Large-scale mass wasting in ancient volcanic materials

Giant landslides are significant hazards associated with many active volcanic edifices. We describe a similar feature on ancient (>4 Ma) volcanic deposits subject to active tectonism. The landslide is approximately 3 km long by 1 km wide, with an estimated depth of 400 m. Side margins are straight and parallel, mimicking regional structure; narrow valleys incised down these margins provide low-strength side-release surfaces. Between these is a giant slump consisting of at least four, largely intact, discrete blocks that have moved down-dip a distance of >500 m. A series of flows with areal extents ranging from 0.01 to 0.5 km² extends from the front of the failure. The materials represent an eroded sequence of andesite flows on the flanks of a stratovolcano. These have undergone two phases of hydrothermal alteration, and are deeply weathered to low-density (1040±80 kg m⁻³) silt (59%) and clay (35%) materials with strength properties typical of weathered silts (c=26±3 kN m⁻²; φ=42±8°). The size and location of this landslide preclude detailed geotechnical investigation of the failure. The worth of numerical stability analysis as an alternative technique in assessing the nature of the failure and hence the risk it poses to nearby communities is investigated. Sensitivity analysis identified likely conditions under which initial failure may have occurred: analyses for sensitivity to strength and earthquake acceleration needed conversion to critical combinations (F=1.0) of water table and strength/acceleration to remove the overriding influence of water table fluctuations. Failure was likely initiated either by a high water table level (83-84%), or some combination of intensity VII-IX earthquake waves together with water table heights of 40-80%. A general hazard assessment indicates that the risk associated with creep and catastrophic failure of the main mass is small, whereas the risk from flow failures near the toe of the landslide may be high. Important parameters (hydrological regime, flow failure morphology, age of initiation, and rates of movement) requiring closer investigation are identified. Development of a model is crucial to assessing the hazard associated with a feature such as that described here. With limited resources, a detailed stability analysis is a powerful tool as an initial stage in hazard analysis.     

Sub-wavebase cross-bedded grainstones on a distally steepened carbonate ramp, Upper Miocene, Menorca, Spain

Cross‐bedded grainstones on carbonate ramps and shelves are commonly related to the locus of major wave energy absorption such as shorelines, shoals or shelf breaks. In contrast, on the Early Tortonian carbonate platform of Menorca (Balearic Islands), coarse‐grained, cross‐bedded grainstones are found at a distance from the palaeoshoreline where they were deposited below the wavebase. Excellent exposures along continuous outcrops on the sea cliffs of Menorca reveal the depositional profile and three‐dimensional distribution of the different facies belts of the Tortonian ramp depositional system. Basinward from the palaeoshoreline, fan deltas and beach deposits pass into 5‐km‐wide gently dipping bioturbated dolopackstone (inner and middle ramp), then into 12–20°‐dipping dolograinstone/rudstone clinobeds (ramp slope) and, finally, into subhorizontal fine‐grained basinal dolowackestone to dolopackstone (outer ramp). In this Miocene example, coarse‐grained grainstones exist in five different settings other than beach deposits: (1) on the middle ramp, where cross‐bedded grainstones were deposited by currents roughly parallel to the shoreline at 40–70 m estimated water depth and are interbedded with gently dipping bioturbated dolomitized packstones; (2) on the upper slope, where clinobeds are composed mostly of in situ rhodoliths and red‐algae fragments; (3) on the lower slope, as small‐scale bedforms (small three‐dimensional subaqueous dunes) migrating parallel to the slope; (4) at the transition between the lower slope and the outer ramp, where mollusc‐rich and rhodolithic rudstones and grainstones, interbedded in dolomitized laminated wackestones containing abundant planktonic foraminifera, infill slide/slump scars as upslope‐backstepping bodies (backsets); (5) at the toe of the slope, where coarse skeletal grainstones indicate bedform migration parallel to the platform margin, induced by currents at more than 150 m estimated water depth. This Late Miocene example also illustrates how changes in intrabasinal environmental conditions (nutrients and/or temperature) may produce changes in stratal patterns and facies architecture if they affect the biological system. Two depositional sequences compose the Miocene platform on Menorca, where a reef‐rimmed platform prograded onto an earlier distally steepened ramp. The transition from the ramp to the reef‐rimmed platform was effected by an increase in accommodation space caused by ecological changes, promoting a shift from a grain‐ to a framework‐producing biota.     

饱和岩石的各向异性及非线性黏弹性响应

在MTS伺服压机上对不同饱和状态的砂岩、大理岩标本进行了垂直层理和平行层理两个方向的正弦波加载试验,研究了饱和岩石的各向异性及非线性黏弹性行为. 在最大载荷低于岩石的屈服点时,获得的衰减、杨氏模量、泊松比、波速都表现出显著的各向异性,同时它们还具有较明显的应变振幅效应和频率效应. 随着应变振幅的增大,衰减近似呈线性增长,杨氏模量和泊松比近似呈线性下降. 在0.005-4Hz频段内除衰减不明显依赖频率以外,杨氏模量、泊松比、波速对频率的依赖性都较强; 当频段扩大到15Hz时,这4个参数都表现出较强的频率效应. 饱和岩石的衰减、杨氏模量、泊松比、波速均随饱和液体的黏滞系数增大而增大.     

岩石圈流变机制的确定及影响岩石圈流变强度的因素

讨论了确定岩石圈流变强度中存在的问题，根据Byerlee定律，给出了在Anderson断层系统下三种断层的摩擦滑动强度公式，利用小标本实验结果外推，用大标本实验结果作约束，得到岩石圈几种典型岩石的脆性破裂规律，利用上述结果和传统的方法，分别得到了鄂尔多斯和山西裂谷两个典型地区的流变强度随深度的变化。结果表明，以往的计算对岩石圈流变强度的估计过高，对脆性形变区估计不足，流变机制估计不对；岩石圈有力学分层的特性，但各地分层的深度范围不同，使得成层和力学作用变得复杂，讨论了水、应变率以及多相矿物对流变强度的影响。     

雄关漫道真如铁——论中国油气二次创业

半个多世纪以来，中国经历了油气资源的第一次创业，在祖国大陆和近海大陆架地区的新生代陆相碎屑岩沉积盆地中，发现了一批油气田，使原油年产量达1．67亿吨，位居世界第五，天然气疸这241亿立方米，居世界第十五位，成绩是巨大的，但是，1993年开始进口原油3000万吨，2000年进口原油7200万吨，严重影响国家经济建设，而且这种趋势还在不断发展，预测2010年将进口原油1亿吨，天然气200亿立方米，那么，中国油气资源的出路何在？作者指出，从中国大地构造演化来看，前新生代海相残留盆地还有巨大的油气潜力，尽管其勘探的难度是世界级的，但是，只要我们切实地依靠科学技术，进行油气资源的二次创业，困难上，在实践中克服困难，就可以发现更多的石油天然气，支持国家经济建设的持续发展。     

多矿物岩石流变规律的研究进展及存在问题

总结了近年来由多种矿物组成的岩石的流变规律的研究，阐述了多矿物岩石流变性质研究的意义和进展，再从实验和理论两个方面，详细论述了目前最具代表性的三种理论模型，算术平均方法、几何平均方法和能量极小方法，最后，指出这方面研究仍然存在的问题和进一步研究的方向。     

环渤海地区油气资源探查的思考

回顾过去渤海勘探实践的经验，对于指导今后的研究工作是十分重要的。40年来渤海地区发现大量新老第三纪陆相石油资源，成为中国的重要产油区，也积累了丰富的勘探经验。深化环渤海地区油气资源的探查，首先应考虑前新生代海相油气资源。但其勘探是高难度的，前景是诱人的。应该认真贯彻下列认识原则：（1）区域指导局部；（2）深部制约浅层；（3）在地震处理解释创新的同时，大力发展综合地质地球物理研究。     

东南极格罗夫山变基性岩初步研究

东南极格罗夫山存在一套经历了峰期麻粒岩相变质作用的镁铁质麻粒岩和斜长角闪岩。对含石榴石的镁铁质麻粒岩的详细研究则显示了近等温降压 (ITD)的顺时针PT演化轨迹 ,与拉斯曼丘陵有相似的演化历史。岩石的主量元素组成和玄武岩一致 ,并且具有拉斑玄武岩演化趋势。进一步的地球化学研究表明 ,这套玄武岩为洋岛型玄武岩 (OIB)和洋中脊型玄武岩(MORB)的组合。OIB型具有大体类似的地球化学性质 ,它们均富集Ti(TiO2 =2 .68% )、REE( =2 0 2 μg/g)、LREE[(La/Yb) N=4.8]、Ti/Y( =343)、Zr/Y( =3.1 ) ,具洋岛玄武岩的特征 ,推测岩浆来源于富集地幔源区 (EM)。而MORB型以低Ti (TiO2 =1 .1 %— 1 .31 % ) ,明显低于OIB的P的含量 (P2 O5=0 .1 %— 0 .2 % ) ,低REE ( 4 7— 93μg/g)、LREE/HREE( 2 .2 7— 2 .5 4 )、(La/Yb) N( =1 .30— 1 .62 )为特征 ,具洋中脊玄武岩的特征。MORB和OIB组合的出现说明在泛非期该区可能存在过洋盆。     

The interpretation of reaction textures in Fe‐rich metapelitic granulites of the Musgrave Block,central Australia: constraints from mineral equilibria calculations in the system K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3

Fe‐rich metapelitic granulites of the Musgrave Block, central Australia, contain several symplectic and coronal reaction textures that post‐date a peak S2 metamorphic assemblage involving garnet, sillimanite, spinel, ilmenite, K‐feldspar and quartz. The earliest reaction textures involve spinel‐ and quartz‐bearing symplectites that enclose garnet and to a lesser extent sillimanite. The symplectic spinel and quartz are in places separated by later garnet and/or sillimanite coronas. The metamorphic effects of a later, D3, event are restricted to zones of moderate to high strain where a metamorphic assemblage of garnet, sillimanite, K‐feldspar, magnetite, ilmenite, quartz and biotite is preserved. Quantitative mineral equilibria calculations in the system K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–TiO₂–Fe₂O₃ (KFMASHTO) using Thermocalc 3.0 and the accompanying internally consistent dataset provide important constraints on the influence of TiO₂ and Fe₂O₃ on biotite‐bearing and spinel‐bearing equilibria, respectively. Biotite‐bearing equilibria are shifted to higher temperatures and spinel‐bearing equilibria to higher pressures and lower temperatures in comparison to the equivalent equilibria in K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O (KFMASH). The sequence of reaction textures involving spinel is consistent with a D2 P–T path that involved a small amount of decompression followed predominantly by cooling within a single mineral assemblage stability field. Thus, the reaction textures reflect changes in modal proportions within an equilibrium assemblage rather than the crossing of a univariant reaction. The D3 metamorphic assemblage is consistent with lower temperatures than those inferred for D2.     

Proglacial Sediment—Landform Associations of a Polythermal Glacier: Storglaciären, Northern Sweden

Mapping and laboratory analysis of the sediment—landform associations in the proglacial area of polythermal Storglaciären, Tarfala, northern Sweden, reveal six distinct lithofacies. Sandy gravel, silty gravel, massive sand and silty sand are interpreted as glaciofluvial in origin. A variable, pervasively deformed to massive clast‐rich sandy diamicton is interpreted as the product of an actively deforming subglacial till layer. Massive block gravels, comprising two distinctive moraine ridges, reflect supraglacial sedimentation and ice‐marginal and subglacial reworking of heterogeneous proglacial sediments during the Little Ice Age and an earlier more extensive advance. Visual estimation of the relative abundance of these lithofacies suggests that the sandy gravel lithofacies is of the most volumetric importance, followed by the diamicton and block gravels. Sedimentological analysis suggests that the role of a deforming basal till layer has been the dominant factor controlling glacier flow throughout the Little Ice Age, punctuated by shorter (warmer and wetter climatic) periods where high water pressures may have played a more important role. These results contribute to the database that facilitates discrimination of past glacier thermal regimes and dynamics in areas that are no longer glacierized, as well as older glaciations in the geological record.