U/Pb dating of detrital zircons from late Palaeozoic deposits of Bel’kovsky Island (New Siberian Islands): critical testing of Arctic tectonic models

Detrital zircon U/Pb ages provide new insights into the provenance of Upper Devonian–Permian clastic rocks of Bel’kovsky Island, within the New Siberian Islands archipelago. Based on these new data, we demonstrate that Upper Devonian–Carboniferous turbidites of Bel’kovsky Island were derived from Grenvillian, Sveconorwegian, and Timanian sources similar to those that fed Devonian–Carboniferous deposits of the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago and Wrangel Island and were probably located within Laurentia–Baltica. Detrital zircon ages from the lower Permian deposits of Bel’kovsky Island suggest a drastic change in provenance and show a strong affinity with the Uralian Orogen. Two possible models to interpret this shift in provenance are proposed. The first involves movement of these continental blocks from the continental margin of Laurentia–Baltica towards the Uralian Orogen during the late Carboniferous to Permian, while the second argues for long sediment transport across the Barents shelf.     

海洋钙离子非保守行为及海洋钙问题

钙离子是海洋11种常量离子之一,与钠、钾等离子的保守性不同,钙离子在海洋中的分布表现出微小但系统的变化。钙离子的变化往往与海洋碳酸钙的形成和溶解过程有关,所以,钙离子可直接指示海洋碳酸钙通量（深层海洋碳通量的主要组成部分）。同时,碳酸钙沉淀或溶解又会改变总碱度和溶解无机碳,通过钙离子变化也能间接探讨海洋碳酸盐系统和海洋吸收CO2的能力。介绍了以碳酸钙溶解形成超额钙为主的海洋钙离子多种非保守行为及其控制过程,讨论这些过程对海水组成和海洋碳酸盐系统的影响,探讨未来海洋酸化条件下钙离子可能的变化及其潜在的效应,最后展望在南海开展钙离子精细行为的研究意义。      

S-wave velocity images of the Dead Sea Basin provided by ambient seismic noise

Based on passive seismic interferometry applied to ambient seismic noise recordings between station pairs belonging to a small-scale array, we have obtained shear wave velocity images of the uppermost materials that make up the Dead Sea Basin. We extracted empirical Green’s functions from cross-correlations of long-term recordings of continuous data, and measured inter-station Rayleigh wave group velocities from the daily correlation functions for positive and negative correlation time lags in the 0.1–0.5 Hz bandwidth. A tomographic inversion of the travel times estimated for each frequency is performed, allowing the laterally varying 3-D surface wave velocity structure below the array to be retrieved. Subsequently, the velocity-frequency curves are inverted to obtain S-wave velocity images of the study area as horizontal depth sections and longitude- and latitude-depth sections. The results, which are consistent with other previous ones, provide clear images of the local seismic velocity structure of the basin. Low shear velocities are dominant at shallow depths above 3.5 km, but even so a spit of land with a depth that does not exceed 4 km is identified as a salt diapir separating the low velocities associated with sedimentary infill on both sides of the Lisan Peninsula. The lack of low speeds at the sampling depth of 11.5 km implies that there are no sediments and therefore that the basement is near 10–11 km depth, but gradually decreasing from south to north. The results also highlight the bowl-shaped basin with poorly consolidated sedimentary materials accumulated in the central part of the basin. The structure of the western margin of the basin evidences a certain asymmetry both whether it is compared to the eastern margin and it is observed in north–south direction. Infill materials down to ∼8 km depth are observed in the hollow of the basin, unlike what happens in the north and south where they are spread beyond the western Dead Sea shore.     

Salt-dissolution-induced subsidence in the Dead Sea area detected by applying interferometric techniques to ALOS Palsar Synthetic Aperture Radar images

This paper discusses the interpretation of ground motions detected in the dried up Lynch Strait, Dead Sea area, by applying radar interferometric techniques to ALOS Palsar Synthetic Aperture Radar images. Four ALOS scenes spanning from December 15, 2007 to May 17, 2008 have been processed leading to the generation of five interferograms. Three ground deformation zones have been detected. One of them shows surface displacement which could be related to an earthquake (ML 3.1) that took place on April 13, 2008. High rates of subsidence have been measured in the northern Lynch Strait. They suggest that these subsidence phenomena follow the same trend of rapid increase as sinkholes. Additional measurements should be carried out in order to refine this observation.

The comparison between sinkholes' distributions in the Lynch Strait with that of Ghor Al Haditha, six kilometers eastward, supports the idea that the earthquake that hit the southern Dead Sea on April 23, 1979 (M 5.1) reactivated faults and fractures in the Lynch Strait triggering the development of sinkholes and subsidence in the frame of the Dead Sea recession.     

南海海域新生代沉积盆地构造演化的动力学特征及其油气资源

通过对构造环境、地球物理场特征、盆地生储盖层发育等方面对比研究, 讨论南海南北部沉积盆地的油气资源分布特征, 为在南海进行油气勘查指明方向.目前油气勘探实践证明, 南海南部的油气资源比北部丰富, 究其原因, 南海北部为被动大陆边缘, 张性沉积盆地的烃源岩体积较小, 而南部挤压环境下形成的沉积盆地的烃源岩体积大; 北部的地热流较南部小, 因此地温梯度也较小, 如北部陆架上的珠江口盆地的热流值在5 3~ 87mW /m2之间, 平均6 7mW /m2, 而南海南部大曾母盆地平均热流值达97mW /m2, 最大值达130mW /m2, 故南部边缘烃源岩的成熟度比北部高; 由于南部边缘处于挤压构造环境, 因此在沉积盆地中形成了许多挤压构造, 而北部边缘一直处于张性构造环境, 形成的构造较少且较小; 同时, 南部边缘沉积盆地中, 烃源岩生烃与构造形成在时间上搭配较好.因此, 在南海南部边缘沉积盆地中形成了许多大型油气田, 而南海北部边缘沉积盆地中, 大型油气田较少, 中小型油气田较多.这就是为什么南海南部边缘的油气资源比北部丰富的地质原因.      

Upper Holocene sea-level changes: Paleogeographic evolution and its impact on coastal archaeological sites and monuments

The paper presents the evolution of the geographic environment imposed by sea-level changes in selected sites of the Aegean Sea region during the Upper Holocene. The changes are due, mainly, to paroxysmic phases of the actual neotectonic evolution and to differential—in time and space—block movements, and emerged or submerged coasts. The reconstitution of these coasts is presented and, in some cases, natural harbor morphology is revealed. The use and evolution of these sites is discussed. Other sites concern coastal or inland ancient settlements or constructions affected by submersion by the sea, by the rise of the groundwater table, or by uplift movements. A general discussion on engineering measures to be applied for protection of the antiquities affected by these geographic changes closes the presentation.     

Holocene History of the Bering Sea Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) in Its Beaufort Sea Summer Grounds off Southwestern Victoria Island, Western Canadian Arctic

The fossil remains of 43 bowhead whales were mapped on the raised beaches of western Wollaston Peninsula, Victoria Island, Canadian Arctic, near the historic summer range limit of the Bering Sea stock in the Beaufort Sea. The elevations and radiocarbon ages of the remains demonstrate that the bowhead ranged commonly into the region following the submergence of Bering Strait at ca. 10,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. until ca. 8500 ¹⁴C yr B.P. During the same interval, bowheads ranged widely from the Beaufort Sea to Baffin Bay. Subsequently, no whales reached Wollaston Peninsula until ca. 1500 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Late Holocene populations evidently were small, or occupations were brief, in comparison to those of the early Holocene. Although the late Holocene recurrence may relate to the expansion of pioneering Thule whalers eastward from Alaska, there are few Thule sites and limited evidence of Thule whaling in the area surveyed to support this suggestion.     

渤海—鲁西地区白垩-早第三纪裂谷活动——火山岩的地球化学证据

渤海—鲁西地区的白垩早第三纪火山岩在渤海东部主要沿郯庐断裂带呈北北东向分布,在渤海西部和鲁西地区主要沿北西向断裂带分布。白垩纪火山岩以安山岩类为主,早第三纪以玄武岩类为主,玄武岩浆源于富集型地幔,即富集轻稀土和大离子亲石元素,但明显亏损Yb、Ni和Cr等元素。火山岩的Sr和Nd同位素初始比值结果表明白垩纪的火山岩来源于Ⅱ型富集地幔,而早第三纪火山岩来源于接近原始地幔的略富集型地幔。这可能由于早第三纪岩石圈大规模伸展减薄,致使上地幔深部的亏损型物质上涌参与岩浆活动,与富集型地幔混染的结果。     

Depths of the Sea of Okhotsk sedimentary basin in the Cenozoic

The biofacies analysis of benthic foraminifers in sediments of the Sea of Okhotsk paleobasin revealed the presence of typical abyssal species in their Oligocene-Miocene assemblages that are missing in the Pliocene and Pleistocene section. The development of the abyssal fauna in the Sea of Okhotsk was determined by its relatively large depths (>2000 m) and intense water exchange with the Pacific Ocean. The Sakhalin folding phase at the Neogene-Quaternary transition resulted in the uplifting of the Japan-Kurile cordillera and separation of deep basins of the Japan and Okhotsk seas from the ocean, which was responsible for the formation of unfavorable conditions for migration and existence of the Pacific abyssal fauna. The taxonomic similarity and general tendencies in the development of the Neogene benthic foraminifers common for the Japan and Okhotsk seas imply the lack of narrow and shallow thresholds between these basins similar to the present-day Nevel’skoi, La Pérouse, and Sangar straits. Such bottom topography stimulated the intense northward water flow, which determined the similarity between the benthic foraminiferal assemblages of the Japanese and Okhotsk paleobasins.     

南海的形成演化与新特提斯在南海的重新活化

南海位于印度板块、欧亚板块和太平洋板块之间,是世界上最大的边缘海,其构造位置处于太平洋构造域和特提斯构造域,地质构造复杂。关于南海形成演化的动力学机制存在有多种不同观点,其中最重要的一个观点是印度板块与欧亚板块的碰撞致使华南地块和印支地块地幔物质沿东南方向蠕动,从而导致南海的海底扩张。从特提斯的演化规律,以及新特提斯的闭合过程来看,南海并不是特提斯洋的残留海,而是新特提斯在闭合过程中配合印度板块与欧亚板块碰撞导致华南地块和印支地块地幔物质东南方向蠕动的动力学机制下,在南海重新活化的结果。