GEOLOGICAL MARKS OF A POSSIBLE EXTRATERRESTRIAL IMPACT EVENT ON THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN SINIAN/CAMBRIAN IN TIANMENSHAN IN WESTERN HUNAN

Geologic marks related to extraterrestrial impact events, such as impact split gravels, impact brecciate layers, impact dikes, microirghizites, microtektites, especially meteoritic residues, were discovered on the boundary between Sinian/Cambrian at Tianmenshan of Western Hunan, which may possibly demonstrate that an extraterrestrial impact event has ever occurred there on the S/C boundary.     

Matuyama-Brunhes reversal and Kamikatsura event on Maui: paleomagnetic directions, Ar/Ar ages and implications

Eighty-nine basaltic lava flows from the northwest wall of Haleakala caldera preserve a concatenated paleomagnetic record of portions of the Matuyama-Brunhes (M-B) reversal and the preceding Kamikatsura event as well as secular variation of the full-polarity reversed and normal geomagnetic field. They provide the most detailed volcanic record to date of the M-B transition. The 24 flows in the transition zone show for the first time transitional virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) that move from reverse to normal along the Americas, concluding with an oscillation in the Pacific Ocean to a cluster of VGPs east of New Zealand and back finally to stable polarity in the north polar region. All but one of the 16 Kamikatsura VGPs cluster in central South America. The full-polarity flows, with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages spanning a total of 680 kyr, pass a reversal test and give an average VGP insignificantly different from the rotation axis, with standard deviation consistent with that for other 0-5 Ma lava flows of similar latitude. Precise ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating consisting of 31 incremental heating experiments on 12 transitional flows yields weighted mean ages of 775.6±1.9 and 900.3±4.7 ka for the M-B and Kamikatsura transitional flows, respectively. This Matuyama-Brunhes age is ∼16 kyr younger than ages for M-B flows from the Canary Islands, Tahiti and Chile that were dated using exactly the same techniques and standards, suggesting that this polarity transition may have taken considerably longer to complete and been more complex than is generally believed for reversals.     

ENSO事件与鲁西北夏季降水的关系

应用近百年ENSO事件的研究成果和ENSO事件影响年的资料，统计分析近50年来ENSO事件与鲁西北夏季降水关系，为短期气候预测和汛期气象服务提供参考依据。     

2002年6月13日重庆区域大暴雨分析

通过对重庆西部“6 1 3”区域大暴雨的分析 ,发现此次天气过程是一次典型的高原涡与西南涡耦合 ,结合地面弱冷空气条件下产生的 ,同时对ECMWF和T2 1 3数值预报产品进行了简要的分析 ,发现ECMWF和T2 1 3的形势预报能力都比较好 ,但T2 1 3的部分物理量要素和降水量预报能力还有待提高。     

从安徽气候变化看2003年洪涝和高温的必然性

利用近 50年温度和降水资料研究了安徽夏季气候变化特征 ,解释了 2 0 0 3年夏季洪涝、高温等极端气候事件出现的必然性。研究结果表明 :(1 )近 50年来安徽夏季温度呈下降趋势 ,降水则呈增加趋势 ,两者变化是相协调的。目前夏季温度处于较低的气候基本态 ,降水处于高基本态。 (2 )无论是温度还是降水 ,其变率都在 2 0世纪80年代中后期开始上升 ,目前均处于高气候变率时期。降水的“两高”(高基本态和高气候变率 )结合决定了 2 0 0 3年夏季洪涝出现的必然性 ;温度的较低基本态决定了“凉夏”背景 ,但由于基本态的回升和变率的加大 ,仍会出现像 2 0 0 3年夏季的若干高温天气。 (3)最大熵谱估计表明 ,安徽夏季降水变化的主周期为 2 5年 ,反映了降水的准两年振荡特征     

Small inflation sources producing seismic and infrasonic pulses during the 2000 eruptions of Miyake-jima, Japan

During the 2000 activity of Miyake-jima volcano, Japan, we detected long period seismic signals with initial pulse widths of 1-2 s, accompanied by infrasonic pulses with almost the same pulse widths. The seismic signals were observed from 13 July 2000, a day before the second summit eruption. The occurrences of the seismic signals were intermittent with a gradual increase in their magnitudes and numbers building toward a significant explosive eruption on 18 August. After the eruption, the seismic and infrasonic events ceased. The results of a waveform inversion show that the initial motions were excited by an isotropic inflation source beneath the south edge of the caldera at a depth of 1.4 km. On the other hand, the sources of the infrasonic pulses were located in the summit caldera area. The times at which the infrasonic pulses were emitted at the surface were delayed by about 3 s from the origin times of the seismic events. It is suggested that small isotropic inflations excited seismic waves in the crust and simultaneously caused acoustic waves that traveled in the conduit and produced infrasonic pulses at the crater bottom. Considering the observed time differences and gas temperatures emitted from the vent, the conduit should have been filled with vapor mixed with SO₂ gas and volcanic ash. The change of the time differences between the seismic and infrasonic signals suggests that the seismic source became shallower within half a day before the August 18 explosive eruption. We interpret the source process as a fragmentation process of magma in which gas bubbles burst and quickly released part of the pressure that had been sustained by the tensional strength of magma.     

Normal faulting as a control on the stratigraphic development of shallow marine syn-rift sequences: the Nukhul and Lower Rudeis Formations, Hammam Faraun fault block, Suez Rift, Egypt

Tectono-stratigraphic analysis of the East Tanka fault zone (ETFZ), Suez Rift, indicates that the evolution of normal fault segments was an important control on syn-rift depositional patterns and sequence stratigraphy. Sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis of the Nukhul Formation indicates that it was deposited in a narrow (ca 1–2 km), elongate (ca 5 km), fault-bounded, tidally influenced embayment during the low subsidence rift-initiation phase. The Nukhul Formation is composed of transgressive (TST) and highstand (HST) systems tract couplets interpreted as reflecting fault-driven subsidence and the continuous creation of accommodation in the hangingwall to the ETFZ. The overlying Lower Rudeis Formation was deposited during the high subsidence rift-climax phase, and is composed of forced regressive systems tract (FRST) shallow marine sandbodies, and TST to HST offshore mudstones. Activity on the ETFZ led to marked spatial variability in stratal stacking patterns, systems tracts and key stratal surfaces, as footwall uplift, coupled with regressive marine erosion during deposition of FRST sandbodies, led to the removal of intervening TST–HST mudstone-dominated units, and the amalgamation of FRST sandbodies and the stratal surfaces bounding these units in the footwall. This study indicates that the evolution of normal fault segments over relatively short (i.e. <1 km) length-scales has the potential to enhance or suppress a eustatic sea-level signal, leading to marked spatial variations in stratal stacking patterns, systems tracts and key stratal surfaces. Crucially, these variations in sequence stratigraphic evolution may occur within time-equivalent stratal units, thus caution must be exercised when attempting to correlate syn-rift depositional units based solely on stratal stacking patterns. Furthermore, local, tectonically controlled variations in relative sea level can give rise to syn-rift stacking patterns which are counterintuitive in the context of the structural setting and perceived regional subsidence rates.     

3D and 4D controls on carbonate depositional systems: sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic analysis of an attached carbonate platform and atoll (Miocene, Níjar Basin, SE Spain)

This study investigates the controls on three-dimensional stratigraphic geometries and facies of shallow-water carbonate depositional sequences. A 15 km² area of well-exposed Mid to Late Miocene carbonates on the margin of the Níjar Basin of SE Spain was mapped in detail. An attached carbonate platform and atoll developed from a steeply sloping basin margin over a basal topographic unconformity and an offshore dacite dome (Late Miocene). The older strata comprise prograding bioclastic (mollusc and coralline algae) dominated sediments and later Messinian Porites reefs form prograding and downstepping geometries (falling stage systems tract). Seven depositional sequences, their systems tracts and facies have been mapped and dated (using Sr isotopes) to define their morphology, stratigraphic geometries, and palaeo-environments. A relative sea-level curve and isochore maps were constructed for the three Messinian depositional sequences that precede the late Messinian evaporative drawdown of the Mediterranean. The main 3D controls on these depositional sequences are interpreted as being: (i) local, tectonically driven relative sea-level changes; (ii) the morphology of the underlying sequence boundary; (iii) the type of carbonate producers [bioclastic coralline algal and mollusc-dominated sequences accumulated in lows and on slopes of < 14° whereas the Porites reef-dominated sequence accumulated on steep slopes (up to 25°) and shallow-water highs]. Further controls were: (iv) the inherited palaeo-valleys and point-sourced clastics; (v) the amount of clastic sediments; and (vi) erosion during the following sequence boundary development. The stratigraphy is compared with that of adjacent Miocene basins in the western Mediterranean to differentiate local (tectonics, clastic supply, erosion history, carbonate-producing communities) versus regional (climatic, tectonic, palaeogeographic, sea-level) controls.     

Chemical Profiles across a Jurassic Stratiform Manganese Deposit at Katsuyama in the Mino Terrane of Central Japan: Implications for Depositional Environment, Diagenetic Metal Redistribution and Paleoceanography

Abstract. Inorganic chemical compositions are determined for a series of rocks crossing an Early Jurassic stratiform manganese ore deposit in a chert‐dominant sequence at Katsuyama, in the Mino Terrane of central Japan. The lithology in the vicinity of the manganese ore bed is classified into lower bedded chert, black shale, massive chert, manganese ore and upper bedded chert, in ascending order. The rocks surrounding the manganese deposit are anomalously high in certain elements: Pb (max. 29 ppm), Ni (1140) and Co (336) in the lower bedded chert, Mo (438), As (149), Tl (29) and U (12) in the black shales, V (210) and Cr (87) in the massive chert, and MnO and W (24) in the manganese ore. The aluminum‐normalized profiles reveal a distinct zonation of redox‐sensitive elements: Pb‐Zn, Ni‐Co‐Cu(‐Zn) and U‐Cr in the lower bedded chert, Mo‐As‐Tl in the black shale, V(‐Cr) in the massive chert, and Mn‐Fe‐Ba‐W in the manganese ore, in ascending order. The lower and upper bedded cherts and manganese ore generally exhibit flat rare earth element patterns with positive Ce anomalies, whereas the uppermost part of the lower bedded chert, the black shale and massive chert have flat patterns with weak or nonexistent negative Ce anomalies and weak positive Eu anomalies. The strong enrichment in Ni, Co, W, Tl and As detected in the Katsuyama section is not recognized in other sediments, including those of anoxic deposition origin, but is identified in modern ferromanganese nodules, suggesting that metal enrichment in the Katsuyama section is essentially due to the formation of ferromanganese nodules rather than to deposition in an anoxic environment. The observed elemental zonation is well explained by equilibrium calculations, reflecting early diagenetic formation and associated gradual reduction with depth. The concentration profiles in combination with litho‐ and biostratigraphical features suggest that formation of these bedded manganese deposits was triggered by an influx of warm, saline and oxic water into a stagnant deep ocean floor basin in Panthalassa at the end of the middle Early Jurassic. Paleoceanographic environmental controls thus appear to be important factors in the formation and preservation of this type of stratiform manganese deposit.