Assessment of soil erosion in a tropical mountain river basin of the southern Western Ghats,India using RUSLE and GIS

Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation(RUSLE) model coupled with transport limited sediment delivery(TLSD) function was used to predict the longtime average annual soil loss, and to identify the critical erosion-/deposition-prone areas in a tropical mountain river basin, viz., Muthirapuzha River Basin(MRB; area=271.75 km~2), in the southern Western Ghats, India. Mean gross soil erosion in MRB is 14.36 t ha~(-1) yr~(-1), whereas mean net soil erosion(i.e., gross erosion-deposition) is only 3.60 t ha~(-1) yr~(-1)(i.e., roughly 25% of the gross erosion). Majority of the basin area(~86%) experiences only slight erosion(5 t ha~(-1) yr~(-1)), and nearly 3% of the area functions as depositional environment for the eroded sediments(e.g., the terraces of stream reaches, the gentle plains as well as the foot slopes of the plateau scarps and the terrain with concordant summits). Although mean gross soil erosion rates in the natural vegetation belts are relatively higher, compared to agriculture, settlement/built-up areas and tea plantation, the sediment transport efficiency in agricultural areas and tea plantation is significantly high,reflecting the role of human activities on accelerated soil erosion. In MRB, on a mean basis, 0.42 t of soil organic carbon(SOC) content is being eroded per hectare annually, and SOC loss from the 4th order subbasins shows considerable differences, mainly due to the spatial variability in the gross soil erosion rates among the sub-basins. The quantitative results, on soil erosion and deposition, modelled using RUSLE and TLSD, are expected to be beneficial while formulating comprehensive land management strategies for reducing the extent of soil degradation in tropical mountain river basins.     

Occurrence and conceptual sedimentary model of Cambrian gypsum-bearing evaporites in the Sichuan Basin,SW China

During the Cambrian, gypsum-bearing evaporites formed in the Sichuan Basin, SW China. These rocks are important for oil and gas sealing, but details of their distribution and origin are not well established. This study examines the regional distribution and origin of the gypsum-bearing evaporites using a comprehensive analysis of drilling data from 34 wells, 5 measured cross-sections in the basin and surrounding area, and 96 maps of area-survey data. Results show that in the stratigraphic succession, the gypsum-bearing evaporites occur mainly in the Lower Cambrian Longwangmiao Formation, the Middle Cambrian Douposi Formation, and the Middle-Upper Cambrian Xixiangchi Group. Geographically, the rocks are found mainly in the southeastern part of the basin, and the distribution of deposits shows an overall SW-NE trend. The sedimentary environments for evaporite formation were evaporative lagoon and inter-platform basin in a platform setting. Gypsum was generated by the underwater concentration of sea water in a strongly evaporative environment. Both an evaporative restricted platform and a mixeddeposition restricted platform model appear to be applicable to the development of gypsum in the Sichuan Basin. The gypsum-bearing evaporites with the best sealing capacity are located mostly in the southeastern part of the basin. These constraints can be applied directly to regional exploration, and have implications for the regional paleogeography and paleoclimate.     

Paleoearthquakes in the Uimon basin (Gorny Altai)

Paleoseismological studies confirm that the Uimon basin is thrust by its northern mountain border along the active South Terekta fault. The latest motion along the fault in the 7-8th centuries AD induced an earthquake with a magnitude of M_w= 7.4-7.7 and a shaking intensity of I = 9-11 on the MSK-64 scale. The same fault generated another event (M > 7, I = 9-10), possibly, about 16 kyr ago, which triggered gravity sliding. The rockslide dammed the Uimon valley and produced a lake, where lacustrine deposition began about 14 ± 1 kyr ago, and a later M > 7 (I = 9-10) earthquake at ~ 6 ka caused the dam collapse and the lake drainage. Traces of much older earthquakes that occurred within the Uimon basin are detectable from secondary deformation structures (seismites) in soft sediments deposited during the drainage of a Late Pleistocene ice-dammed lake between 100 and 90 ka and in ~ 77 ka alluvium. The magnitude and intensity of these paleoearthquakes were at least M > 5.0-5.5 and I > 6-7.     

Geodynamic setting,structure, and composition of continuous trachybasalt-trachyandesite-rhyolite series in the north of Altai-Sayan area: the role of crust-mantle interaction in continental magma formation

The geologic positions and geochemical and isotope parameters of the Ordovician-early Silurian and Early-Middle Devonian continuous volcanic series of the Minusa basin and its mountainous framing are compared. Both series are composed mostly of moderately alkaline rocks with variations in SiO₂ contents from 45 to 77 wt.%. The Ordovician-early Silurian series differs from the Early-Middle Devonian one in lower contents of TiO₂ (< 1.7 wt.%) and Fe₂O_3tot and higher contents of Al₂O₃ in all rock varieties and in the more fractionated REE patterns of trachybasalts. The compositions of both series reflect two simultaneous mechanisms of magma evolution. The main process was fractional crystallization leading to the formation of rocks from trachybasalts to trachyrhyodacites. The accessory mechanism was the contamination of fractionated melts by crustal material, anatectic melting of crust, and mixing of deep-seated magmas with crustal melts. These processes had specifics at each stage and were controlled by the composition of the sources of parental melts. Their geochemical and isotopic parameters (high alkalinity, high contents of lithophile elements, negative anomalies of Nb, Ta, and Ti, and enrichment in radiogenic Sr) point to the interaction of mantle plumes with the lithospheric mantle that was metasomatically transformed during the preceding Vendian-early Cambrian subduction processes.     

Sequence stratigraphy of the Berriassian-Lower Aptian deposits of West Siberia

The geological structure and conditions of formation of a Lower Cretaceous clinoform complex in West Siberia are examined based on sequence stratigraphy. The regional Berriasian-Hauterivian clinoforms are interpreted as third-order sequences, and their formation should be considered in terms of the Depositional Sequence III model. Productive beds of both shallow and deep marine as well as continental genesis formed mostly in a regressive basin and belong to the highstand systems tracts.     

Crust structure of the northeastern Barents Sea basin area

Processing of data from regional geophysical surveys completed in the northern Barents Sea has provided updates to gravity and magnetic databases, structural maps of seismic interfaces, and positions of anomaly sources, which made a basis for 3D density and magnetic models of the crust. The new geological and geophysical results placed constraints on the boundaries between basement blocks formed in different settings and on the contours of deposition zones of different ages in the northeastern Barents Sea. The estimated thicknesses of sedimentary sequences that formed within certain time spans record the deposition history of the region. There is a 20-50 km wide deep suture between two basins of Mesozoic and Paleozoic ages in the eastern part of the region, where pre-Late Triassic reflectors have no clear correlation. The suture slopes eastward at a low angle and corresponds to a paleothrust according to seismic and modeling data. In the basement model, the suture is approximated by a zone of low magnetization and density, which is common to active fault systems. The discovery of the suture has important geological and exploration implications.     

庐枞火山岩盆地南部拔茅山铜矿深部找矿潜力分析

位于庐枞火山岩盆地南部的拔茅山铜矿,是细脉带蚀变岩型脉状铜矿的代表。研究表明,其深部具有斑岩型铜矿的勘探潜力。为了进一步明确其深部找矿潜力,针对研究区斑岩型、热液型铜多金属矿的岩体、断裂、接触带等主要控矿因素,利用高精度磁法和可控源音频大地电磁测深(CSAMT)成果,分别对拔茅山岩体的分布、产状和深部形态及其与围岩的接触带特征进行了剖析。在此基础上,通过与沙溪斑岩铜矿地质、物探异常特征的类比,指明了研究区的找矿方向和有利找矿部位,为进一步找矿提供了思路和依据。     

基于航空重磁特征对突泉盆地构造的认识

为获取突泉盆地航空物探基础地质资料,为油气调查评价提供参考,中国国土资源航空物探遥感中心在该盆地开展了1:10万航空重磁综合调查工作。利用最新的航空重磁资料及实测岩石物性数据,对突泉盆地及其邻区重磁异常特征进行研究,分析航空重磁异常与地层展布、断裂活动、岩浆岩体的分布关系,重点探讨盆地的基底性质。结果表明,研究区航空重力异常与航磁异常在强度、范围、形态、梯度和走向等方面具有一定的规律性,该区断裂体系分布与重磁场特征明显相关,NNE-NE向、NW向及NE向3组断裂明显控制盆地沉积岩体及岩浆岩体的展布,盆地基底由下古生界浅变质岩系和前古生界中等变质岩系构成。     

羌塘盆地晚侏罗世夏里组磁学参数指示的沉积环境及其成盐意义

羌塘盆地位于青藏高原中部,是一个具有沉积钠盐、钾盐远景的蒸发岩盆地。最近在羌塘盆地上侏罗统夏里组中发现多处具有钾、钠异常的盐泉这一重要的找钾盐线索,然而目前对上侏罗统夏里组的古环境演变仍然不甚了解,限制了对晚侏罗世羌塘盆地的成盐(成钾)条件和可能的层位等重大科学问题的理解。因此本文以热磁分析为主,对羌塘盆地雁石坪地区上侏罗统夏里组沉积物进行高分辨率岩石磁学研究,并讨论其古环境意义。最后,根据成盐(成钾)理论,综合分析羌塘盆地上侏罗统夏里组成盐(成钾)的构造、气候和物源条件。κ-T曲线、磁滞回线和热退磁结果共同表明磁铁矿和赤铁矿是夏里组的主要载磁矿物;磁学参数分析表明夏里组上段赤铁矿含量相对增加,揭示夏里组上段形成于干旱气候环境;综合分析构造、气候和物源条件表明,羌塘盆地上侏罗统夏里组上段最为具备良好的成盐(成钾)条件。     

合肥盆地安参1井前侏罗纪基底地层的孢粉组合特征与时代归属

大别山北缘的安参1井是合肥盆地最深的一口参数井,钻遇前侏罗纪基底地层达千米以上,为一套不含煤层(线)或灰岩以泥岩为主的地层,与周缘华北陆块和大别造山带等构造单元的地层对比困难。因缺少宏观化石记录和明确的定年依据,其时代归属一直存在争议,制约了对这一套特殊地层所反映的地质信息的进一步挖掘。为进一步明确该套特殊地层的地质时代,本项研究对安参1井4160~5152m井段大量岩心和岩屑样品进行了微古化石分析,在其中5块样品中发现了保存良好的孢粉化石647粒,共计23属51种及部分未定种。根据对孢粉化石的类型、属种和含量的分析,将其自下而上划分为两个孢粉化石组合:Ⅰ.Densosporites reynoldburgensisLaevigatosporites perminutus;Ⅱ.Triquitrites-Macrotorispora media。孢粉组合Ⅰ中蕨类植物孢子以平均含量87.67%占绝对优势,代表分子有Laevigatosporites perminutus,Lycospora rotunda,Patellisporites meishanesis等,裸子植物花粉均为单囊粉属Florinites;孢粉组合Ⅱ中,蕨类植物孢子平均含量降低至53.78%,其中蕨类孢子Lycospora rotunda消失,Leiotriletes adnatus,Triquitrites,Crassipora等含量下降,并有特征分子大一头沉孢属Macrotorispora出现,裸子植物花粉含量和丰富度明显增加,以柯达粉属Cordaitina为主。经过与华北其他地区孢粉组合特征的对比分析,上述两个孢粉组合分别与华北陆块晚古生代二叠系太原组和上石盒子组具有明确的相似性,与早期和中晚期华夏植物群面貌相一致,反映了裸子植物逐渐繁盛、属种越来越丰富的过程,孢粉组合Ⅰ和Ⅱ的地质时代分别为晚石炭世晚期至早二叠世早期和晚二叠世,为安参1井前侏罗纪基底存在石炭—二叠系提供了直接证据,也为合肥盆地沉积环境和古气候分析提供了新资料。