Lithology and palynology of Neogene sediments on the narrow edge of the Kitakami Massif (basement rocks), northeast Japan: Significant change for depositional environments as a result of plate tectonics

Abstract A controversial stratigraphic section, the Taneichi Formation, is exposed along the Pacific Coast of northeastern Honshu, the main island of the Japanese Archipelago. Although most sediments of the formation have long been dated as late Cretaceous, the northern section of it has been assigned to (i) the Upper Cretaceous; (ii) the Paleogene; or (iii) the Neogene. In the present report, we present the data of palynological and sedimentological studies, showing that the northern section should be assigned to the Neogene. A more important point in the present study is that we invoke some basic principles of fluvial sedimentology to resolve this stratigraphic subject. The lignite layers full of Paleogene–Miocene dinoflagellate cysts and pollen assemblages drape over the boulder‐sized (>40 cm in diameter) clasts in the northern section. However, the layers totally consist of aggregates of small lignite chips, indicating that the lignites are allochthonous materials. The mega‐clasts with derived microfossils in the lignites are thought to have been deposited as Neogene fluvial (flood) sediments in the newly formed Japanese Archipelago. Prior to the Miocene, the northern Honshu was part of the Eurasian Plate, thus the boulder‐sized clasts cannot be envisaged as long river flood deposits along the continental Paleogene Pacific Coast. Instead, the mega‐clasts with the draping lignites were probably derived from nearby Miocene highlands in the newly born island arc.     

Sea-level changes and hydrothermal sedimentary mineralization of large-superlarge ore deposits among Sinian to Triassic in South China

Among the Sinian to Triassic strata in South China, the stratiform, quasi-stratiform and lenticular metallic deposits in association with hydrothermal sedimentation mainly occur in the four periods: (1) the Sinian Datangpo interglacial period, (2) the early period of Early Cambrian, (3) the late period of Middle Devonian to early period of Late Devonian,and (4) the late period of Early Permian. The four mineralization periods all happened around the maximum flooding period in the third-order seal-level cycle during the ascending stage in the first-order sea-level cycle. The deep seawater layer, starved and non-compensatory basin, low sedimentary rate, and low energy and anoxic environment during the maximum flooding period are very suitable for the formation and preservation of large to superlarge hydrothermal sedimentary deposits. The maximum flooding period also coincided with the intensified regional tectonism, extensive deep magmatism and hydrothermal sedimentation, which provide, for the formation of large to superlarge hydrothermal sedimentary deposits through the rapid accumulation of hydrothermal sediments, the needed dynamics, ore-forming materials and favorable passway for hydrothermal fluids to enter the basin.     

易门式大型铜矿床构造成矿动力学模型

针对金属矿床隐伏矿定位预测的关键问题,在提出构造成矿动力学的分支学术方向的基础上,以易门式大型铜矿床为例,从成矿地质背景、矿田构造、构造地球化学和成矿构造应力场等方面进行构造成矿动力学研究,阐述在构造应力场控制下成矿流体运移和聚集的规律。构造地球化学研究认为,构造地球化学异常反映矿体的原生晕;构造地球化学异常受构造控制,其分带特征可指示成矿流体的流向,并提供矿床成因和隐伏矿(化)体相对埋深的信息。构造应力场的控矿特征主要表现在:构造应力场导致控矿构造的形成,并驱动成矿流体的运移;构造应力场控制了成矿能量场;应力和能量的高值集中区分布特点可反映某些构造型式。在此基础上建立构造成矿动力学模型,概括隐伏矿成矿预测准则,据此提出若干重点找矿靶区和靶位,其中部分靶区得到工程验证,表明构造成矿动力学方法对隐伏矿定位预测和评价具有重要的指导意义。     

Evolution and inheritance of a rock coast: western Galicia,northwestern Spain

There is increasing evidence that shore platforms and other elements of rock coasts may be inherited, at least in part, from interglacial stages when sea level was similar to today's. Most of this evidence, which includes ancient beaches and datable terrestrial deposits, has been obtained from areas of resistant, slowly eroding rock, where the platforms often appear to be much too wide to have developed since the sea reached its present level. It is much more dif?cult to demonstrate that inheritance has occurred in areas of weaker rock, which generally lack any datable material. The coast of western Galicia in northwestern Spain has shore platforms in igneous and metamorphic rocks that were deeply weathered during the Tertiary. These platforms are closely associated with ancient beaches from the last interglacial stage, and associated periglacial and ?uvio‐nival deposits that covered and fossilized most of the Eemian platforms and cliffs during the late middle and late Weichselian glacial stage. The sedimentary processes and the thickness and facies of the sediments were determined by the height, aspect and gradient of the coastal mountains, and their distance from the coast. Radiocarbon dating, sedimentary analysis and platform morphology indicate that the shore platforms of Galicia have been inherited from at least the last interglacial stage. They were fossilized in places beneath thick Weichselian deposits and then exhumed during the Holocene transgression. The abundant evidence for inheritance in Galicia has important implications for other coasts in fairly weak rocks where such evidence is generally lacking. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Water and sediment outbursts from advanced Franz Josef Glacier,New Zealand

The Franz Josef Glacier, Westland, New Zealand, has a history of catastrophic sediment‐laden outburst ?oods associated with extreme rainfall events when the glacier toe is advanced over its own sediments. Consideration of these events and inspection of recent sediment deposits suggest that there are three distinct modes of outburst. The ?rst is associated with fans fed by over?ow along the glacier margin. As the glacier has advanced across its own fore?eld gravels, it is inferred that the primary drainage conduit has developed a reach of negative slope. In high ?ows massive boulders can block the conduit, trapping lesser clasts. The resulting backup of water causes over?ows through marginal moulins, producing the fan type of deposit. The second type of outburst deposits massive imbricated boulders at a greater or lesser distance from the glacier portal. In this case, pressure buildup drives the blockage out of the portal where the boulders deposit. Smaller materials are generally carried away. The third type consists of very shallow ?ows, and produces massive gravel deposits of uncertain provenance. In this condition, the excess pressure in the conduit results in slight uplift of the glacier and widespread discharge of water and sediment below the glacier snout; gravels and smaller sediments are laid down in a massive deposit across the fore?eld. The massive, boulder‐veneered deposit from the December 1995 outburst is interpreted in the light of the above mechanisms as a hyperconcentrated ?ow deposit from hydraulic jacking, overlain by boulders emplaced by a subsequent conduit outburst. A possible association of outbursts with the present advanced position of the glacier is suggested. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Engineering geology of loess and loess-like deposits: a commentary on the Russian literature

Loess and loess-like deposits were much studied in the Soviet Union, and are currently under investigation in Russia and surrounding countries. There is a vast literature in Russian, which touches on all aspects of loess science and technology. In particular, the studies of the origin of collapsibility are almost totally in Russian, and of course studies on the various regions of Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union FSU appear in Russian. This review looks at the literature in Russian and attempts to pick out key contributors, major topics and works and to identify the critical regions and zones of investigation. Because so many regions of the FSU had people living on loess ground, there is a vast literature on engineering geology and ground engineering topics, and this tends to dominate all the literature on loess in Russian. Following Russian practice, the fine-grained deposits under consideration are divided into loess and loess-like deposits. Three main topics are recognised across the whole spectrum of loess research: formation and distribution of loess deposits; stratigraphy, cyclicity and palaeoclimatology; and engineering topics, in particular hydrocollapse and subsidence, and we concentrate on the engineering geology topics. An attempt is made, based on the map of Abelev and Abelev [Abelev, Yu.M., Abelev, M.Yu., 1968. Fundamentals of design and construction on collapsible macroporous soils, 2nd ed. Stroiizdat, Moscow, 431 pp. (in Russian)] of collapsing loess deposits, to define seven loess regions within the geographical limits of the old USSR. The seven regions are those where geotechnical problems might be expected.     

Classification of artificial (man-made) ground

The legacy inherited from anthropogenic processes needs to be addressed in order to provide reliable and up-to-date ground information relevant to development and regeneration in the urban environment. The legacy includes voids as well as anthropogenic deposits (artificial ground). Their characteristics derive from former quarrying and mining activities industrial processes creating derelict ground, variably consolidated made ground, and contaminated groundwater and soils. All need to be systematically assessed to inform the planning process and provide the basis for engineering solutions. Site-specific investigation needs to be conducted on the back of good quality geoscientific data. This comes from ‘field’ survey, remotely sensed data interpretation, historical maps, soil geochemical sampling, and geotechnical investigation. Three-dimensional and, in the future, four dimensional, characterization of superficial deposits is required to reach an understanding of the potential spatial lithological variability of artificial ground and the geometry of important surfaces, i.e. the boundary conditions. The classification scheme for artificial ground outlined in this paper and adopted by the British Geological Survey, will help in achieving this understanding.     

Tsunami Hazard and Risk in Canada

Tsunamis have occurred in Canada due to earthquakes, landslides, and a large chemical explosion. The Pacific coast is at greatest risk from tsunamis because of the high incidence of earthquakes and landslides in that region. The most destructive historical tsunamis, however, have been in Atlantic Canada – one in 1917 in Halifax Harbour, which was triggered by a catastrophic explosion on a munitions ship, and another in 1929 in Newfoundland, caused by an earthquake-triggered landslide at the edge of the Grand Banks. The tsunami risk along Canada's Arctic coast and along the shores of the Great Lakes is low in comparison to that of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Public awareness of tsunami hazard and risk in Canada is low because destructive tsunamis are rare events.     

Sedimentary facies during early stages of flooding in an extensional basin: the Brèche Rouge de Carboneras (Late Miocene, Almería/SE Spain)

The intramontane basins of the Betic Cordilleras (SE Spain) formed subsequent to the main phase of orogenic deformation during the middle Miocene in a close genetic relation to the Trans-Alboran Shear zone. Left lateral movements along a local branch (Carboneras fault zone, CF; strike NE–SW) of this zone played a major role in controlling the formation and dynamics of the Nijar-Carboneras Basin. To the south of the fault, a major phase of strike-slip faulting is recorded during the late Tortonian. The expression of this event is the Brèche Rouge de Carboneras (BRC), which seals a deep denudational surface on top of dislocated fault blocks formed by volcanics of the Cabo de Gata complex and early Tortonian shallow marine calcarenite. The sedimentary facies of this widely distributed unit in the Carboneras-Subbasin mirror the submarine topography and the distribution of the fault zones. Along strike-slip fault zones, autoclastic breccias and neptunian dikes preferentially oriented NW–SE and NE–SW occur, which are interpreted to represent the near-surface expression of the faults. Red limestone forms the groundmass of the autoclastic breccia and infills of neptunian dikes, which exhibit multiple phases of opening of fissures, gravitational sedimentary infill, lithification, and renewed creation of cracks. Steep relief, probably along fault scarps, was mantled by epiclastic volcanic conglomerate with a red carbonate matrix. Well-lithified coarse skeletal limestone rich in planktonic foraminifera formed pavements along sediment starved rocky surfaces in deep water. Laterally, within topographic depressions, the pavement limestone grades into thick accumulations of skeletal rudstone composed of fragmented azooxanthellate corals and stylasterid hydrozoans, which were concentrated by powerful bottom currents and gravitiy flows. Within the shallow water zone of dip slope ramps, cross-bedded calcarenite and calcirudite formed. Based on textures, fabrics and biota, rocks of the BRC were grouped into nine genetic lithofacies which document cryptic, deep-aphotic and shallow-photic environments typical of a sediment starved extensional basin.     

Provenance analysis and tectonic setting of the Ordovician clastic deposits in the southern Puna Basin, NW Argentina

Provenance studies on Early to Middle Ordovician clastic formations of the southern Puna basin in north-western Argentina indicate that the sedimentary detritus is generally composed of reworked crustal material. Tremadoc quartz-rich turbidites (Tolar Chico Formation, mean composition Q_t89 F7 L4) are followed by volcaniclastic rocks and greywackes (Tolillar Formation, mean Q_t33 F42 L25). These are in turn overlain by volcaniclastic deposits (mean Q_t24 F30 L46) of the Diablo Formation (late Arenig–early Llanvirn) that are intercalated by lava flows. All units were deformed in the Oclóyic Orogeny during the Middle and Late Ordovician. Sandstones of the Tolar Chico Formation are characterized by Th/Sc ratios > 1, La/Sc ratios ≈ 10, whereas associated fine-grained wackes show slightly lower values for both ratios. LREE (light rare earth elements) enrichment of the arenites is ≈ 50× chondrite, Eu/Eu* values are between 0·72 and 0·92, and flat HREE (heavy rare earth elements) patterns indicate a derivation from mostly felsic rocks of typical upper crustal composition. The ε_{Nd(t = sed)} values scatter around −11 to −9. The calculated Nd-T_DM residence ages vary between 1·8 and 2·0 Ga indicating contribution by a Palaeoproterozoic crustal component. The Th/Sc and La/Sc ratios of the Tolillar Formation are lower than those of the Tolar Chico Formation. Normalized REE (rare earth elements) patterns display a similar shape to PAAS (post-Archaean average Australian shale) but with higher abundances of HREEs. Eu/Eu* values range between 0·44 and 1·17, where the higher values reflect the abundance of plagioclase and feldspar-bearing volcanic lithoclasts. Average ε_{Nd(t = sed)} values are less negative at −5·1, and Nd-T_DM are lower at 1·6 Ga. This is consistent with characteristics of regional rocks of upper continental crust composition, which most probably represent the sources of the studied detritus. The rocks of the Diablo Formation have the lowest Th/Sc and La/Sc ratios, lower LREE abundances than the average continental crust and are slightly enriched in HREEs. Eu/Eu* values are between 0·63 and 1·17. The Nd isotopes (ε_{Nd(t = sed)} = −3 to −1; T_DM = 1·2 Ga) indicate that one source component was less fractionated than both the underlying Early Ordovician and the overlying Middle Ordovician units. Synsedimentary vulcanites in the Diablo Formation show the same isotopic composition. Our data indicate that the sedimentary detritus is generally composed of reworked crustal material, but that the Diablo Formation appears to contain ≈ 80% of a less fractionated component, derived from a contemporaneous continental volcanic arc. There are no data indicating an exotic detrital source or the accretion of an exotic block at this part of the Gondwana margin during the Ordovician.