Oblique subduction of the Gagua Ridge beneath the Ryukyu accretionary wedge system: Insights from marine observations and sandbox experiments

The Gagua Ridge, carried by the Philippine Sea Plate, is subducting obliquely beneath the southernmost Ryukyu Margin. Bathymetric swath-mapping, performed during the ACT survey (Active Collision in Taiwan), indicates that, due to the high obliquity of plate convergence, slip partitioning occurs within the Ryukyu accretionary wedge. A transcurrent fault, trending N95° E, is observed at the rear of the accretionary wedge. Evidence of right lateral motion along this shear zone, called the Yaeyama Fault, suggests that it accommodates part of the lateral component of the oblique convergence. The subduction of the ridge disturbs this tectonic setting and significantly deforms the Ryukyu Margin. The ridge strongly indents the front of the accretionary wedge and uplifts part of the forearc basin. In the frontal part of the margin, directly in the axis of the ridge, localized transpressive and transtensional structures can be observed superimposed on the uplifted accretionary complex. As shown by sandbox experiments, these N330° E to N30° E trending fractures result from the increasing compressional stress induced by the subduction of the ridge. Analog experiments have also shown that the reentrant associated with oblique ridge subduction exhibits a specific shape that can be correlated with the relative plate motion azimuth.These data, together with the study of the margin deformation, the uplift of the forearc basin and geodetic data, show that the subduction of the Gagua Ridge beneath the accretionary wedge occurs along an azimuth which is about 20° less oblique than the convergence between the PSP and the Ryukyu Arc. Taking into account the opening of the Okinawa backarc basin and partitioning at the rear of the accretionary wedge, convergence between the ridge and the overriding accretionary wedge appears to be close to N345° E and thus, occurs at a rate close to 9 cm yr^–1. As a result, we estimate that a motion of 3.7 cm yr^–1±0.7 cm should be absorbed along the transcurrent fault. Based on these assumptions, the plate tectonic reconstruction reveals that the subducted segment of the Gagua Ridge, associated with the observable margin deformations, could have started subducting less than 1 m.y. ago.     

Heat flow measurements on the Lomonosov Ridge, Arctic Ocean

Heat flow was measured on the Lomonosov Ridge during the 5th Chinese National Arctic Expedition in 2012. To derive the time-temperature curve, resistivity data were transformed to temperature by the resistivity- temperature program. Direct reading and linear regression methods were used to calculate the equilibrium temperature, which were regressed against the depth of the probes in sediment to derive the geothermal gradient. Then, heat flow was calculated as the product of geothermal gradient and thermal conductivity of sediments. The heat flow values on the basis of the two methods were similar （i.e., 67.27 mW/m2 and 63.99 mW/m2, respectively）. The results are consistent with the measurements carried out at adjacent sites. The age of the Lomonosov Ridge predicted by the heat flow-age model was 62 Ma, which is in accordance with the inference that the ridge was separated from Eurasia at about 60 Ma.     

印度洋卡尔斯伯格脊6°48′N附近热液羽状流水化学参数异常和颗粒物成分特征

2015年中国大洋33航次在西北印度洋卡尔斯伯格脊6°48′N附近进行了热液异常探测,成功发现了大糦热液区。本文对该热液区附近采集的CTD水样开展了水化学与颗粒物分析。结果表明,在3 150~3 400 m水深范围内水体存在Cl、Br、Mg负异常以及DFe和DMn正异常。其中Cl、Br、Mg的浓度较研究区海水背景值分别亏损2.87%~5.27%、3.21%~4.53%和2.52%~3.82%,Cl和Br的亏损指示海底释放的热液流体曾经发生了相分离。根据Mg的亏损情况,可以估算热液羽状流中热液流体的贡献约3.90%。DFe和DMn的浓度峰值分别为127 nmol/L和29.0 nmol/L,均出现在水深3 150 m层位。颗粒物的电镜观察和能谱分析结果显示,在2 900~3 400 m深度范围内存在热液成因的富铁氧化物(FeO占49.1%~95.2%),与海水样品中发现的高浓度DFe和DMn相印证。根据实测底层流流速与Fe(Ⅱ)扩散半径对研究区的Fe(Ⅱ)氧化半衰期进行了估算,得到大糦热液区Fe(Ⅱ)氧化半衰期为0.56~2.22 h。     

Geochronological and geochemical study of mafic dykes from the northwest Chinese Altai: Implications for petrogenesis and tectonic evolution

Fifteen zircons separated from a mafic dyke in the Chinese Altai give a concordant age population with a weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 375.5 ± 4.8 Ma, suggesting a Devonian emplacement. On the basis of their mineralogical compositions and textures, the coeval dykes can be divided into gabbroic and doleritic types. They are both sub-alkaline, tholeiitic, characterized by similarly low SiO₂ contents (45.2–52.7 wt.%) and total alkaline (K₂O + Na₂O = 0.99–4.93 wt.%). Rare earth element patterns of the gabbroic dykes are similar to N-MORB (La/Yb_N = 0.86–1.1), together with their high ε_Nd(t) values (+ 7.6 to + 8.1), indicating that their precursor magma was mainly derived from a N-MORB-type depleted asthenospheric mantle. While the REE patterns of the doleritic dykes resemble that of E-MORB (La/Yb_N = 1.12–2.28), enriched in LILEs and strongly depleted in HFSEs, with relative low ε_Nd(t) values (+ 3.4 to + 5.4) and high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7057–0.7060). The zircon Hf isotopic analysis of the doleritic dykes give ε_Hf(t) values from + 10.7 to + 13.8. These signatures suggest that a depleted mantle wedge metasomatized by slab-derived fluids and/or melts was possibly involved in the generation of the doleritic magma. The refractory peridotite may have been melted with variable degrees caused by upwelling of the hot asthenosphere. The petrogenesis of the mafic dykes suggest a high heat flux as a result of upwelling of the hot asthenosphere and the contrast geochemical signatures can be interpreted by a ridge subduction, which could be an important tectonic control in the accretionary process of the Chinese Altai.     

极地海洋钻探研究进展

南极和北极海域的深海钻探（DSDP）和大洋钻探（ODP）研究所取得的成就是举世瞩目的,为人类研究过去全球变化打开了新的视野。它们揭示了北大西洋高纬度海区新近纪的古海洋学和古气候的演化历史,发现了早更新世"41ka世界"千年尺度的气候波动,以及冰期表层水温与深层水的耦合颤动,说明冰期旋回中冰消期气候的不稳定性。检验了新近纪环南极洋流的形成历史,并揭示了南极新生代的气候变冷和冰盖的演变历史,以及证实了南大洋温度变化领先于全球冰量的变化。2004年北极罗蒙诺索脊的综合大洋钻探（IODP）将宣告科学探索时代的到来,其研究将重建北冰洋新生代环境变化和气候的演变历史,展示北冰洋在全球气候变化中的作用。     

Physical models of rifting and transform faulting, due to ridge push in a wedge-shaped oceanic lithosphere

By scaled physical modelling, we have investigated the mechanical response to gravitational forces in an oceanic lithosphere, overlying a less dense asthenosphere. In the models, an upper wedge-shaped layer of sand represented an oceanic lithosphere (0–35 Ma old, with a half-spreading velocity of 3 cm/yr), and a lower layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), mixed with dense wolframite powder, represented the asthenosphere. In the models, as in nature, isostatic compensation resulted in uplift of ridges and subsidence on their flanks. The resulting relief was responsible for ridge push. We tested two main configurations: straight ridges and offset ridges. In all the models, ridge push was sufficient to cause plate motion, underlying advection, and symmetrical rifting at the ridge axis. There was no need to impose plate motions through external pistons and motors. In models of straight ridges, the style of normal faults in the axial rift zone depended on the local thickness of the brittle sand layer. For thick layers, normal faults rafted out from the active zone of rifting, creating a fossil topography of tilted blocks, between faults dipping toward the ridge. In a model of an offset ridge, with thin lithosphere at the ridge crest and no embedded weakness, ridge push was responsible for a short transform fault, linking en-échelon rifts. In a similar model, but with thick lithosphere, an oblique rift formed at about 20° to the offset trace. We conclude that ridge push was not adequate to create an ideal transform fault. In a model of an offset ridge, with an embedded thin vertical layer of pure PDMS at 90° to the ridge, transform motion concentrated along this weak layer, and the resulting structural style was very similar to that in nature. On the basis of these results, we infer that, in nature, (1) ridge push can indeed drive plate motion, and (2) ridge push can drive strike-slip motion on transform faults, provided that these are weaker than the adjacent oceanic lithosphere and that they form early in the history of spreading.