The Okavango giant mafic dyke swarm (NE Botswana): its structural significance within the Karoo Large Igneous Province

The structural organization of a giant mafic dyke swarm, the Okavango complex, in the northern Karoo Large Igneous Province (LIP) of NE Botswana is detailed. This N110°E-oriented dyke swarm extends for 1500 km with a maximum width of 100 km through Archaean basement terranes and Permo-Jurassic sedimentary sequences. The cornerstone of the study is the quantitative analysis of N>170 (exposed) and N>420 (detected by ground magnetics) dykes evidenced on a ca. 80-km-long section lying in crystalline host-rocks, at high-angle to the densest zone of the swarm (Shashe area). Individual dykes are generally sub-vertical and parallel to the entire swarm. Statistical analysis of width data indicates anomalous dyke frequency (few data <5.0 m) and mean dyke thickness (high value of 17 m) with respect to values classically obtained from other giant swarms. Variations of mean dyke thicknesses from 17 (N110°E swarm) to 27 m (adjoining and coeval N70°E giant swarm) are assigned to the conditions hosting fracture networks dilated as either shear or pure extensional structures, respectively, in response to an inferred NNW–SSE extension. Both fracture patterns are regarded as inherited brittle basement fabrics associated with a previous (Proterozoic) dyking event. The Okavango N110°E dyke swarm is thus a polyphase intrusive system in which total dilation caused by Karoo dykes (estimated frequency of 87%) is 12.2% (6315 m of cumulative dyke width) throughout the 52-km-long projected Shashe section. Assuming that Karoo mafic dyke swarms in NE Botswana follow inherited Proterozoic fractures, as similarly applied for most of the nearly synchronous giant dyke complexes converging towards the Nuanetsi area, leads us to consider that the resulting triple junction-like dyke/fracture pattern is not a definitive proof for a deep mantle plume in the Karoo LIP.     

Extensional Late Paleozoic deformation on the western margin of Pangea, Patlanoaya area, Acatlán Complex, southern Mexico

New mapping in the northern part of the Paleozoic Acatlán Complex (Patlanoaya area) records several ductile shear zones and brittle faults with normal kinematics (previously thought to be thrusts). These movement zones separate a variety of units that pass structurally upwards from: (i) blueschist-eclogitic metamorphic rocks (Piaxtla Suite) and mylonitic megacrystic granites (Columpio del Diablo granite ≡ Ordovician granites elsewhere in the complex); (ii) a gently E-dipping, listric, normal shear zone with top to the east kinematic indicators that formed under upper greenschist to lower amphibolite conditions; (iii) the Middle–Late Ordovician Las Minas quartzite (upper greenschist facies psammites with minor interbedded pelites intruded by mafic dikes and a leucogranite dike from the Columpio del Diablo granite) unconformably overlain by the Otate meta-arenite (lower greenschist facies psammites and pelites): roughly temporal equivalents are the Middle–Late Ordovician Mal Paso and Ojo de Agua units (interbedded metasandstone and slate, and metapelite and mafic minor intrusions, respectively) — some of these units are intruded by the massive, 461 ± 2 Ma, Palo Liso megacrystic granite: decussate, contact metamorphic muscovite yielded a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau age of 440 ± 4 Ma; (iv) a steeply-moderately, E-dipping normal fault; (v) latest Devonian–Middle Permian sedimentary rocks (Patlanoaya Group: here elevated from formation status). The upward decrease in metamorphic grade is paralleled by a decrease in the number of penetrative fabrics, which varies from (i) three in the Piaxtla Suite, through (ii) two in the Las Minas unit (E-trending sheath folds deformed by NE-trending, subhorizontal folds with top to the southeast asymmetry, both associated with a solution cleavage), (iii) one in the Otate, Mal Paso, and Ojo de Agua units (steeply SE-dipping, NE–SW plunging, open-close folds), to (iv) none in the Patlanoaya Group. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar analyses of muscovite from the earliest cleavage in the Las Minas unit yielded a plateau age of 347 ± 3 Ma and show low temperature ages of  260 Ma. Post-dating all of these structures and the Patlanoaya Group are NE-plunging, subvertical folds and kink bands. An E–W, vertical normal fault juxtaposes the low-grade rocks against the Anacahuite amphibolite that is cut by megacrystic granite sheets, both of which were deformed by two penetrative fabrics. Amphibole from this unit has yielded a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau age of 299 ± 6 Ma, which records cooling through  490 °C and is probably related to a Permo-Carboniferous reheating event during exhumation. The extensional deformation is inferred to have started in the latest Devonian ( 360 Ma) during deposition of the basal Patlanoaya Group, lasting through the rapid exhumation of the Piaxtla Suite at  350–340 Ma synchronous with cleavage development in the Las Minas unit, deposition of the Patlanoaya Group with active fault-related exhumation suggested by Mississippian and Early Permian conglomerates ( 340 and 300 Ma, respectively), and continuing at least into the Middle Permian (≡ 260 Ma muscovite ages). The continuity of Mid-Continent Mississippian fauna from the USA to southern Mexico suggests that this extensional deformation occurred on the western margin of Pangea after closure of the Rheic Ocean.     

Haines Structure: a probable Eocene complex impact structure in the offshore Canning Basin,Western Australia

A seismic structure imaged in a single 2D seismic profile from the offshore Canning Basin, Western Australia, is interpreted to be a possible complex impact crater on the basis of its seismic character. The feature, herein referred to as the Haines Structure, is symmetrical in two dimensions over ～2.5 km and comprises a centrally uplifted basal surface, a depressed upper surface, a highly deformed intervening package and an overlying horizon that is ‘sagging’ over the depression. The possible impact structure lies within carbonate units of Eocene or Early Oligocene age as determined from seismic correlation to petroleum exploration wells. The structure has not been drilled; therefore distinguishing characteristics used to define an impact origin, such as shock metamorphism, are not available. Comparison with other features in the Neogene succession of Australia's North West Shelf that have previously been interpreted as impact structures highlights the presence of key elements in the Haines Structure that characterise known complex impact craters, and the absence of seismic features related to alternative processes, such as a link to deeper structures that would be expected beneath a volcanic pipe.     

粤东嵩溪银锑矿床成矿构造及矿化富集规律浅析

论述了嵩溪银锑矿床的地质特征、矿脉形态特征及组构特征，通过分析得出矿床成矿断裂的产生有四个阶段，其中银、锑矿化主要与第二、三阶段有关。     

电子地图的数据结构与模型

电子地图是集地图表达、数据处理、地图分析为一体的新型地图产品，其数据组织形式直接关系到电子地图的质量与性能。本文对几种数据结构和模型进行了分析、比较，并探讨了它们在电子地图领域的应用前景。     

云南双江白水河金矿成矿地质特征

白水河金矿属断裂构造控制的热液蚀变型金矿床,金矿体产于新元古界澜沧群变质岩区多期断裂的次级分支断裂破碎带内。沿构造带有辉绿岩脉、石英斑岩脉、煌斑岩脉侵入,首次在临沧地区新元古界澜沧群变质岩区找到金矿。     

云南昌宁文沧铜矿矿床特征及找矿思路

矿体产于平掌组变质绿片岩中,NW向F3断裂破碎带控矿。边缘向中央品位增高。研究构造延伸和矿源可扩大远景。     

佳木斯地体深部构造特征

本文通过重磁资料的数据处理和反演、天然地震震源的统计以及深断裂与火山活动关系的研究提出:佳木斯地体与两侧的造山带有着截然不同的地壳物质组成和构造类型,晚白垩世以来,其深部构造活动性较两侧更强。     

Sur les anomalies structurales de l'anticlinal de l'oued Bahloul de Tunisie : héritage tectonique et plissement cisaillant de couverture

The Oued Bahloul structure exists in the central Atlas of Tunisia. This structure is oriented N70 and it shows a very particular geometry characterized by: (i) an important disharmony between the northern and the southern flanks; (ii) a dissymmetry between the east and the west parts of the structure; (iii) several gaps and progressive unconformities present in the Cretaceous and Eocene series.Three major tectonic directions characterize this structure: (i) the N120 appears in the western part of the anticline; (ii) some north–south faults distinguish the oriental part; (iii) the strike fault, which is confirmed by seismic data, affects the central part of this anticline. To cite this article: A. Saadi et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

三维复电阻率电磁场正演研究

将Cole—Cole模型表示的地下异常体各剖分单元复电阻率,引入到体积分方程求解均匀大地三维电磁场计算中,实现电偶源地面激发、接收复电阻率三维电磁场正演模拟。