Pito Rift: How a large-offset rift propagates

The Pito Rift area is the site of actively deforming oceanic lithosphere that has been primarily under extension for at least the past million years, based on kinematic reconstructions. The major morphologic features, Pito Deep and Pito Seamount, are aligned toward the Euler pole for relative motion between the Easter and Nazca plates. SeaMARC II side-scan and bathymetry data indicate that there are two general modes of faulting currently active in the Pito Rift area. One is associated with incipient rifting of old (3 Ma) Nazca lithosphere by large NW-SE normal faults, and the other is associated with a broad area of right-lateral transform shear between the Nazca and Easter plates. This transform shear is distributed over a broad region because of the northward growth of the East Rift and parallel tectonic rifting within the Pito Rift area. The majority of the Pito Rift area is composed of preexisting blocks of Nazca plate that are back-tilted away from Pito Deep and strike perpendicular to present and previous relative plate motions. This observation suggests that block-faulting and back-tilting are the primary mechanisms responsible for the distributed lithospheric extension, in agreement with gravity and magnetic analyses (Martinez et al., this issue).The only recent volcanic flows observed in side-scan data are from the Pito Seamount area and to the outside of the outer pseudofault of the East Rift. The significance of the young flows near the outer pseudofault is not understood. We interpret the flows extending northwest from the Pito Seamount as representing a newly formed seafloor spreading axis within the Pito Rift area. Gravity and magnetic analyses (Martinez et al., this issue) together with SeaMARC II bathymetry and side-scan data support this interpretation.Based on the tectonic evolution of the Easter microplate, we propose an evolutionary model for the formation of the Pito Rift area, where new tectonic grabens form immediately west of the previous graben and with slightly more counterclockwise orientation. The duration and history of tectonic activity for each graben are not well constrained.     

Sea Level Variations and Geomorphological Changes in the Coastal Belt of Pakistan

The UNEP in its regional seas program in 1989 has included Pakistan in a group of countries which are vulnerable to the impact of rising sea level. If the present trend of sea level rise (SLR) at Karachi continues, in the next 50 years the sea level rise along the Pakistan Coast will be 50 mm (5 cm). Since the rising rates of sea level at Karachi are within the global range of 1-2 mm/year, the trends may be treated as eustatic SLR. Historical air temperature and sea surface temperature (SST) data of Karachi also show an increasing pattern and an increasing trend of about 0.67°C has been registered in the air temperature over the last 35 years, whereas the mean SST in the coastal waters of Karachi has also registered an increasing trend of about 0.3°C in a decade. Sindh coastal zone is more vulnerable to sea level rise than Baluchistan coast, as uplifting of the coast by about 1-2 mm/year due to subduction of Indian Ocean plate is a characteristic of Baluchistan coast. Within the Indus deltaic creek system, the area nearby Karachi is more vulnerable to coastal erosion and accretion than the other deltaic region, mainly due to human activities together with natural phenomena such as wave action, strong tidal currents, and rise in sea level. Therefore, The present article deals mainly with the study of dynamical processes such as erosion and accretion associated with sea level variations along the Karachi coast and surrounding Indus deltaic coastline. The probable beach erosion in a decade along the sandy beaches of Karachi has been estimated. The estimates show that 1.1 mm/year rise in sea level causes a horizontal beach loss of 110 mm per year. Therefore, coast eroded with rise in sea level at Karachi and surrounding sandy beaches would be 1.1 m during a period of next 10 years. The northwestern part of Indus delta, especially the Gizri and Phitti creeks and surrounding islands, are most unstable. Historical satellite images are used to analyze the complex pattern of sediment movements, the change in shape of coastline, and associated erosion and accretion patterns in Bundal and Buddo Islands. The significant changes in land erosion and accretion areas at Bundal and Buddo Islands are evident and appear prominently in the images. A very high rate of accretion of sediments in the northwestern part of Buddo Island has been noticed. In the southwest monsoon season the wave breaking direction in both these islands is such that the movement of littoral drift is towards west. Erosion is also taking place in the northeastern and southern part of Bundal Island. The erosion in the south is probably due to strong wave activities and in the northeast is due to strong tidal currents and seawater intrusion. Accretion takes place at the northwest and western parts of Bundal Island. By using the slope of Indus delta, sea encroachment and the land area inundation with rising sea level of 1 m and 2 m have also been estimated.     

煤矿构造应力、地温变化与瓦斯异常的关系

构造应力是促进煤炭物理和化学变化的主要压力因素,造成地温局部升高,改变煤的结构。地温升高改变瓦斯动力机制,互相叠加后造成瓦斯含量、动力大幅度提高,给煤矿开采带来难度。     

中承式钢筋混凝土拱桥自振特性分析

利用有限元通用软件ANSYS,对一中承式钢筋混凝土拱桥进行了结构自振特性的数值模拟分析,求出了自振频率、振型等动力参数,对其模态特征进行了描述,并通过变换拱桥的主要结构参数对比分析了它们对结构自振特性的影响.结果表明:自振频率随矢跨比的减小略有提高;横撑有助于增强拱肋的横向刚度,减小拱肋面外振动,提高抗风稳定性;各振型的自振频率值随拱肋刚度的提高近似成线性增大,可以通过改变拱肋刚度来调整其自振特性.研究结果可以为同类桥梁的抗震设计提供参考.     

Triact spicules in proterozoic rocks of the Northern Territory of Australia

Triact fragments, probably of sponge spicules, occur in a siliceous rock found in the Proterozoic succession along the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia.     

Coastal Changes Over the Past 200 Years Around Ovalau and Moturiki Islands,Fiji: Implications for coastal zone management

The islands Ovalau and Moturiki in central Fiji are selected for the investigation of coastal change over the past c. 200 years. Although having coastal environments typical of many tropical Pacific Islands, Ovalau and Moturiki are also atypical because they experienced urban and infrastructural developments before most other parts. The associated records enable recent coastal changes to be discerned more clearly here than has been possible elsewhere. The islands are surrounded by coral reef, the configuration of which accounts for variations in vulnerability of their coasts to erosion. Interviews were conducted in each of 22 settlements along the islands' coasts and information obtained about recent coastal change. Mangroves are concentrated along leeward coasts, although they have been cleared from many windward coasts in the last 40 + years, causing shoreline erosion to be initiated/accelerated. Most shoreline-protection initiatives (vegetation planting and seawall construction) have failed. Three major management implications of the study are discussed. Firstly, there is a need to redefine the nature of the interactions between coastal inhabitants and coastal ecosystems, so that environments are sustainably developed; and specifically that reefs are conserved and shoreline vegetation (especially mangroves) is effectively replanted. Secondly, information about appropriate design and composition of artificial structures for shoreline protection needs to be made available to the local communities who construct most of them. Thirdly, alternative sources of sand and rock aggregate to those whose extraction aggravates shoreline erosion should be sought.     

鲁西地区奥陶系碳酸盐岩储集特征及主控因素

应用薄片、铸体和阴极发光等室内分析技术,对鲁西隆起奥陶系碳酸盐岩及济阳坳陷潜山奥陶系钻井岩心样品进行了成岩作用及储集特征详细研究。奥陶系碳酸盐岩原生孔隙消失殆尽,次生成因的孔、洞和缝是主要储集空间。其中裂缝储集层在各层段均有发育,但白云岩段优于其它岩性段;构造缝主要分布在构造轴部和断裂带附近,溶蚀缝在不整合面附近较为发育。孔洞型储集层主要发育在白云岩层段,以晶间孔、晶间溶孔和晶内溶孔为主要储集空间;有少量有效孔隙分布在灰岩段,以铸模孔、粒内溶孔和粒内孔为主。马家沟组八陡段顶部发育溶蚀角砾岩、纹层状结晶灰岩,砾间缝、晶间缝和溶洞为主要储集空间。白云岩段是奥陶系碳酸盐岩主要储集层段,构造因素、岩性和成岩作用(尤其是胶结作用和溶蚀作用)是造成奥陶系碳酸盐岩储集层剖面分布差异性的主要控制因素。