The composition and structure of the deep crust of the Capricorn Orogen

Understanding how the Australian continent came together requires an understanding of structure in all levels of the lithosphere. Deep seismic reflection profiles across several Proterozoic orogens have revealed entirely buried tectonic elements, termed seismic provinces. Although undoubtedly important, the nature of these seismic provinces is typically not well characterised. The Capricorn Orogen is one such region, where the upper crust is relatively well known from geological and geophysical studies, but much of the deep crust is buried beneath Proterozoic basins. Here we combine geophysical datasets, including active and passive source seismic data and gravity data, to image the density, seismic velocity and compositional structure of the deep crust of the Capricorn Orogen. Crustal structure interpreted from deep seismic reflection studies is re-scaled using velocity information from receiver function studies. This modified geometry is used to construct a density model that satisfies Bouguer gravity data. Finally, after correcting for temperature and pressure dependencies, the velocity and density information is used to generate a compositional model of the orogen. This model indicates a varied structure with at least four distinct blocks between the Yilgarn and Pilbara cratons, bounded by major shear zones. We suggest that this variation is linked to multiple accretion events during the amalgamation of the West Australian Craton.     

The Characteristics of Seismic Activity Before the Devastating Earthquake with M_W9.0 Off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra

INTRODUCTIONMeasured bythe China Earthquake Networks Center ,a great earthquake withMS8·7 occurred offthe west coast of Northern Sumatra at Beijing Time 08 :58 :55·2 on December 26 , 2004·Themagnitude of the earthquake determined by the National Earthquake Information Center of USA(NEIC) wasMW9·0 .The earthquakeisthe biggestinthe world afterthe 1964 Prince WilliamSound,Alaska earthquake .The tsunami triggered bythe Sumatra earthquake brought about severe devastationfor ten …     

Emplaced Geotechnical Characteristics of Hydraulic Fills in a Number of Australian Mines

Hydraulic fills used in Australian mines have similar grain size distributions whilst having quite different specific gravity values, typically in the range of 2.7–4.4. When produced and distributed in slurry at 65–75% by solid content, they settle to produce fills with similar geotechnical characteristics. The fills under investigation have been found to settle, in the laboratory, to a dry density of about 0.56 × specific gravity, a saturation water content of about 17–34%, and a porosity of 37–49%. A quick estimate of the optimum water content that gives the minimum porosity may be obtained by locating the intersection of the saturation curve and minimum porosity line, which may simply be done on a water content vs. porosity plot. However, transportability of the slurry requires it to be mixed at water content substantially greater than the optimum water content. As the tailings settle out of suspension, they settle to relative density of 50–80%. This paper shows that the current empirical relationships relating relative density and N-value to friction angle for sands will significantly underestimate the friction angle of the hydraulic fills. Based on limited experimental data, a unique relationship between relative density and friction angle is proposed for hydraulic fills placed in some Australian mines.     

The present-day state of tectonic stress in the Darling Basin,Australia: Implications for exploration and production

Knowledge of the full present-day stress tensor and pore pressure has significant applications in the exploration and production of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs. The Darling Basin of New South Wales, Australia, is an old sedimentary basin (Late Cambrian/Silurian to Early Carboniferous) in which there was limited information about the present-day stress field prior to this study. In this paper we evaluate the contemporary stress field of the Darling Basin using a dataset from recent exploration wells and perform a geomechanical risk assessment with respect to borehole stability, fracture/fault generation and reactivation. Our interpretations of borehole failures in borehole image logs reveal a prevailing east-west orientation of the maximum horizontal stress throughout the Darling Basin. The estimates of the magnitudes for the vertical, minimum and maximum horizontal stress in the studied wells indicate a transition between thrust and strike-slip faulting stress regime at 600–700 m depths, where the magnitude of vertical stress and minimum horizontal stress are close to each other. However, the presence of borehole breakouts and drilling-induced tensile fractures, that we observe in the image logs at greater depths (900–2100 m) indicate a transition into a strike-slip tectonic stress regime below a depth range of approximately 700–900 m. These findings are in agreement with overcoring stress measurements east and west of the investigated wells. Furthermore, there are several Neogene-to-Recent geological structures in the study area that indicate thrust faulting with an east-west oriented maximum horizontal stress orientation around this old sedimentary basin. The consistency between the orientation of maximum horizontal stress determined from wellbore data and neotectonic structures is significant, and implies that horizontal stress orientations derived from very recent geological features may be valuable inputs to geomechanical models in the absence of wellbore or other data. However, the recent surface geological structures suggest a thrust faulting stress regime that is in slight contrast to the transition between thrust and strike-slip stress regime (S_H > S_h ∼ S_v) indicated by petroleum data, and highlights a potential pitfall of using neotectonic structures in geomechanical models. In particular, careful attention and verification should be made when using neotectonic structures for input, calibration or confirmation of geomechanical models, especially in intraplate tectonic settings such as Australia.     

中原邙山黄土与末次间冰期以来古季风特征

中原邙山赵下峪剖面出露S10以上黄土地层,厚度大于172.1m。末次间冰期S1古土壤厚15.7m,末次冰期L1黄土厚达77.3m,其中晚冰阶L1LL1黄土、间冰阶L1SS1古土壤和早冰阶L1LL2黄土分别厚41.6m、13.2 m和22.5 m。邙山黄土是厚度最大的晚更新世黄土地层剖面之一,记录了丰富的气候环境变化信息。用SPECMAP氧同位素曲线确定的阶段界限的日历年龄为标定点和磁化率年龄模式,获得相应的时间标尺,据以计算出S2以上各层段的平均沉积速率和分辨率。邙山黄土倒数第二间冰期以来不同冰期或冰阶与间冰期或冰阶的粒度、平均沉积速率和分辨率有很大的差异,其中以末次冰期晚冰阶L1LL1黄土的平均沉积速率为最高,达3.45 mm／a,而末次问冰期S1古土壤的沉积速率亦高达0.28 mm／a。本文主要根据赵下峪剖面的磁化率和>45μm粗颗粒含量变化曲线,并与格陵兰GRIP冰心和深海SPECMAP氧同位素曲线对比,讨论末次间冰期以来古季风特征及其相互关系。     

Plate-driven extension and convergence along the East Gondwana active margin: Late Silurian–Middle Devonian tectonics of the Lachlan Fold Belt,southeastern Australia

The Werner deconvolution technique for automatic analysis of magnetic data is a powerful tool for the interpretation of magnetic profiles. In particular, the technique is a valuable aid to the interpretation of deep crustal structures beneath the continental margin which frequently lie below the penetration of all but the most high-powered seismic reflection tools. Inverse modelling of selected simple geological structures (buried scarp, graben, half-graben) confirms that the interface model is valuable in delineating the tops of magnetic bodies, while the thin sheet model gives an indication of the depth extent of the bodies. In the case of horizontal sheets in contact (simulating oceanic spreading anomalies), the thin sheet model delineates the boundary, while the interface model gives estimates which are too shallow.

As an illustration of the value of the Werner deconvolution method in regional marine studies, the magnetic basement in the Great Australian Bight (GAB) has been mapped using a set of magnetic profiles; seismic data in the GAB is of limited use in this mapping. Interpretation of the profiles confirms earlier assessments that there is a minimum of 10 km of sediment beneath the Ceduna Terrace (Great Australian Bight Basin), 3 km beneath the Eyre Terrace (Eyre Sub-basin), 6 km in the Duntroon Embayment, 3 km in the Polda Trough, and 4 km beneath the continental rise. The most prominent basement structure in the GAB is the east-west-trending scarp which delineates the northern flank of the Eyre Sub-basin, GAB Basin, and Polda Trough. The gross linearity of this escarpment for 1000 km and the fact that it appears to mark a northern boundary to the extensional basins of the margin suggests that continental extension in the pre-Middle Jurassic took place preferentially south of an old (Precambrian) lineament in the Gawler Block. Polda Trough sediments are probably included in fault-blocks underlying the northern part of the GAB Basin. The interpretation supports the concept of northwest-southeast extension prior to Late Cretaceous breakup.     

冬季亚澳季风环流的低频耦合过程

利用1982—1983年和1984—1985年两个冬季的欧洲中期预报中心格点资料研究了冬季东亚西风急流与澳大利亚夏季风在低频尺度上的相互作用与可能的传播方式。结果表明,我国北部上空的西风急流(及相应的锋区)与澳大利亚的夏季风的低频变化有很好的一致性。它们的联系和相互作用表现为:东亚西风急流通过改变西北太平洋地区的越赤道气流影响澳大利亚夏季风的低频变化,而澳大利亚夏季风则通过增强或减弱的高空辐散向北气流影响东亚西风急流。将这种相互作用称为亚澳季风环流的“低频耦合过程”。     

Sanmenxia Loess and Paleoenvironmental Change

INTRODUCTIONThe Sanmenxia area is located at the SE marginof the Loess Plateau,where a thick-layered loess de-posit developed(Fig.1).Previous research has al-ready been carried out on some loess stratigraphy inthe area(Teng,1988;Xie and Jiang,1987;Yue,1985,1984),which concentrated on petrostratigra-phy and magnetostratigraphy.Further environmentalinvestigation has not yet been pursued.After the ge-ological survey(Zheng et al.,1992;An et al.,1989;Ding and Liu,1989),more integrated str…     

SVD分析揭示的澳大利亚高压年际变化对中国夏季降水的可能影响

澳大利亚高压是东亚夏季风系统的重要成员之一,其对中国夏季气候存在显著影响.为了进一步弄清年际时间尺度上的澳大利亚高压变化对中国东部夏季降水的影响,利用澳大利哑海平面气压和中国夏季降水站点资料,使用SVD和线性回归方法揭示了澳大利亚高压的年际变化与中国夏季降水异常的联系,得到:SVD的第1模态的时间系数与通常使用的澳大利亚高压指数相关可达到0.98.在有无考虑ENSO的影响时,SVD的第1模态均反映出澳大利亚高压的年际变化与中国江南地区夏季降水存在密切联系,也即澳大利亚高压增强(减弱)时,江南地区降水增多(减少).澳大利亚高压对中国夏季降水的可能影响途径为:澳大利哑高压通过影响赤道纬向气流和越赤道气流并通过类似PJ波列的方式影响到中国东部地区:澳大利亚高压增强时,造成西太平洋副热带高压偏南、偏西,同时,105°E处越赤道气流显著加强,为江南地区提供充足水汽源,利于中国江南地区降水;澳大利亚高压减弱时,情况相反;在强(弱)澳大利哑高压年,印度尼西亚及热带辐合带海区SSTA负(正)异常使得低层风场的异常辐散(辐合),激发了澳大利哑南部以及西太平洋地区异常反气旋(气旋)环流,同时江南地区出现异常辐合(辐散),引起大气异常上升(下沉)运动,有利于中国江南地区夏季降水异常偏多(偏少).     

三门峡地区末次盛冰期至全新世早期的古季风事件

通过三门峡地区小刘寺剖面黄土- 古土壤序列磁化率曲线和粗颗粒组分含量曲线的研究,发现它们分别指示的夏季风和冬季风变迁在末次冰消期向全新世转变时的新仙女木事件中显示不同的变化特征。夏季风的加强过程对应于冬季风的大幅度波动,气候为凉湿背景上的冷湿与暖湿振荡。冰后期的早期为全新世第一暧期。夏季风强盛对应于冬季风衰弱的湿暖气候,它由夏季风锋面降水的穿时性所决定,在华北地区为全新世适宜期。8 kaBP 前后为夏季风偏弱对应于冬季风偏强的干冷气候,是具有普遍意义的全新世第一冷期。这3 次古季风事件可与格陵兰冰芯记录进