Seamount Characteristics and Mine-Site Model Applied to Exploration- and Mining-Lease-Block Selection for Cobalt-Rich Ferromanganese Crusts

Regulations are being developed through the International Seabed Authority (ISBA) for the exploration and mining of cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts. This paper lays out geologic and geomorphologic criteria that can be used to determine the size and number of exploration and mine-site blocks that will be the focus of much discussion within the ISBA Council deliberations. The surface areas of 155 volcanic edifices in the central equatorial Pacific were measured and used to develop a mine-site model. The mine-site model considers areas above 2,500 m water depth as permissive, and narrows the general area available for exploration and mining to 20% of that permissive area. It is calculated that about eighteen 100 km² exploration blocks, each composed of five 20 km² contiguous sub-blocks, would be adequate to identify a 260 km² 20-year-mine site; the mine site would be composed of thirteen of the 20 km² sub-blocks. In this hypothetical example, the 260 km² mine site would be spread over four volcanic edifices and comprise 3.7% of the permissive area of the four edifices and 0.01% of the total area of those four edifices. The eighteen 100 km² exploration blocks would be selected from a limited geographic area. That confinement area is defined as having a long dimension of not more than 1,000 km and an area of not more than 300,000 km².     

南海北部东沙运动的构造特征及动力学机制探讨

南海北部陆缘在南海扩张结束后发生了一次重要的构造运动—东沙运动.因前人对其研究较少,目前对其发生时间、影响范围和形成机制等都存在较大的争议.通过对东沙海区及其邻区新近纪地层二维、三维地震资料的详细解释,确定了东沙运动发生在晚中新世晚期,并在晚中新世末/早上新世初(5.5Ma)停止活动.东沙运动主要波及东沙隆起和潮汕坳陷地区,构造上主要表现为断块升降,其中隆起区沉积物遭受剥蚀,造成中新世及部分上新世地层的缺失.这次运动还形成了大量次级的NW-NWW向张性、张扭性断裂,构造运动整体上具有东强西弱的特点.东沙运动可能与新近纪以来菲律宾海板块持续向NWW方向运动导致的吕宋岛弧与欧亚大陆在9～6Ma期间开始发生的弧陆碰撞有关.同时,由于南海向马尼拉海沟下的俯冲及洋壳的冷却沉降作用,南海北部陆缘处于拉张环境,岩浆底侵到下地壳底部形成高速层,破坏了该区域的地壳均衡,从而造成上部地壳的隆升.     

碰撞条件下高弹模CFRP加固自升式平台桩腿性能分析

由于腐蚀、海生物附着等因素导致老龄化海洋平台在与船舶碰撞的事故作用下,桩腿变形加大,降低了承载性能。为减少碰撞对桩腿的损伤,提高其耐撞性能,提出了利用吸收能力较强的高弹模CFRP材料加固平台桩腿的方法。以某自升式海洋平台桩腿为例,利用有限元法建立简化的碰撞模型,通过在局部损伤部位粘贴高弹模CFRP材料来提高桩腿的耐撞性能,验证高弹模CFRP加固方法,提高其耐撞性能的有效性。研究表明,相同的碰撞条件下,加固前碰撞力使桩腿产生了接近屈服强度的应力;粘贴2层CFRP布后,桩腿吸能下降56.3%,极值应力下降了14.7%;粘贴CFRP板后,桩腿吸能下降70.68%,桩腿的极值应力下降57.36%。     

土壤风蚀过程颗粒释放机理研究

针对目前土壤风蚀中土壤颗粒释放过程机理研究存在的不足,建立了颗粒在土壤表面起动、滚动、起跳的土壤颗粒释放力学模型,同时考虑了太阳辐射及地表温度产生的向上垂向风速对颗粒起动风速的影响,并采用前人的实验结果与本文模型数值计算结果进行了对比分析,证明其模型的合理性。数值结果表明：起动风速随颗粒粒径的增大先减小后增大,其中在0.12~0.14 mm粒径范围内颗粒最容易起动,同时床面温度越高对颗粒的起动风速影响也越明显,同一粒径下床面温度越高起动风速越小。颗粒在床面上的运动不是纯滚动,而是滚动中有滑动。颗粒起跳速度主要分布在0.3~0.65 m/s之间;起跳角度30°~35°之间;颗粒起跳的角速度主要分布在600~1 200 rev/s。土壤颗粒释放微观过程的研究将对改进土壤风蚀输送过程中的宏观监测与预报起到重要作用。     

柴北缘超高压变质带：从大洋到大陆的深俯冲过程

    柴北缘超高压变质带同我国大别- 苏鲁造山带类似,同属典型的大陆型俯冲碰撞带。柯石英在榴辉岩和片麻岩中均 有发现,且石榴橄榄岩锆石中含有金刚石。本文从岩石学、温压计算、地球化学和年代学四个方面,对此带中的鱼卡、绿 梁山、锡铁山和都兰4 个榴辉岩和石榴橄榄岩出露地区近些年的研究进展进行了系统详细的综述。与典型的大陆型俯冲碰 撞带不同,柴北缘超高压变质带保存了早期陆壳俯冲前发生的洋壳深俯冲的证据。因此,结合现有数据,本文对柴北缘超 高压变质带从大洋俯冲到大陆俯冲碰撞的构造演化模式进行了探讨。     

Chronological constraints on the tectonic evolution of the Chinese Tianshan Orogen through detrital zircons from modern and palaeo-river sands

The Chinese Tianshan Orogen marks prolonged and complicated interactions between the southwestern Palaeo-Asian Ocean and surrounding blocks. New and previously published detrital zircon chronological data from modern and palaeo-river sands were compiled to reveal its tectonic evolution. It is characterized by predominant Palaeozoic as well as minor Mesozoic and Precambrian detrital zircon ages with a multimodal characteristic. The oldest Phanerozoic zircon population (peaking at 475 Ma) is a result of subduction and closure of the early Palaeozoic Terskey Ocean. However, the absence of this peak in the Chinese North and southern South Tianshan suggests that subductions of the North and South Tianshan oceans may not have initiated until the Late Ordovician with subsequent 460–390 and 360–320 Ma arc magmatism. Similar to the magmatic suite in classic collisional orogens, the youngest massive 320–270 Ma magmatism is suggested to be post-collisional. The North and South Tianshan oceans therefore probably had their closure to form the Chinese Tianshan Orogen during the late Carboniferous. The weak Mesozoic intra-plate magmatism further rejects a late Permian–Triassic Tianshan Orogen due to a lack of extensive syn- and post-collisional magmatism. Moreover, diverse Precambrian detrital zircon age patterns indicate that the surrounding blocks have distinct evolutionary processes with short-term amalgamation during the Meso- to Neoproterozoic.     

再论印度与亚洲大陆何时何地发生初始碰撞

印度与亚洲大陆碰撞形成了喜马拉雅造山带.该造山带是当今固体地球科学研究的重点和热点,是建立新的大陆动力学理论的最佳天然实验室.印度与亚洲大陆碰撞时限是正确认识和理解该造山带形成与演化、高原隆升的动力学过程等的起点.近南北向陆陆碰撞的最直接证据是碰撞带两侧块体在古纬度上的相互重叠.本文拟通过对相关古地磁资料的分析,结合近年来在拉萨地块南缘林子宗群火山岩和沉积岩夹层上获得的最新古地磁结果,探索当今古地磁数据所限定的印度和亚洲大陆发生初始碰撞的时间和古地理位置.结果表明,拉萨地块林子宗群形成时期(约64~44 Ma)古亚洲大陆最南缘的古地理位置(~10°N)限定了印度与亚洲大陆的初始碰撞最可能发生在65~50 Ma之间;如果以由印度洋海底地形所限定的东冈瓦纳大陆裂解前的印度板块形状为大印度模型,则印度与亚洲大陆的初始碰撞很可能发生在60~55 Ma之间.     

Recognition of Paleo-Tethys Suture Zone in eastern Myanmar

The site of final closure of Paleo-Tethys Ocean during the Triassic-Jurassic was marked by the colli-sional event between the Shan Massif and Indochina plate, in eastern Myanmar. Previous site of consumption of Paleo-Tethys is now occupied by a complex zone of suturing and deformation along Than Lwin River and in the east of it, formed by drastic tectonic evolution. It is geographically located approximately between longitudes 98E and 100E, and it extends northwards to Yunnan and southwards into West Thailand. The sigmoidal wrench struc-tures of suture zone is situated in the east of step-like structures of Shan Massif, and the western boundary of the suture zone must be immediately on the west side of Than Lwin River and the eastern boundary is near the east border of Myanmar. The area is largely covered by younger rocks of Paleozoic and Mesozoic age. The Upper Pa-leozoic units of Carboniferous to Permian comprise limestone and dolomite of the Plateau Limestone overlying unconformably the Lower Paleozoic rocks. Metasedimentary rocks of the Carboniferous and their metamorphic equivalents and the flysch-like Triassic-Jurassic units are found as folded and thrusted beds in the area. Large complex of granitic rocks of Late Triassic are also found. Metavolcanics, gabbro and a large number of chromite occur along with these units. A preliminary delineation of a suture zone as the site of closure of Paleo-Tethys Ocean in Myanmar territory is made for the first time and this zone is believed to be a tectonic linkage between Changning-Menglian belt of West China and Inthanon Zone of West Thailand.     

Paleomagnetic constraints on Miocene rotation in the central Japan Arc

We present new Middle Miocene paleomagnetic data for the central Japan Arc, and discuss their implications for Miocene rotation. To obtain a refined paleodirection, we made magnetic measurements on basaltic to andesitic lavas and intrusive rocks from 12 sites in the Tsugu volcanic rocks (ca 15 Ma) in the northern part of the Shitara area, Japan. Significant secondary magnetizations in samples with strong magnetic intensities are interpreted as lightning‐induced components. Mean directions carried by magnetite and/or titanomagnetite were determined for all sites. An overall mean direction with a northerly declination was obtained from dual‐polarity site means for nine sites. This direction is indistinguishable from the mean direction for coeval parallel dikes in the northern part of the Shitara area, and also indistinguishable from the Miocene reference direction derived from the paleopole for the North China Block in the Asian continent. These comparisons suggest little or no rotation or latitudinal motion in the study area with respect to the North China Block since 15 Ma. We obtained a refined early Middle Miocene paleodirection (D = 9.7°, I = 52.5°, α₉₅ = 4.8°; 30 sites) and paleopole (82.0°N, 230.8°E, A₉₅ = 5.6°) for Shitara by combining data from the Tsugu volcanic rocks and a coeval dike swarm. An anomalous direction found at three sites could be a record of an extraordinary field during a geomagnetic polarity transition or excursion. Paleomagnetic data from Shitara suggest that: (i) the western wing of the Kanto Syntaxis, a prominent cuspate geologic structure in central Honshu, underwent a counterclockwise rotation with respect to the main part of the southwestern Japan Arc between ca 17.5 Ma and 15 Ma; (ii) collision between the Japan and Izu–Bonin (Ogasawara) Arcs began prior to 15 Ma; and (iii) clockwise rotation of the entire southwestern part of the Japan Arc had ceased by 15 Ma.     

Chronology of subduction and collision along the İzmir-Ankara suture in Western Anatolia: records from the Central Sakarya Basin

ABSTRACT

Western Anatolia is a complex assemblage of terranes, including the Sakarya Terrane and the Tauride-Anatolide Platform that collided during the late Cretaceous and Palaeogene (80–25 Ma) after the closure of the Izmir-Ankara Ocean. Determining the precise timing at which this ocean closed is particularly important to test kinematic reconstructions and geodynamic models of the Mediterranean region, and the chronology of suturing and its mechanisms remain controversial. Here, we document the Cretaceous-Eocene sedimentary history of the Central Sakarya Basin, along the northern margin of the Neotethys Ocean, via various approaches including biostratigraphy, geochronology, and sedimentology. Two high-resolution sections from the Central Sakarya Basin show that pelagic carbonate sedimentation shifted to rapid siliciclastic deposition in the early Campanian (~ 79.6 Ma), interpreted to be a result of the build-up of the accretionary prism at the southern margin of the Sakarya Terrane. Rapid onset of deltaic progradation and an increase in accumulation rates in the late Danian (~ 61 Ma), as well as a local angular unconformity are attributed to the onset of collision between the Sakarya Terrane and the Tauride-Anatolide Platform. Thus, our results indicate that though deformation of the subduction margin in Western Anatolia started as early as the Campanian, the closure of the ?zmir-Ankara Ocean was only achieved by the early Palaeocene.