Isostatic response of the Laccadive Ridge from admittance analysis of gravity and bathymetry data

The Laccadive Ridge (L-R), trending roughly parallel to the west coast of India, is an intriguing segment of the northernmost Chagos-Laccadive Ridge (C-L-R) system. Although crustal nature and isostatic response of the southern C-L-R is well known, there are no similar studies on the L-R. In the present study, the isostatic response of the lithosphere beneath the L-R is estimated so as to characterize its crustal nature, total crustal as well as effective elastic plate thickness and mode of compensation. Twelve gravity and bathymetry profiles across the ridge were analyzed using linear transfer function and forward model techniques. The observed admittance function within the diagnostic waveband of 250 < λ > 80 km (0.025 < k > 0.080 km⁻¹) fits well with (i) the Airy model whose average crustal thickness (T_c) and density are 17 ± 2 km and 2.7 × 10³ kg m⁻³, respectively, and (ii) the thin plate flexure model of isostasy with an effective elastic plate thickness (T_e) of 2–3 km. The estimated average crustal thickness and density are in good agreement with published seismic refraction results over the ridge. The results of the present study support an Airy model of isostasy for the L-R. The low T_e value, in view of other published results in the study area, suggests stretched and loaded continental lithosphere of the L-R during the evolution of the western continental margin of India.     

Unusual behavior of the Kuroshio Current System from winter 1996 to summer 1997 revealed by ADEOS-OCTS and other data— Suggestion of topographically forced alternating-jet instability

While the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) was operating, the Kuroshio and the Kuroshio Extension, or the Kuroshio Current System, exhibited unusual behavior from the winter of 1996 to the summer of 1997. This behavior of the Kuroshio Current System has been closely studied using a time series of satellite observation images of SST and ocean color obtained by ADEOS-OCTS, reinforced by SST images obtained by NOAA-AVHRR. Our findings include (i) a long lasting, very southerly path of the Kuroshio Extension; (ii) a Kuroshio path very distant from Japan with the following alternating-jet-like north-south flow pattern of the Kuroshio Extension, which occurred twice, once in February and once in April 1997, as independent events and which was observed to be affected by the bottom topography of the Izu-Ogasawara Ridge and Trench, and of the Japan Trench; (iii) cutting off of a cold water mass after the February event; and (iv) the formation of a vortex pair after the April event. A new mechanism is suggested for the formation of the alternating-jet flow pattern: a topographically forced alternating-jet instability (AJI). An SST-Chlorophyll Diagram (T-Chl Diagram) generated using simultaneous data from a single satellite is useful for analyzing the water mass structure of this region, including biological processes.     

Subsea Channels and Incidence of Thermogenic Hydrocarbons in the Mid-proximal Bengal Fan, West of the Andaman-Nicobar Islands

Mid-fan areas in the Bay of Bengal to the west of the Andaman-Nicobar Islands and to the east of the 90 E ridge display remarkable channel-levee and interlevee characteristics over the seabed. These subsea channels at 3,000 m or more water depth have specific orientations along NNE or NNW. Most of these major and minor channels are at present inactive, except one running along the eastern part of the area following the reported subduction suture (Currey et al., 1979). The other channels in the western part retain the configuration of a floor-bank combination but are covered with a thin deposition of pelagic organisms without any significant terrigenous inputs to a depth of around 25 cm below the seabed. On the other hand, the active channel to the east is filled with continuous hemipelagic to terrigenous inputs up to at least 1.5 m bsf. The pelagic organisms of the upper 25 cm of seabed over the inactive channels as well as in their banks and interlevee areas are mainly represented by foraminiferal tests and thus constitute foraminiferal ooze. Most of the seafloor is covered by such ooze except in the easternmost part, where the active channel brings a terrigenous influx in the form of turbidites. The fan deposition has been restricted to the easternmost active channel since the early Holocene. The age of the pelagites that constitute the 25-cm top sediment slice is assumed to represent about 8,000 years, calculated at the rate of deposition of 3 cm 1,000 years (Kennet, 1982). Thus, most of the western seabed has not experienced any fan deposition during the last 8,000 years. However, below 25 cm, the entire area is seen to have experienced fan deposition as evidenced by occurrence of terrigenous silt and clay. Significantly, incidence of thermogenic hydrocarbons is proved in the levee-in terlevee complexes of the central part. Being closer to the subduction zone, gas seepages through pervasive fissures are perhaps more pronounced here.     

花东海盆综合地震探测及其重要的构造意义

花东海盆位于欧亚板块与菲律宾海板块交汇处,是现今西太平洋俯冲体系中唯一遗留的早白垩纪洋盆,是研究西太平洋俯冲构造演化与动力学机制的一个关键区域.前期研究发现,关于花东海盆的基础科学问题迫切需要解决:花东海盆的性质、年龄及形成演化历史如何?南北走向的加瓜海脊是花东海盆的东部边界吗?其隆升机制和构造属性如何?花东海盆的西部...     

慢速-超慢速扩张西南印度洋中脊研究进展

西南印度洋中脊具有慢速—超慢速扩张速率和斜向扩张的特征,是全球洋中脊系统研究的热点之一,也是研究海底构造环境、热液活动、地幔深部过程及其动力学机制的重要区域。在前人工作的基础上较为详细地介绍了西南印度洋中脊的研究历史、地形划分、扩张速率及其构造特征,归纳了西南印度洋中脊热液活动及岩石地球化学特征,探讨了超慢速扩张洋脊和超镁铁质岩系热液系统的特殊性,并认为超慢速扩张洋脊广泛暴露的地幔岩及其蛇纹石化作用、超镁铁质岩系热液系统以及热液硫化物成矿作用是西南印度洋中脊今后研究的重要内容。     

选取岭参数的一个新方法

当法方程的系数阵呈病态时,平差参数的最小二乘估计不再是一个良好好估计。为改进最小二乘估计,许多学者提出众多的有偏估计方法,其中影响最大的是岭估计和主要估计。     

柴达木盆地诺木洪贝壳堤水体演变的介形类证据

柴达木盆地贝壳堤保存有大量大小混杂及两壳绞合的双壳类化石,是全球干旱区罕见的地貌景观,为青藏高原东北部中晚更新世的气候与环境演化提供了重要的区域地质记录.该记录在诺木洪西北约20 km出露,将其命名为诺木洪贝壳堤.目前诺木洪贝壳堤的沉积属性存在河湖之争,对该贝壳堤剖面开展系统的介形类分析,建立了8个生物组合带,除1带化...     

基于遥感技术的三峡库区屏障带划分研究——以重庆市万州区为例

采用遥感技术和GIS空间分析相结合的方法,利用三期Landsat TM影像数据对重庆市万州区的地表亮温、地表湿度以及山脊线等特征对比分析,模拟其变化趋势和范围,通过多层数据叠加分析,划定出该区域的生态环境屏障带。结果表明,研究区中三峡水利工程对其生态环境影响有扩大的趋势;结合自然等综合因素,划定生态屏障带约为484.44 km2。研究结果有助于库区生态环境评价以及土地利用规划编制。     

新疆北阿尔泰造山带早古生代花岗岩类侵入序列及其构造意义

新疆阿尔泰早古生代造山带侵入岩占构造带面积50％以上,近年大量高精度SHRIMP和LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年代学资料反映其构造属性为奥陶纪碰撞前序列和中志留-早泥盆世后碰撞序列.碰撞前序列岩石组合为(石英)闪长岩-英云闪长岩/奥长花岗岩/花岗闪长岩-二长花岗岩序列,类似TTG组合,锆石U-Pb同位素年龄峰值为450～ 465Ma.后碰撞由二长花岗岩-正长花岗岩及少量碱长花岗岩组成,属于广义的GG组合,同位素年龄峰值390～ 415Ma.前者主要分布在中南部,后者主要分布中北部,分布的极性显示俯冲带在南侧.而区域南侧的阿尔曼太蛇绿岩带同位素年龄与北阿尔泰奥陶纪碰撞前序列时代相同,本文推测该蛇绿岩带与北阿尔泰岩浆链带构成洋脊俯冲带模式;其间的南阿尔泰晚古生代增生带、额尔齐斯强变形带、北准噶尔晚古生代洋内弧带都是后来的上叠产物.     

Geodynamic evolution of southern Costa Rica related to low-angle subduction of the Cocos Ridge: constraints from thermochronology

The Late Tertiary shallow subduction of the Cocos ridge under the Caribbean plate controlled the evolution of the Cordillera de Talamanca in southeast Costa Rica, which is a mountain range that consists mainly of granitoids formed in a volcanic arc setting. Fission track thermochronology using zircon and apatite, as well as ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar and Rb–Sr age data of amphibole and biotite in granitoid rocks constrain the thermal history of the Cordillera de Talamanca and the age of onset of subduction of the Cocos ridge. Shallow intrusion of granitoid melts resulted in fast and isobaric cooling. A weighted mean zircon fission track age (13 analyses) and Rb–Sr biotite ages of about 10 Ma suggest rapid cooling and give minimum ages for granitoid emplacement. In some cases ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar and Rb–Sr apparent ages of amphibole and biotite are younger than the zircon fission track ages, which can be attributed to partial resetting by hydrothermal alteration. Apatite fission track ages range from 4.8 to 1.7 Ma but show no correlation with the 3090-m elevation span over which they were sampled. The apatite ages seem to indicate rapid exhumation caused by tectonic and isostatic processes. The combination of the apatite fission track ages with subduction parameters of the Cocos plate such as subduction angle, plate convergence rate and distance of the Cordillera de Talamanca to the trench implies that the Cocos ridge entered the Middle America Trench between 5.5 and 3.5 Ma.