Post-rift stress history of Southwest Japan inferred from early to middle Miocene intrusions and meso-scale faults in the Tajima–Myokensan area

Miocene igneous dikes older and younger than 15 Ma in Southwest Japan are thought to be oriented parallel and perpendicular to the arc, respectively. This difference of orientations was referred to as significant evidence for termination of the opening of the Japan Sea at 15 Ma. The tightest constraint comes from ~60 dikes in the Tajima–Myokensan area, northern Hyogo Prefecture. Here we present orientations of 716 planar intrusive bodies and the directions of 143 meso-scale faults, obtained using the latest stress inversion techniques from the lower to middle Miocene Hokutan Group in the Tajima–Myokensan area. The results contradict the 15 Ma hypothesis for the end of the opening of the Japan Sea. We find that intrusive bodies cannot be separated into two groups by their orientations as reported previously. Rather, the orientations of their poles comprise a horizontal girdle and a vertical cluster. The former indicates NE-SW extensional stress, and the latter NW-SE compression. However, the latter are interpreted as not representative of regional stress, based on common sill intrusions (the formation of which was not influenced by regional stress) in the well-stratified Muraoka Formation resulting in the vertical cluster of pole orientations from which compression was recognized. The results of fault-slip analysis are consistent with the extensional stress. Fission-track and U–Pb ages of zircons were obtained from seven intrusive bodies. These and previously published ages suggest that the area underwent NW-SE extension both before and after 15 Ma. In the main part of Southwest Japan, the weak extension was kept after 16 Ma when intra-arc rifting was terminated. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the Japan Sea continued to open until 13.5 Ma.     

重磁场的变差函数特征及应用

用变差函数研究重磁场的区域变化特征.变差函数的变程反映重磁场的相干范围, 块金效应反映随机干扰, 基台值反映变异程度.重磁场的理论模拟说明: 重力场的相干范围大于磁场, 重磁场变程主要取决于场源深度, 浅源重磁场变差函数近似为球状模型或指数模型, 深源重磁场近似为连续性更好的高斯模型.磁场场源深度近似等于变程的一半, 重力场场源深度近似等于变程的四分之一.湖北大冶铁矿垂直分量磁异常具有几何各向异性, 北西-南东走向, 变差函数推测磁铁矿平均深度为250m.磁异常小波多尺度分解细节和逼近部分磁场具有协调几何各向异性, 变差函数的各阶场源深度估计结果与功率谱估计结果吻合.      

On the effect of subinertial phenomena on the internal lee waves generation in the Strait of Gibraltar

The generation of internal lee waves (ILW) in the Strait of Gibraltar takes place in the main sill where the tidal flow interacts with a submarine obstacle. The tidal flow is perturbed by subinertial phenomena of different nature summarized in the subinertial currents that can inhibit the ILW generation. The authors present an attempt to randomize the problem by the introduction of a Gaussian noise in the Taylor–Goldstein equation. The random number sets are generated from the statistical distribution of the previously isolated random part of the subinertial currents from experimental data taken in the area during the Gibraltar Experiment 94–96. The effect of the noise is translated into a continuous spreading of the spectrum around the solution of the noise-free problem. A stability analysis is carried out in order to determine the single neutral modes of oscillations and the phase space is divided onto regions of stability and instability as a function of the inflowing subinertial current. The methodology and results could be useful for the design and timing of oceanographic surveys in straits where the ILWs occur.     

Chemistry of the Shiant Isles Main Sill, NW Scotland, and Wider Implications for the Petrogenesis of Mafic Sills

Major and trace element data for the Tertiary, Shiant IslesMain Sill, NW Scotland, are used to discuss its complex internaldifferentiation. Vertical sections through the sill exhibitsharp breaks in chemistry that coincide with changes in texture,grain size and mineralogy. These breaks are paired, top andbottom, and correspond to the boundaries of intrusive units,confirming a four-phase multiple-intrusion model based on fieldrelations, petrography, mineralogy and isotopes. Whole-rockchemistry is consistent with this model and necessitates onlyminor revisions to the intrusive and differentiation mechanismspreviously proposed. The rocks contain strongly zoned minerals(e.g. olivine Fo_70–5, clinopyroxene Mg# = 75–5,plagioclase An_75–5) indicating almost perfect fractionalcrystallization, but whole-rock compositions do not show suchextreme variations. Thus, while residual liquids became highlyevolved in situ, they mainly became trapped within the crystalnetwork and did not undergo wholesale inward migration. Someinward (mainly upward) concentration of residual liquids didoccur to form a ‘sandwich horizon’, but the morevolatile-rich, late-stage liquids that did not crystallize insitu appear to have migrated to higher levels in the sill toform pegmatitic horizons. Parental liquid compositions are modelledfor the intrusive units and it is concluded that the originalparent magma formed by partial melting of upper mantle thatwas more depleted in LREE than the sources of most ScottishTertiary basaltic rocks. Incompatible trace elements in thepicrodolerite–crinanite intrusive unit support isotopeevidence that its parent magma was contaminated by crustal material.Attempts to reconcile the chemical characteristics of the sillwith a recently proposed petrogenetic model based on a singleintrusion of magma differentiated by novel, but controversial,processes fail comprehensively. It is predicted that the complexpetrogenetic history of the Shiant Isles sill is not unusualand could become the model for other large (>50 m thick)sills. KEY WORDS: alkali basalt; differentiation; geochemistry; multiple intrusion; Shiant Isles; sill     

Mechanism of Crystal Redistribution in a Sheet-like Magma Body: Constraints from the Nosappumisaki and Other Shoshonite Intrusions in the Nemuro Peninsula, Northern Japan

Processes of crystal separation in a magma heavily laden withcrystals without phase change are investigated from observationson frozen magma systems: Nosappumisaki and other shoshoniteintrusions in the Nemuro peninsula, Japan, for which the originof the crystals and the initial conditions are well constrained.The Nosappumisaki intrusion is 120 m in thickness and extendsfor more than 1·5 km. It exhibits a wide range of lithologicalvariation, principally as a result of crystal redistributionafter intrusion. Crystals in each lithology can be clearly dividedinto two kinds according to their composition and texture: thosepresent before the intrusion of the magma (‘phenocrysts’)and those that crystallized in situ after intrusion. From thevertical change in mode and size of ‘phenocrysts’,it is shown that (1) augite ‘phenocrysts’ were rapidlydeposited, with little overgrowth after intrusion, by significantcoagulation or clustering on a time-scale of more than a fewyears, and (2) plagioclase ‘phenocrysts’, definitelydenser than the melt but concentrated in the upper level, floatedby counter flow of massive deposition of augite ‘phenocrysts’.These results indicate that in a magma heavily laden with crystalsof a few millimeters in size (>20 vol. %), crystal–crystaland crystal–melt interaction play an important role inthe separation of crystals from the host melt. KEY WORDS: magma chamber; sill; crystal settling; plagioclase flotation; Nosappumisaki     

Characteristics of a drainage channel with staggered indented sills for controlling debris flows

The characteristics of a new type of drainage channel with staggered indented sills for controlling debris flows were studied. The intermediate fluid in the non-viscous debris flow exhibited a helical movement, whereas the fluid near the sidewall had a stop-start movement pattern; the viscous debris flow exhibited a stable structure between the indented sills. The experimental results indicate that the mean velocity of the debris flow increased with increasing channel gradients, and the debris flow velocity was slightly affected by the angle of the sills. The average velocity of the non-viscous debris flow increased in the range of(0.5–1.5) interval between the indented sills, whereas the average velocity of the viscous debris flow increased initially and then decreased in the range of(0.75–1.25) interval between the indented sills. The depth of the non-viscous debris flow tended to gradually increase as the channel gradients increased, whereas the depth of the viscous debris flow gradually decreased as the channel gradients increased. When the discharge of the debris flow was constant, the angle and the interval between the indented sills had a slight effect on the depth of the viscous debris flow, whereas the depth of the non-viscous debris flow exhibited a different trend, as the sill angles and intervals were varied.     

淮北朔里煤矿岩床附近煤的光学性质和稀土元素分布特征

运用电感耦合等离子质谱(ICP-MS)、X射线荧光光谱(XRF)、离子选择电极(ISE)、显微镜光度计和煤化学等方法,研究安徽淮北朔里煤矿5号煤层与侵入岩浆岩(岩床)接触面附近煤的光学性质和稀土元素分布特征。结果显示,与岩床直接接触的热变质煤在光学上显示天然焦的典型特征,除惰质组以外的显微组分大都变成了较粗大颗粒状镶嵌结构体,各向异性显著,小球体发育,微气孔很发育;与岩床间接接触(岩床之下)的热变质煤镶嵌结构体变细,各向异性变弱,微气孔不发育,未见小球体。研究还发现,从岩床下边缘至煤层底板泥岩表面的8个煤分层都显示铈(Ce)严重亏损的特征;在稀土元素标准化曲线上,Ce负异常"V"型谷非常显目,表明岩浆的高温将煤中原来的Ce3+氧化成Ce4+而与其它三价稀土元素(RE3+)发生了分离。数据显示,在朔里煤矿岩床接触变质煤中,稀土元素丰度与煤的灰分产率没有显著的相关性,表明岩浆熔体中的微量元素迁移到周围煤中并未造成灰分产率大量提高。     

Mechanical decoupling and thermal structure at the East Pacific Rise axis 9°N: Constraints from axial magma chamber geometry and seafloor structures

We study the relationships between the seafloor structures and the axial magma chamber geometry in the 9°N overlapping spreading center (OSC) area on the fast spreading East Pacific Rise (EPR). Our observations are based on a new high resolution bathymetric map of the 9°N OSC area derived from picks of the seafloor arrival on 3D seismic data, and on previously published data that constrain the presence and distribution of melt below the 9°N OSC. Differences in the orientation of structures between the seafloor and the magma chamber indicate a sharp change in principal stress directions with depth, suggesting that the brittle crust above the melt sill is decoupled from the melt sill itself and the ductile crust underlying it. The stress-field within the brittle upper crust results from a local interaction of the two overlapping spreading centers, whereas the stress-field in the crust below the melt sill corresponds to the regional stress-field imposed by plate separation. Given this mechanical structure of the crust, the melt sill shape and location appear to be controlled by the following factors: the location of the deep melt source below the melt sill, the ambient stress-field at the depth of the melt sill, and the stress-field in the brittle upper crust above the melt sill, which thermally shapes the roof of the melt sill through repeated eruptions.     

Petrology, geochemistry and tectonic settings of the mafic dikes and sills associated with the evolution of the Proterozoic Cuddapah Basin of south India

In this article we summarize the petrological, geochemical and tectonic processes involved in the evolution of the Proterozoic intracratonic Cuddapah basin. We use new and available ages of Cuddapah igneous rocks, together with field, stratigraphic, geophysical and other criteria, to arrive at a plausible model for the timing of these processes during basin evolution. We present petrological and geochronological evidence of dike emplacement along preferred lineament directions around the basin in response to stresses, which may have been responsible for the evolution of the basin itself. Basaltic dike intrusion started on the south Indian shield around 2400 Ma and continued throughout the Cuddapah basin evolution and sedimentation. A deep mantle perturbation, currently manifested by a lopolithic cupola-like intrusion under the southwestern part of the basin, may have occurred at the onset of basin evolution and played an important role in its development. Paleomagnetic, gravity and geochronological evidence indicates that it was a constant thermal source responsible for dike and sill emplacement between 1500 and 1200 Ma both inside and out-side the basin. Lineament reactivation in the NW-SE and NE-SW directions, in response to the mantle perturbation, intensified between 1400 and 1200 Ma, leading to the emplacement of several cross cutting dikes. Fe-Mg partition coefficients of olivine and augite and Ca-Na partition coefficient of plagioclase, calculated from the composition of these minerals and bulk composition of their host rocks, indicate that the dikes outside the Cuddapah basin are cumulates. The contemporary dikes may be related by fractional crystallization as indicated by a positive correlation between their plagioclase Ca# (atomic Ca/[Ca+Na]) and augite Mg# (atomic Mg/[Mg+Fe]). A few NW-SE and NE-SW cross cutting dikes of the period between 1400 and 1200 Ma, preserve petrographic evidence of episodic magmatic intrusive activity along preferred directions. Petrological reasoning indicates that a magmatic liquid reacted with a set of cross cutting dikes, intruding into one that was already solidified and altering the composition of the magma that produced the other dike. The Cuddapah basin tholeiites may be related by fractional crystallization at 5 kb and 1019-1154‡ C, which occurred in the lopolithic cupola near the southwestern margin of the basin. Xenolith bearing picrites, which occur near the periphery of the cupola, originated by the accumulation of xenoliths in the tholeiites. This is indicated by the composition of the olivine in the xenoliths (Fo_78.7-81.9), which are closely similar to calculated olivine compositions (Fo_77.8-78.3) in equilibrium with the tholeiites under the sameP-T conditions. It is inferred that fractionation in the cupola resulted in crystals settling on its walls. Hence, the xenolith-bearing sills occur at the periphery of the lopolithic body. The tholeiites both inside and outside the basin are enriched in incompatible elements compared to mid oceanic ridge basalts. The Ba, Rb and K contents of the Cuddapah and other Proterozoic Gondwana tholeiites indicate that a widespread metasomatic enrichment of the mantle source may have occurred between R∼2.9 and R∼2.7Ga. There may be local heterogeneity in the source of the Cuddapah tholeiites as indicated by different Ba/Rb, Ti/Zr, Ti/Y, Zr/Nb and Y/Nb in samples inside and outside the basin. Large-scale differences such as the low P₂O₅-TiO₂ and high P₂O₅-TiO₂ basaltic domains of the Jurassic Gondwana basalts, however, did not exist during the Proterozoic time period under consideration. Although we are beginning to understand the tectono-magmatic processes involved in the evolution of the Cuddapah basin, much work remains to be done to obtain a complete picture. Future research in the Cuddapah basin should focus on obtaining accurate ages of the igneous rocks associated with the evolution of the basin.