Thermal analysis of fractures at Cerberus Fossae, Mars: Detection of air convection in the porous debris apron

This study investigates the cause of high nighttime temperatures within Cerberus Fossae, a system of fractures affecting the Central Elysium Planitia. The inner parts (walls and floor) of the fractures are up to 40 K warmer than the surrounding plains. However, several temperature profiles exhibit a local temperature minima occurring in the central part of the fractures. We examined first the influence of cooling efficiency at night in the case of a strong reduction of the sky proportion induced by the fracture’s geometry. However, the lack of correlation between temperature and sky proportion, calculated from extracted Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) profiles argues against this hypothesis. Albedo variations were considered but appear to be limited within the fractures, and are generally not correlated with the temperatures. Variations of the thermal properties of bedrocks exposures, debris aprons and sand dunes inferred from high-resolution images do not either correlate with temperature variations within the fractures. As none of these factors taken alone, or combined, can satisfactorily explain the temperature variations within and near the fracture, we suggest that geothermal heat transported by air convection within the porous debris aprons may contribute to explain high temperatures at night and the local minima on the fracture floor. The conditions for the occurrence of the suggested phenomenon and the consequences on the surface temperature are numerically explored. A conservative geothermal gradient of 20 mW/m² was used in the simulations, this value being consistent with either inferred lithosphere elastic thicknesses below the shield volcanoes of the Tharsis dome or values predicted from numerical simulations of the thermal evolution of Mars. The model results indicate that temperature differences of 10-20 K between the central and upper parts of the fracture are explained in the case of high Darcy velocities which require high permeability values (5 × 10⁻⁶ m²). The presence of coarse material composing the debris aprons may explain why this key criteria was met in the context of Cerberus Fossae.     

Crustal recycling, mantle dehydration, and the thermal evolution of Mars

We have reinvestigated the coupled thermal and crustal evolution of Mars taking new laboratory data concerning the flow behavior of iron-rich olivine into account. The low mantle viscosities associated with the relatively higher iron content of the martian mantle as well as the observed high concentrations of heat producing elements in a crust with a reduced thermal conductivity were found to promote phases of crustal recycling in many models. As crustal recycling is incompatible with an early separation of geochemical reservoirs, models were required to show no episodes of crustal recycling. Furthermore, admissible models were required to reproduce the martian crust formation history, to allow for the formation of partial melt under present day mantle conditions and to reproduce the measured concentrations of potassium and thorium on the martian surface. Taking dehydration stiffening of the mantle viscosity by the extraction of water from the mantle into account, we found that admissible models have low initial upper mantle temperatures around 1650 K, preferably a primordial crustal thickness of 30 km, and an initially wet mantle rheology. The crust formation process on Mars would then be driven by the extraction of a primordial crust after core formation, cooling the mantle to temperatures close to the peridotite solidus. According to this scenario, the second stage of global crust formation took place over a more extended period of time, waning at around 3500 Myr b.p., and was driven by heat produced by the decay of radioactive elements. Present-day volcanism would then be driven by mantle plumes originating at the core-mantle boundary under regions of locally thickened, thermally insulating crust. Water extraction from the mantle was found to be relatively efficient and close to 40% of the total inventory was lost from the mantle in most models. Assuming an initial mantle water content of 100 ppm and that 10% of the extracted water is supplied to the surface, this amount is equivalent to a 14 m thick global surface layer, suggesting that volcanic outgassing of H₂O could have significantly influenced the early martian climate and increased the planet’s habitability.     

Constraints on the timing and regional conditions at the start of the present phase of crustal extension in western Turkey,from observations in and around the Denizli region

The chronology of extension of the continental crust in western Turkey has been the subject of major controversies. We suggest that these difficulties have arisen in part because of past misuse of dating evidence; and in part because the assumption often made, that deposition of major terrestrial sedimentary sequences implies crustal extension to create the necessary accommodation space, is incorrect. We report evidence that the present phase of extension began in the Denizli region at ~ 7 Ma, around the start of the Messinian stage of the Late Miocene. This timing matches the estimated start of right-lateral slip on the North Anatolian Fault Zone, and corresponds to a substantial increase in the dimensions of the Aegean extensional province to roughly its present size: beforehand, between ~ 12 Ma and ~ 7 Ma, extension seems to have only occurred in the central part of this modern province. In some localities, terrestrial sedimentation that began before this start of extension continued into this extensional phase, both within and outside normal fault zones. However, in other localities within the hanging-walls of normal faults, the start of extension marked the end of sedimentation. Relationships between sedimentation and crustal extension in this region are thus not straightforward, and a simple correlation should therefore not be assumed in structural interpretations. During the time-scale of this phase of extension, the Denizli region has also experienced major vertical crustal motions that are unrelated to this extension. The northern part of this region, in the relatively arid interior of western Turkey, has uplifted by ~ 400 m since the Middle Pliocene, whereas its southern part, closer to the Mediterranean Sea and with a much wetter climate, has uplifted by ~ 1,200 m since the Early Miocene, by up to ~ 900 m since the Middle Pliocene, and by an estimated ~ 300 m since the Early Pleistocene. This regional uplift, superimposed on the local effects of active normal faulting, is interpreted as a consequence of lateral variations in rates of erosion. A reliable chronology for this phase of extension in western Turkey, in relation to changes in the geometry of motions of adjoining plates and Late Cenozoic environmental change, is now in place.     

Postshield stage transitional volcanism on Mahukona Volcano, Hawaii

Age spectra from ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar incremental heating experiments yield ages of 298 ± 25 ka and 310 ± 31 ka for transitional composition lavas from two cones on submarine Mahukona Volcano, Hawaii. These ages are younger than the inferred end of the tholeiitic shield stage and indicate that the volcano had entered the postshield alkalic stage before going extinct. Previously reported elevated helium isotopic ratios of lavas from one of these cones were incorrectly interpreted to indicate eruption during a preshield alkalic stage. Consequently, high helium isotopic ratios are a poor indicator of eruptive stage, as they occur in preshield, shield, and postshield stage lavas. Loihi Seamount and Kilauea are the only known Hawaiian volcanoes where the volume of preshield alkalic stage lavas can be estimated. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Late Quaternary deformation on the island on Pantelleria: New constraints for the recent tectonic evolution of the Sicily Channel Rift (southern Italy)

Structural observations carried out on the volcanic Island of Pantelleria show that the tectonic setting is dominated by NNE trending normal faults and by NW-striking right-lateral strike-slip faults with normal component of motion controlled by a ≈N 100°E oriented extension. This mode of deformation also controls the development of the eruptive fissures, dykes and eruptive centres along NNE–SSW belts that may thus represent the surface response to crustal cracking with associated magma intrusions. Magmatic intrusions are also responsible for the impressive vertical deformations that affect during the Late Quaternary the south-eastern segment of the island and producing a large dome within the Pantelleria caldera complex. The results of the structural analysis carried out on the Island of Pantelleria also improves the general knowledge on the Late Quaternary tectonics of the entire Sicily Channel. ESE–WNW directed extension, responsible for both the tectonic and volcano-tectonic features of the Pantelleria Island, also characterizes, at a greater scale, the entire channel as shown by available geodetic and seismological data. This mode of extension reactivates the older NW–SE trending fault segments bounding the tectonic troughs of the Channel as right-lateral strike-slip faults and produces new NNE trending pure extensional features (normal faulting and cracking) that preferentially develop at the tip of the major strike-slip fault zones. We thus relate the Late Quaternary volcanism of the Pelagian Block magmatism to dilatational strain on the NNE-striking extensional features that develop on the pre-existing stretched area and propagate throughout the entire continental crust linking the already up-welled mantle with the surface.     

Interaction of Tectonic and Surface Geological Processes

1. Introduction to surface processesThe shape or morphology of Earth's surface is basically the result of the interplay between two competing forces - mountain building and erosion. Tectonic forces, driven by thermal energy from Earth's interior, cause the rocks of the crust to be folded, faulted and uplifted into high plateaus and mountain belts. As soon as uplift begins, the processes of erosion, driven by gravity, start to wear away the rocks. Masses of weathered rock move downhill under t…     

老挝帕莱通铁矿地质特征及找矿潜力

老挝帕莱通铁矿,矿体呈层状似层状,以出现多层矿产于中—晚三叠统基性火山岩系中,该铁矿为火山活动的直接产物.矿区显示了较好的找矿前景.尤其是矿区东部及其外围找矿潜力巨大,深部玄武岩喷发间断面之隐伏矿也有较好的找矿前景.矿区中东部除寻找Fe以外,也是Cu多金属矿形成的有利地段.     

论博格达俯冲撕裂型裂谷的形成与演化

博格达裂谷带位于准噶尔与吐－哈两个前寒武纪地块之间,呈东－西走向,东端与克拉麦里－哈尔里克泥盆－石炭纪火山弧呈大角度相交。该 裂谷于早－中石炭世启动和沉降,在盆地中堆积了巨厚的陆源碎屑岩夹双峰式火山岩。裂谷的闭合发生于中石炭世末至晚石炭世。在裂谷闭合后区域构造由挤压向拉张的转折时期,发生了以辉绿岩为主的侵入活动,并伴有少量中－酸性分异产物。博格达裂谷东、西两段的演化特征有着显著差异。东段早石炭世就已开始裂离,裂离过程的火山岩以玄武岩为主,仅有少量流纹岩,裂谷盆地强烈沉降,形成深海－半深海环境,裂谷在中石炭世末至晚石炭世初即已闭合,裂谷岩系因强烈褶皱,与上覆二叠系呈明显角度不整合,显示了“突变”式闭合特征。与此不同的是,西段至中石炭世才开始明显裂离,裂离过程的火山岩以英安岩和流纹岩为主,玄武岩量较少,火山－沉积岩系均形成于浅海环境,裂谷至晚石炭世末才发生闭合,裂谷岩系因未发生强烈褶皱,故与上覆二叠系为平行不整合接触,显示了“渐变”式闭合特征。该裂谷的形成是古亚洲洋壳向先存的准－吐－哈陆块斜向俯冲,将其东南端撕裂的产物,因而可称为俯冲撕裂型裂谷。演化过程沿走向的明显不均一性是这类裂谷的重要特点。     

全球气候变暖的检测及成因分析

文章对近年来有关全球气候变暖中一些问题的研究进展作了总结,主要结论如下：全球平均地面气温在过去一百年来上升0.5℃。80年代是近百年来最暖的10年。90年代初继续变暖。1990年是近百年来最暖的一年。1991年仅次於1990年。但是近百年气候变暖的幅度仍未超过自然变率。近千年中,中世纪暖期（900—1300年）的温暖程度就可能与20世纪相当,而小冰期（1550—1850年）气温则可能比20世纪低1.0—1.5℃。已经证实,对几十年到几百年尺度,太阳活动强时太阳总辐射也强,但变化幅度尚待进一步确定。强火山爆     

Late Quaternary volcanism in New Zealand: Towards an integrated record using distal airfall tephras in lakes and bogs

Studies on distal airfall tephra layers preserved in lake sediments and peats in northern New Zealand have documented the stratigraphic, chronologic, and compositional relationships of 46 eruptives, aged c. 17000–700yr BP, which originated from six North Island volcanic centres: Taupo (9 tephras), Okataina (8), Maroa (1) (rhyolitic); Mayor Island (2) (peralkaline); Tongariro (11), Egmont (15) (andesitic). Sources were distinguished by mineralogy and composition, field relations, and ¹⁴C chronology. All known rhyolitic tephra-producing eruptions from Taupo, Okataina, and Maroa volcanoes since c. 17000yr BP are represented, but only a small proportion of the known tephras erupted from Tongariro, Egmont, or Mayor Island volcanoes is recorded. The distal tephras from these latter volcanic centres may thus reflect atypically powerful (or oblique) eruptions, or dispersal by strong winds. An improved record of volcanism for the Tongariro, Egmont, and Mayor Island centres might be obtainable from suitable lakes or bogs more proximal to them.