Subsurface structure of the volcanic centre of the České Středohoří Mountains, North Bohemia, determined by geophysical surveys

Former geophysical surveys performed in the region of the volcanic centre of the České Stř edohoří Mts. in North Bohemia (the Ohře Rift zone) showed that anomalous volcanic bodies and features can be effectively identified within sedimentary environment. For this reason we carried out new geophysical measurements in the area of the main mafic intrusion of essexitic character. The target was the exact location and geometry of the intrusion and its relation to other components of the volcanic centre. We used gravity, magnetic, shallow seismic and electromagnetic techniques. The new gravity and magnetic data were tied to the old databases so that we could investigate the area as a whole complex. Electromagnetic measurements were applied in the area of the expected extent of the intrusion, and the seismic measurements in the central part of the intrusion. Based on all the data, mainly on gravity modelling, we delineated not only the surface and subsurface extent of the intrusion, but we also defined the hidden relief of the intrusion. It was found that the intrusion is formed by a single body that has a few protrusions, and not by a set of separate individual intrusions, as indicated by surface outcrops. However, the body of the intrusion is affected by a major fault that caused lithological differences on both sides (essexite/monzodiorite). In detail we show the depth of the debris cover and the thickness of the weathered zone in the central part of the essexite body. We also derived indications of tectonic elements in the area of the intrusion in the main structural/tectonic direction in the region. The results will be utilized to establish a 3D geological model of the whole volcanic centre. This investigation may serve as an example of non-seismic geophysical exploration applied to the study of volcanic centres surrounded by sedimentary rocks.     

Late Cryogenian glaciation in South Australia:Fluctuating ice margin and no extreme or rapid post-glacial sea-level rise

Postulated extreme sea-level rise of up to 1-1.5 km with the late Cryogenian Ghaub deglaciation in Namibia is contentious,as is the great rapidity(<104 yr)of the sea-level rise.Such extreme glacioeustatic events,if real,would have been global and affected all continents.In South Australia,up to six glacial advances and retreats during the late Cryogenian Elatina glaciation indicate a fluctuating ice margin.The latter stage of the Elatina glaciation and the immediate post-glacial environment are examined here for evidence of extreme and rapid sea-level rise.In the central Adelaide Rift Complex,diamictite with faceted and striated clasts occurs at the top of the Elatina Formation<1-2 m beneath the early Ediacaran Nuccaleena Formation’cap carbonate’.One hundred kilometres to the south,~30 m of siltstone and sandstone followed by^6 m of clast-poor diamictite with clasts 10+cm long occur between tidal rhythmites and the cap carbonate.Three hundred kilo metres further south,~70 m of siltsto ne,dolo mitic siltstone and minor dolomite separate tidal rhythmites and early Ediacaran strata.Hence the rhythmites were deposited during a high stand(interstadial or interglacial),not during post-glacial sea-level rise.Storm-generated erosional surfaces within tidal rhythmites at Warren Gorge indicate intermittent rhythmite deposition,and water depth and other palaeoenvironmental factors are uncertain,casting doubt on a published estimate of rapid sea-level rise during rhythmite deposition.The lack of late Cryogenian deeply incised valleys and thick valley-fill deposits in South Australia and central Australia argues against extreme sea-level variations.A hiatus occurred between Elatina deglaciation and deposition of the Nuccaleena cap carbonate,and three palaeomagnetic polarity chrons identified in the cap carbonate imply slow deposition spanning 10^5-10^6 yr.This is supported by independent evidence from magnetic chronostratigraphy for Ediacaran strata in South Australia and California,and by stratigraphic and sedimentological arguments for condensed deposition of cap carbonates.It is concluded that neither extreme nor rapid sea-level rise was associated with late Cryogenian deglaciation in South Australia.     

大震前宏观异常的机理研究

主要通过对1975年海城地震前出现的宏观异常现象的分析,推测大震前在震源区的地下岩体中就已产生了贯通到近地面的规模不等的宏观裂缝,在构造应力场的持续作用下裂缝会进一步的扩张、错动和贯通形成更大规模的裂缝.而发震断层实际上是主震前沿发震断裂上的裂缝最后一次扩张、错动和贯通的结果.论证了大震之前这些裂缝的进一步的扩张以及沿这些裂缝热物质的上涌导致了震前形式多样的各种宏观前兆现象的产生.     

Rift zone reorganization through flank instability in ocean island volcanoes: an example from Tenerife, Canary Islands

The relationship between rift zones and flank instability in ocean island volcanoes is often inferred but rarely documented. Our field data, aerial image analysis, and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar chronology from Anaga basaltic shield volcano on Tenerife, Canary Islands, support a rift zone—flank instability relationship. A single rift zone dominated the early stage of the Anaga edifice (~6–4.5 Ma). Destabilization of the northern sector led to partial seaward collapse at about ~4.5 Ma, resulting in a giant landslide. The remnant highly fractured northern flank is part of the destabilized sector. A curved rift zone developed within and around this unstable sector between 4.5 and 3.5 Ma. Induced by the dilatation of the curved rift, a further rift-arm developed to the south, generating a three-armed rift system. This evolutionary sequence is supported by elastic dislocation models that illustrate how a curved rift zone accelerates flank instability on one side of a rift, and facilitates dike intrusions on the opposite side. Our study demonstrates a feedback relationship between flank instability and intrusive development, a scenario probably common in ocean island volcanoes. We therefore propose that ocean island rift zones represent geologically unsteady structures that migrate and reorganize in response to volcano flank instability.Editorial responsibility: T. DruittThis revised version was published online in February 2005 with typographical corrections and a changed wording.     

滇西南孟连新建二叠系火居组沉积相与时代

孟连地区位于三江褶皱系西南部分,晚古生代冈瓦纳与扬子板块碰撞缝合带。该带发育一套由超基性-中基性熔岩、火山碎屑岩和砂岩、泥岩与硅质岩组成的岩石组合。首次在硅质岩中发现早二叠世放射虫,新建火居组,属次深海相环境。讨论其时代及沉积环境。     

川西丹巴地区新元古代变质玄武岩成因及构造意义

对扬子地块西缘康滇裂谷北段的丹巴变质玄武岩进行了系统的岩石学、元素-Nd同位素地球化学研究,结果表明该岩石为碱性玄武岩,样品相对富MgO、富TiO2,Mg#值介于0.51～0.59之间.稀土总量较高,轻重稀土分馏较明显,Th、Nb、Ta、Zr、Hf和LREE等不相容元素富集,Y和HREE明显亏损,地球化学特征与洋岛玄武岩(OIB)类似.岩浆形成于板内裂谷环境,起源于类似OIB的地幔源区,并在上升过程中受到了大陆岩石圈地幔(SCLM)物质不同程度的混染,同时还可能有少量下地壳物质的混染.样品在岩石化学上表现出地幔柱岩浆作用的痕迹,很可能与导致Rodinia超级大陆裂解的新元古代地幔柱事件有关.     

东非裂谷Tanganyika地堑石油地质特征和勘探潜力分析

随着东非裂谷乌干达区块的勘探获得重大突破,与之石油地质条件相似的Tanganyika地堑的勘探潜力受到了人们的重视.Tanganyika地堑地处东非,属于东非裂谷西支的中段,是典型陆内裂谷盆地,主要沉积中新世以来的地层,现仍大部分被湖水覆盖,湖盆水体较深.盆地整体分为2个次盆,呈三隆夹两凹的构造格局.盆地目前勘探程度较低,根据现有资料推测,盆地地层埋深较大,深洼区中新统地层发育成熟烃源岩,具有较大的生烃潜力和生烃规模;陆内盆地物源相对充足,储盖组合条件较好;应力复杂,能够形成大量多种类型构造及构造-地层圈闭;各种成藏条件匹配关系较好,有利于油气聚集成藏.综合分析认为,盆地具有较大勘探潜力,其中盆地转换带是最有利的油气勘探区.     

Analytic models for orogenic collapse

The temporal and spatial distribution of the aftershock sequences of the Ruwenzori (February 5, 1994, Mb (5.8)), Masisi (April 29, 1995, Mb (5.1)) and Kalehe (October 24, 2002, Mb (5.9)) earthquakes have been studied. It has been found that most of the aftershocks of the Ruwenzori earthquake are located on the eastern flank of the main escarpment and those of the Masisi earthquake are confined to the northwest of Lake Kivu margin where earthquake occurrence of swarm-type was normally observed. The Kalehe earthquake occurred in the central part of Lake Kivu and it was the largest earthquake observed in the Lake Kivu basin since 1900. The rate of decrease in aftershock activity with the time has shown that the p-value for Ruwenzori and Masisi earthquake equals 0.6, somehow smaller than that found in other geotectonic zones where p is close to 1. The p-value of the Kalehe earthquake is a normal value equal to 1.From an area delimited by spatial distribution of aftershocks, the linear dimension of the fault was estimated. The fault area determined in this study correlates well with those of previous studies which occurred in the Western Rift Valley of Africa including the Tanganyika and Upemba Rift.     

Sedimentary record of Late Paleozoic rift and break-up in Northern Gondwana: a case history from the Thini Chu Group and Tamba-Kurkur Formation (Dolpo Tethys Himalaya,Nepal)

The Gottero unit of the Northern Apennines, Italy, is representative of the sedimentary cover of the Ligure-Piemontese oceanic lithosphere. This unit consists of a thick sedimentary sequence that includes Valanginian-Santonian pelagic deposits and Campanian-early Paleocene turbiditic deposits. The latter are overlain by early Paleocene trench deposits related to frontal tectonic erosion of the accretionary wedge slope. This sequence is interpreted as recording trenchward motion of the oceanic lithosphere.

The Gottero unit records a pre-Late Oligocene, complex deformation history related to subduction and accretion events. This deformation history has developed through underthrusting (D1a), underplating (D1b and D1c) and later exhumation (D2a and D2b) episodes. The folding phase related to the main underplating sub-phase (D1b) is predated by a sub-phase (D1a) connected to rapid fluid escape and followed by a sub-phase dominated by the development of shear zones (D1c). The D1b sub-phase is characterized by similar folds and a slaty cleavage developed under P/T conditions of 0.4GPa/210°-270 °C. The D1c sub-phase, characterized by west-verging thrusts, is particularly signficative in understanding the dynamics of the Ligure-Piemontese accretionary wedge because it testifies active shortening of the Gottero unit also after its transfer to the prism. In addition, sub-phase D1c represents the transition from the sub-phases connected to accretion and the tectonics dominated by extension, characterized by parallel folds and low-to high-angle normal faults. The gravity driven extension is represented by the D2a and D2b sub-phases and can be interpreted as the result of the thicknening of the Ligure-Piemontese accretionary wedge, produced by continuous underplating at its base but also by shortening of the previously underplated units. These final tectonic events resulted in the exhumation of the Gottero unit to the surface during the Early Oligocene, when this Unit became one of the source areas of the conglomerates deposited in the Tertiary Piedmont basin.

This deformation history suggests the occurrence of a complex sequence of deformations during the transition from accretion to exhumation, even in the intermediate levels of the accretionary wedge.     

Contemporary kinematics of the Upper Rhine Graben: A 3D finite element approach

The Upper Rhine Graben (URG), a Cenozoic intra-plate rift situated in the Alpine foreland, is presently characterised by relative slow tectonic deformation and low to medium seismicity. Concurrently, it is a region with a significant amount of ongoing subsidence in two recent depocentres (0.1 to 0.2 mm/a geological, 1 mm/a geodetical rate). In this paper, the recent kinematic behaviour of the URG is simulated using a 3D finite element model, containing three lithospheric layers (upper mantle, lower crust and upper crust) with different rheological properties. First order fault structures (e.g. border faults) are implemented as frictional contact surfaces within the upper crustal layer. The stresses generated by applying lateral displacements over a time period of 10 ka are insufficient to obtain a match between predicted and observed stress magnitudes. Therefore, a technique of “combined pre-stressing” has been developed to avoid unrealistic deformation and unrealistic stress magnitudes within the model. The stress magnitudes and stress directions predicted are calibrated against in-situ stress measurements and stress indicator data. For benchmarking of the modelling results, the vertical surface displacements predicted are compared to surface uplift derived from geological and geomorphological data. Furthermore, predicted fault slip rates are compared to available geological and geodetical data. Parameters derived from the calculated stress tensor, such as fracture potential and the regime stress ratio are also analysed in order to describe the possible kinematic behaviour of the URG. The modelling results suggest that the URG is currently being reactivated as a sinistral strike–slip system with the central segment of the URG forming a restraining bend and the two recent depocentres situated in releasing bend settings. The modelling results suggest that both sinistral shearing and mantle uplift are active mechanisms driving the recent kinematics of the URG and that the recent subsidence within the two depocentres is re-enforced by ongoing mantle uplift additionally.