What Happened in the Trans-North China Orogen in the Period 2560-1850 Ma？

The Trans-North China Orogen （TNCO） was a Paleoproterozic continent-continent collisional belt along which the Eastern and Western Blocks amalgamated to form a coherent North China Craton （NCC）. Recent geological, structural, geochemical and isotopic data show that the orogen was a continental margin or Japan-type arc along the western margin of the Eastern Block, which was separated from the Western Block by an old ocean, with eastward-directed subduction of the oceanic lithosphere beneath the western margin of the Eastern Block. At 2550-2520 Ma, the deep subduction caused partial melting of the medium-lower crust, producing copious granitoid magma that was intruded into the upper levels of the crust to form granitoid plutons in the low- to medium-grade granite-greeustone terranes. At 2530-2520 Ma, subduction of the oceanic lithosphere caused partial melting of the mantle wedge, which led to underplating of mafic magma in the lower crust and widespread mafic and minor felsic volcanism in the arc, forming part of the greenstone assemblages. Extension driven by widespread mafic to felsic volcanism led to the development of back-arc and/or intra-arc basins in the orogen. At 2520-2475 Ma, the subduction caused further partial melting of the lower crust to form large amounts of tonalitic-trondhjemitic-granodioritic （TTG） magmatism. At this time following further extension of back-arc basins, episodic granitoid magmatism occurred, resulting in the emplacement of 2360 Ma, -2250 Ma 2110-21760 Ma and -2050 Ma granites in the orogen. Contemporary volcano-sedimentary rocks developed in the back-arc or intra-are basins. At 2150-1920 Ma, the orogen underwent several extensional events, possibly due to subduction of an oceanic ridge, leading to emplacement of mafic dykes that were subsequently metamorphosed to amphibolites and medium- to high-pressure mafic granulites. At 1880-1820 Ma, the ocean between the Eastern and Western Blocks was completely consumed by subduction, and the dosing of the ocean led to the continent-arc-continent collision, which caused large-scale thrusting and isoclinal folds and transported some of the rocks into the lower crustal levels or upper mantle to form granulites or eclogites. Peak metamorphism was followed by exhumation/uplift, resulting in widespread development of asymmetric folds and symplectic textures in the rocks.     

Kinetics of bubble collision and attachment to hydrophobic solids: I. Effect of surface roughness

Influence of surface roughness of the Teflon plates on kinetics of the bubble attachment was studied. Phenomena occurring during collisions of the air bubble, rising in clean water, with Teflon plates, differing only in their surface roughness, were recorded and analysed using a high-speed camera. Variations of the local velocity of the bubble during the collisions and the time of the bubble attachment were determined. It was found that the Teflon surface roughness was the parameter of a crucial importance for the attachment time of the colliding bubble. Depending on degree of the surface roughness the time of the attachment varied by over order of magnitude (from 3 to over 80 ms). In the case the Teflon surfaces having roughness below 1 μm there were recorded four to five “approach–bounce” cycles prior to the bubble attachment. Moreover, after the first collision the rapid pulsations of the bubble shape (within fraction of millisecond) were recorded. For surfaces of roughness ca. 50 μm and larger the attachment always occurred during the first collision—there was no bouncing observed and the time of the attachment was below 3 ms. It was documented that presence of a micro-bubble at the surface facilitated attachment of the colliding bubble.     

辽西朝阳地区晚侏罗世逆冲断裂及同构造沉积盆地系统

位于晚侏罗世燕山冲断带前缘拗陷盆地群东段的辽西金岭寺羊山盆地和北票盆地，形成于同沉积期的板内挤压变形。两个盆地横断面均显示出北西翼岩层陡立或倒转而南东翼平缓、以及同期碎屑堆积北西翼厚而南西翼薄的特点，具有典型的不对称结构。分别位于两个盆地北西侧的雷家营子和风凰山逆冲断裂带控制了它们的形成和演化。砾石成分统计分析显示，晚侏罗世土城子时期碎屑物质主要来源于辽西的西北部，即“内蒙地轴”上，是响应逆冲推覆活动的产物。两条断裂带及其所控制的盆地，构成了背驮式盆地构造系统，清楚地反映出这一时期的逆冲推覆扩展总体上指向SE方向。辽西地区土城子期盆地的形成和沉积充填是区域地壳缩短或增厚的重要方式之一。     

内蒙古大青山北石兰哈达石英闪长岩构造环境讨论

内蒙古大青山北石兰哈达地区的晚古生代黑云石英闪长岩,1∶20万区域地质调查时将其置于华力西中期第二次侵入体(δο42(2)),现经岩石学、地球化学、同位素年代学研究,认为该石英闪长岩为早二叠世岩浆活动的产物。岩石具高铝、高钾、高钙的特点,A/CNK<1.1,σ在2.05～2.83之间,为高钾钙碱性岩,属I型花岗岩类,产于碰撞后的抬升构造环境。岩石稀土总量偏低,LREE富集,δEu=0.8～1.0,稀土曲线呈右倾平滑型,其物质来源很可能是源于软流圈的玄武质岩浆与元古宙地壳物质混合作用的结果。     

Cenozoic post-collisional brittle tectonic history and stress reorientation in the High Zagros Belt (Iran, Fars Province)

The Zagros fold-and-thrust belt of SW-Iran is among the youngest continental collision zones on Earth. Collision is thought to have occurred in the late Oligocene–early Miocene, followed by continental shortening. The High Zagros Belt (HZB) presents a Neogene imbricate structure that has affected the thick sedimentary cover of the former Arabian continental passive margin. The HZB of interior Fars marks the innermost part of SE-Zagros, trending NW–SE, that is characterised by higher elevation, lack of seismicity, and no evident active crustal shortening with respect to the outer (SW) parts. This study examines the brittle structures that developed during the mountain building process to decipher the history of polyphase deformation and variations in compressive tectonic fields since the onset of collision. Analytic inversion techniques enabled us to determine and separate different brittle tectonic regimes in terms of stress tensors. Various strike–slip, compressional, and tensional stress regimes are thus identified with different stress fields. Brittle tectonic analyses were carried out to reconstruct possible geometrical relationships between different structures and to establish relative chronologies of corresponding stress fields, considering the folding process. Results indicate that in the studied area, the main fold and thrust structure developed in a general compressional stress regime with an average N032° direction of σ₁ stress axis during the Miocene. Strike–slip structures were generated under three successive strike–slip stress regimes with different σ₁ directions in the early Miocene (N053°), late Miocene–early Pliocene (N026°), and post-Pliocene (N002°), evolving from pre-fold to post-fold faulting. Tensional structures also developed as a function of the evolving stress regimes. Our reconstruction of stress fields suggests an anticlockwise reorientation of the horizontal σ₁ axis since the onset of collision and a significant change in vertical stress from σ₃ to σ₂ since the late stage of folding and thrusting. A late right-lateral reactivation was also observed on some pre-existing belt-parallel brittle structures, especially along the reverse fault systems, consistent with the recent N–S plate convergence. However, this feature was not reflected by large structures in the HZB of interior Fars. The results should not be extrapolated to the entire Zagros belt, where the deformation front has propagated from inner to outer zones during the younger events.     

EJECTION–COLLISION ORBITS AND INVARIANT PUNCTURED TORI IN A RESTRICTED FOUR‐BODY PROBLEM

We study the motion of an infinitesimal mass point under the gravitational action of three mass points of masses μ, 1–2μ and μ moving under Newton's gravitational law in circular periodic orbits around their center of masses. The three point masses form at any time a collinear central configuration. The body of mass 1–2μ is located at the center of mass. The paper has two main goals. First, to prove the existence of four transversal ejection–collision orbits, and second to show the existence of an uncountable number of invariant punctured tori. Both results are for a given large value of the Jacobi constant and for an arbitrary value of the mass parameter 0<μ≤1/2. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Wave Energy Concentration at the Agulhas Current off South Africa

The case of a freak wave collision with the ship in the Agulhas current is described. The explanation of the appearance of the freak wave as a result of wind-wave transformation in the Agulhas current is given. Swell is captured and intensified by the counter-current and is located in the neighbourhood of the maximum value of the current velocity, as a result of which there is a great concentration of wave-energy density. The superposition of wind and sea with swell transformed by the current promotes the formation of the freak waves. Using a simple mathematical analysis, an optimal ship track is proposed which could reduce the risk of collision with a freak wave.     

Arc–arc collision in the Izu collision zone, central Japan, deduced from the Ashigara Basin and adjacent Tanzawa Mountains

The Pleistocene Ashigara Basin and adjacent Tanzawa Mountains, Izu collision zone, central Japan, are examined to better understand the development of an arc–arc orogeny, where the Izu–Bonin – Mariana (IBM) arc collides with the Honshu Arc. Three tectonic phases were identified based on the geohistory of the Ashigara Basin and the denudation history of the Tanzawa Mountains. In phase I, the IBM arc collided with the Honshu Arc along the Kannawa Fault. The Ashigara Basin formed as a trench basin, filled mainly by thin-bedded turbidites derived from the Tanzawa Mountains together with pyroclastics. The Ashigara Basin subsided at a rate of 1.7 mm/year, and the denudation rate of the Tanzawa Mountains was 1.1 mm/year. The onset of Ashigara Basin Formation is likely to be older than 2.2 Ma, interpreted as the onset of collision along the Kannawa Fault. Significant tectonic disruption due to the arc–arc collision took place in phase II, ranging from 1.1 to 0.7 Ma in age. The Ashigara Basin subsided abruptly (4.6 mm/year) and the accumulation rate increased to approximately 10 times that of phase I. Simultaneously, the Tanzawa Mountains were abruptly uplifted. A tremendous volume of coarse-grained detritus was provided from the Tanzawa Mountains and deposited in the Ashigara Basin as a slope-type fan delta. In phase III, 0.7–0.5 Ma, the entire Ashigara Basin was uplifted at a rate of 3.6 mm/year. This uplift was most likely caused by isostatic rebound resulting from stacking of IBM arc crust along the Kannawa Fault which is not active as the decollement fault by this time. The evolution of the Ashigara Basin and adjacent Tanzawa Mountains shows a series of the development of the arc–arc collision; from the subduction of the IBM arc beneath the Honshu Arc to the accretion of IBM arc crust onto Honshu. Arc–arc collision is not the collision between the hard crusts (massif) like a continent–continent collision, but crustal stacking of the subducting IBM arc beneath the Honshu Arc intercalated with very thick trench fill deposits.