辽宁寒岭-偏岭平移断裂带特征及其形成动力机制

寒岭—偏岭平移断裂带位于辽宁东部 ,是中国东部郯庐断裂东盘的一个次级断裂。它控制着辽东鞍山—本溪地区地质体的分布。通过对平移断裂的展布、形态、伴随构造、牵引构造、位移方向和幅度、平移时间、断层尾端及动力学演化等特征研究 ,认为该断裂主要活动于晚三叠世 ,在晚侏罗世—早白垩世最为活跃 ,伴随岩浆侵入活动、火山喷发及陆相沉积。断裂带长约 1 3 0km ,中段位移最大可达 3 1km ,向东西两端逐渐减少。该断裂活跃时期主要表现为左行平移性质。构造的活动 ,主要与中生代时期欧亚大陆与伊佐奈岐板块、太平洋板块的相互作用有关     

蒲江—新津—成都—德阳断裂带——成都平原内一条代表性弱活动地震带的地震地质特征

活断层是地震的潜在策源地。然而不同的活断层上地震潜在能力有极大的差别。客观地评价活断层上地震潜在能力不仅是地震预报研究的需要,对国民经济建设的布局和抗震决策也极为重要。在这个意义上,对弱活动性断裂的研究与对强活动性断裂的研究具有同样的重要性。本文以弱活动的蒲江—新津—成都—德阳断裂带为例,讨论了该断裂的晚第四纪活动性,断裂带的地质结构以及断裂的切割深度等因素对该断裂带地震潜在能力的可能影响。     

A soil chronosequence in Late Glacial and Neoglacial moraines, Humboldt Glacier, northwestern Venezuelan Andes

Late Glacial and Neoglacial (Little Ice Age) deposits on the Humboldt Massif were analyzed for relative-age dating parameters, including geomorphic and weathering characteristics, geochemical and soil properties. The soil chronosequence, formed in chemically uniform parent materials, provides an important database to study soil evolution in a tropical alpine environment. Extractable and total Fe and Al concentrations, examined to assess their use in relative-age determination, and as paleoenvironmental indicators, provide an important measure of the accumulation and downward profile movement over time of organically-bound Al, ferrihydrite and other crystalline forms (hematite and goethite) of extractable Fe. Ferrihydrite is particularly useful in determining former perched water levels in soils with relation to paleoclimate. The ratios of most Fe extracts are time dependent. The Fe_d/Fe_t ratio, within statistical limits, shows a slow increase from LIA (Little Ice Age) to Late Glacial soils, which closely correlates with other alpine soil studies in the middle latitudes and other tropical alpine locales. Values of Al_d (dithionite) and Al_o (oxalate extractable) generally do not correlate with time; however, Al_p (pyrophosphate extractable) measured against Al_t (total) provides insight on the downward translocation over time of organically-bound Al. Low leaching rates in this chronosequence are further supported by clay mineralogy trends and the geochemical data.     

Late Paleozoic Fluid Systems and Their Ore-forming Effects in the Yuebei Basin, Northern Guangdong, China

Based on detailed and systematic researches of the geology of ore deposits, fluid inclusions and isotope geochemistry etc., and regarding the Late Paleozoic fluid system of the Yuebei Basin as an integrated object in this paper, we have revealed the temporo-spatial evolution law of the basin＇s fluid system and discussed its ore-forming effects by simulating and analyzing the distribution of ore-forming elements, the fluid thermodynamics and dynamics of evolution processes of this basin. The results show that Late Paleozoic ore-forming fluid systems of the Yuebei Basin include four basic types as follows. （1） The sea floor volcanic-exhalation system developed during the rapid basin slip-extension stage in the Mid-Late Devonian, which affected the Dabaoshan region. It thus formed the Dabaoshan-type Cu-Pb-Zn-Fe sea floor volcanic-exhalation sedimentary deposits. （2） The compaction fluid system developed during the stable spreading and thermal subsidence-compression stage of the basin in the Mid-Late Devonian. The range of its effects extended all over the whole basin. It resulted in filling-metasomatic deposits, such as the Hongyan-type pyrite deposits and pyrite sheet within the Fankou-type Cu-Pb-Zn-S deposits. （3） The hot water circulation system of sea floor developed during the stage of basin uplifting and micro-aulacogen from the late Late Carboniferous to Middle Carboniferous. The range of its effects covered the Fankou region. It thus formed MVT deposits, such as the main orebody of the Fankou-type Pb-Zn-S deposits. （4） The gravity fluid system developed during the stage of fold uplifting and the basin closed from Middle Triassic to Jurassic, forming groundwater hydrothermal deposits, e.g. the veinlet Pb-Zn-calcite orebodies of the Fankou-type Pb-Zn- S deposits. Migration and concentration of the ore-forming fluids were constrained by the state of temporo-spatial distribution of its fluid potential. Growth faults not only converged the fluids and drove them to move upwards, but also the fluids often crossed the faults to the edges of the basin at the bottom of these faults and the lithologic interfaces, and even migrated to the basin＇s edges from top to bottom along the faults, which may be one of the basic reasons for the stratabound deposits to cluster mainly along the contemporaneous faults on the inner border of the basin. The superposed mineralization resulting from the multi-stage activity of contemporaneous faults and ore-forming fluid systems in the basin may be one of the key factors for forming superlarge ore deposits.     

New specimens of a fossil ostrich from the Miocene of Kenya

Fossilised hind limb bones from the late Middle Miocene (approximately 14 million-year-old [MYA]) Fort Ternan, Kadianga West and Ngorora localities in Western Kenya indicate the presence of a new representative of the ostrich genus Struthio. These new fossils represent some of the oldest known records for Struthio yet described, slightly younger than Struthio coppensi, from the Lower Miocene of Namibia. Because the four sub-species of the modern-day ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus, Struthio camelus australis, Struthio camelus massaicus, and Struthio camelus molybdophanes) inhabit the plains of Africa, and as recently as the 1940s, a fifth sub-species was also present in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia (Struthio camelus syriacus), records of Struthio from Kenya and Namibia testify to the much wider distribution of these cursorial birds in the relatively recent past. This is further supported by the very high frequency of ostrich eggshell fragments found across Africa and Eurasia, which vastly outweighs the amount of skeletal material uncovered over the last century.     

贵州关岭生物群海百合Traumatocrinus的再研究

在前人的研究基础上,通过对大量新发掘的贵州关岭地区晚三叠世海百合化石标本的再研究,肯定了Trauma-tocrinus的有效性。根据目前的材料,认为该属只有1个有效种,即Traumatocrinus hsui;而根据化石的埋藏学特征,认为幼年体Traumatocrinus hsui营假浮游生活,成年体是否能够适应底栖生活环境尚需进一步证实。     

The Eltanin asteroid impact: possible South Pacific palaeomegatsunami footprint and potential implications for the Pliocene–Pleistocene transition

Large asteroid impacts are rare, and those into the deep ocean are rarer still. The Eltanin asteroid impact around 2.51 ± 0.07 Ma occurred at a time of great climatic and geological change associated with the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary. Numerical models of the event indicate that a megatsunami was generated, although there is debate concerning its magnitude and the region‐wide extent of its influence. We summarise the existing evidence for possible Eltanin megatsunami deposits in Antarctica, Chile and New Zealand, while also examining other potential sites from several locations, mainly around the South Pacific region. In reviewing these data we note that these events were unfolding at the same time as those associated with the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary and, as such, most of the geological evidence from that time has a climatic interpretation. The potential climatic and geological ramifications of the Eltanin asteroid impact, however, have failed to be considered by most researchers studying this time period. Although we are not advocating that all geological activity at that time is connected with the Eltanin asteroid impact, it raises interesting questions about the role potentially played by such catastrophic events in contributing to or even triggering epochal transitions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stratigraphical correlation of the Late Jurassic Lourinhã Formation in the Consolação Sub‐basin (Lusitanian Basin), Portugal

The c. 700 m thick succession of continental–brackish‐marine deposits forming the Lourinhã Formation, cropping out along the coast of western Portugal between Baleal and Santa Cruz, has been correlated using laterally persistent shelly marker beds. Three shelly units record the episodic establishment of relatively short‐lived, brackish‐marine embayments, transgressing from the southwest, onto a low‐lying coastal plain. The succession displays systematic changes in facies types and stacking patterns reflecting differences in fluvial style, bedload character and palaeontological content. Based on these observations, four new members for the Lourinhã Formation are proposed: the Sáo Bernardino, Porto de Barças, Areia Branca and Ferrel members. New biostratigraphical data indicate that the Lourinhã Formation is Late Kimmeridgian to earliest Early Tithonian in age. This age has also been obtained from the underlying mixed carbonate and clastic deposits of the Abadia Formation at Consolação. As a result, these latter sediments are now re‐assigned to the Alcobaça Formation, a lithostratigraphical term currently in use in other areas of the Lusitanian Basin. Improved regional mapping of the Lourinhã Formation has established a new sub‐basin within the western parts of the Lusitanian Basin. This sub‐basin, now named the Consolação Sub‐basin, is bounded to the east by the Lourinhã–Caldas de Rainha (L–C) fault zone and to the west by the Berlengas Horst. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dating of Late Pleistocene terrace deposits of the River Rhine using Uranium series and luminescence methods: Potential and limitations

Uranium-series dating of pedogenic carbonate crusts from fluvial gravels is tested using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) ages as references. OSL dating yielded ages of 30–15 ka and 13–11 ka, which correlate with the cold periods of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Younger Dryas. These ages are internally coherent and consistent with the geological background and are thus regarded as reliable. Most of the U/Th results scatter widely in the ²³⁰Th/²³²Th vs. ²³⁴U/²³²Th isochron diagram, making regression unrealistic. Semiquantitative age estimates from the data were found to be mostly older than the OSL ages and the geological context. It is suggested that a heterogeneous initial ²³⁰Th input, not relatable to a detrital component, is responsible for the observed discrepancies. This input may be due to bacterial activities and Th transport on organic colloids. It appears necessary to avoid samples where bacteria could have contributed to carbonate precipitation. Further, the relative importance of this problem decreases with sample age, so that U/Th dating of sinters is expected to be more reliable in the >100 ka age range.