Cenozoic tectonic jumping and implications for hydrocarbon accumulation in basins in the East Asia Continental Margin

Tectonic migration is a common geological process of basin formation and evolution. However, little is known about tectonic migration in the western Pacific margins. This paper focuses on the representative Cenozoic basins of East China and its surrounding seas in the western Pacific domain to discuss the phenomenon of tectonic jumping in Cenozoic basins, based on structural data from the Bohai Bay Basin, the South Yellow Sea Basin, the East China Sea Shelf Basin, and the South China Sea Continental Shelf Basin. The western Pacific active continental margin is the eastern margin of a global convergent system involving the Eurasian Plate, the Pacific Plate, and the Indian Plate. Under the combined effects of the India-Eurasia collision and retrogressive or roll-back subduction of the Pacific Plate, the western Pacific active continental margin had a wide basin-arc-trench system which migrated or ‘jumped’ eastward and further oceanward. This migration and jumping is characterized by progressive eastward younging of faulting, sedimentation, and subsidence within the basins. Owing to the tectonic migration, the geological conditions associated with hydrocarbon and gashydrate accumulation in the Cenozoic basins of East China and its adjacent seas also become progressively younger from west to east, showing eastward younging in the generation time of reservoirs, seals, traps, accumulations and preservation of hydrocarbon and gashydrate. Such a spatio-temporal distribution of Cenozoic hydrocarbon and gashydrate is significant for the oil, gas and gashydrate exploration in the East Asian Continental Margin. Finally, this study discusses the mechanism of Cenozoic intrabasinal and interbasinal tectonic migration in terms of interplate, intraplate and underplating processes. The migration or jumping regimes of three separate or interrelated events: (1) tectonism-magmatism, (2) basin formation, and (3) hydrocarbon-gashydrate accumulation are the combined effects of the Late Mesozoic extrusion tectonics, the Cenozoic NW-directed crustal extension, and the regional far-field eastward flow of the western asthenosphere due to the India-Eurasia plate collision, accompanied by eastward jumping and roll-back of subduction zones of the Pacific Plate.     

Tectonic–karstic origin of the alleged “impact crater” of Lake Isli (Imilchil district,High Atlas,Morocco)

The scenic lakes Tislit and Isli of the Imilchil area in the central High Atlas of Morocco have been recently promoted to the rank of “dual impact crater” by a group of geoscientists. This was promptly denied by a group of meteorite specialists, but the first team reiterated their impact crater interpretation, now restricted to Lake Isli. This alleged 40-kyr-old impact crater would be associated with the Agoudal meteorite recognized further in the southeast. Here, we show that the lake formed during the Lower–Middle Pleistocene in a small Pliocene (?) pull-apart basin through additional collapsing due to karst phenomena in the underlying limestones. This compares with the formation of a number of lakes of the Atlas Mountains. None of the “proofs” produced in support of a meteoritic origin of Lake Isli coincides with the geology of the area.     

青海玉树地区主要活动断裂的遥感影像解译及构造活动性

综合利用IRS-P5、ALOS、Google earth等高分辨率遥感影像及ASTER DEM资料,结合前人研究成果和野外实地考察,总结玉树地区断裂带的遥感影像解译标志,获取其空间展布和分段情况,对断裂的性质和活动性进行了详细的分析。研究中共解译活动断裂18条,总体呈Y字型分布。通过错断水系位错量的量测、三维地貌对比、地形起伏度和历史地震对比等多种分析,断裂活动强度可以分为强烈、中等和弱活动3个等级,其中当江—多彩断裂、玉树断裂和巴塘断裂是玉树断裂带内最主要的活动断裂。     

起伏地形条件下FPS不同解释方法对比

固定点源激电测深(FPS)是一种有效的激发极化测深勘探方法,但在数据解释中,常规的定量解释法只适应较为简单的地电条件,在起伏地形条件下其解释效果会受到较为明显的影响。针对常规的定量解释方法所存在的不足与缺陷,这里从有限单元法正演模拟入手,采用最小二乘法进行反演计算,实现了在起伏地形条件下的对地电模型进行模拟计算,并将圆弧交汇-相对强度计算结果与最小二乘反演计算结果进行对比。结果表明:最小二乘反演方法能适应起伏地形对模型进行反演计算,其反演效果优于圆弧交汇-相对强度法计算结果。     

遥感地质解译路线在西藏羌塘地区1∶5万区域地质调查中的应用

区域地质遥感调查是近几年来一直采用的一种新的地质调查方法,最大特点是充分利用遥感图像的空间宏观优势,结合地面调查工作进行多层次的影像地质解译,在整体上提高对工作区区域地质特征的全面认识,解决突出的基础地质问题和与成矿有关的关键问题,加快填图速度,提高成图质量。目前,可应用的遥感数据种类多、波段丰富、分辨率高,遥感数据处理的技术和方法越来越先进,为高质量成图和深入解译奠定了基础。本文在总结了工作中遥感数据的采集、处理、解译、应用的基础上,提出了遥感地质解译路线的必要性和方法,进一步规范了遥感地质解译路线的内容和样式,为区域地质调查遥感地质解译路线编制提供参考。     

Geological interpretation of current subsidence and uplift in the London area,UK, as shown by high precision satellite-based surveying

Long term planning for flood risk management in coastal areas requires timely and reliable information on changes in land and sea levels. A high resolution map of current changes in land levels in the London and Thames estuary area has been generated by satellite-based persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI), aligned to absolute gravity (AG) and global positioning system (GPS) measurements. This map has been qualitatively validated by geological interpretation, which demonstrates a variety of controlling influences on the rates of land level change, ranging from near-surface to deep-seated mechanisms and from less than a decade to more than 100,000 years’ duration.     

Geochemistry,provenance and tectonic setting of the Late Cambrian–Early Ordovician Seydişehir Formation in the Çaltepe and Fele areas,SE Turkey

The major, trace and rare earth element (REE) contents of metapelite (MPL), metapsammite (MPS) and metamarl (MM) samples from the Cambro-Ordovician Seydi?ehir Formation were analyzed to investigate their provenance and tectonic setting. The MPS, MPL, and MM samples have variable SiO₂ concentrations, with average values of 72.36, 55.54, and 20.95 wt%, moderate SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratios (means of 6.88, 3.23, and 3.80), moderate to high Fe₂O₃ + MgO contents (means of 5.14, 9.55, 3.56 wt%), and high K₂O/Na₂O ratios (means of 3.26, 3.64, 2.90), respectively. On average, the chemical index of alteration (CIA) values of the MPS and the MPL are 65.87 and 71.96, respectively, while the chemical index of weathering (CIW) values are 74.54 and 85.09, respectively. These data record an intermediate to high degree of alteration (weathering) of plagioclase to illite/kaolinite in the samples’ provenance. The chondrite-normalized REE patterns of all the sample groups are similar and are characterized by subparallel light rare earth elements (LREE)-enriched, relatively flat heavy rare earth elements (HREE) patterns with pronounced Eu anomalies (mean of 0.69) and moderate fractionation [average (La/Yb)_N = 8.7]. Plots of sediments in ternary diagrams of La, Th, Sc and elemental ratios (La/Sc, Th/Sc, Cr/Th, Eu/Eu*, La/Lu, Co/Th, La/Sc and Sc/Th), which are critical for determining provenance, and REE patterns indicate that the metaclastic units of the Seydi?ehir Formation were derived dominantly from felsic to intermediate magmatic rocks and not from a mafic source. The La–Sc–Th and Th–Sc–Zr/10 ternary diagrams of the Seydi?ehir Formation are typical of continental island arc/active continental margin tectonic settings. The geologic location and geochemistry of the Seydi?ehir Formation suggest that it was deposited in an Andean-type retroarc foreland basin during the Late Cambrian–Early Ordovician period. The Neoproterozoic intermediate to felsic magmatic rocks and metaclastic sediments with felsic origins of the Sand?kl?–Afyon Basement Complex (SBC) and their equivalent units, which are thought to be overlain by the younger units in the study area, may be the dominant source rocks for the Seydi?ehir Formation.     

Sedimentation of the Lower Cretaceous Xiagou Formation and its response to regional tectonics in the Qingxi Sag,Jiuquan Basin,NW China

Under the constraint of an isochronous sequence stratigraphic framework, sediment infill of the Xiagou Formation reflects the overall control of dynamic tectonic movements and episodic sedimentations in the Qingxi Sag. Structure reactivity during post-depositional processes could cause stratigraphic variations in longitudinal time and lateral space. This study documents sediment infill features and their response to the tectonic evolutions of the Qingxi Sag. The data sets include comparison of cores, well drilling, 3D seismic, inter-well correlation, wave impedance inversion profiles, original strata recovery data, sedimentary facies spatial evolution and their superimposition with paleogeomorphology.The Jiuquan Basin is a Mesozoic-Cenozoic superposition basin comprising an early rifting graben phase and a later compression phase. Since the Early Cretaceous, the basin has undergone four major tectonic episodes: 1) extension during the Early Cretaceous, 2) tectonic inversion caused by northwest-southeast contraction from the Late Cretaceous to the Paleocene, 3) weak extension from the Eocene to the Miocene and 4) contraction from the Miocene to the present. Therefore, the Jiuquan Basin is the product of taphrogenic, collisional and shearing movements.Seismic interpretations of sequence and maximum flooding surface divide the Xiagou Formation into three third order sequences: SQK1g₀, SQK1g₁ and SQK1g₂₊₃. Five sedimentary facies associations are identified: the shoreland plain, fan delta dominated sedimentary systems, turbidite deposits, shallow lakes and half-deep lake systems. From K1g₀ to K1g₂₊₃, decreased sandstone percentages in three fan delta areas indicate a continuously transgressive process, which shows the transition from proximal to distal sites in most statistic wells and an obvious decrease of fan delta scales. The northeast-southwest faults control the lakeward distributions of delta fronts and turbidite fans.The correspondence of sedimentary infill and its response to tectonic movements have been demonstrated in the Qingxi Sag. The more active eastern part of the northeastern boundary fault has an important influence on the northeastward migration of depocenters in the Xiagou Formation. The topography developed continuously from K1g₀ to K1g₂₊₃, but the diminished subsidence indicates the dominant geological process varying from intense fault rifting in an early period to relatively gentle and overall subsidence in a later period during the Early Cretaceous.     

皖南南华系上溪群羊栈岭组中段细碎屑岩的地球化学特征及其地质意义

皖南地区前寒武纪地层广泛出露,包括上溪群和溪口群,其中上溪群羊栈岭组中段岩性以泥岩、粉砂岩和细砂岩等细碎屑岩为主,并含有多套砾岩层。通过对绩溪县杨溪镇和东至县葛公镇剖面羊栈岭组中段细碎屑岩的地球化学分析,发现羊栈岭组中段样品具有相对较高的Al₂O₃/TiO₂比值（21.57）、较高的LREE/HREE比值（6.98）和明显的负Eu异常（0.71）,在TiO₂和Al₂O₃二元图解、Zr和TiO₂二元图解及La/Th-Hf二元图解中,大多数样品落入长英质物源区中。表明它们的物源以长英质岩石为主。此外,反映源区风化程度的参数CIA、CIW和PIA值均较低,平均值分别为71.6、75.4和71.2,分别低于PAAS的76.4、82.7和79.0,表明源区的风化程度较低。将样品的地球化学特征和皖南新元古代岩体和火山岩进行比较,发现它们具有亲缘性,结合其它岩石学和地层学证据认为这些岩体和火山岩为沉积物提供了重要的物源。在主量元素判别图中,样品主要落入活动大陆边缘区并受大陆岛弧的影响,在微量元素构造背景判别图中,样品均落入大陆岛弧区。此外,样品的各种REE元素特征值属于大陆岛弧来源的沉积物的范围,同时又与活动大陆边缘沉积物相近,指示羊栈岭组中段可能代表了一套活动大陆边缘的弧后盆地沉积。而羊栈岭组中段作为一次完整的海侵-海退序列中的一部分可以代表整个上溪群形成的构造背景。