Applied geophysics for cover thickness mapping in the southern Thomson Orogen

Abstract

Potentially mineralised Paleozoic basement rocks in the southern Thomson Orogen region of southern Queensland and northern New South Wales are covered by varying thicknesses of Mesozoic to Cenozoic sediments. To assess cover thickness and methods for estimating depth to basement, we collected new airborne electromagnetic (AEM), seismic refraction, seismic reflection and audio-frequency magnetotelluric data and combined these with new depth to magnetic basement models from airborne magnetic line data and ground gravity data along selected transects. The results of these investigations over two borehole sites, GSQ Eulo 1 and GSQ Eulo 2, show that cover thickness can be reliably assessed to within the confidence limits of the various techniques, but that caveats exist regarding the application of each of the disciplines. These techniques are part of a rapid-deployment explorers’ toolbox of geophysical techniques that have been tested at two sites in Australia, the Stavely region of western Victoria, and now the southern Thomson Orogen in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. The results shown here demonstrate that AEM and ground geophysics, and to a lesser extent depth to magnetic source modelling, can produce reliable results when applied to the common exploration problem of determining cover thickness. The results demonstrate that portable seismic systems, designed for geotechnical site investigations, are capable of imaging basement below 300 m of unlithified Eromanga Basin cover as refraction and reflection data. The results of all methods provide much information about the nature of the basement–cover interface and basement at borehole sites in the southern Thomson Orogen, in that the basement is usually weathered, the interface has paleotopography, and it can be recognised by its density, natural gamma, magnetic susceptibility and electrical conductivity contrasts.     

东昆仑早古生代洋壳俯冲与碰撞造山作用的转换: 来自胡晓钦镁铁质岩石的证据

位于东昆仑昆中缝合带内的胡晓钦镁铁质岩石主要以角闪辉绿岩为主.利用锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb定年方法获得其结晶年龄为438±2Ma(MSWD=1.06,n=15),表明该岩石应为早志留世岩浆活动的产物.岩石样品均具有相对低的TiO2含量(0.43％～1.58％)和变化较高的MgO值(2.83％ ～ 8.22％)和Mg# (45 ～ 74),相对于原始地幔富集大离子亲石元素(LILE:Rb、Ba、Th和U等)和轻稀土(LREE),明显亏损高场强元素(HFSE:Nb、Ta和Ti),并且具有略微富集的Hf同位素组成(εHf(t)为3.68 ～ 8.20,tDMZ为0.90～ 1.19Ga).以Mg#作为横坐标的二元图解和(2CaO+Na2O)/TiO2-Al2O3/TiO2图解揭示其形成过程中应主要经历了单斜辉石、橄榄石和斜长石的分离结晶.岩石样品均具有相对低的Nb/La和Nb/Ce比值(分别为0.15 ～0.28和0.07 ～0.13)以及较高的Nb/Ta和Zr/Hf比值(分别为13.15～17.38和36.14～ 43.88),指示岩石的形成过程受到地壳混染的影响非常小.地球化学和锆石Lu-Hf同位素研究揭示其形成可能与受板片流体交代含尖晶石橄榄岩的部分熔融有关.胡晓钦镁铁质岩石具有类似岛弧玄武岩特征的地球化学组成,并且其年龄明显早于东昆仑与碰撞相关的榴辉岩相变质年龄(428Ma)和中压(绿帘)角闪岩相变质峰期年龄(427Ma),表明其形成仍与东昆仑洋壳俯冲关系密切.综合区域资料可以判断,胡晓钦镁铁质岩石可能代表了东昆仑早古生代洋壳俯冲最晚期的岩浆记录.这样可以确定,东昆仑早古生代洋盆最终关闭和碰撞造山开始的时间为早志留世,洋壳俯冲持续的时间至少为79Myr,碰撞造山持续时间至少为8Myr.     

Diamond economics of the Prairie Creek lamproite, Murfreesboro, AR, USA

The Prairie Creek lamproite is the largest of seven ultramafic vents that make up the Prairie Creek lamproite province. Diamonds were first discovered in 1906, and commercial mining continued intermittently until about 1931. The evaluation program undertaken by the Arkansas State Parks Commission in the 1990s resulted in the mapping and evaluation of four major vent facies rock types: olivine lamproite, epiclastic sediments, phlogopite-rich tuff and olivine-rich tuff. Significant diamond contents were found only within the phlogopite-rich tuff (0.11 carat/100 tonnes) and olivine-rich tuff (1.1 carats/100 tonnes).Stratigraphic relationships indicate that the diamondiferous tuffs have undergone <50 m of erosion. Extrapolation of the surface rock units and their diamond contents to the pre-erosion surface suggests that 93,000 carats of diamonds were liberated and then concentrated as a natural surface enrichment. Early commercial production focused on the natural surface concentrations, an assumption supported by historic mining records. Historical grades suggest that 58,000 carats were contained in these surface deposits, about half of those diamonds being recovered during commercial operation. These relationships suggest that 35,000 carats remain as eluvial and alluvial deposits adjacent to the existing tourist area. This erosion model minimizes the prospects for either primary or alluvial commercial mining; however, it does validate early historic mining records and suggests areas for further tourist development within existing park boundaries.     

Bank permeability in an Australian ephemeral dry‐land stream: variation with stage resulting from mud deposition and sediment clogging

Percolation of flood waters into the bed and banks of ephemeral streams provides one of the key mechanisms responsible for transmission loss. However, there are very few published estimates of the rates at which water can enter stream‐bank sediments, and little is known about the variation in bank permeability with elevation above the bed and the resulting effects on transmission loss in floods of different magnitudes. This paper presents the results of 69 field determinations of bank infiltrability made on Fowlers Creek, an ephemeral dry‐land stream located in arid western New South Wales, Australia. Fowlers Creek carries high concentrations of suspended sediments, which are deposited as mud drapes on the bed, banks and floodplain. Results demonstrate that infiltration rates are lowest at the base of the banks, and tend to increase steadily with elevation on the bank, even above the apparent upper limit of mud drapes. In parallel, the texture of the bank sediments (assessed from samples of the uppermost 10 cm) becomes coarser with elevation above the bed. This pattern is inferred to relate to the delivery of silts and clays into pore spaces in the bank sediments by percolating flood waters. The patterns of infiltration rate and sediment texture mapped in the field are reasoned to be the product of many clogging episodes in past flood events having different peak stages. The increase in infiltration rate and mean particle size up the banks reflects lower frequencies of submergence and clogging of the upper banks by large floods, and more frequent inundation and clogging of the lower banks by sub‐bank‐full flows. The stage‐related changes in bank permeability provide a mechanism that can drive variations in transmission loss among floods having different peak stages and hydrograph shapes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deep crustal structures of eastern China and adjacent seas revealed by magnetic data

Through reduction to the North Pole and upward continuation of the total field magnetic anomalies, we analyze magnetic patterns and spatial distributions of different tectonic blocks and crustal faults in eastern China and adjacent seas. Depths to the Curie isotherms are further estimated from radially averaged amplitude spectra of magnetic data reduced to the pole. Data reductions effectively enhance boundaries of regional tectonic belts, such as the Dabie ultra-high metamorphic belt, the Tanlu Fault, and the Diaoyudao Uplift. Curie depths are estimated at between 19.6 and 48.9 km, with a mean of 31.7 km. The Subei Basin and the south Yellow Sea Basin in the lower Yangtze block show relatively deep Curie isotherms, up to about 35 km in depth, whereas in the surrounding areas Curie depths are averaged at about 25 km. This implies that the lower Yangtze Block has experienced a unique tectonic evolution and/or has unique basement lithology and structures. From a regional perspective, sedimentary basins, such as the Subei Basin, the south Yellow Sea Basin, and the East China Sea Basin, normally show deeper Curie isotherms than surrounding uplifts such as the Diaoyudao Uplift and the Zhemin Uplifts. Curie isotherms also upwell significantly in volcanically active areas such as the Ryukyu Arc and the Cheju Island, confirming strong magmatic and geothermal activities at depth. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40776026 and 40876022) and National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2007CB411702)     

东南极晚新元古—早古生代构造热事件及其在冈瓦纳超大陆重建中的意义

在东南极大陆内部及边缘发育3条晚新元古代—早古生代造山带,即东非造山带（南延部分）、普里兹造山带和罗斯造山带。东非造山带的南延部分主要出露于吕措—霍尔姆湾—毛德王后地—沙克尔顿岭地区,其内发育蛇绿岩、榴辉岩相超镁铁岩及逆冲—推覆构造,因而被解释为东、西冈瓦纳陆块拼合的缝合线。罗斯造山带主要出露于横贯南极山脉地区,其内保存有大陆裂解、洋壳俯冲和地体增生的地质纪录,代表冈瓦纳超大陆的活动大陆边缘。普里兹造山带主要出露于普里兹湾和登曼冰川,因其位于从前假设的统一东冈瓦纳陆块的内部,加之缺少蛇绿混杂岩、岛弧增生杂岩和高压变质岩（如蓝片岩或榴辉岩）等与大洋板块俯冲作用密切相关的岩石,所以当前存在着碰撞造山成因和板内改造成因两种不同的认识。普里兹造山带构造性质的确定不仅决定了冈瓦纳超大陆的汇聚过程和方式,也制约了罗迪尼亚超大陆的形成和演化过程。因此,开展普里兹造山带的研究对于揭示新元古代—早古生代的全球构造演化具有重要的科学意义。     

鄂尔多斯盆地西缘逆冲带南北差异的形成机制

鄂尔多斯盆地西缘逆冲带是我国重要的陆内逆冲推覆构造带 ,其形成与发展 ,对了解我国西部与东部之间的构造转换 ,有着重要的意义 ,同时也是研究青藏高原向东扩展的有利地区。通过对该构造带几个问题的讨论 ,认为该构造带南段与北段的形成机理是不同的 ,鄂尔多斯盆地在当时有一定程度的逆时针旋转。南段主要是祁连山—北秦岭造山带向北东方向挤压的结果 ,贺兰山南部的北西向构造也属于该段 ,因此其形状为一向北东突出的弧形 ;而北段是由于旋转的盆地与发生构造挤出的阿拉善块体相互作用的结果。并对一些问题提出了一些看法     

北祁连西段肃南地区下志留统肮脏沟组河流相的发现及其大地构造意义

北祁连地区位于中国中央造山带中段,具有典型造山带的特征.区内志留系肮脏沟组沉积环境存在较大争议,以致对其沉积期古地理格局的认识就存在很大差异.本研究选取志留系肮脏沟组发育齐全的肃南地区老虎沟剖面为研究对象,通过野外剖面实测、室内薄片鉴定和碎屑岩粒度分析等方法对老虎沟剖面肮脏沟组沉积充填序列、沉积构造和沉积相类型进行了细...     

U-Pb Zircon Dating of the Granitic Conglomerates of the Hutuo Group： Affinities to the Wutai Granitoids and Significance to the Tectonic Evolution of the Trans-North China Orogen

1 Introduction The North China Craton (NCC) is considered to be the oldest and largest cratonic block in China. Recent studies to gain understanding of basement architecture of the NCC has led to its division into the Western and Eastern Blocks, separated by a N-S trending Paleoproterozoic Trans-North China Orogen (TNCO) (Fig. 1; Zhao et al., 1998, 1999a, 2000a, 2001a; Wilde et al., 2002). Although there is now abroad consensus that the final assembly of the NCC was completed by th…     

新疆图拉尔根镁铁-超镁铁质杂岩体镍铜钴成矿岩浆作用过程:流体化学与碳同位素组成制约

东天山造山带的图拉尔根镁铁-超镁铁杂岩体为一个早古生代长期活动的幔源岩浆通道,大型铜镍钴硫化物矿体赋存于Ⅰ号超镁铁质岩体的顶部,不同类型岩石中辉石矿物的流体挥发份化学组成以H₂O为主（平均91%,5400.4mm³/g）,其次为H₂（2.0%）、H₂S（2.3%）和CO₂（2.1%）;赋矿角闪橄榄岩中CO₂和H₂S含量最高,辉长岩中流体挥发份含量低于辉石橄榄岩和橄榄辉石岩等岩浆早期结晶的岩石。CO₂和CH₄的δ¹³C值位于地壳与甲烷氧化的范围内,甲烷同系物的碳同位素组成具有正序分布模式,部分样品（TLG512）释出的CH₄和C₂H₆具有较重的δ¹³C值和反序分布特征。表明I号岩体不同类型岩石可能是不同期次岩浆活动的产物,成矿岩浆具有富H₂O和H₂S的特征,可能起源于被流体交代的亏损地幔源区,混染壳源组分可能为俯冲板片来源蚀变沉积有机质组分。