Andean evolution at the Guañacos and Chos Malal fold and thrust belts (36°30′–37°s)

The Andes between 36°30′ and 37°S represent a Cretaceous fold and thrust belt strongly reactivated in the late Miocene. Most of the features that absorbed Neogene shortening were already uplifted in the late Cretaceous, as revealed by field mapping and confirmed by previous fission track analysis. This Andean section is formed by two sectors: a western-inner sector generated by the closure of the upper Oligocene-lower Miocene intra-arc Cura Mallín basin between the middle and late Miocene (Guañacos fold and thrust belt), and an eastern-outer sector, where late Triassic-early Jurassic extensional depocenters were exhumed in two discrete phases of contraction, in the latest early Cretaceous and late Miocene to the Present, respectively (Chos Malal fold and thrust belt). Late Miocene deformation has not homogeneously reactivated Cretaceous compressive structures, being minimal south of 37°30′S through the eastern-outer sector (southern continuation of the Chos Malal fold and thrust belt). The reason for such an inhomogeneous deformational evolution seems to be related to the development of a late Miocene shallow subduction regime between 34°30′ and 37°45′S, as it was proposed in previous studies. This shallow subduction zone is evidenced by the eastward expansion of the arc that was accompanied by the eastern displacement of the orogenic front at these latitudes. As a result, the Cretaceous fold and thrust belt were strongly reactivated north of 37°30′S producing the major topographic break along the Southern Central Andes.     

Trace element compositions of jadeite (+omphacite) in jadeitites from the Itoigawa-Ohmi district, Japan: Implications for fluid processes in subduction zones

Abstract   Trace-element compositions of jadeite (±omphacite) in jadeitites from the Itoigawa-Ohmi district of Japan, analyzed by a laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry technique showed chemical zoning within individual grains and variations within each sample and between different samples. Primitive mantle-normalized patterns of jadeite in the samples generally showed high large-ion lithophile element contents, high light rare earth element/heavy rare earth element ratios and positive anomalies of high field strength elements. The studied jadeitites have no signatures of the protolith texture or mineralogy. Shapes and distributions of minerals coupled with chemical zoning within grains suggest that the jadeitites were formed by direct precipitation of minerals from aqueous fluids or complete metasomatic modification of the precursor rocks by fluids. In either case, the geochemical characteristics of jadeite are highly affected by fluids enriched in both large-ion lithophile elements and high field strength elements. The specific fluids responsible for the formation of jadeitites are related to serpentinization by slab-derived fluids in subduction zones. This process is followed by dissolving high field strength elements in the subducting crust as the fluids continue to circulate into the subducting crusts and serpentinized peridotites. The fluids have variations in chemical compositions corresponding to various degrees of water–rock interactions.     

Micromorphological Analysis of Coastal Sediments from Willapa Bay, Washington, USA: A Technique for Analysing Inferred Tsunami Deposits

Tsunami deposits are provisionally distinguished in the field on the basis of anomalous sand horizons, fining-up and fining-landward, coupled with organic-rich, fragmented `backwash' sediments. In this paper, micromorphological features of a sediment sequence previously interpreted as being of tsunami origin are described. These characteristics are shown to be consistent with the macro-scale features used elsewhere, but show additional details not seen in standard stratigraphies, including possible evidence for individual waves, possibly wave-magnitude progression, organic fragment alignment and intraclast microstructures. Although replication and more complete studies are needed, this analysis confirms the identification of a tsunami in Willapa Bay in ca.1700 AD, while demonstrating a widely applicable technique for confirming or refuting possible tsunami deposits.     

华北陆块南部熊耳群火山岩的地球化学特征与成因

分布于华北陆块南部的熊耳群火山岩由玄武质到流纹质火山岩组成,并以玄武安山岩、安山岩为主,次为英安-流纹岩,SiO2=62％±的岩石较少,显示双峰特点。中基性熔岩的主要造岩矿物是辉石和斜长石,没有角闪石和黑云母,表明熊耳群火山岩形成于相对无水的环境。岩石地球化学上的显著特点是,富K2O、FeO,低Al2O3、MgO、CaO;富含大离子亲石元素(LILE,如K、Rb、Ba)和轻稀土元素(LREE),相对亏损高场强元素(HFSE,Nb、Ta、Ti),表现出岛弧型火山岩的地球化学亲合性。文中详细的岩石地球化学证据表明,熊耳群火山岩具有岛弧型地球化学特征的主要原因是其地幔源区遭受俯冲带组分的改造,而岩浆在上升到地表的过程中混染地壳物质是次要的。基于熊耳群及下伏结晶基底的地质学和地球化学特征,表明熊耳群形成于夭折的三叉裂谷环境,推断俯冲带组分的改造和富集事件发生在华北陆块南部古元古代大陆壳的形成和 拼贴过程中,由于洋壳和地壳物质再循环到上地幔中,使陆下岩石圈地幔源区富集LILE、LREE并亏损HFSE。熊耳期岩浆作用正是源于这样的保留有早期俯冲带组分改造特征的陆下岩石圈富集地幔。     

青藏高原的隆升：青藏高原的岩石圈结构和构造地貌

笔者回顾青藏高原隆升研究的历史，剖析各种隆升动力学模式，依据着青藏高原岩石圈组成的构的强烈不均一性和、三分性”，“对称性”构造地貌格局，提出了青藏高原隆升是印度地块和塔里木一可拉善地块双向不均一俯冲和青藏腹地深层热隆扩展联合作用的结果，俯冲是高原隆升的重要机制，而热隆扩展是高原隆升的直接原因。     

Latent heat effects of the major mantle phase transitions on low-angle subduction

Very low to zero shallow dip angles are observed at several moderately young subduction zones with an active trenchward moving overriding plate. We have investigated the effects of latent heat for this situation, where mantle material is pushed through the major mantle phase transitions during shallow low-angle subduction below the overriding plate. The significance of the buoyancy forces, arising from the latent heat effects, on the dynamics of the shallowly subducting slab is examined by numerical modeling. When a 32-Ma-old slab is overridden with 2.5 cm/yr by a continent, flat subduction occurs with a 4–5 cm/yr convergence rate. When latent heat is included in the model, forced downwellings cause a thermal anomaly and consequently thermal and phase buoyancy forces. Under these circumstances, the flat slab segment subducts horizontally about 350 km further and for about 11 Ma longer than in the case without latent heat, before it breaks through the 400-km phase transition. The style of subduction strongly depends on the mantle rheology: increasing the mantle viscosity by one order of magnitude can change the style of subduction from steep to shallow. Similarly, an overriding velocity of less than 1 cm/yr leads to steep subduction, which gradually changes to flat subduction when increasing the overriding velocity. However, these model parameters do not change the aforementioned effect of the latent heat, provided that low-angle subduction occurs. In all models latent heat resulted in a substantial increase of the flat slab length by 300–400 km. Varying the olivine–spinel transition Clapeyron slope γ from 1 to 6 MPa/K reveals a roughly linear relation between γ and the horizontal length of the slab. Based on these results, we conclude that buoyancy forces due to latent heat of phase transitions play an important role in low-angle subduction below an overriding plate.     

大兴安岭—燕山晚中生代岩浆活动与俯冲作用关系

本文通过对华北的大兴安岭－燕山地区晚中生代火山－深成岩岩石化学、同位素地质学的分析，认为该地区岩浆的形成和演化与板内伸展环境下的底侵作用有关，而与太平洋板块俯冲无直接的成因联系。本文展示了较高分辨率的日本海沟－长白山－蒙古额尔德尼查干的地震层析图像，揭示了太平洋俯冲板片的形态特征；再结合对俯冲时间及俯冲作用与岩浆作用时差的研究，进一步证明板块俯冲与研究区的岩浆活动无直接关系。最后通过底侵作用年代学的研究，将大兴安岭－燕山中生代岩浆活动与层析图象显示的大陆板内软流圈上涌体联系起来。     

Special Issue Devoted to Petroleum Geology in Marginal Sea Deepwater Settings—Take the South China Sea as an Example Preface

High‐resolution tomographic images of the belt crossing the Japan Trench‐Changbai Mountains‐Dong Ujimqin Qi are represented in this paper, revealing the shape of a subducted slab in the western Pacific region and characteristics of the lithospheric structures under the Changbai Mountains and the Da Hinggan Mountains. Studies of the spatial distribution, subduction time and the time‐lag between the subduction and magmatism, combined with petrology and isotope geochemistry of the Late Mesozoic volcano‐plutonic rocks from the Da Hinggan Mountains‐Yanshan Mountains have further proved the independence of magmatic activities from the subduction of the Pacific plate. The Mesozoic tectono‐thermal evolutionary history and structural characteristics of the lithosphere in the Da Hinggan Mountains and North China suggest that the formation and evolution of magma have probably a close relationship with the delamination and thinning of the continental lithosphere and the underplating resulting from the consequent upwelling of the asthenosphere. On the other hand, the large‐scale strike‐slip fault system, resulting from sinistral shearing of the Pacific plate relative to the Asian continent in the Mesozoic, is responsible for the formation and emplacement of magma on the continental margin. It was the intense crust‐mantle interaction, together with structural deformation at the shallower levels that led to the large tectono‐magmatic belt in the East Asian continental margin.     

Study on the sources of some deep focus earthquakes in Northwest Pacific region

The sources for thirteen deep focus earthquakes ofm _b≥5.5 andh>400 km in Northwest Pacific region were studied using waveform fitting and shear fracture source model. The source parameters were obtained as follows: focal depth, faulting plane, slip direction, rupture velocity, rupture length, rupture direction and scalar moment tensor. It was found that all these earthquake sources can be interpreted as shear faulting and have simple source time functions. The strike direction of faulting plane for most deep focus earthquakes coincides with that of the subduction zone, especially in the deep part of the subduction zone, it results in the tendency of reducing the dip angle of the subduction zone. The multiple point source model was also used to study the source process. The waveform fitting is better than the shear fracture model, but the general rupture direction which coincides with that from unilateral shear source model can not be obtained from the multiple point source model. This study is supported by the National Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Joint Seismological Science Foundation.     

龙门山断裂带测区古构造残余应力随深度分布及带中残余能量

以岩体正交异性弹性理论为基础，用Ｘ射线法，在龙门山断裂带测区，选取３个小区深钻孔系列的岩心，测量了岩体中宏观残余应力场的水平和铅直三维主分量、水平和铅直最大剪应力，及其应变能密度随深度的分布，分析了它们沿深度的分布规律，估算了该断裂带岩体中储存的宏观残余弹性应变能的量级