Depositional model for a prograding oolitic wedge,Upper Jurassic,Iberian basin

Facies architecture and bedding patterns of the Kimmeridgian Pozuel Formation (Iberian Basin) evidence that this 50–70-m thick oolitic-grainstone unit conforms to the Infralittoral Prograding Wedge (ILPW) model instead of the classic models used for interpreting oolitic grainstones sandbodies on carbonate ramps or platforms (i.e., bank-margin shoal complexes, beaches and beach ridges).Ten lithofacies have been distinguished in the Pozuel Formation: 5–10° dipping clinobedded oolitic grainstone foresets passing to tabular oolitic packstones-grainstones, which interfinger the muddy basinal bottomsets. Landwards, the clinobeds pass into subhorizontal topsets composed of trough cross-bedded to structureless oolitic grainstones; oolitic-skeletal grainstones with stromatoporoids and coral-stromatoporoid-microbial mounds. Siliciclastic lithofacies and oncolitic/peloidal packstones occur at the innermost position. These lithofacies stack in strike elongated, 5–20-m thick, 0,5–2 km dip-oriented wide, aggradational-progradational packages with complex sigmoid-oblique geometries.Lithofacies, depositional geometries and stacking pattern permit to summarize the main characteristic of such Upper Jurassic oolitic infralittoral prograding wedge potentially to be applied in other oolitic sandbodies both in outcrops and subsurface: 1) sediment production within the wave action zone, 2) grainstone-dominated textures, 3) prograding basinward onto basinal muds, 4) laterally (strike) extensive, paralleling the shoreline, 5) variable thickness, commonly of few tens of meters, 6) broadly sigmoidal to oblique internal architecture, with topsets, foresets and bottomsets, 7) dip of foresets close to the angle of repose, 8) topsets deposited in shallow-water, extending through the shoreface, from the shoreline down to the wave base, 9) mounds, either microbial or skeletal, may occur in the topsets.The coated-grains factory was along the high-energy, wave-dominated outer platform (topset beds), from where the mud was winnowed and the grains transported both landward to the platform interior, and seaward to the platform edge, from were the grains cascaded down the slopes as grain flows and mass flows, forming clinobeds. This genetic model can be applied to other grain-dominated lithosomes, some of them forming hydrocarbon reservoirs, e.g., the Jurassic Hanifa Formation and some Arab-D (e.g., Qatif Field) in Arabia, the Smackover Formation in northern Louisiana and south Arkansas, the Aptian Shuaiba Formation (e.g., Bu Hasa Field) and the Cenomanian Mishrif Formation (e.g., Umm Adalkh Field) of the Arabian Gulf.     

Fission track and fault kinematics analyses for new insight into the Late Cenozoic tectonic regime changes in West-Central Sulawesi (Indonesia)

A 3-D density model for the Cretan and Libyan Seas and Crete was developed by gravity modelling constrained by five 2-D seismic lines. Velocity values of these cross-sections were used to obtain the initial densities using the Nafe–Drake and Birch empirical functions for the sediments, the crust and the upper mantle. The crust outside the Cretan Arc is 18 to 24 km thick, including 10 to 14 km thick sediments. The crust below central Crete at its thickest section, has values between 32 and 34 km, consisting of continental crust of the Aegean microplate, which is thickened by the subducted oceanic plate below the Cretan Arc. The oceanic lithosphere is decoupled from the continental along a NW–SE striking front between eastern Crete and the Island of Kythera south of Peloponnese. It plunges steeply below the southern Aegean Sea and is probably associated with the present volcanic activity of the southern Aegean Sea in agreement with published seismological observations of intermediate seismicity. Low density and velocity upper mantle below the Cretan Sea with ρ  3.25 × 10³ kg/m³ and V_p velocity of compressional waves around 7.7 km/s, which are also in agreement with observed high heat flow density values, point out at the mobilization of the upper mantle material here. Outside the Hellenic Arc the upper mantle density and velocity are ρ ≥ 3.32 × 10³ kg/m³ and V_p = 8.0 km/s, respectively. The crust below the Cretan Sea is thin continental of 15 to 20 km thickness, including 3 to 4 km of sediments. Thick accumulations of sediments, located to the SSW and SSE of Crete, are separated by a block of continental crust extended for more than 100 km south of Central Crete. These deep sedimentary basins are located on the oceanic crust backstopped by the continental crust of the Aegean microplate. The stretched continental margin of Africa, north of Cyrenaica, and the abruptly terminated continental Aegean microplate south of Crete are separated by oceanic lithosphere of only 60 to 80 km width at their closest proximity. To the east and west, the areas are floored by oceanic lithosphere, which rapidly widens towards the Herodotus Abyssal plain and the deep Ionian Basin of the central Mediterranean Sea. Crustal shortening between the continental margins of the Aegean microplate and Cyrenaica of North Africa influence the deformation of the sediments of the Mediterranean Ridge that has been divided in an internal and external zone. The continental margin of Cyrenaica extends for more than 80 km to the north of the African coast in form of a huge ramp, while that of the Aegean microplate is abruptly truncated by very steep fractures towards the Mediterranean Ridge. Changes in the deformation style of the sediments express differences of the tectonic processes that control them. That is, subduction to the northeast and crustal subsidence to the south of Crete. Strike-slip movement between Crete and Libya is required by seismological observations.     

亚洲地球动力系统的演进与东亚矿产资源效应

本文系统阐述了亚洲中部及邻区地球动力系统的演变进程及其所制约的区域地质和成矿特征,并提出了以下新认识和新观点:①在西伯利亚陆块与中朝—塔里木陆块之间的原"古亚洲洋"区域内是全球地史演化中具有双向侧向陆缘增生与垂向增生同时发展的"双向增生"独特地区。②"古中国陆块群"是位于劳亚古陆和冈瓦纳古陆之间独立存在的古陆。由于它的特殊位置而构成了古亚洲洋与特提斯洋的"分水岭"。③地球动力学的"内动力"归根到底来自地球自身的两个方面:一是地球自转和公转形成的离心力(拉张力)与挤压力,它是地球动力学的基础,二是地球内部永不衰败的"高热能库"。当今地震、火山等等,都是地下过饱和的高热能向地表释放的一瞬间转变为强动能的地质事件。④由地球动力系统演变打造的具有不同特征的断裂系统是控矿储矿的良好空间,因此"断裂系统找矿法"是简便有效的找矿方法之一。据此提出了4个理论指导找矿的试点和验证区。     

贵州关岭大寨崩滑碎屑流灾害初步研究

2010年6月28日,贵州省关岭县岗乌镇大寨村发生特大型崩滑碎屑(石)流灾害,造成99人死亡或失踪。通过现场考察崩滑区的地质环境与斜坡岩体结构,认为斜坡体由似"干砌块石结构"的裂隙化岩体组成是发生崩溃式破坏的主要内在原因。超常暴雨(过程雨量237mm)条件下斜坡岩体后缘裂缝充水形成持续的"水楔作用"是斜坡岩体松动、倾倒垮塌的主要外部引发因素。碎屑(石)流块度的空间分布具有从源头向沟口逐次减小,碎屑(石)流运动冲击高度逐步降低,冲击速度逐步减小,并显示4个能级4个冲程的特点。根据动势能守恒定律,计算了每个冲程的最大速度,得出第1冲程为高速崩滑,其它冲程属于碎屑(石)流动冲击。未发现区域天然地震、光照水库诱发地震与外围历史采矿活动与本次事件相关的直接证据。由于滑坡后缘仍存在不稳定岩体,碎屑(石)流堆积体上多处分布直径3～5m的堰塞塘,说明碎屑(石)空隙的排泄能力不足,在未来暴雨条件下引发新的崩滑或形成沟谷型泥石流的可能性是存在的。     

大别山低级变质岩的构造背景

大别山南北两侧的浅变质岩是碰撞造山以前洋壳俯冲造山阶段的重要组成部分。木兰山片岩或张八岭群是俯冲的洋壳;苏家河群、信阳群和佛子岭群是由洋壳俯冲形成的海沟沉积,并因俯冲过程中的前进变形而形成增生楔;杨山煤系和梅山群是石炭纪弧前盆地沉积,并因俯冲过程中的前进变形而被增生楔逆掩。宿松群是扬子大陆被动边缘沉积,不是俯冲造山带的成员。因洋壳俯冲形成的弧和弧后盆地可能已被新生界沉积物掩盖。高压—超高压变质带是碰撞造山后期从深部折返的外来体。高压—超高压变质带正好处于洋壳和增生楔之间,破坏了早期洋壳俯冲造山带的完整性,使得洋壳俯冲造山阶段的特征被破坏,因而不易辨别。俯冲造山阶段应为奥陶纪到泥盆纪,碰撞造山阶段应从二叠纪开始。     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987110000034

<正>We synthesize significant recent results on the deep structure and origin of the active volcanoes in mainland China.Magmatism in the western Pacific arc and back-arc areas is caused by dehydration of the subducting slab and by corner flow in the mantle wedge,whereas the intraplate magmatism in China has different origins.The active volcanoes in Northeast China(such as the Changbai and Wuda-lianchi) are caused by hot upwelling in the big mantle wedge(BMW) above the stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone and deep slab dehydration as well.The Tengchong volcano in Southwest China is caused by a similar process in the BMW above the subducting Burma microplate(or Indian plate). The Hainan volcano in southernmost China is a hotspot fed by a lower-mantle plume which may be associated with the Pacific and Philippine Sea slabs' deep subduction in the east and the Indian slab's deep subduction in the west down to the lower mantle.The stagnant slab finally collapses down to the bottom of the mantle,which can trigger the upwelling of hot mantle materials from the lower mantle to the shallow mantle beneath the subducting slabs and may cause the slab—plume interactions.     

Integration of natural data within a numerical model of ablative subduction: a possible interpretation for the Alpine dynamics of the Austroalpine crust

A numerical modelling approach is used to validate the physical and geological reliability of the ablative subduction mechanism during Alpine convergence in order to interpret the tectonic and metamorphic evolution of an inner portion of the Alpine belt: the Austroalpine Domain. The model predictions and the natural data for the Austroalpine of the Western Alps agree very well in terms of P–T peak conditions, relative chronology of peak and exhumation events, P–T–t paths, thermal gradients and the tectonic evolution of the continental rocks. These findings suggest that a pre‐collisional evolution of this domain, with the burial of the continental rocks (induced by ablative subduction of the overriding Adria plate) and their exhumation (driven by an upwelling flow generated in a hydrated mantle wedge) could be a valid mechanism that reproduces the actual tectono‐metamorphic configuration of this part of the Alps. There is less agreement between the model predictions and the natural data for the Austroalpine of the Central‐Eastern Alps. Based on the natural data available in the literature, a critical discussion of the other proposed mechanisms is presented, and additional geological factors that should be considered within the numerical model are suggested to improve the fitting to the numerical results; these factors include variations in the continental and/or oceanic thickness, variation of the subduction rate and/or slab dip, the initial thermal state of the passive margin, the occurrence of continental collision and an oblique convergence.     

Debris flow and slide deposits at the top of the Internal Liguride ophiolitic sequence, Northern Apennines, Italy: A record of frontal tectonic erosion in a fossil accretionary wedge

Abstract In the Northern Apennines, the Internal Liguride units are characterized by an ophiolite sequence that represents the stratigraphic base of a late Jurassic–early Paleocene sedimentary cover. The Bocco Shale represents the youngest deposit recognized in the sedimentary cover of the ophiolite and can be subdivided into two different groups of deep sea sediments. The first group is represented by slide, debris flow and high density turbidity current-derived deposits, whereas the second group consists of thin-bedded turbidites. Facies analysis and provenance studies indicate, for the former group, small and scarcely evoluted flows that rework an oceanic lithosphere and its sedimentary cover. We interpret the Bocco Shale as an ancient example of a deposit related to the frontal tectonic erosion of the accretionary wedge slope. The frontal tectonic erosion resulted in a large removal of materials, from the accretionary wedge front, that was reworked as debris flows and slide deposits sedimented on the lower plate above the trench deposits. The frontal tectonic erosion was probably connected with subduction of oceanic crust characterized by positive topographic relief. This interpretation can be also applied for the origin of analogous deposits of Western Alps and Corsica.     

Ridge collision and in situ greenstones in accretionary complexes: An example from the Late Cretaceous Ryukyu Islands and southwest Japan margin

Abstract Mélange units containing greenstones are common throughout the Cretaceous-Miocene Shimanto Supergroup in the Ryukyu Is and southwest Japan. Most greenstones in the accretionary complex originated in oceanic spreading ridges and seamounts, and they formed far from the convergent margin. Some mélange-like units in the supergroup, however, contain greenstones that were extruded upon and intruded into unconsolidated fine-grained terrigenous clastic sediments. It is inferred that eruption of the in situ greenstones resulted from igneous activity in the trench area. Geochemical signatures indicate that the greenstone protoliths were similar to mafic lavas generated at spreading ridges. Fossil ages of the strata containing in situ greenstones become younger over a distance of 1300 km eastward from Amami-Oshima (Cenomanian-Turonian) in the Ryukyu Is to central Japan (Late Maestrichtian-earliest Paleocene), implying that a site of igneous activity in the trench area migrated eastward along the Ryukyu Is and southwest Japan margin. Plate reconstructions of the northwest Pacific Ocean suggest the presence of the Kula-Pacific ridge near Late Cretaceous to early Paleogene Japan. In this context, it is suggested that the greenstones formed in response to Kula-Pacific ridge-forearc collision.
Ancient ridge-forearc collisions are best recognized by the presence of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) extruded on sediments inferred to have accumulated in the trench area. Diachronous occurrences of the strata associated with these MORB in an orogenic belt are useful for documenting the ridge collision through time.