Geomorphic constraints on the active tectonics of southern Taiwan

Taiwan is a region of rapid active tectonics, yet the study of the tectonic processes that shape the interior of the island is difficult due to the high rates of erosion and dense vegetation. We use digital topography to look for indications of active deformation preserved in the local geomorphology. In particular, anomalies in the regional pattern of drainage are used to infer zones of enhanced tectonic activity. The apparent anticlockwise rotation of major river systems in plan view indicates the presence of a diffuse zone of left-lateral shear running down the southeastern side of Taiwan. Asymmetries in the catchments of individual drainage basins show the influence of varying rates of uplift across southern Taiwan, with the most rapid uplift close to Taitung at the indentation point of the Luzon arc with the Chinese continental margin. Our interpretations, though based predominantly on remote-sensing observations, are consistent with the available field evidence. This study demonstrates the usefulness of drainage basins as tectonic markers in the quantification of regional strain and uplift, which may have wider applicability in other deforming parts of the world.     

鄂尔多斯盆地西南部三叠纪末抬升剥蚀事件及热年代学记录

三叠纪末期大型鄂尔多斯盆地遭受了中生代成盆以来首次较大规模的抬升剥蚀,显著改造了中晚三叠世延长期盆地面貌,并控制了侏罗纪早期沉积格局和油藏分布,对盆地演化及矿产资源分布产生了重要影响。本文利用地质及大量钻井资料揭示了该期构造事件对盆地的剥蚀改造特征,盆地及周邻地区磷灰石裂变径迹年代学记录并约束了此次构造抬升的时限与过程;综合周邻区域构造研究成果,探讨了其发育的动力学背景。结果表明,鄂尔多斯盆地三叠纪末期的剥蚀具西南强、东北弱的特点,西南部大范围内延长组地层残缺不全,剥蚀量最大可达1000余米;前侏罗纪沉积古地貌总体呈西南高、北东低的特点;其抬升时间始于205～190Ma,西南部稍早于盆地腹部,抬升速率大于1℃/Myr,可持续至中侏罗世(约160Ma)。该期抬升剥蚀事件范围可涉及至盆地西南缘更广阔的区域,与同期秦岭造山带内出现的快速抬升冷却事件具有较好的时空耦合关系,是对秦岭造山带区域构造环境转变的响应和纪录。该研究丰富和发展了三叠纪末期构造事件在华北克拉通的影响,对该区油气、煤炭资源的进一步勘探和评价提供了新的思路,具有一定的现实意义。     

Evolution of the Western Margin of Australia during the Rodinian and Gondwanan Supercontinent Cycles

The proto-Darling Fault zone and its successor, the Darling Fault, extend for 1, 000 km along the western continental margin of Australia and appear to have been active at several periods during the geological past. Deformation commenced at 2,570 Ma and affected Late Archaean granitoids along the western margin of the Yilgarn Craton. Much of the later activity reflects events related to the accretion and breakup associated with the Rodinia and Gondwanaland supercontinent cycles.In the north, rocks of the Northampton and Mullingarra Complexes form part of a high-grade Grenvillian orogenic belt lying to the west of the Darling Fault, referred to as the Pinjarra Orogen. They underwent granulite facies metamorphism 1080 Ma ago and form part of the global collisional event that resulted in the amalgamation of Rodinia. These rocks extend southward beneath Phanerozoic sedimentary cover (the Perth Basin), where they are constrained to the east by the Darling Fault and to the west by the Dunsborough Fault, the latter marking the eastern boundary of the Leeuwin Complex.The Leeuwin Complex is a fragment of Pan-African crust that has traditionally been considered part of the Pinjarra Orogen. It is composed predominantly of upper amphibolite to granulite facies felsic orthogneisses derived from A-type, anorogenic granitoids. Conventional and SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronology has established that the granitoids evolved between 780 Ma and 520 Ma and were metamorphosed at 615 Ma. These events are equated with rifting associated with the breakup of Rodinia. Sm-Nd whole rock data support the juvenile nature of the crust and provide no evidence for the involvement of pre-existing Archaean continental material.During the Phanerozoic, the Dunsborough and Darling Faults were reactivated, as normal faults defining the inner arm of a major rift system within Eastern Gondwanaland and controlling sedimentation in the Perth Basin that now overlies the Grenvillian terrane. Major normal movement on the Darling Fault ceased by the Late Jurassic and it appears that continental breakup in the Early Cretaceous occurred along fractures closely related to the western boundary of the Leeuwin Complex that defined the eastern margin of the outer arm of the rift system. Breakup between Australia and Greater India commenced at 132 Ma and was followed by eruption of the Bunbury Basalt at 130 Ma and 123 Ma. This possibly resulted from hot spot activity beneath Eastern Gondwanaland and may have been a reflection of the Kerguelen plume, though the evidence is equivocal.It is argued from the petrographic, geochemical and isotopic characteristics, together with the likely contiguity of the Eastern Gondwanaland continents since the assembly of Rodinia, that the Leeuwin Complex evolved within an intracrustal rift and is not an exotic terrane. It is distinct from adjacent portions of the Pinjarra Orogen and should be considered a separate terrane. It is recommended that use of the term ‘Pinjarra Orogen’ be confined to rocks recording the Grenvillian events, thereby excluding those rocks (the Leeuwin Complex) that evolved during the later Pan-African orogeny.     

重力数据约束的二维地震层析成像在台湾海峡南部的应用

地震-重力联合反演可以降低多解性,针对大勘探范围内岩石波速-密度关系存在较大散布的问题,引入交叉梯度结构约束构建统一的目标函数是一种有效的解决方案。利用台湾海峡南部HX-13测线进行验证:由于火成岩侵入体的存在,部分区域难以拾取可靠的地震初至,常规的走时反演无法准确恢复基底面的形态。搜集研究区的船测重力资料,根据地震地质条件和数据特点设置合适的反演参数,实现基于物性和结构双重约束的重力-地震联合反演。由对反演结果的分析和解释可以看出,该方法可在很大程度上弥补地震数据不完备的缺陷,使反演过程稳定,并提高模型的可靠性。     

塔西南甫沙地区被动顶板双重构造和乌泊尔地区背驮盆地的数值模拟

塔里木盆地西南缘前陆褶皱冲断带发育被动顶板双重构造(甫沙地区)和背驮盆地(乌泊尔地区)两种明显不同的构造类型。为了探讨它们的不同成因,利用有限差分软件FLAC开展了一系列二维数值模拟研究。采用遵循平面应变的黏弹塑性本构模型,设置两个滑脱层和三个能干层。同时考虑基底沉降、同构造剥蚀和沉积,缩短速率为8mm/a,剥蚀速率为每年侵蚀基准面以上高程的3×10-7(相当于每1000m每年剥蚀0.3mm)。在基底水平的情况下,采用均一的沉降速率1.6mm/a并以填平补齐的方式进行沉积时,3.5 Ma后发育成与甫沙地区相似的被动顶板双重构造。而当模型采用中部小两端大的拱形沉降速度以及填平补齐的沉积时最终发育成背驮盆地,和乌泊尔地区地质原型接近。模拟结果表明,同构造沉积地层对褶皱冲断带的影响巨大,当沉积物大量堆积在褶皱冲断带前缘时有利于被动顶板双重构造的形成,而沉积物大量堆积在逆冲楔顶与斜坡时则更有利于背驮盆地的发生。模拟结果认为甫沙地区和乌泊尔地区都接受了填平补齐的沉积方式,但基底沉降差异造成了两者的构造样式明显不同。在小范围内(后陆至前陆小于80km),甫沙地区基底以水平方式发生沉降,褶皱冲断带前缘接受了大量沉积;而乌泊尔地区基底在挤压下发生弯曲,使得后陆发生了更大的沉降从而接受了更多的沉积。     

High-Mg potassic rocks from Taiwan: implications for the genesis of orogenic potassic lavas

Taiwan is an active mountain belt formed by oblique collision between the Luzon arc and the Asian continent. Regardless of the ongoing collision in central and southern Taiwan, a post-collisional extension regime has developed since the Plio–Pleistocene in the northern part of this orogen, and led to generation of the Northern Taiwan Volcanic Zone. Emplaced at 0.2 Ma in the southwest of the Volcanic Zone, lavas from the Tsaolingshan volcano are highly magnesian (MgO≈15 wt.%) and potassic (K₂O≈5 wt.%; K₂O/Na₂O≈1.6–3.0). Whereas these basic rocks (SiO₂≈48 wt.%) have relatively low Al₂O₃≈12 wt.%, total Fe₂O₃≈7.5 wt.% and CaO≈7.2 wt.%, they are extremely enriched in large ion lithophile elements (LILE, e.g. Cs, Rb, Ba, Th and U). The Rb and Cs abundances, >1000 and 120 ppm, respectively, are among the highest known from terrestrial rocks. In addition, these rocks are enriched in light rare earth elements (LREE), depleted in high field strength elements (HFSE), and display a positive Pb spike in the primitive mantle-normalized variation diagram. Their REE distribution patterns mark with slight Eu negative anomalies (Eu/Eu*≈0.90–0.84), and Sr and Nd isotope ratios are uniform (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr≈0.70540–0.70551; ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd≈0.51268–0.51259). Olivine, the major phenocryst phase, shows high Fo contents (90.4±1.8; 1σ deviation), which are in agreement with the whole rock Mg-values (83–80). Spinel inclusions in olivine are characterized by high Cr/Cr+Al ratios (0.94–0.82) and have compositions similar to those from boninites that originate from highly refractory peridotites. Such petrochemical characteristics are comparable to the Group I ultrapotassic rocks defined by Foley et al. [Earth-Sci. Rev. 24 (1987) 81], such as orogenic lamproites from central Italy, Span and Tibet. We therefore suggest that the Tsaolingshan lavas resulted from a phlogopite-bearing harzburgitic source in the lithospheric mantle that underwent a recent metasomatism by the nearby Ryukyu subduction zone processes. The lavas exhibit unique incompatible trace element ratios, with Rb/Cs≈8, Ba/Rb≈1, Ce/Pb≈2, Th/U≈1 and Nb/U≈0.8, which are significantly lower than the continental crust values and those of most mantle-derived magmas. Nonmagmatic enrichment in the mantle source is therefore required. Based on published experimental data, two subduction-related metasomatic components, i.e., slab-released hydrous fluid and subducted sediment, are proposed, and the former is considered to be more pervasive for causing the extraordinary trace element ratios observed. Our observations lend support to the notion that dehydration from subducting slabs at convergent margins, as a continuing process through geologic time, can account for the fractionation of these elemental pairs between the Earth's crust and mantle.     

Dissolved oxygen and nitrate of groundwater in Choshui Fan-Delta,western Taiwan

Dissolved oxygen (DO) and nitrate concentrations of groundwater from a total of 191 new monitoring wells, with a maximum depth up to 300 m, in the Choshui fan delta of Taiwan were measured to delineate the regional patterns of the two components. Unconfined aquifers of the proximal part of the fan delta contain 1~7 mg/l of DO, and a 250-m deep well still has an unusual value of 1.83 mg/l. DO concentrations decrease downgradient along flow paths to below detection limit (0.01 mg/l) in shallow confined aquifers during the last 40 years, possibly due to oxidation of organic matters in sediments. A plume of high nitrate-N concentrations (0.5–17 mg/l) originating from the proximal part of the fan delta has been developing, possibly since 1956, due to agricultural fertilizers. From 1997 to 2001, the concentration has increased at a rate of ca. 0.28 mg/l per year.     

GIS-based hazard mapping and zonation of debris flows in Xiaojiang Basin,southwestern China

Debris flow sites were identified at 140 locations in the Xiaojiang Basin in Yunnan province, southwestern China. Their spatial distribution and catchment characteristics are described in detail on the basis of previous research, air photo interpretation, field investigation and mapping using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Using a statistical approach, a quantitative model of hazards assessment and zonation was developed through synthesis analysis of basin areas, gradients, and the relative reliefs of these debris flow sites. In terms of debris flow hazard assessment, areas within the Xiaojiang Basin can be classified as severe, heavy and light hazard regions.     

巨大灾害后的脆弱性：台湾集集地震后中部地区土地利用与覆盖变迁

自2004年底的南亚大海啸、美国遭受飓风侵袭以来，人类社会如何采取应对措施以降低灾害的冲击成为国际科学界的一个重要议题。台湾在几年前也遭遇巨大的地震灾害，1999年9月21日凌晨，震中发源于台湾中部、芮氏规模7.3级的巨大地震，造成全台湾2 000多人死亡，8 000多人受伤，除了造成直接的经济社会损失外，也造成山区土石松滑、地层松动与山崩，直接改变了地表的覆盖状况。在后续几年台风所带来的强风豪雨下，丰沛的降雨量使原本因地震而松滑的土石大量滑落，造成严重的土石流灾害，河床也因土石泥沙的堆积而被提升，形成严重的洪患。这些自然环境的变化不仅再次改变地表的覆盖，也使重建后的小区面临极大的灾害风险。此次冲击促使当地居民重新思考人地关系之意义，通过重建过程凝聚小区意识，发展有别于过去的土地利用形态。因此为检验当地居民对灾害的暴露程度、敏感性与适应能力，本研究采用近年来在国际环境灾害研究课题备受重视的脆弱性研究途径，并利用野外调查以及遥测与地理信息系统分析呈现地震后的土地覆盖变化。希望通过分析人与环境系统的变化，以及人类社群的社会内部固有特质，归纳出重要机制以发展降低脆弱性的策略。 研究结果显示，灾害是人与环境耦合系统(coupled system)共同形成的结果，非单一的独立事件，也不是不可避免的；且地方的脆弱性具有演化与多元化的特性，同一地方下不同族群与个体对灾害的脆弱性皆不同，因此灾害研究必须更关注于灾害发生的机制，相关的政策与策略也必须建立在更小的社会与空间单元上。