Upper mantle structure of the South American continent and neighboring oceans from surface wave tomography

We present a new three-dimensional SV-wave velocity model for the upper mantle beneath South America and the surrounding oceans, built from the waveform inversion of 5850 Rayleigh wave seismograms. The dense path coverage and the use of higher modes to supplement the fundamental mode of surface waves allow us to constrain seismic heterogeneities with horizontal wavelengths of a few hundred kilometres in the uppermost 400 km of the mantle.The large scale features of our tomographic model confirm previous results from global and regional tomographic studies (e.g. the depth extent of the high velocity cratonic roots down to about 200–250 km).Several new features are highlighted in our model. Down to 100 km depth, the high velocity lid beneath the Amazonian craton is separated in two parts associated with the Guyana and Guapore shields, suggesting that the rifting episode responsible for the formation of the Amazon basin has involved a significant part of the lithosphere. Along the Andean subduction belt, the structure of the high velocity anomaly associated with the sudbduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate reflects the along-strike variation in dip of the subducting plate. Slow velocities are observed down to about 100 km and 150 km at the intersection of the Carnegie and Chile ridges with the continent and are likely to represent the thermal anomalies associated with the subducted ridges. These lowered velocities might correspond to zones of weakness in the subducted plate and may have led to the formation of “slab windows” developed through unzipping of the subducted ridges; these windows might accommodate a transfer of asthenospheric mantle from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean. From 150 to 250 km depth, the subducting Nazca plate is associated with high seismic velocities between 5°S and 37°S. We find high seismic velocities beneath the Paraná basin down to about 200 km depth, underlain by a low velocity anomaly in the depth range 200–400 km located beneath the Ponta Grossa arc at the southern tip of the basin. This high velocity anomaly is located southward of a narrow S-wave low velocity structure observed between 200 and 500–600 km depth in body wave studies, but irresolvable with our long period datasets. Both anomalies point to a model in which several, possibly diachronous, plumes have risen to the surface to generate the Paraná large igneous province (LIP).     

Deep Mechanical Background for the Cenozoic Volcanism in the Tibetan Plateau

INTRODUCTION Volcanoesaremostlyobservedinoceanicridges,hotspotsandcontinentalriftzones(Hongetal.,2003),andarerarelyobservedincontinentalinteri ors.However,sincethevolcanoeswithintheconti nentinteriorscannotbeattributedtotheplate/block marginprocess,theydr…     

PETROLOGY 1.IGNEOUS PETROLOGY

正20140707Bai Yunshan(Wuhan Center,China Geological Survey,Wuhan 430205,China);Duan Qifa Geological Characteristics and Tectonic Significance of Volcanic Rocks from Kenan Formation of the Upper Triassic in Zhahe Area,Southern Qinghai Province(Geology and Mineral Resources of South China,ISSN1007-3701,CN42-1417/P,29(2),     

华南壳幔结构与动力学的宽频地震观测研究

了解华南各岩石圈块体壳幔结构和各向异性方面的差异是揭示华南深部构造演化的基础。本文利用布设于华南的两条宽频地震测线观测数据,采用多种地震学方法对华南的地壳上地幔结构和各向异性进行了研究。接收函数结果表明,华南地区地壳厚度和岩石圈厚度都较薄,地壳厚度自东南沿海向西北内陆增厚,扬子克拉通的泊松比(波速比)低于华夏块体,表明扬子克拉通地壳较华夏块体更偏长英质。约北纬29°以北的扬子克拉通地幔转换带厚度明显增厚,可能是由地幔转换带底部停滞的冷的古太平洋板片或中生代克拉通碰撞残留造成的。层析成像结果显示华南上地幔具有很强的横向差异性,上地幔中的强烈低速异常体可能对应了晚中生代发生广泛岩浆作用时的岩浆房和岩浆通道。台湾下方的上地幔存在南北横向差异明显的高速异常,分别对应台湾南部向东俯冲的欧亚板块及台湾北部向北俯冲的菲律宾海板块。俯冲的欧亚板块在台湾南部是连续的,而在台湾中北部,由于与菲律宾海板块的相互作用,俯冲的欧亚板块被折断。剪切波分裂结果显示,以江绍断裂为界,华夏块体与扬子克拉通的岩石圈地幔各向异性存在明显的横向变化,表明两者的构造演化过程有显著差异。     

Geological development of Heard Island,Central Kerguelen Plateau

We report ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar laser step-heating age determinations on 15 stratigraphically controlled lava flows and intrusive rocks from Heard Island, Central Kerguelen Plateau (Indian Ocean). The island history began with uplift of pelagic limestone intruded by 22 Ma gabbro sills. Subaerial and wave erosion levelled the early island, producing an unconformity onto which pillow lavas, tuffaceous sediments and shallow-water, fossiliferous marine siltstone (Drygalski Formation) were deposited, beginning in late Miocene time. Two volcanic systems then formed in the late Quaternary. Big Ben dominates the larger southeast part of the island, while Mount Dixon occupies the northwest Laurens Peninsula. Feeder dykes and the early lava flows in both systems are 400–200 ka. Lava flows with evolved compositions (trachytes, trachyandesites) erupted 100–20 ka. Well-preserved parasitic cones exposed at low elevations are 15–10 ka and younger. Mawson Peak, near the summit of Big Ben, has erupted lava flows as recently as 2007. Heard Island, and nearby active McDonald Island, are subaerial features of a larger Neogene volcanic region of Central Kerguelen Plateau that includes several large sea knolls and recently identified submarine fields of small cones. This broadly distributed volcanic activity is linked to incubation of plume material at the base of the nearly stationary overlying Central Kerguelen Plateau.     

长江中下游庐枞火山岩盆地南侧钾质侵入岩带的成因

庐枞火山岩盆地南侧的钾质侵入岩带由正长岩-石英正长岩-正长花岗岩组成,以石英正长岩为主。它们的形成时间介于123"130 Ma之间,峰值约为126 Ma,其中正长岩和石英正长岩的形成时间稍早,而正长花岗岩的形成时间略晚。整个钾质侵入岩带的侵位时间晚于庐枞盆地内的橄榄玄粗质火山作用约4"7 Ma,也是长江中下游地区除最东段的宁镇地区外中生代最晚的岩浆活动产物之一。地球化学上,该钾质侵入岩带以高钾、富碱、富集Rb、Th、U、K等强不相容元素和轻稀土元素、亏损高场强元素Nb、Ta和Ti为特征。它们的母岩浆主要是由富集型上地幔部分熔融形成的,从正长岩经石英正长岩到正长花岗岩的演化主要受矿物的分离结晶作用控制,地壳物质同化所起的影响不大。但与同样来自富集型上地幔部分熔融的庐枞盆地内火山杂岩的母岩浆相比,前者的母岩浆来源深度可能更大些或其中包含了更多来自软流圈地幔的组分。两者的演化路径也完全不同,钾质侵入岩带的母岩浆除经历过高压下的分离结晶作用外,晚期在低压下还经历过长石为主,可能还有黑云母的分离结晶,甚至上地壳物质一定程度的混染作用;而盆地内火山杂岩的母岩浆低压下矿物的分离结晶作用及上地壳物质的混染都不明显。庐枞盆地南缘的富钾侵入岩与盆地内的火山杂岩一样,地球化学上都具有明显的大陆弧的特征,暗示它们的岩浆源区可能形成于俯冲带环境,意味着扬子地块北缘先前(推测为古元古代晚期)曾发生过俯冲作用,上地幔的交代富集可能就与这次的俯冲作用有关。