Stratigraphy of peat bog in the Gorobets River valley and development of natural environments of Shikotan Island (Lesser Kurile Ridge) in the Holocene

The stratigraphic subdivision of peat in the Gorobets River valley, the largest river on Shikotan Island, is conducted based on the study of palynological and diatom assemblages, tephrostratigraphy, and radiocarbon dating. The study object is one of the oldest peats in the South Kurile region and reflects the development of natural environments beginning from the early Holocene. Nine phases are distinguished in the development of vegetation on Shikotan Island. The changes in vegetable communities were determined by climatic fluctuations during the Holocene. Their ages, the factors responsible for the appearance and extinction of particular coniferous, small-, and broad-leaved taxa, and changes in their landscape-forming role during different periods of the Holocene, as well as specific features in the formation of the present-day vegetation on the Lesser Kurile Ridge representing a separate floral area, are established. In addition to the climatic and sea-level fluctuations, the development of the island landscapes was determined to a significant extent by its topography, size, and isolation.     

Geological structure of the submarine Vityaz Ridge within the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Seismic Gap</Emphasis> area (Pacific slope of the Kurile island arc)

Results of geological research conducted by the Pacific Oceanological Institute of the Far East Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the submarine Vityaz Ridge during Cruise 37 of R/V Akademik M.A. Lavrentyev in 2005 are discussed. Various rocks constituting the basement and sedimentary cover of the ridge were dredged in three areas of the ridge. Based on isotope geochronology, petrogeochemical, petrographic, and paleontological data and comparison with similar rocks available from the adjacent land and Sea of Okhotsk, they are subdivided into several age complexes. Late Cretaceous, Eocene, Late Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene-Pleistocene complexes are defined among the igneous rocks, while volcanogenic-sedimentary rocks are united into Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene (late Campanian-Danian), undivided Paleogene (Paleocene-Eocene?), Oligocene-early Miocene, and Pliocene-Pleistocene complexes. The obtained data on the age and formation settings of the defined complexes made it possible to reconstruct the geological evolution of the central Pacific slope of the Kurile island arc.     

西南印度洋脊49.6°E热液区热液产物和玄武岩地球化学特征

利用X射线荧光法和ICP-MS等方法对取自超慢速扩张的西南印度洋脊(SWIR) 49.6°E热液区的热液产物和玄武岩样品进行元素地球化学特征分析研究,结果表明:(1)与亏损型洋中脊玄武岩(N-MORB)相比,研究区玄武岩样品的主量元素组成显示其偏碱性,而微量元素对比表明该区玄武岩明显富集Pb元素;(2)对热液产物的综合分析表明这些样品多为Fe-Si-Mn氧羟化物且都为热液来源;(3)热液产物的∑REE含量介于玄武岩和海水之间,经球粒陨石标准化的稀土元素(REE)分布模式均表现出Eu正异常和轻稀土(LREE)富集的特征。另外,本研究还表明,利用玄武岩和热液产物地球化学指标不仅能够模拟出以热液喷口为中心的元素地球化学晕,而且能反映出热液活动的影响范围。     

东经九十度海岭有效弹性厚度计算及其对构造运动的解释

有效弹性厚度(T_e)表示岩石圈抵抗变形的能力,其大小主要取决于岩石圈内部的温度结构和地壳物质组成。作为全球最长的海岭之一,东经九十度海岭(NER)来源与形成过程一直是国内外科学家研究的热点,然而受到该地区复杂构造活动的影响,研究者对海岭的形成过程仍缺乏清晰认识。本文从T_e的角度出发,通过空间褶积方法计算了沿着NER不同位置处T_e的空间分布特征。计算结果表明,整个海岭的T_e主要在0~35 km之间变化,表现为北(8°N~1°N)高(平均值为20 km)、中(1°N~15°S)低(平均值在5 km以下)、南(15°S~30°S)高(平均值为30 km),变化趋势与凯尔盖朗热点的3期岩浆活动相对应。T_e的变化反映了NER形成过程中东南印度洋脊与热点的相对位置的调整,说明NER是凯尔盖朗热点、印度洋板块扩张与东南印度洋洋中脊迁移三者共同作用的结果。最后,结合T_e的结果与ROYER板块重构的结果,本文提出了NER形成过程的模式。     

Age of Seychelles–India break-up

Many continental flood basalt provinces are spatially and temporally linked with continental break-up. Establishing the relative timing of the two events is a key step in determining their causal relationship. Here we investigate the example of the Deccan Traps and the separation of India and the Seychelles. Whilst there has been a growing consensus as to the age of the main phase of the Deccan emplacement (65.5 ± 1 Ma, chron 29r), the age of the rifting has remained unclear. We resolve this issue through detailed seafloor magnetic anomaly modeling (supported by wide-angle and reflection seismic results) of the north Seychelles and conjugate Laxmi Ridge/Gop Rift margins, and geochemistry and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology of rocks from the north Seychelles margin. We show that syn-rift volcanics offshore the Seychelles Islands in the form of seaward-dipping reflectors were most likely erupted during chron 28n, and the first organized seafloor spreading at the Carlsberg Ridge also initiated during this chron at 63.4 Ma. The severing of the Seychelles occurred by a south-eastward ridge propagation that was completed by the start of chron 27n (~ 62 Ma). A brief, pre-28r phase of seafloor spreading occurred in the Gop Rift, possibly as early as 31r–32n (~ 71 Ma). Initial extension at the margin therefore preceded or was contemporaneous with the Deccan emplacement, and separation of the Seychelles was achieved less than 3.5 Ma afterwards. This is the shortest time interval between flood basalt emplacement and break-up yet reported for any continental flood basalt-rifted margin pair. A contributing factor to the apparently short interval in the Deccan case may be that rifting occurred by a ridge jump into already thinned continental lithosphere. However, we conclude that external plate-boundary forces, rather than the impact of a mantle plume, were largely responsible for the rifting of the Seychelles from India.     

On the origin of El Chichón volcano and subduction of Tehuantepec Ridge: A geodynamical perspective

The origin of El Chichón volcano is poorly understood, and we attempt in this study to demonstrate that the Tehuantepec Ridge (TR), a major tectonic discontinuity on the Cocos plate, plays a key role in determining the location of the volcano by enhancing the slab dehydration budget beneath it. Using marine magnetic anomalies we show that the upper mantle beneath TR undergoes strong serpentinization, carrying significant amounts of water into subduction. Another key aspect of the magnetic anomaly over southern Mexico is a long-wavelength (∼ 150 km) high amplitude (∼ 500 nT) magnetic anomaly located between the trench and the coast. Using a 2D joint magnetic-gravity forward model, constrained by the subduction P–T structure, slab geometry and seismicity, we find a highly magnetic and low-density source located at 40–80 km depth that we interpret as a partially serpentinized mantle wedge formed by fluids expelled from the subducting Cocos plate. Using phase diagrams for sediments, basalt and peridotite, and the thermal structure of the subduction zone beneath El Chichón we find that ∼ 40% of sediments and basalt dehydrate at depths corresponding with the location of the serpentinized mantle wedge, whereas the serpentinized root beneath TR strongly dehydrates (∼90%) at depths of 180-200 km comparable with the slab depths beneath El Chichón (200-220 km). We conclude that this strong deserpentinization pulse of mantle lithosphere beneath TR at great depths is responsible for the unusual location, singularity and, probably, the geochemically distinct signature (adakitic-like) of El Chichón volcano.     

西南印度洋中脊63.9°E斜长石超斑状玄武岩对超慢速扩张洋脊岩浆过程的指示

人们对超慢速扩张洋中脊深部岩浆过程的了解至今仍十分模糊。我们对西南印度洋洋中脊(Southwest Indian Ridge,SWIR) 63. 9°E处采集到的斜长石超斑状玄武岩(Plagioclase Ultra-Phyric Basalt,PUB)进行了岩石学和地球化学研究。样品具有以下几个特征:斜长石斑晶的体积分数高达～25%,而橄榄石斑晶的体积分数约1%;尽管该样品中玻璃的成分与同一洋脊段玄武岩的成分基本一致,但高Fo橄榄石斑晶与玻璃基质的成分不平衡;不同类型的斜长石晶体之间存在成分差异,单个斜长石大斑晶中的An值也呈现出与正常的结晶分异过程不符的环带;斜长石斑晶中发育溶蚀、筛状等不平衡结构。因此,我们认为,斜长石超斑状玄武岩经历了多期次熔体的作用,是由通过密度分选聚集在岩浆房顶部的斜长石斑晶被之后的火山喷发带出海底形成。尽管斜长石超斑状玄武岩与同一洋脊段的非斑状玄武岩之间并不存在母熔体成分上的差别,但超斑状玄武岩的出现进一步反映了超慢速扩张洋壳岩浆活动的多样性。     

东南极格罗夫山萨哈罗夫岭漂砾暴露年龄初探

首次对格罗夫山地区漂砾的暴露年龄进行的研究表明,萨哈罗夫岭冰原岛峰的两块漂砾样品的 Be最小暴露年龄分别为1．24±0．11Ma和1．37±0．12Ma, 。A1最小暴露年龄分别为0．90 4-0．12Ma和0．44±0．04Ma。萨哈罗夫岭附近冰面上的漂砾样品的 Be和 A1最小暴露年龄分别是0．47±0．3Ma和0．44±0．04Ma。考虑到误差,萨哈罗夫岭三块漂砾的最小暴露年龄与相近高程的基岩样品的最小暴露年龄基本一致。因此,在利用原地生成宇宙成因核素测年技术对东南极内陆格罗夫山地区的冰川消涨历史进行研究时,基岩和漂砾暴露年龄所反映出的冰川演化历史是明显吻合的。     

Depositional Age of a Fossil Whale Bone from São Paulo Ridge,South Atlantic Ocean,Based on Os Isotope Stratigraphy of a Ferromanganese Crust

Whale carcasses (whale falls) deposited on the deep seafloor are associated with a distinctive biotic community. A fossil whale bone recovered from São Paulo Ridge, South Atlantic Ocean, during cruise YK13–04 Leg 1 of R/V Yokosuka was covered by a ferromanganese (Fe–Mn) crust approximately 9 mm thick. Here, we report an age constraint for this fossil bone on the basis of Os isotopic stratigraphy (¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratio) of the Fe–Mn crust. Major‐ and trace‐element compositions of the crust are similar to those of Fe–Mn crusts of predominantly hydrogenous origin. Rare earth element concentrations in samples of the crust, normalized with respect to Post‐Archean average Australian Shale, exhibit flat patterns with positive Ce and negative Y anomalies. These results indicate that the Fe–Mn crust consists predominantly of hydrogenous components and that it preserves the Os isotope composition of seawater at the time of its deposition. ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios of three Fe–Mn crust samples increased from 0.904 to 1.068 in ascending stratigraphic order. The value of 1.068 from the surface slice (0–3 mm depth in the crust) was identical to that of present‐day seawater within error (~1.06). The value of 0.904 from the basal slice (6–9 mm) equaled seawater values from ca. 4–5 Ma. Because it is unknown how long the bone lay on the seafloor before the Fe–Mn crust was deposited, the Os stratigraphic age of ca. 5 Ma is a minimum age of the fossil. This is the first application, to our knowledge, of marine Os isotope stratigraphy for determining the age of a fossil whale bone. Such data may offer valuable insights into the evolution of the whale‐fall biotic community.     

西菲律宾海盆的构造沉积特征及对海盆演化的指示——来自地球物理大断面的证据

菲律宾海发育了全球最典型的沟弧盆体系,新老俯冲系统众多,是研究大洋板块扩张过程的理想场所。本文主要利用2015年中科院海洋所在西菲律宾海采集的1400km地球物理大断面,并结合最新的重力数据,对比、分析了西菲律宾海内部古扩张中心(中央海盆裂谷)和残留弧(九州-帕劳海脊)的沉积地貌和地壳结构特征。研究表明:(1)中央海盆裂谷内部发育远洋沉积为主的沉积物,沉积层序分布不均,局部盆地内沉积物厚度可达300m。九州-帕劳海脊附近发育与火山碎屑物源有关的厚层沉积物;(2)以129°30′E处的转换断层为界,裂谷东西部洋壳结构分别体现"慢速"和"快速"扩张特征,东部洋壳岩浆供应较少,厚度较小,断裂较为发育,其附近可能发生水岩作用;西部洋壳岩浆供应较多,厚度较大,结构相对均一;盆地西部的小规模地幔柱可能控制了裂谷东西部不同洋壳结构的发育;(3)九州-帕劳海脊内的角度不整合面代表岛弧裂解事件,张裂与挤压构造共同发育反映了裂解过程的复杂性。