New biostratigraphic data from the Cretaceous Bolinxiala Formation in Zanda, southwestern Tibet of China, and their paleogeographic and paleoceanographic implications

Planktonic foraminiferal fossil assemblages identified from the Bolinxiala Formation in Bolin, Zanda, southwestern Tibet of China, determine its age from latest Albian to Maastrichtian. The fossil contents of the Bolinxiala Formation allow its correlation with successions across a platform-to-basin transect of the Late Cretaceous Tethyan Himalaya passive margin. The ocean anoxic event at the Cenomanian–Turonian transition (OAE2) is located at the Whiteinella archaeocretacaea biozone in Zanda, but lithologically it is characterized by grey and bioturbated limestone, implying that during the OAE2 the shallow-water environments of the Tethyan Himalayan carbonate platform remained oxic. Paleogeographic reconstruction indicates that the Upper Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds (CORBs) in southern Tibet are restricted to the slope and basinal environments but they are entirely missing in the shelf environments. This phenomenon suggests the formation of CORBs by oxidation of Fe(II)-enriched anoxic deep ocean seawater at the chemocline that separated the oxic surface ocean from anoxic deep ocean. For depositional environments above the chemocline, no CORBs would be expected. Because of the chemocline instability across different sedimentary basins, CORBs may be significantly diachronous, consistent with the occurrence of CORBs documented from global sedimentary basins.     

柴达木盆地英雄岭地区新生代构造演化动力学特征

通过分析柴达木盆地英雄岭 (YL)地区地质、2D/ 3D地震、遥感、重磁电和钻探等资料 ,提出了喜马拉雅运动几个阶段在该区的构造动力学响应特征。研究认为喜马拉雅运动晚期 ,英雄岭地区西南侧的阿卡腾能山因近SN向的区域挤压作用 ,产生了顺时针方向的旋转及隆升作用 ,从而在干柴沟一带形成了强烈的SE向局部挤压应力场 ,基底大幅隆升 ,而在英雄岭隆起的南侧则产生了局部的拉张构造环境。喜马拉雅山中期运动在该区的主要表现形式就是使古近纪的张扭构造环境转变为新近纪的坳陷构造环境 ,英雄岭西南的阿尔金地区发生隆升作用 ,沉积中心发生向东和向北的迁移。通过分析主干断裂、构造块体和沉积凹陷的分布特征等 ,得出喜马拉雅早期英雄岭及邻区发育局部拉张环境 ,为较为稳定的断陷湖盆发育期 ,沉积了一套优质烃源岩。英雄岭地区潜在勘探领域主要有构造裂缝型圈闭、地层岩性圈闭及渐新世断凸构造圈闭等。     

西藏错那洞电气石花岗岩中电气石化学组成、硼同位素特征及意义

为了对西藏错那洞电气石花岗岩源区进一步约束,利用显微镜、电子探针和激光剥蚀多接收等离子质谱仪,对错那洞电气石花岗岩中电气石的形态、成分及硼同位素组成进行了研究.结果表明,错那洞电气石花岗岩中的电气石为碱族黑/铁电气石,直接结晶自富硼熔体,与熔体之间未发生明显的硼同位素分馏.电气石δ11B值主要在-6.91‰^-9.17‰之间,与大陆地壳平均δ11B值(-10‰±3‰)相近,表明错那洞电气石花岗岩主要源自变质沉积岩的部分熔融.然而,与起源于变质沉积岩的花岗岩相比,样品的δ11B值明显偏高,而与前人报道的雅拉香波淡色花岗岩(源自石榴石角闪岩部分熔融)的δ11B值相似.因此,错那洞电气石花岗岩源区中,除了变质沉积岩外,可能还混入了少量石榴石角闪岩.     

Zircon U-Pb-Hf constraints from Gongga Shan granites on young crustal melting in eastern Tibet

The Gongga Shan batholith is a complex granitoid batholith on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau with a long history of magmatism spanning from the Triassic to the Pliocene. Late Miocene-Pliocene units are the youngest exposed crustal melts within the entire Asian plate of the Tibetan Plateau.Here, we present in-situ zircon Hf isotope constraints on their magmatic source, to aid the understanding of how these young melts were formed and how they were exhumed to the surface. Hf isotope signatures of Eocene to Pliocene zircon rims(ε_Hf(t)=-4 to +4), interpreted to have grown during localised crustal melting, are indicative of melting of a Neoproterozoic source region, equivalent to the nearby exposed Kangding Complex. Therefore, we suggest that Neoproterozoic crust underlies this region of the Songpan-Ganze terrane, and sourced the intrusive granites that form the Gongga Shan batholith. Localised young melting of Neoproterozoic lower or middle crust requires localised melt-fertile lithologies. We suggest that such melts may be equivalent to seismic and magnetotelluric low-velocity and high-conductivity zones or "bright spots" imaged across much of the Tibetan Plateau. The lack of widespread exposed melts this age is due either to the lack of melt-fertile rocks in the middle crust, the very low erosion level of the Tibetan plateau, or to a lack of mechanism for exhuming such melts. For Gongga Shan, where some melting is younger than nearby thermochronological ages of low temperature cooling, the exact process and timing of exhumation remains enigmatic, but their location away from the Xianshuihe fault precludes the fault acting as a conduit for the young melts. We suggest that underthrusting of dry granulites of the lower Indian crust(Archaean shield) this far northeast is a plausible mechanism to explain the uplift and exhumation of the eastern Tibetan Plateau.     

Characterization of suspended sediment in Meltwater from Glaciers of Garhwal Himalaya

Glacierised basins are significant sources of sediments generated by glacial retreat. Estimation of suspended sediment transfer from glacierised basins is very important in reservoir planning for hydropower projects in Himalaya. The present study indicates that storage and release of sediment in proglacial streams may categorise the pattern of suspended sediment transfer from these basins. Assessment of suspended sediment concentration (SSC), suspended sediment load (SSL) and yield has been undertaken for Dunagiri Glacier basin located in Garhwal Himalaya (30^o33'20”N, 79^o53'36”E), and its results are compared with the Gangotri and Dokriani glaciers sharing close proximity. Out of the total drainage basin area, about 14.3 % of the area is glacierised. Data were collected for five ablation seasons (1984–1989, barring 1986). The mean daily SSCs for July, August and September were 333.9, 286.0 and 147.15 mg/l, respectively, indicating highest concentration of mean daily suspended sediment in July followed by August. SSL trends were estimated to be 93.0, 57.0 and 21.3 tonnes. About 59% of the total SSL of the melt period was transported during the months of August and September. Sediment yield for the study basin was computed to be 296.3 t km^?2 yr ^?1. It is observed that the cumulative proportion of SSC precedes the discharge throughout the melt season except in the year 1987. Release of SSL in terms of total load is less in the early part of melt season than in the later stage as compared to that of discharge. Diurnal variations in SSC reach their maximum at 2400 h, and therefore, SSC was found to be high during night (2000–0400 h). There was a good relationship between SSC and SSL with discharge for the ablation seasons (1988 and 1989). Mean monthly SSC and mean monthly SSL provide a good exponentional relationship with mean monthly temperature. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Muscovite dehydration melting: Reaction mechanisms,microstructures, and implications for anatexis

Dehydration melting of muscovite in metasedimentary sequences is the initially dominant mechanism of granitic melt generation in orogenic hinterlands. In dry (vapour-absent) crust, muscovite reacts with quartz to produce K-feldspar, sillimanite, and monzogranitic melt. When water vapour is present in excess, sillimanite and melt are the primary products of muscovite breakdown, and any K-feldspar produced is due to melt crystallization. Here we document the reaction mechanisms that control nucleation and growth of K-feldspar, sillimanite, and silicate melt in the metamorphic core of the Himalaya, and outline the microstructural criteria used to distinguish peritectic K-feldspar from K-feldspar grains formed during melt crystallization. We have characterized four stages of microstructural evolution in selected psammitic and pelitic samples from the Langtang and Everest regions: (a) K-feldspar nucleates epitaxially on plagioclase while intergrowths of fibrolitic sillimanite and the remaining hydrous melt components replace muscovite. (b) In quartzofeldspathic domains, K-feldspar replaces plagioclase by K⁺–Na⁺ cation exchange, while melt and intergrowths of sillimanite+quartz form in the aluminous domains. (c) At 7–8 vol.% melt generation, the system evolves from a closed to open system and all phases coarsen by up to two orders of magnitude, resulting in large K-feldspar porphyroblasts. (d) Preferential crystallization of residual melt on K-feldspar porphyroblasts and coarsened quartz forms an augen gneiss texture with a monzogranitic-tonalitic matrix that contains intergrowths of sillimanite+tourmaline+muscovite+apatite. Initial poikiloblasts of peritectic K-feldspar trap fine-grained inclusions of quartz and biotite by replacement growth of matrix plagioclase. During subsequent coarsening, peritectic K-feldspar grains overgrow and trap fabric-aligned biotite, resulting in a core to rim coarsening of inclusion size. These microstructural criteria enable a mass balance of peritectic K-feldspar and sillimanite to constrain the amount of free H₂O present during muscovite dehydration. The resulting modal proportion of K-feldspar in the Himalayan metamorphic core requires vapour-absent conditions during muscovite dehydration melting and leucogranite formation, indicating that the generation of large volumes of granitic melts in orogenic belts is not necessarily contingent on an external source of fluids.     

Probabilities of occurrence of great earthquakes in the Himalaya

Long-term conditional probabilities of occurrence of great earthquakes along the Himalaya plate boundary seismic zone have been estimated. The chance of occurrence of at least one great earthquake along this seismic zone over a period of 100 years (beginning the year 1999) is estimated to be about 0.89. The 100-year probability of such an earthquake occurring in the Kashmir seismic gap is about 0.27, in the central seismic gap about 0.52 and in the Assam gap about 0.21. The 25-year probabilities of their occurrence in these gaps are 0.07, 0.17, and 0.05 respectively. These probability estimates may be used profitably to assess the seismic hazard in the Himalaya and the adjoining Ganga plains.     

地幔上涌对鄂尔多斯西缘岩石圈的改造:来自远震多尺度层析成像的证据

本文利用喜马拉雅二期科学探测台阵的678个地震台站及26个固定台站记录到的9,641个地震共约160000条远震P波走时数据,采用基于稀疏约束的多尺度层析成像方法,获得了鄂尔多斯西缘及邻区上地幔800 km深度范围内P波速度结构.结果显示,在东经104°附近阿拉善地块与鄂尔多斯盆地间存在岩石圈深度的构造边界,这表明阿拉善地块与鄂尔多斯可能分别从属于不同的大地构造单元.以北纬38°线为界,鄂尔多斯地块西缘在岩石圈范围内南北存在明显的速度差异,鄂尔多斯南部上地幔200~300 km深度范围显示为高速异常,而鄂尔多斯北部上地幔显示大面积的低速异常.这一现象表明,鄂尔多斯地块南北两部分经历了不同的构造演化过程.根据本文的结果可以进一步推断,由于青藏高原、阿拉善地块向东北方向推挤以及岩石圈的拆离引起的上地幔扰动导致了地幔上涌,上涌的热物质改造了鄂尔多斯西北缘地区的岩石圈,并使该区的岩石圈减薄.地幔上涌也可能是东经104°边界带和北纬38°构造带形成的深部动力学因素.     

2015年尼泊尔MS8.1大地震孕育的深层过程与发生的动力学响应

2015年4月25日发生在尼泊尔博克拉M_S8.1大地震的深层动力过程与“地中海-喜马拉雅-南亚地震带”的中段喜马拉雅地震活动带密切相关.这次大地震是该地震强烈活动带上长期以来深部物质与能量强烈交换、运动,并导致构造活动和应力积累的产物.综合分析与研究提出：（1）博克拉M_S8.1大地震的孕育、发生和发展具有长期活动和近年来相邻地带地震活动频繁的背景;这一地带自1505年-2015年,即500多年来相继发生多次M_S≥8.0的大地震.（2）这一地带具有特异的地球物理边界场响应和深层动力过程,显示深部物质的重新分异、调整与能量交换.（3）大地震发生与周边地带应力场分布特异,壳、幔结构与介质属性变异及破裂响应与断层面解的属性相关.（4）喜马拉雅地带的三条北倾断裂带以不同角度向深部延伸、震源位置及浅表层的变形特征尚应深化理解.（5）M_S8.1大地震的发生对相邻地带的波场影响强烈,故应强化高精度地球物理场的观测和探测,以“捕捉”未来可能大地震的孕育与发生.