red Sea deep. Three seismic units were differentiated in the uppermost part of the Miocene evaporites and the Plio-Quaternary sediments. A weakness zone within the evaporites, oblique to the main extension direction of the Red Sea, led to a transtension process within the evaporites that opened the deep. Its formation is directly related to the emplacement of magmatic bodies in its vicinity and the focusing of the Red Sea extension to the axial depression. The Conrad Deep is an intra-evaporite basin that cannot be regarded as surficial expression of a basement structure as the low shear strength of the evaporites decouple the sediments from the basement. However, its position and shape in combination with the accompanying geophysical anomalies point to a strong correlation with the Red Sea rifting process.     

The Mesozoic–Cenozoic structural framework of the Bay of Kiel area, western Baltic Sea

A dense grid of multichannel high-resolution seismic sections from the Bay of Kiel in the western Baltic Sea has been interpreted in order to reveal the Mesozoic and Cenozoic geological evolution of the northern part of the North German Basin. The overall geological evolution of the study area can be separated into four distinct periods. During the Triassic and the Early Jurassic, E–W extension and the deposition of clastic sediments initiated the movement of the underlying Zechstein evaporites. The deposition ceased during the Middle Jurassic, when the entire area was uplifted as a result of the Mid North Sea Doming. The uplift resulted in a pronounced erosion of Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic strata. This event is marked by a clear angular unconformity on all the seismic sections. The region remained an area of non-deposition until the end of the Early Cretaceous, when the sedimentation resumed in the area. Throughout the Late Cretaceous the sedimentation took place under tectonic quiescence. Reactivated salt movement is observed at the Cretaceous Cenozoic transition as a result of the change from an extensional to compressional regional stress field. The vertical salt movement influenced the Cenozoic sedimentation and resulted in thin-skinned faulting.     

Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe U-Pb ages of the Latest Oligocene-Early Miocene rift-related Hidaka high-temperature metamorphism in Hokkaido, northern Japan

Abstract   In order to define the timing of granulite facies metamorphism, sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb analyses were performed on zircons of three pelitic granulites from the lower metamorphic sequence of the Hidaka Metamorphic Belt, southern central Hokkaido, Japan. Both rounded and prismatic zircons were found in the granulite samples. The rounded zircons had thin (10–20 µm) concentric overgrowth rims on detrital cores, while the prismatic zircons did not have detrital cores. Both the overgrowth rims on the rounded zircons and the entire prismatic zircons were formed under granulite facies metamorphism and consistently yield Latest Oligocene–Early Miocene ages (23.7 ± 0.4 Ma to 17.2 ± 0.5 Ma; ²⁰⁶Pb/ ²³⁸U ages ( n  = 31) with low Th/U ratios, mostly <0.1). The internal structure of zircons and their SHRIMP U-Pb ages provide strong evidence in support of the granulite facies event occurring during the Latest Oligocene-Early Miocene. The detrital cores of rounded zircons show a huge variety of ages; Mesoarchean to Paleoproterozoic, Paleozoic to Mesozoic and Paleogene. The interior and marginal portions of the Eurasian continent including cratonic areas are suggested for their source provenances. These wide variations in age suggest that the protolith of the granulites of the lower metamorphic sequence were deposited near the trench of the Eurasian continental margin during Paleogene. The protolith of the lower metamorphic sequence of the Hidaka metamorphic belt was thrust under the upper metamorphic sequence, which had already been metamorphosed in early Paleogene. The Latest Oligocene-Early Miocene Hidaka high-temperature metamorphic event is presumed to have been caused by asthenospheric upwelling during back-arc rifting of the Kuril and Japan basins.     

南羌塘侏罗纪盆地的沉积－构造转换与烃源岩

沉积盆地层序地层和岩相古地理研究以及沉积-构造转换过程分析，是探讨沉积体系时空演化的重要思路。通过沉积-构造转换的分析。指出羌南地区在侏罗纪经历了从被动大陆边缘到夭折前陆，最后隆升剥蚀的演化历史；初步厘定了南羌塘地区烃源岩形成环境。在经历4次海侵的过程中。相应发育了两个陆源碎屑岩-碳酸盐岩沉积旋回。在这4次沉积-构造转换过程中．发育3套黑色页岩沉积：分别属于被动大陆边缘烃源岩和前陆盆地两个阶段烃源岩。是南羌塘侏罗纪盆地的油气评价的物质基础。     

中国大地构造单元新格局——从岩石圈角度的思考

以中国大陆的岩石圈岩石学结构模型和根据岩石圈动力学性质划分的克拉通型、造山带型、裂谷型、边缘海洋壳型和岛弧型5大岩石圈类型为基础,结合现今中国大陆西部挤压、东部拉张伸展的特点,提出以四川盆地、鄂尔多斯盆地和银川盆地西边界的岩石圈不连续为界,把中国大陆分为东部和西部2个一级构造单元;不同类型岩石圈为其二级构造单元,一些造山带型岩石圈的亚类为三级构造单元,并结合地质历史,简要讨论了其形成过程及其意义。     

Metallogenic geodynamic background of Mesozoic gold deposits in granite-greenstone terrains of North China Craton

The spatial distribution map of 65 mid-large gold-deposits hosted in the granite-greenstone terrains of the North China Craton is first drawn. These gold deposits mainly concentrate in the Mesozoic remobilized Yinshan-Yan-shan-Liaoning-Jilin intracontinental collisional orogenic belt, the northern Qinling and the Jiaodong Mesozoic collisional orogenic belts, and the Mesozoic intracontinental fault-magmatic belts developed along the Taihangshan and the Tan-Lu faults; their mineralizing time is predominantly Jurassic-Cretaceous, i. e. the Yanshanian. The metallogenic geodynamic background is exactly the compression-to-extension transition regime during continental collision. The results are partly from the project entitled “The main types of gold mineralizations in China and their metallogenic model” (89-El) supported by the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry of China, and projects “Geology and metallogenesis of the main type gold deposits in East Chinaⁿ” (Grant No. 9488010) and “Study on ore-forming fluids of the Wangfeng gold deposit, Xinjiang” supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 49672119).     

中国北部陆相侏罗系与英国海陆交互相侏罗系的对比研究——兼论中国北部侏罗系的划分与对比

通过中国北部陆相侏罗系与英国苏格兰西北部海、陆交互相大河口群叶肢介组合的对比和义县组底部与叶肢介共存的孔子鸟与德国索尔霍芬灰岩始祖鸟的对比,为中国北部陆相侏罗系与海相侏罗系的对应关系提供了三条对比等时线,并为陆相侏罗系的对比与时代提供了可靠的生物依据。     

西北地区侏罗纪地质事件及其在地层划分对比中的意义

在大量实际资料的基础上,深入研究了西北地区陆相侏罗纪地层中记录的地质事件。从煤层特征、颜色特征、岩性特征、孢粉组合特征、植物群特征和双壳动物化石特征等方面,建立了西北地区陆相侏罗纪地层划分对比的标志。并认为这些生物事件和旋回沉积层的形成都与大范围内侏罗纪古气候变化密切相关,中侏罗世晚期到晚侏罗世末存在一次最为明显的升温事件。