Geochemistry of the subduction-related magmatic rocks in the Dahong Mountains, northern Hubei Province——Constraint on the existence and subduction of the eastern Mianle oceanic basin

Being a composite collisional orogen between North China and South China blocks, the Qinling orogenic belt is the key to understand the composite combination, prolonged evolutionary history and their continental dynamics. The main suture between north and south Qinling, called Shangdan suture zone (SDSZ), had been studied in detail for about twenty years. Recently, another suture zone, called Mianl黣 suture zone (MLSZ), has been identified in the Qinling Mountains. It is characterized b…     

The Frozen Soils and Devastating Characteristics of West Kunlun Mountains Pass Ms 8.1 Earthquake Area in 2001

The investigation on damages to frozen soil sites during the West Kunlun Mountains Pass earthquake with Ms 8.1 in 2001 shows that the frozen soil in the seismic area is composed mainly of moraine, alluvial deposit, diluvial deposit and lacustrine deposit with the depth varying greatly along the earthquake rupture zone. The deformation and rupture of frozen soil sites are mainly in the form of coseismic fracture zones caused by tectonic motion and fissures,liquefaction, seismic subsidence and collapse resulting from ground motion. The earthquake fracture zones on the surface are main brittle deformations, which, under the effect of sinlstral strike-slip movement, are represented by shear fissures, tensional cracks and compressive bulges. The distribution and configuration patterns of deformation and rupture such as fissures, liquefaction, seismic subsidence and landslides are all related to the ambient rock and soil conditions of the earthquake area. The distribution of earthquake damage is characterized by large-scale rupture zones, rapid intensity attenuation along the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Highway, where buildings distribute and predominant effect of rock and soil conditions.     

Physicochemistry and Mineralogy of Storm Dust and Dust Sediment in Northern China

Dust sediments collected from 1995 to 1998 in Beijing, Dunhuang, Inner Mongolia, Kashi, the Kunlun Mountains, Lanzhou, Ningxia, the Taklimakan Desert, and Xi‘an, China, were characterized in terms of their physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties. Most aerosols and dust analysed ranged in texture from silty clay to clay loam. Their median particle diameters (Mds) generally ranged between 5 to 63μm,coinciding with those of loess from central China and the finest sand from northwestern China. The dust sediments were characterized by a predominance of SiO2 and Al2O3, followed by K2O. Their SiO2/Al2O3and K2O/SiO2 molar ratios ranged from 5.17 to 8.43 and from 0.009 to 0.0368, respectively. The mass concentration spectrum during a dust storm showed a single peak, rather than the triple peak generally observed under clear sky conditions. The dominant minerals were chlorite, illite, calcite, and dolomite.These physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties were consistent with those of aeolian soils and loess in western and central China. The results suggest that aerosols and fine-gained fractions of dust sediments collected in northern China are mainly composed of soil material transported from the arid and semiarid regions of China and Mongolia by prevailing winds. The rate of deposition and properties of dust falling on eastern China were strongly influenced by meteorological conditions, season, latitude, longitude, and altitude of the sampling sites.     

柴达木盆地北缘"沙柳河岩群"的重新启用

柴北缘变质基底岩系中的表壳岩包含了岩石组合、沉积建造、变质程度和地质时代不同的两套岩石组合。其中，分布在柴达木地块的沙柳河、鱼卡河等地的以大理岩、石英岩和含石榴石英片岩为主含榴辉岩透镜体的表壳岩系，时代限定在1．0～1．3Ga，与分布在欧龙布鲁克微陆块的全吉山、德令哈等地形成时代大约2.3～2.4Ga的达肯大坂岩群有着明显的不同，后者以斜长角闪岩、石榴石英片岩和黑云变粒岩为主，并具有较强的钾质混合岩化。由于前者岩石组合清楚，沉积建造特征明显，构造意义独特，且有一定的区域分布性和可比性，所以具备建立新的岩群的条件。根据定名优先的原则，决定重新启用沙柳河岩群。     

大别山南部宿松磷矿含磷地层的时代归属与变形特征及其构造评价

根据对大别山南部宿松磷矿含磷地层的区域分布、地层序列、时代归属、构造变形的系统研究,提出磷矿层属震旦系的新认识。含磷岩系经受了两次强烈的变形改造,原始层理经过了强烈改造,宿松磷矿构成总体包络面呈北西西走向、向南倾斜的褶皱化单斜。矿层的多层化、尖灭复合和加厚现象等主要受构造的控制,而非完全受古地形的控制。用褶皱的观点对原先勘探剖面中的磷矿体进行了重新圈连,籍以指导磷矿的调查、评价和开采。最后对磷矿分布的古地理特征进行了讨论,并从构造的观点对磷矿进行了评价。     

辽西医巫闾山地区中生代两期韧性变形的研究

医巫闾山地区的韧性剪切构造是中生代两期韧性变形作用的产物。早期韧性变形中a线理发育,线理走向和糜棱面理走向基本一致,线理在xy面上的侧伏角绝大多数<30°;该期韧性变形是以左行走滑运动为主。晚期韧性变形中a线理发育,线理倾伏向和糜棱岩中糜棱面理倾向相近,线理在xy面上侧伏角主要在45°～90°之间;该期韧性变形是伸展作用的产物。医巫闾山中生代两期韧性剪切变形作用表明,在侏罗纪至早白垩世期间辽西地区不仅发生了强烈挤压推覆作用和伸展作用,也发生了大规模左行走滑作用。该韧性变形作用的发现对进一步研究辽西中生代的构造演化序列、期次和构造格架转换等问题有重要意义。     

陕北砂黄土区公路地质灾害及防治对策

中国西北黄土的颗粒组成具有明显的地带性分布规律，自NW向SE可依次划分为砂黄土带、典型黄土带和粘黄土带。黄土高原北部地质灾害综合调查表明，砂黄土区公路地质灾害的主要类型包括黄土边坡滑塌灾害、路堤裂陷灾害、路桥变形和冲蚀灾害等。根据试验测试分析结果，公路地质灾害的形成主要受黄土本身的物质组成、结构及力学性质控制，人类工程活动的盲目性是诱发地质灾害的重要因素。文章在砂黄土公路地质灾害特征分析的基础上，提出加强边坡防护和冲蚀灾害防治是公路地质灾害防治的两个基本途径，并给出了针对性的防治对策。这不仅对该地区的公路建设具有重要的指导作用，而且对其它生命线工程如铁路、输油气管道、渠道等也具有重要的借鉴意义。     

A furrow runs through it: An example of sustainable traditional irrigation in Western Cape Province,South Africa

Water and water related matters are important issues in water scarce countries like the Republic of South Africa. This is especially true for the agricultural sector that relies heavily on the availability of water for irrigation to ensure a secure food supply. In South Africa, present day irrigation projects rely on government subsidies and are usually large undertakings beyond the reach of individuals or small communities. The sustainability of such large irrigation projects is still a matter of debate. A 100 years ago a different set of rules applied. Irrigation could only be achieved by hand-dug furrows that supplied water in relatively small quantities to small farming communities. This paper investigated such a small community, the Leeukloof farming community in the Western Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa. For the past 93 years this community has maintained a furrow that supplies water not only to farms bordering the Perdeberg River, which supplies the furrow with water, but also to farms not bordering the river. The authors try to reconstruct the changes in agricultural practices brought about by the furrow, methods of water extraction during each phase, as well as the development and role of the furrow system. The perception by the community of the necessity of this method of water extraction from the river system is also investigated. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Hydrothermal Mineralization on the Mesoproterozoic Passive Continental Margins of China： A Case Study of the Langshan-Zha＇ertaishan Belt, Inner Mongolia, China

Most ore-forming characteristics of the Langshan-Zha‘ertaishan hydrothermal exhalation belt, which consists of the Dongshengmiao, Huogeqi, Tanyaokou and Jiashengpan large-superlarge Zn-Pb-Cu-Fe sulfide deposits, are most similar to those of Mesoproterozoic SEDEX-type provinces of the world. The characteristics include: (1) All deposits of this type in the belt occur in third-order fault-basins in the Langshan-Zha‘ertaishan aulacogen along the northern margin of the North China Platform; (2) these deposits with all their orebodies hosted in the Mesoproterozoic impure dolomite-marble and carbonaceous phyllite (or schists) have an apparent stratabound nature; ores display laminated and banded structures, showing clear depositional features; (3) there is some evidence of syn-sedimentary faulting, which to a certain extent accounts for the temporal and spatial distribution and the size of the orebodies in all deposits and the formation of intrabed conglomerates and breccias; (4) they show lateral and vertical zonation of sulfides; (5) The Cu/(Pb Zn Cu) ratio of the large and thick Pb Zn Cu orebodies gradually decreases from bottom to top; and (6) barite is interbedded with pyrites and sometimes with sphalerite. However, some characteristics such as the Co/Ni radio of the pyrites, the volcanism, for example, of the Langshan-Zha‘ertalshan metallogenic belt, are different from those of the typical SEDEX deposits of the world. The meta-basic volcanic rock in Huogeqi, the sodic bimodal volcanic rocks in the Dongshengmiao and potassic bimodal-volcanic rocks with blastoporphyfitic and blasto-glomeroporphyritic texture as well as blasto-amygdaloidal structure in the Tanyaokou deposits have been discovered in the only ore-bearing second formation of the Langshan Group in the past 10 years. The metallogeny of some deposits hosted in the Langshan Group is closely related to syn-sedimentary volcanism based on the following facts: most of the lead isotopes in sphalerite, galena, pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite plot on both sides of the line for the mantle or between the lines for the mantle and lower crust in the lead isotope composition diagram; cobalt content of some pyrites samples is much higher than the nickel content (Co/Ni= 11.91-12.19). Some volcanic blocks and debris have been picked out from some pyritic and pyrrhotitic ores. All Zn-Pb-Cu-Fe sulfide orebodies in these deposits occur in the strata overlying metamorphic volcanic rocks in the only ore-bearing second formation. In the Jiashengpan deposit that lacks syn-sedimentary volcanic rocks in the host succession only Pb and Zn ores occur without Cu ore, but in the Dongshengmiao, Tanyaokou and Huogeqi deposits with syn-sedimentary volcanic rocks in the host succession Cu ores occur. This indicates a relatively higher ore-forming temperature. The process of synsedimentary volcanic eruption directly supplied some ore-forming elements, and resulted in secular geothermal anomaly favorable for the circulation of a submarine convective hydrothermal system, which accounts for the precipitation of deep mineralizing fluids exhaling into anoxidic basins along the syn-sedimentary fault system in the Langshan-Zha‘ertai rift. The Dongshengmiao, Tanyaokou, and Huogeqi deposits hosted in the Langshan Group appear to be a transitional type of mineral deposit between SEDEX and VMS-types but with a bias towards SEDEX, while the Jiashengpan deposit hosted in the Zha‘ertai Group is of a characteristic SEDEX type. This evidence, together with other new discoveries of Mesoproterozoic volcanic rocks and the features of lithogeny and metallogeny of the Bayun Obo deposit in the neighborhood emphasize the diversity, complexity and uniqueness of the Mesoproterozoic Langshan-Zha‘ertal-Bayun Obo ore belt.     

Transformation of garnet epidote amphibolite to eclogite, western Dabie Mountains, China

Omphacite and garnet coronas around amphibole occur in amphibolites in the Hong'an area, western Dabie Mountains, China. These amphibolites consist of an epidote–amphibolite facies assemblage of amphibole, garnet, albite, clinozoisite, paragonite, ilmenite and quartz, which is incompletely overprinted by an eclogite facies assemblage of garnet, omphacite and rutile. Coronas around amphibole can be divided into three types: an omphacite corona; a garnet–omphacite–rutile corona; and, a garnet–omphacite corona with less rutile. Chemographic analysis for local reaction domains in combination with petrographical observations show that reactions Amp + Ab + Pg = Omp +Czo + Qtz + H₂O, and Amp + Ab = Omp ± Czo + Qtz + H₂O may lead to the development of omphacite coronas. The garnet–omphacite–rutile corona was formed from the reaction Amp + Ab + Czo + Ilm ± Qtz = Omp + Grt + Rt + H₂O. In garnet–omphacite coronas, the garnet corona grew during an early stage of epidote amphibolite facies metamorphism, whereas omphacite probably formed by the reactions forming the omphacite corona during the eclogite facies stage. It is estimated that these reactions occurred at 0.8–1.4 GPa and 480–610 °C using the garnet–clinopyroxene thermometer and omphacite barometer in the presence of albite.