断块开合说--中国大地构造研究的新思维

对板块说应持分析态度，既充分肯定它的创见，又要看到其不足。张文佑倡导的断块说强调地质演化中的陆洋地壳转化，即拉张造洋、挤压造陆。近年来提出的开合说，继承了板块说、断块说和新地槽-地台说的合理内核。笔者认为，断块-开合大地构造说是中国大地构造研究中有代表性的思潮。本文概括了其基本观点，强调了开合中的多模式、多旋回和非封闭性、不可逆性。     

华南石炭纪岩关-大塘界线期牙形石地层分带

系统采集不同沉积相区和连续沉积的剖面，即浅海台地相广西柳江龙殿山剖面、台缘缓坡相云南施甸鱼硐剖面和台内盆地相广西柳州碰冲剖面，运用数理统计方法，研究了华南岩关一大塘界线过渡期牙形石的产出丰度和相分布，在恢复生物演化序列的基础上，对各剖面首先详细分带，再进一步综合成系统的5个牙形石带，即Gnathodus typicus—G．cuneiformis带、Gnathodus typicus—Protognathodus cordiformis带、Scaliognathus anchoralis—Gnathodus pseu-dosemiglaber带、Gnathodus praebilineatus带和Paragnathodus horrtopunctatus带。以生物系统发生为标准，严格限定各带的界线，并与北美、西欧同期地层进行精确对比，为建立杜内阶一维宪阶界线的全球层型(GSSP)提供可靠依据。     

天山北麓玛纳斯河流域山间洼地地下水库的形成机理与开发利用的意义

天山北麓玛纳斯河流域山问洼地位于低山丘陵区山前坳陷带的南部，该区褶皱、断裂、近NS向次级张性断裂与平移构造以及山间洼地的第四系沉积物发育．山区地表水流经该段入渗，加之南部中山区的侧向补给形成山间洼地地下水库．正确认识玛纳斯河流域山间洼地地下水库的形成机理并对其进行合理的开发利用，对解决玛纳斯河流域季节性缺水及枯水年缺水有重要意义．笔应用构造及地表水由山区水站至山口渠首站实测流量损失的研究成果，揭示了玛纳斯河流域山间洼地地下水库的形成及调蓄作用，并概算了补给量，为今后开发利用山间洼地地下水库水资源提供了依据．     

Bearing capacity of unsaturated expansive soils

It is difficult to determine the bearing capacity of a foundation in unsaturated expansive soil, although this is most important. The bearing capacity of unsaturated expansive soil is related to the drying and wetting environment. Swelling pressure occurs when the soil volume change is constrained as an expansive soil is inundated. The expansive lateral pressure, induced by the swelling pressure is similar to the passive earth pressure. By considering the effect of the expansive lateral pressure in Terzaghi's bearing capacity formula, the bearing capacity of unsaturated expansive soil is derived. Because it is very difficult to measure suction in situ, the bearing capacity is expressed using the expansive lateral pressure offers a feasible approach to calculate the bearing capacity of a foundation in unsaturated expansive soil, when suction is not measured. Plate load tests to measure the bearing capacity in situ were performed for the foundation in natural soil and saturated soil immersed by water. The verification of the bearing capacity formulae presented in this paper is conducted by comparing the predicted results with the results of the plate load tests on unsaturated expansive soils in Handan and Bingxia, China.     

GIS Spatial-Temporal Modeling of Water Systems in Greater Toronto Area, Canada

Modeling landscape with high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) in a geographic information system can provide essential morphological and structural information for modeling surface processes such as geomorphologic process and water systems. This paper introduces several DEM-based spatial analysis processes applied to characterize spatial distribution and their interactions of ground and surface water systems in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada. The stream networks and drainage basin systems were derived from the DEM with 30 m resolution and the regularities of the surface stream and drainage patterns were modeled from a statistical/multifractal point of view. Together with the elevation and slope of topography, other attributes defmed from modeling the stream system, and drainage networks were used to associate geological, hydrological and topographical features to water flow in river systems and the spatial locations of artesian aquifers in the study area. Stream flow data derived from daily flow measurements recorded at river gauging stations for multi-year period were decomposed into “drainage-area dependent“ and “drainage-area independent“ flow components by two-step “frequency“ and “spatial“ analysis processes. The latter component was further demonstrated to relate most likely to the ground water discharge. An independent analysis was conducted to model the distribution of aquifers with information derived from the records of water wells. The focus was given on quantification of the likelihood of ground water discharge to river and ponds through flowing wells, springs and seepages. It has been shown that the Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) is a unique glacial deposit that serves as a recharge layer and that the aquifers in the ORM underlain by Hilton Tills and later deposits exposed near the steep slope zone of the ridges of ORM provide significant discharge to the surface water systems (river flow and ponds) through flowing wells, springs and seepages. Various statistics (cross- and auto-correlation coefficients, fractal R/S exponent) were used in conjunction with GIS to demonstrate the influence of land types, topography and geometry of drainage basins on short- and long-term persistence of river flows as well as responding time to precipitation events. The current study has provided not only insight in understanding the interaction of water systems in the GTA, but also a base for further establishment of an on-line GIS system for predicting spatial-temporal changes of river flow and groundwater level in the GTA.     

Basal sediment evacuation by subglacial meltwater: suspended sediment transport from Haut Glacier d'Arolla,Switzerland

Proglacial suspended sediment transport was monitored at Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Switzerland, during the 1998 melt season to investigate the mechanisms of basal sediment evacuation by subglacial meltwater. Sub‐seasonal changes in relationships between suspended sediment transport and discharge demonstrate that the structure and hydraulics of the subglacial drainage system critically influenced how basal sediment was accessed and entrained. Under hydraulically inefficient subglacial drainage at the start of the melt season, sediment availability was generally high but sediment transport increased relatively slowly with discharge. Later in the melt season, sediment transport increased more rapidly with discharge as subglacial meltwater became confined to a spatially limited network of channels following removal of the seasonal snowpack from the ablation area. Flow capacity is inferred to have increased more rapidly with discharge within subglacial channels because rapid changes in discharge during highly peaked diurnal runoff cycles are likely to have been accommodated largely by changes in flow velocity. Basal sediment availability declined during channelization but increased throughout the remainder of the monitored period, resulting in very efficient basal sediment evacuation over the peak of the melt season. Increased basal sediment availability during the summer appears to have been linked to high diurnal water pressure variation within subglacial channels inferred from the strong increase in flow velocity with discharge. Basal sediment availability therefore appears likely to have been increased by (1) enhanced local ice‐bed separation leading to extra‐channel flow excursions and[sol ]or (2) the deformation of basal sediment towards low‐pressure channels due to a strong diurnally reversing hydraulic gradient between channels and areas of hydraulically less‐efficient drainage. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anomalous lithospheric structure of Northern Juan de Fuca plate — a consequence of oceanic rift propagation?

Anomalous crustal and upper mantle structure of northern Juan de Fuca plate is revealed from wide-angle seismic and gravity modelling. A 2-D velocity model is produced for refraction line II of the 1980 Vancouver Island Seismic Project (VISP80). The refraction data were recorded on three ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) deployed at the ends and middle of a 110 km line oriented parallel to the North American continental margin. The velocity model is constructed via ray tracing and conforms to first-arrival amplitude observations and travel time picks of direct, converted and reflected phases. Between sub-sediment depths of 3 to 11 km, depths normally associated with the lower crust and upper oceanic mantle, the final model shows that compressional-wave velocities decrease significantly from southeast to northwest along the profile. At sub-sediment depths of 11 km at the northwestern end of the profile, P-wave velocities are as low as 7.2 km/s. A complementary 2-D gravity model using the geometry of the velocity model and velocity–density relationships characteristic of oceanic crust is produced. The high densities required to match the gravity field indicate the presence of peridotites containing 25–30% serpentine by volume, rather than excess gabbroic crust, within the deep low velocity zone. Anomalous travel time delays and unusual reflection characteristics observed from proximal seismic refraction and reflection experiments suggest a broader zone of partially serpentinized peridotites coincident with the trace of a pseudofault. We propose that partial serpentinization of the upper mantle is a consequence of slow spreading at the tip of a propagating rift.