P-waveform analysis for local subduction geometry south of Puget Sound,Washington

The local subduction geometry at a site south of Puget Sound in western Washington is investigated using teleseismicP-waveforms recorded on a three-component event triggered seismograph. The data are processed using source equalization deconvolution in order to isolate locally convertedP-to-S arrivals and stacked to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. Stable arrivals in the radial component indicate an oceanic Moho within the subducted slab at a depth of about 53 km beneath the station. Observed amplitude variations with azimuth in the radial data, as well as qualitative aspects of the tangential data, are used to establish a slab dip of 16° to the southeast. Our results are compatible with previous results from a site 60 km to the west, and further confirm a substantial warp in the regional geometry of the subducted Juan de Fuca plate.     

Metamorphism and granite genesis in the Hidaka Metamorphic Belt, Hokkaido, Japan

The Main Zone of the Hidaka Metamorphic Belt is an uplifted crustal section of island-arc type. The crust was formed during early Tertiary time, as a result of collision between two arc–trench systems of Cretaceous age. The crustal metamorphic sequence is divided into four metamorphic zones (I–IV), in which zone IV is in the granulite facies. A detailed study of the evolution of the Hidaka Belt, based on a revised P–T–t analysis of the metamorphic rocks, notably a newly found staurolite-bearing granulite, confirms a prograde isobaric heating path, after a supposed event of tectonic thickening of accretionary sedimentary and oceanic crustal rocks. During the peak metamorphic event (c. 53 Ma), the regional geothermal gradient attained 33–40° C km^?1, and the highest P–T condition obtained from the lowest part of the granulite unit is 830° C, 7 kbar. In this part, X_H2O of Gt–Opx–Cd gneiss is about 0.15 and that of Gt–Cd–Bt gneiss is 0.4. The P–T–X_H2O condition of the granulite unit is well within a field where fluid-present partial melting of pelitic and greywacke metamorphic rocks takes place. This is in harmony with the restitic nature of the Gt–Opx–Cd gneiss in the lowest part of the granulite unit. The possibility that partial melting took place in the Main Zone is significant for the genesis of the peraluminous (S-type) granitic rocks within it. The S-type granitic rocks in this zone are Opx–Gt–Bt tonalite in the granulite zone, Gt–Cd–Bt tonalite in the amphibolite zone, and Cd–Bt–Mus tonalite in the Bt–Mus gneiss zone. The mineralogical and chemical nature of these strongly peraluminous tonalitic rocks permit them to be regarded as having been derived from S-type granitic magma generated by crustal anatexis of pelitic metamorphic rocks in deeper crust.     

Intermediate and deep earthquakes in Spain

Recent improvements in the seismological networks on the Ibero-Maghrebian region have permitted estimation of hypocentral location and focal mechanisms for earthquakes which occurred at South Spain, Alboran Sea and northern Morocco of deep and intermediate depth, with magnitudes between 3.5 and 4.5. Intermediate depth shocks, range from 60 to 100 km, with greater concentration located between Granada and Málaga. Fault-plane solutions of 5 intermediate shocks have been determined; they present a vertical plane in NE-SW or E-W direction. Seismic moments of about 10¹⁵ Nm and dimensions of about 1 km have been determined from digital records of Spanish stations.P-wave forms are complex. This may be explained by the crustal structure near the station, discontinuities in the upper mantle and inhomogeneities near the source. Deep activity at about 650 km has only 3 shocks since 1954 (1954, 1973, 1990). Shocks are located at a very small region. Fault-plane solutions show a consistent direction of the pressure axis dipping 45° in E direction. For the 1990 shock seismic moment is 10¹⁶ Nm and dimensions 2.6 km. TheP-waves are of simpler form with a single pulse. The intermediate and deep activities are not connected and no activity has been detected between 100 and 650 km. The intermediate shocks may be explained in terms of a recent subduction from Africa under Iberia in SE direction. The very deep activity must be related to a sunk detached block of lithospheric material still sufficiently cold and rigid to generate earthquakes.     

加利福尼亚弧-盆-沟体系的地质特征

加利福尼亚中生代弧-盆-沟系的构造和演化模式一向为世人所重视。作者应邀有机会对加州内华达岛弧地块、弗兰西斯科杂岩和大谷弧前盆地进行了实地地质考察。本文仅就这3个岩性-构造单元的一些独特地质特征和地质景观作一简介。     

陆内碰撞体制流体作用及成矿作用研究的意义和现状

陆内碰撞作用和流体作用都是８０年代以来的研究前沿，它们的研究必然会大大促进成矿作用研究的发展，也是跟踪和超越世界地球科学先进水平的重要途径。中国拥有最多最复杂的陆内碰撞带，为中国学者开发有关研究并取得高水平成果提供了得天独厚的条件。对陆内碰撞、流体作用和成矿作用研究现状的分析表明，三者之间研究的相互结合是薄弱环节，限制了有关问题的深入，但为我国学者开发该方向的研究，取得领先于国家水平的成果，提供了     

Slab weakening: Mechanical and thermal-mechanical consequences for slab detachment

Abstract Slab detachment is a geophysical instability whose manifestation can be revealed by seismic tomography. Evidence of this phenomenon is in the Dinarides/Hellenic and the New Hebrides subduction zones. Subducted slabs in these regions are torn horizontally at depths ranging from 100 to 300 km. We constructed a viscoelastic three-dimensional finite element model and investigated the state of stress. We found that an area with high stress concentration of the order of several hundred MPa is formed near the tip of the tear inside the slab, which can cause lateral migration of the tear. Favorable conditions for slab detachment are characterized by large interplate frictional force at a subduction zone and small slab resistance force deeper down. Stress concentration increases with the down-dip tension inside the slab. The phenomenon of slab weakening has also been studied from a thermal-mechanical standpoint, using a two-dimensional convection model with non-Newtonian, temperature-dependent rheology. The stress-dependent rheology plays an important role in causing local weakening of the descending slab. In strongly time-dependent situations the fast descending slab is not strong everywhere but has a weak region in the middle, making it vulnerable to slab detachment. The presence of viscous heating will enhance slab detachment tendency by further weakening the interior by the frictional heating. Besides these effects, there are other mechanisms which can also weaken the slab interior and help to make slabs more pliable and susceptible to detachment.