山西长治断裂的基本特征与第四纪活动性研究

实地调查表明,山西长治断裂由三段组成,南段和中段为西倾正断层,北段为东倾正断层,总体走向北东25o,长达65km,控制着附近山地与第四纪山间盆地的构造演化和地貌发育;第四纪早期,断裂发生强烈的垂直差异活动,最大垂直活动幅度可达400m左右;第四纪晚期,断裂活动性明显减弱,中段仍有活动,至少发生过两期活动,第—期活动发生于距今10.88万年左右或以后、1.49万年以前,第二期活动发生于距今1.49万年以后,垂直错距0.65m。     

青岛沧口断裂的地质构造特征与第四纪活动性研究

本文根据青岛市活断层探测与地震危险性评价项目初查阶段第四纪地层分析、遥感影像解译、地球化学探测、地质地貌调查与探槽开挖、浅层地震勘探与钻孔探测、地质年代测定等获得的丰富的第一手资料,对青岛沧口断裂的地质构造特征和第四纪活动性进行了详细分析与综合研究,结果表明:沧口断裂经历多期构造变动,是本区的重要断裂之一,它由多支断层组成,控制了中生代的火山活动、盆地沉积和岩浆侵入以及晚第四纪的盆地沉积、山体隆升和水系发育;第四纪以来,沧口断裂的主要活动发生于中更新世晚期至晚更新世早期,表现出中高角度向南东倾的逆冲活动特点,错断了上更新统底面1—6m,而最新活动时代为晚更新世中期,以走滑活动为主,垂直错距0.2—1.1m。     

西藏那曲地区孔玛盆地第四纪昆虫化石的发现及意义

首次在西藏那曲地区孔玛盆地第四系湖相沉积地层中发现了昆虫化石,对昆虫化石的特征和产出层位进行了描述,昆虫化石经初步鉴定分别属于膜翅目、双翅目和异翅目。采集了该套地层的ESR年代学样品,测试结果表明该套地层的时代为早中更新世。昆虫的分布演化与环境关系密切。这一发现为研究青藏高原第四纪以来的生物进化,湖泊、河流演化,气候变化,古地理、古环境变迁,第四系地层划分等提供了新资料。     

中国北方第四纪磁性地层记录的古地磁极倒转与气候变化耦合关系

应用古地磁学原理，分析了中国北方第四纪黄土、泥河湾盆地、黄海陆架磁性地层记录的古地磁极倒转与气候变化之间的关系。研究表明第四纪古地磁极倒转与气候变化有一定的耦合关系：Matuyama／Gauss极性界限、Brunhes／Matuyama极性界限与第四纪气候变冷期相对应，Matuyama负极性时中的正极性亚时及Brunhes正极性时中的负极性亚时与气候变暖期相一致。因而．第四纪古地磁极倒转可能是第四纪气候冷暖波动变化的主要驱动因素之一。     

Episodes of reef growth at Lord Howe Island, the southernmost reef in the southwest Pacific

Lord Howe Island lies at the present latitudinal limit to reef growth in the Pacific and preserves evidence of episodes of reef development over the Late Quaternary. A modern fringing reef flanks the western shore of Lord Howe Island, enclosing a Holocene lagoon, and Late Quaternary eolianites veneer the island. Coral-bearing beach and shallow-water calcarenites record a sea level around 2–3 m above present during the Last Interglacial. No reefs or subaerial carbonate deposits occur on, or around, Balls Pyramid, 25 km to the south. The results of chronostratigraphic studies of the modern Lord Howe Island reef and lagoon indicate prolific coral production during the mid-Holocene, but less extensive coral cover during the late Holocene. Whereas the prolific mid-Holocene reefs might appear to reflect warmer sea-surface temperatures, the pattern of dates and reef growth history are similar to those throughout the Great Barrier Reef and across much of the Indo-Pacific and are more likely correlated with availability of suitable substrate. Little direct evidence of a Last Interglacial reef is now preserved, and the only evidence for older periods of reef establishment comes from clasts of coral in a well-cemented limestone unit below a coral that has been dated to the Last Interglacial age in a core at the jetty. However, a massive reef structure occurs near the centre of the wide shelf around Lord Howe Island, veneered with Holocene coralline algae. Its base is 40–50 m deep and it rises to water depths of less than 30 m. This fossil reef is several times more extensive than either Holocene or Last Interglacial reefs appear to have been. Holocene give-up reef growth is inferred during the postglacial transgression, but an alternative interpretation is that this is a much older landform, indicating reefs that were much more extensive than modern reefs at this marginal site.     

A 100 000‐year record of annual and seasonal rainfall and temperature for northwestern Australia based on a pollen record obtained offshore

Pollen recovered from core tops of deep‐sea cores from offshore northwestern Western Australia were used to build climatic transfer functions applied to sediment samples from major rivers bordering the ocean in the same region and a deep‐sea core offshore Northwest Cape. Results show for the last 100 000 years, with a gap in the record spanning the 64 000 to 46 000 years interval, that from about 100 000 to 82 000 yr BP, climatic conditions represented by rainfall, temperature and number of humid months, were significantly higher than today's values. For the entire record, the coldest period occurred about 43 000 to 39 000 yr BP but it was wetter than today, whereas the Last Glacial Maximum saw a significant reduction in summer rainfall, interpreted as a result of the absence of monsoonal activity in the region. The Holocene can be divided into two distinct phases: one peaking around 6000 cal. yr BP with highest rainfall and summer temperatures; the second one commencing at 5000 cal. yr BP and showing a progressive decrease in summer rainfall in contrast to an increase in winter rainfall, paralleled by a progressive decrease in temperatures. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Episodic Quaternary volcanism in France and Germany

Intra‐plate volcanism in western Europe shows statistically significant episodicity during the Quaternary period. By comparing the known ages for eruptions in France and Germany, which are compiled here, with a composite oxygen isotope record, we have investigated the link between this episodic volcanism and the climate record over the last two million years. We show that increased volcanism between 415–400 ka and 17–5 ka correlates with warming phases at the end of the last Weichselian (Devensian) and earlier Elsterian (Anglian) glacial stages. The three significant caldera explosions in the eastern Eifel, Germany, are all associated with warming phases at the onset of interglacials. The growth and decay of nearby ice sheets suggest that surface changes in continental mass distribution during glacial Milankovich cycles could provide a mechanism for this correlation by means of the distal effects of flexural loading on the lithosphere. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Marine ice-rafted debris records constrain maximum extent of Saalian and Weichselian ice-sheets along the northern Eurasian margin

Ice-rafted debris (IRD) (>2 mm), input in eight sediment cores along the Eurasian continental margin (Arctic Ocean), have been studied over the last two glacial/interglacial cycles. Together with the revised chronologies and new micropaleontological data of two cores from the northern Barents Sea (PS2138) and northeastern Kara Sea (PS2741) spanning Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 6 to 1, the IRD data give new insights into the glacial history of northern Eurasian ice-sheets over the last 150 ka. The chronologies of the cores are based on stable isotope records, AMS ¹⁴C datings, paleomagnetic and biostratigraphic data.Extensive episodes of northern Barents Sea ice-sheet growth, probably to the shelf edge, occurred during the late Weichselian (MIS 2) and the Saalian (MIS 6). Major IRD discharge at the MIS 4/3-transition hints to another severe glaciation, probably onto the outer shelf, during MIS 4. IRD-based instabilities of the marine-based ice margin along the northern Barents Sea between MIS 4 and 2 are similar in timing with North Atlantic Heinrich events and Nordic Seas IRD events, suggesting similar atmospheric cooling over a broad region or linkage of ice-sheet fluctuations through small sea-level events.In the relatively low-precipitation areas of eastern Eurasia, IRD peak values during Termination II and MIS 4/3-transition suggest a Kara Sea ice-sheet advance onto the outer shelf, probably to the shelf edge, during glacial MIS 6 and 4. This suggests that during the initial cooling following the interglacials MIS 5, and possibly MIS 7, the combined effect of sustained inflow of Atlantic water into the Arctic Ocean and penetration of moisture-bearing cyclones into easterly direction supported major ice build-up during Saalian (MIS 6) and Mid-Weichselian (MIS 4) glaciation. IRD peak values in MIS 5 indicate at least two advances of the Severnaya Semlya ice-sheet to the coast line during the Early Weichselian. In contrast, a distinct Kara Sea ice advance during the Late Weichselian (MIS 2) is not documented by the IRD records along the northeastern Kara Sea margin.     

Accumulation of particulate organic carbon at the Eurasian continental margin during late Quaternary times: controlling mechanisms and paleoenvironmental significance

Data on the amount and composition of organic carbon were determined in sediment cores from the Kara and Laptev Sea continental margin, representing oxygen isotope stages 1–6. The characterization of organic matter is based on hydrogen index (HI) values, n-alkanes and maceral composition, indicating the predominance of terrigenous organic matter through space and time. The variations in the amount and composition of organic carbon are mainly influenced by changes in fluvial sediment supply, Atlantic water inflow, and continental ice sheets. During oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 6, high organic carbon contents in sediments from the Laptev Sea and western East Siberian Sea continental margin were probably caused by the increased glacial erosion and further transport in the eastward-flowing boundary current along the continental margin. During OIS 5 and early OIS 3, some increased amounts of marine organic matter were preserved in sediments east of the Lomonosov Ridge, suggesting an influence of nutrient-rich Pacific waters. During OIS 2, terrigenous organic carbon supply was increased along the Barents and western Kara Sea continental margin caused by extended continental ice sheets in the Barents Sea (Svalbard to Franz Josef Land) area and increased glacial erosion. Along the Laptev Sea continental margin, on the other hand, the supply of terrigenous (organic) matter was significantly reduced due to the lack of major ice sheets and reduced river discharge. Towards the Holocene, the amount of total organic carbon (TOC) increased along the Kara and Laptev Sea continental margin, reaching average values of up to 0.5 g C cm⁻² ky⁻¹. Between about 8 and 10 ka (9 and 11 Cal ka), i.e., during times when the inner shallow Kara and Laptev seas became largely flooded for the first time after the Last Glacial Maximum, maximum supply of terrigenous organic carbon occurred, which is related to an increase in coastal erosion and Siberian river discharge. During the last 8000 years, the increased amount of marine organic carbon preserved in the sediments from the Kara and Laptev Sea continental margin is interpreted as a result of the intensification of Atlantic water inflow along the Eurasian continental margin.     

Architecture and evolution of a fjord‐head delta,western Vancouver Island,British Columbia

The architectural framework and Holocene evolution of the Zeballos fjord‐head delta on west‐central Vancouver Island was established through a multidisciplinary field‐based study. The Zeballos delta is a composite feature, consisting of an elevated, incised, late Pleistocene delta and an inset Holocene delta graded to present sea level. Both deltas have a classic Gilbert‐type tripartite architecture, with nearly flat topset and bottomset units and an inclined foreset unit. Time domain electromagnetic (TDEM) and ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) surveys, borehole data, and gravel pit exposures provided information on the internal form, lithologies and substrate of both deltas. Both sets of deltaic deposits coarsen upward from silt in the bottomset unit to gravel in the topset unit. The TDEM survey revealed a highly irregular, buried bedrock surface, ranging from 20 m to 190 m in depth, and it delineated saltwater intrusion into the deltaic sediments. Late Quaternary sea‐level change at Zeballos was inferred from delta morphology and the GPR survey. The elevated, late Pleistocene delta was constructed when the sea was about 21 m higher relative to the land than it is today. It was dissected when sea‐level fell rapidly as a result of glacio‐isostatic rebound. Relative sea‐level reached a position about 20 m below the present datum during the early Holocene. Foreset beds that overlap and progressively climb in a seaward direction and topset beds that thicken to 26 m landward imply that the delta aggraded and prograded into Zeballos Inlet during the middle and late Holocene transgression. Sea‐level may have risen above the present datum during the middle Holocene, creating a delta plain at about 4 m a.s.l. Remnants of this surface are preserved along the valley margins. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.