Seismotectonics of the 2008 and 2009 Qaidam Earthquakes and its Implication for Regional Tectonics

Three magnitude >6 earthquakes struck Qaidam, Qinghai province, China, in November 10th 2008, August 28th and 31st 2009 respectively. The Zongwulongshan fault has often been designated as the active seismogenic structure, although it is at odd with the data. Our continuous GPS station (CGPS), the Xiao Qaidam station, located in the north of the Qaidam basin, is less than 30 km to the southwest of the 2008 earthquake. This CGPS station recorded the near field co-seismic deformation. Here we analyzed the co-seismic dislocation based on the GPS time series and the rupture processes from focal mechanism for the three earthquakes. The aftershocks were relocated to constrain the spatial characteristics of the 2008 and 2009 Qaidam earthquakes. Field geological and geomorphological investigation and interpretation of satellite images show that the Xitieshan fault and Zongwulongshan fault were activated as left lateral thrust during the late Quaternary. Evidence of folding can also be identified. Integrated analyses based on our data and the regional tectonic environment show that the Xitieshan fault is the fault responsible for the 2008 Qaidam earthquake, which is a low dip angle thrust with left lateral strike slip. The Zongwulongshan fault is the seismogenic fault of the 2009 earthquakes, which is a south dipping back thrust of the northern marginal thrust system of the Qaidam basin. Folding takes a significant part of the deformation in the northern marginal thrust system of the Qaidam basin, dominating the contemporary structure style of the northern margin of the Qaidam basin and Qilianshan tectonic system. In this region, this fault and fold system dominates the earthquake activities with frequent small magnitude earthquakes.     

Oldest zircon xenocryst (4.17 Ga) from the North China Craton

Prior to this work, the existence of crustal materials older than 4.0 Ga has not been reported from the North China Craton (NCC) – one of the few global terrains where crustal rocks from ～3.8 Ga have been identified. Here we report the first occurrence of a xenocrystic zircon with a ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age of 4174 ± 48 Ma, from the Anshan–Benxi Archaean supracrustal greenstone belt, based on laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. The 4.17 Ga zircon xenocryst is hosted within ～2523 ± 12 Ma massive fine-grained amphibolites which were subsequently metamorphosed at ～2481 ± 19 Ma. The xenocryst age is ca. 350 million years, older than the oldest zircon previously identified in the NCC, and is consistent with prior zircon Lu–Hf isotopic studies. Documentation of 4.17 Ga xenocrystal zircon not only provided a geochronological record of the oldest known crustal materials in the NCC, but also identified the geologic environment for further search for the rocks that formed during Earth’s earliest recorded evolution.     

Palaeomagnetism of late Cretaceous sediments from southern Tibet: Evidence for the consistent palaeolatitudes of the southern margin of Eurasia prior to the collision with India

Twenty sites were drilled in the late Cretaceous Shexing Formation for palaeomagnetic studies in the Lhasa terrane near the locality of Maxiang (29.9°N/90.7°E). The stepwise thermal demagnetizations successfully isolated high unblocking temperature characteristic directions. The tilt-corrected mean direction is D/I = 350.8°/32.1° with α₉₅ = 8.1° and N = 20 sites, corresponding to a paleopole at 75.0°N, 306.7°E with A₉₅ = 6.8°. Positive fold tests indicate a primary origin for the characteristic remanence. Based on previous Cretaceous data mainly from the Takena Formation and Paleocene data from the Linzizong volcanic rocks near the city of Lhasa, the latitude of the southern margin of Asia is located at about 15°N, and yields a stable position of the Lhasa terrane during Cretaceous and Paleocene. Compared with expected paleomagnetic directions from the stable India and Eurasia blocks, the collision palaeolatitude further implies the total latitudinal convergence was accommodated by 1700 ± 800 km (16.2 ± 7.6°) between southern Tibet and stable Eurasia and 1500 ± 830 km (14.4 ± 7.9°) between southern Tibet and stable India since the collision of India and Eurasia. A collision age between c. 54 and 47 Ma was determined using the results for the southern margin of Eurasia according to our new data and the extent of ‘Greater India’.     

Interpretation of gravity profiles across the northern Oaxaca terrane,its boundaries and the Tehuacán Valley,southern Mexico

A gravity study was conducted across the northern Oaxaca terrane and its bounding faults: the Caltepec and Oaxaca Faults to the west and east, respectively. These faults juxtapose the Oaxaca terrane against the Mixteca and Juarez terranes, respectively. The Oaxaca Fault also forms the eastern boundary of the Cenozoic Tehuacán depression. On the west, at depth, the Tehuacán valley is limited by the normal buried Tehuacán Fault. This gravity study reveals that the Oaxaca Fault system gives rise to a series of east tilted basamental blocks (Oaxaca Complex). The tectonic depression is filled with Phanerozoic rocks and has a deeper depocenter to the west. The gravity data also indicate that on the west, the Oaxaca Complex, the Caltepec and Santa Lucia faults continue northwestwards beneath Phanerozoic rocks. A major E–W to NE–SW discontinuity is inferred to exist between profiles 1 and 2.     

Redefinition and Formation Age of the Tanjianshan Group in Xitieshan Region,Qinghai

The Tanjianshan Group, which was previously divided into a, b, c and d formations, has been controversial for a long time. It mainly distributes in the northern margin of Qaidam Basin and is an important early Paleozoic greenschist facies metamorphic volcanic sedimentary rock formation. Detailed field investigation and zircon LA-ICPMS U-Pb dating of the key strata suggest that the original lower part of a Formation(a-1) versus the original middle upper of d Formation(d-3 and d-4), the original upper part of a Formation(a-2) and b Formation versus the original lower part of d Formation(d-1 and d-2) of Tanjianshan Group are contemporaneous heterotopic facies volcanicclasolite deposit, respectively. The former formations formed during the middle-late Ordovician(463–458 Ma), while the latter ones formed in the late Ordovician(about 445 Ma). The original c formation of Tanjianshan Group, which formed after 430 Ma, is similar to the Maoniushan Formation of Kunlun Mountains and north Qaidam Basin. According to the rules of stratigraphic division and naming, new stratum formations of Tanjianshan Group are re-built and divided into Duancenggou(O1-2td), Zhongjiangou(O2-3tz) and Xitieshan(O3tx) formations. The original c Formation is separated from Tanjianshan Group and is renamed as the Wuminggou Formation(S3-D1w), which shows a discordant contact with underlying Tanjianshan Group and overlying Amunike Formation(D3a). The zircon U-Pb age frequency spectrogram of Tanjianshan Group indicates three prominent peaks of 430 Ma, 460 Ma and 908 Ma, which is consistent with the metamorphic and magmatic crystallization ages obtained from para- and orthogneisses in north Qaidam HP-UHP metamorphic belt, implying that strong Caledonian and Jinningian tectonic and magmatic events have ever happened in North Qaidam.     

Zedong terrane revisited: An intra-oceanic arc within Neo-Tethys or a part of the Asian active continental margin?

Precise timing of the India-Asia collision is important to constrain the evolution history of both the Himalayan orogen and the Tibetan Plateau. It has been proposed that the Indian plate first collided with an intra-oceanic arc at ∼55 Ma, and then the composite terrane collided with the Asian continent at ∼35 Ma. The Zedong terrane has been suggested to represent the vestige of such an intra-oceanic arc developed within the Neo-Tethys Ocean, as some volcanic rocks with high K₂O have been classified as shoshonites. In this study, we present detailed geochemical and geochronological data of various types of magmatic rocks (including volcanic, cumulate and granitic rocks) widely exposed in the Zedong terrane to constrain the formation age and tectonic setting of the Zedong terrane. We found that the Zedong volcanic rocks belong to calc-alkaline series rather than shoshonites and high K₂O contents in some volcanic rocks resulted from alteration. The basalts are highly enriched in LREE and LILE, but strongly depleted in HFSE, indicating they were derived from a metasomatized mantle. Presence of hornblende phenocryst in both gabbros and hornblendites indicates that the cumulates were produced from hydrous basalts through crystallization. The granitic rocks have adakite-like compositional characteristics, i.e., high Sr/Y ratios but low Y contents, which were formed by melting of a thickened lower crust. Zircons from six samples, including a volcanic rock (an andesite), three cumulates (a hornblendites, a hornblende-bearing gabbro and a gabbro) and two granitic (a tonalite and a granodiorite) rocks, have been dated to yield identical ages of ∼155–160 Ma. This suggests that the volcanic eruption and plutonic emplacement were coevally developed in the Zedong terrane. Zircons from both the andesite and the cumulates have similar positive ε_Hf(t) values (∼+11.6 to +16.7), indicating they were stemmed from similarly depleted mantle sources. Meanwhile, zircons from the granitic rocks also have positive ε_Hf(t) values of ∼+12.6 to +15.2, implying their derivation from a juvenile lower crust. Therefore, we proposed that the basalts in the Zedong terrane were formed through partial melting of the mantle wedge metasomatized by slab-released fluids/melts. A part of hydrous basalts were underplated in the thickened lower crust beneath the Zedong terrane, which gave rise to the cumulate and granitic rocks. By comparison, magmatic rocks in the Zedong terrane show compositional similarities with the Jurassic rocks exposed in the Gangdese arc. This suggests that the Zedong terrane represents a slice of the active continental margin developed on the southern margin of the Lhasa terrane as a result of the northward subduction of the Neo-Tethys Ocean during the Late Jurassic, rather than the vestige of an intra-oceanic arc.     

是岩浆侵入还是构造侵位?——湖北两郧随枣镁铁岩带野外调查纪实

湖北省武当山—随州—枣阳一线存在一呈北西西走向的镁铁质岩浆岩带,长约390km,宽40～100km。其中超镁铁质岩14处,超镁铁质、镁铁质杂岩21处,镁铁质岩250处,出露面积689km2。自上世纪开展1∶20万区调工作迄今,已出版的成果资料一致认为,这些岩体是镁铁质岩浆沿深大断裂侵入而成。笔者等于2005年随机选择了丹江口和随州境内两条地质调查路线,在实地详细观察了35个大小不一的岩体,证实该岩浆岩带的岩体都不是镁铁质岩浆就地侵入形成,而是众多外来的镁铁质岩块与武当山群和随县群浅变质浊积岩共同构成的混杂岩带。这一论断的具体根据为:邻接岩块的围岩普遍不存在热变质;围岩的纹理、层理及韵律层理均有完好保留;岩块边部并无冷凝边及结晶变细现象;岩块内部的相带及条带状构造与岩块的外形无关,并可常见造岩矿物之结晶条带被接触界面斜截;岩块中穿插有不规则状石英脉体及斜长花岗岩脉,但二者从不侵入围岩,这表明,岩块形成时代早于围岩;一些大、中型岩体都不是单一侵入体,而是许多中、小型岩块的集合体;在岩块内部从来未见到围岩捕虏体。从岩块的岩石化学分析结果看出,调查区内的镁铁质岩均属拉斑玄武岩系列,相当于蛇绿岩套中的堆积杂岩,是古洋脊或边缘海盆扩张脊的产物。据此可以断定,此混杂岩带所在的武当山—大悟山地体,具有增生楔的属性。     

巴基斯坦西北喜马拉雅构造结科希斯坦—拉达克地体Pb同位素组成特征及其示踪意义

作为西北喜马拉雅构造结的重要组成部分,科希斯坦-拉达克地体的Pb同位素组成具有混合Pb的特征.笔者在前人研究的基础上重新分析了Pb同位素组成特征,并计算了H-H单阶段演化模式年龄,以及μ、ω、Th/U、Δβ、Δγ值等重要参数.分析表明,Pb主要来源于壳幔混合物质,但也混入了部分亚洲大陆地壳物质,其类型相当于受岩浆控制的俯冲带Pb同位素组成.通过研究,发现Pb同位素比值具有DUPAL异常特征,推测异常Pb可能来源于亚洲大陆边缘,这可作为研究本区岩浆作用及演化的重要基础资料.     

青藏高原拉萨地体南部林芝岩群的物质来源与形成年代：岩石学与锆石U-Pb年代学

本文对位于青藏高原拉萨地体东南部林芝岩群中的变质岩进行了岩石学和年代学研究。研究表明,林芝岩群由角闪岩相的变质沉积岩和正片麻岩组成。变质沉积岩主要为含石榴石白云斜长角闪片岩、含石榴石云母石英片岩、含石榴石黑云钾长片麻岩、大理岩和石英岩等,代表性矿物组合包括石榴石+斜长石+角闪石+石英+黑云母+白云母,或石榴石+斜长石+钾长石+石英+夕线石+黑云母+白云母。花岗质片麻岩（含二云母片麻岩）的矿物组合是石英+斜长石+钾长石+黑云母+白云母。锆石U-Pb年代学分析表明,变质沉积岩中的碎屑锆石主要为岩浆成因,获得了2708~63Ma的²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U年龄范围,在~1100Ma和~550Ma出现两个年代峰值。碎屑锆石的变质增生边给出了35Ma的变质年龄。正片麻岩获得了496Ma的锆石结晶年龄和1158Ma的继承年龄。基于上述研究结果、区域对比和相邻变质岩石中获得的多期变质年龄,我们认为林芝岩群的原岩很可能形成在早古生代,其沉积物质主要来源于印度陆块,与特提斯喜马拉雅早古生代的岩石一起同为印度大陆北缘的沉积盖层,在环冈瓦纳大陆周缘造山过程中被寒武纪花岗岩侵入。在新特提斯洋向北的俯冲过程中,林芝岩群经历了晚中生代的安第斯型造山作用,在印度与欧亚大陆的俯冲-碰撞过程中,林芝岩群部分地经历了新生代的变质和岩浆作用再造。本研究证明,林芝岩群并不是传统上认为的拉萨地体的前寒武纪变质基底,其角闪岩相至麻粒岩相变质作用发生在中、新生代。     

川西老君沟和孟通沟花岗岩的地球化学特征、成因机制及对松潘-甘孜地体基底性质的制约

老君沟岩体和孟通沟岩体是位于松潘-甘孜地体东部的中生代花岗岩,为碰撞过程中岩浆作用的产物,包含有地壳基底性质的重要信息.两岩体具有中等至较高的SiO2含量（63.9～75.0 wt%）,具有准铝质和轻微过铝质（ACNK=0.86～1.08）特征,属于中钾到高钾钙碱性系列.其中,老君沟岩体富Al2O3（14.2～16.0 wt%）、K2O（2.88～4.36 wt%）,贫MgO（0.38～1.98 wt%）,并具有高Sr（307～697 ppm）低Y（12.2～21.0ppm）特征以及中等至较高的稀土分馏（（La/Yb）N＞10）,这些特征非常类似于下地壳熔融形成的埃达克岩.孟通沟岩体的主微量元素特征类似于老君沟岩体,但具有相对低的Sr（110～397 ppm）、稍高的Y（12.2～21.0 ppm）和明显较低的Sr/Y比值（5～32）.两岩体均具有地壳特征的Nd-Sr同位素组成（εNd（T）=-6.02～-3.11;ISr=0.7053～0.7075）,排除了直接来自地幔岩浆的可能性,表明其可能来自于石榴石稳定区地壳物质的部分熔融.两岩体富含Rb（106～202 ppm）、Cs（3.79-25.6 ppm）而K2O/Na2O（0.56～1.12）比值较高,显示其可能来自黑云母的脱水熔融.由于黑云母的脱水熔融温度较高而剪切生热所能达致的温度较低,同造山的滑脱构造难以导致上述两个岩体的形成,地幔岩浆的底侵作用可能是导致下地壳物质部分熔融的主要原因.两岩体的源区成分和Nd模式年龄（TDM（Ⅱ）：1.23～1.44 Ga）均反映松潘-甘孜地体具有类似于扬子板块的中元古陆壳基底.