Present-day Block Movement and Fault Activity on the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

The geology and tectonics in the eastern margin of Tibetan Plateau are complex. The main tectonic framework is composed of blocks and faults. Using discontinuous global positioning system survey data for 2008–2014, the velocity field for the Eurasia reference framework was obtained. Based on the velocity field, the present-day velocities of the blocks and boundary faults were estimated. The results reveal that the movement rates of the Chuan-Qing, South China, Chuan-Dian and Indo-China blocks are(17.02±0.60) mm/a,(8.77±1.51) mm/a,(13.85±1.31) mm/a and(6.84 ± 0.74) mm/a, respectively, and their movement directions are 99.5°, 120.3°, 142.9° and 153.3°, respectively. All blocks exhibit clockwise rotation. The displacement rates of the Xianshuihe, Longmenshan, Anninghe, Zemuhe, Xiaojiang and Red River faults are(7.30±1.25–8.30±1.26) mm/a,(10.07±0.97–11.79±0.89) mm/a,(0.96±0.74–2.98±1.73) mm/a,(2.03±0.49–3.20±0.73) mm/a,(3.45±0.40–6.02±0.50) mm/a and(6.23±0.56) mm/a, respectively. The Xianshuihe, Anninghe, Zemuhe and Xiaojiang faults show leftlateral strike-slip movement, while the Longmenshan and Red River faults show right-lateral strikeslip. These characteristics of the blocks and faults are related to the particular tectonic location and dynamic mechanism.     

贺兰山及周边地区加里东运动研究

基于对贺兰山及周边地区下古生界详细的野外地质调查,通过碎屑锆石年龄谱的物源分析、地层接触关系追踪、岩性岩相突变特征分析、残留地层分布、古生物组合及亲缘性分析,讨论了阿拉善地块与华北地块和中祁连地块的亲缘关系,探讨了研究区加里东运动的幕次,认为早古生代阿拉善地块和华北地块相互独立,俯冲造山特征建造不清晰,两者之间可能为转换型陆缘。阿拉善地块和中祁连地块之间的加里东运动幕次清晰。加里东运动一幕发生在中-晚寒武世,香山群深水复理石沉积和张夏组浅水碳酸盐台地相沉积呈拼合式接触,生物组合为亲华北-亲祁连混合型,彼时中祁连地块从Rodinia大陆裂离,逐步靠近阿拉善地块;加里东运动二幕发生在早-中奥陶世,下奥陶统碳酸盐岩在全区稳定分布,与下伏香山群不整合接触,与阿不且亥组整合接触,生物相统一,生物组合为华北型,中祁连地块-阿拉善地块-华北地块平和成为一个统一的块体,整体为浅水台地沉积环境;加里东运动三幕发生在奥陶纪末,中-上奥陶统与泥盆系角度不整合接触,商丹洋闭合,扬子地块与阿拉善地块和华北地块靠近,商丹缝合带南部的宽坪洋打开,导致研究区中、晚奥陶世亲华北-亲扬子混合型生物组合类型。     

Why GPS makes distances bigger than they are

Global navigation satellite systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) is one of the most important sensors for movement analysis. GPS is widely used to record the trajectories of vehicles, animals and human beings. However, all GPS movement data are affected by both measurement and interpolation errors. In this article we show that measurement error causes a systematic bias in distances recorded with a GPS; the distance between two points recorded with a GPS is – on average – bigger than the true distance between these points. This systematic ‘overestimation of distance’ becomes relevant if the influence of interpolation error can be neglected, which in practice is the case for movement sampled at high frequencies. We provide a mathematical explanation of this phenomenon and illustrate that it functionally depends on the autocorrelation of GPS measurement error (C). We argue that C can be interpreted as a quality measure for movement data recorded with a GPS. If there is a strong autocorrelation between any two consecutive position estimates, they have very similar error. This error cancels out when average speed, distance or direction is calculated along the trajectory. Based on our theoretical findings we introduce a novel approach to determine C in real-world GPS movement data sampled at high frequencies. We apply our approach to pedestrian trajectories and car trajectories. We found that the measurement error in the data was strongly spatially and temporally autocorrelated and give a quality estimate of the data. Most importantly, our findings are not limited to GPS alone. The systematic bias and its implications are bound to occur in any movement data collected with absolute positioning if interpolation error can be neglected.     

Influence of prey abundance and abiotic factors on the long-term home-range and movement dynamics of spotted grunter Pomadasys commersonnii in an intermittently open estuary

Long-term home-range and movement dynamics of spotted grunter Pomadasys commersonnii and the distribution of their dominant prey, the sandprawn Callichirus kraussi, were investigated in the intermittently open East Kleinemonde Estuary, South Africa. In addition, the effects of fish length, diel cycle, season and other abiotic factors on home range and area use were examined. Nine adult spotted grunter (326–489?mm total length) were tagged with acoustic transmitters, and their movements were studied by manual tracking on six consecutive days and nights during each of five tracking sessions from March to November 2004. In addition, movement patterns were recorded by stationary data-logging receivers. Kernel home ranges (95% utilised distribution) varied in size (mean: 76 797?m²?, range: 26 296–165 321?m²), but were all located in the lower one-third of the 3.6 km-long estuary. There was no effect of season, the diel cycle or fish length on the home-range estimates. However, the distribution of prey corresponded with the home-range distribution of tagged fish. Although sandprawn distribution was highly variable within and among transects and depth classes, sandprawns were most abundant in the lower region of the estuary, which corresponded to the home-range distribution of spotted grunter. Spatial distribution of prey appears to be a dominant factor influencing home-range parameters of this species within an intermittently open estuary.     

Discussion on the dextral movement and its effect in continental China and adjacent areas since Cenozoic

Continental China has moved dextral Eastward since Cenozoic time, driven by the collision of the Indian with the Eurasian plate. Evidence for this comes from landscape evolution, the distribution of earthquake epicenters, Cenozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks, and the measurement of GPS velocity vectors, the distribution of crustal stress, paleomagnetic data, and deep mantle structure, among others. This movement commenced around 40 Ma, coupled with thickened lithosphere and widespread stress release along strike-slip faults that bound the continental Chinese block. Because of continued Northward subduction of the Indian plate, manifestation of the dextral movement has intensified since 25 Ma. Far-reaching effects include extensive strike-slip movement on the Tan-Lu fault in Eastern China, formation of the Dabie ultrahigh pressure metamorphic terrane, extensive thrust faults in East China, delamination and thickening of the lithosphere of South China, a possible tectonic doubling of the Middle-Lower Yangtze Valley metallogenic belt, and the formation of the Japan, Huanghai (East China), and South China Sea.     

Design principles for origin-destination flow maps

Origin-destination flow maps are often difficult to read due to overlapping flows. Cartographers have developed design principles in manual cartography for origin-destination flow maps to reduce overlaps and increase readability. These design principles are identified and documented using a quantitative content analysis of 97 geographic origin-destination flow maps without branching or merging flows. The effectiveness of selected design principles is verified in a user study with 215 participants. Findings show that (a) curved flows are more effective than straight flows, (b) arrows indicate direction more effectively than tapered line widths, and (c) flows between nodes are more effective than flows between areas. These findings, combined with results from user studies in graph drawing, conclude that effective and efficient origin-destination flow maps should be designed according to the following design principles: overlaps between flows are minimized; symmetric flows are preferred to asymmetric flows; longer flows are curved more than shorter or peripheral flows; acute angles between crossing flows are avoided; sharp bends in flow lines are avoided; flows do not pass under unconnected nodes; flows are radially distributed around nodes; flow direction is indicated with arrowheads; and flow width is scaled with represented quantity.     

Single Zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb Dating of the Guandimiao and Wawutang Granitic Plutons in Hunan, South China and Its Petrogenetic Significance

1 Introduction The South China Block (SCB), located between the Qinling-Dabie and Songma Indosinian sutures, experienced successively two important tectonic movements during the Mesozoic, i.e. the Indosinian movement (early Mesozoic) and the Yanshanian movement (late Mesozoic). Therefore, the generally accepted viewpoint is that the key geological problems during the Mesozoic are essentially the dynamics and material expression of these two tectonic movements in South China (Chen et al.…     

海底光缆的地震影响分析

根据我国地震台网测定,北京时间2006年12月26日20时26分和34分,在南海海域发生7.2、6.7级地震。受强烈地震影响,多条国际海底通信光缆中断,造成附近国家和地区的国际和地区性通信受到严重影响。这次地震以前,海底光缆故障主要是由渔船造成,而地震的影响常常被忽视。本文在总结海底光缆3次震害经验的基础上,提出了地震影响海底光缆的主要因素以及海底光缆的抗震措施。     

基于GPS的青藏块体东北缘近期地壳水平运动与变形研究

以"中国地壳运动观测网络"工程1999-2001年GPS观测数据以及"大陆强震机理与预测"国家基础研究项目青藏块体东北缘GPS网1999,2001,2003年的观测资料为基础,应用GAM IT/GLOBK软件对数据进行精密解算,获得了青藏块体东北缘1999-2001年相对于鼎新基准站以及欧亚板块的水平运动速度场。结合板块构造以及大地动力学理论,对青藏块体进行了块体的划分,分析了块体间的相互作用,并进一步分析了该地区的地壳水平运动特征,得出了以下结论:(1)GPS技术用于地壳运动的监测是可行的;(2)1999-2001年期间,祁连-海原断裂带GPS运动位移与地质结果十分吻合;(3)印度板块与欧亚板块的碰撞以碰撞后印度大陆继续以50 mm/a的速度向北推进是青藏块体东北缘的运动动力;(4)甘青块体西部子块体以北东向挤压运动为主;东部子块体主要表现为以海原断裂带为北边界的顺时针旋转为主;(5)鄂尔多斯块体存在逆时针旋转运动,其旋转速度在块体西南侧的六盘山断裂带一带最大,向北至块体西北部明显减小。     

Submarine canyons on the north of Chiwei Island:influenced by recent extension of the southern Okinawa Trough

Based on new multibeam bathymetric data and about 300 km long single seismic profiles, three topographic units were identified： the canyons, fractural valley and submarine terrace on the north of Chiwei Island where is a structural transition zone between the southern trough and the middle trough. The Chiwei Canyon and the North Chiwei Canyon are two of the largest canyons in the East China Sea （ECS） slope. Topographic features and architectures of them are described. The study shows that both of them are originated along faults. The evolution and spatial distribution of topographic units in the study area are controlled mainly by three groups of faults which were formed and reactive in the recent extensional phase of Okinawa Trough. The Chiwei Canyon was initia- ted during the middle Pleistocene and guided by F4 that is a N--S trending fault on the slope and F1, a large NW--SE trending fault on the trough. The pathway migration from the remnant channel to the present one of Chiwei Canyon is the result of uplift of tilted fault block that is coupled to the recent extension movements of the southern trough. The submarine terrace is detached from the ECS slope by the NEE -trending fault. The North Chiwei Canyon, developing during the late Pleistocene, is guided by FS, a N-S trending fault, diverted and blocked by the submarine terrace.