Subduction initiation and ophiolite crust: new insights from IODP drilling

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 352 recovered a high-fidelity record of volcanism related to subduction initiation in the Bonin fore-arc. Two sites (U1440 and U1441) located in deep water nearer to the trench recovered basalts and related rocks; two sites (U1439 and U1442) located in shallower water further from the trench recovered boninites and related rocks. Drilling in both areas ended in dolerites inferred to be sheeted intrusive rocks. The basalts apparently erupted immediately after subduction initiation and have compositions similar to those of the most depleted basalts generated by rapid sea-floor spreading at mid-ocean ridges, with little or no slab input. Subsequent melting to generate boninites involved more depleted mantle and hotter and deeper subducted components as subduction progressed and volcanism migrated away from the trench. This volcanic sequence is akin to that recorded by many ophiolites, supporting a direct link between subduction initiation, fore-arc spreading, and ophiolite genesis.     

Trace-element geochemistry of transform-fault serpentinite in high-pressure subduction mélanges (eastern Cuba): implications for subduction initiation

The Sierra del Convento and La Corea mélanges (eastern Cuba) are vestiges of a Cretaceous subduction channel in the Caribbean realm. Both mélanges contain blocks of oceanic crust and serpentinite subducted to high pressure within a serpentinite matrix. The bulk composition of serpentinite indicates spinel-harzburgite and -herzolite protoliths. The samples preserve fertile protolith signatures that suggest low melting degrees. High concentration of immobile elements Zr, Th, Nb, and REE contents (from ~0.1 to ~2 CI-chondrite) point to early melt–rock interaction processes before serpentinization took place. Major- and trace-element compositions suggest an oceanic fracture-zone–transform-fault setting. A mild negative Eu anomaly in most samples indicates low-temperature fluid–rock interaction as a likely consequence of seawater infiltration during oceanic serpentinization. A second, more important, serpentinization stage is related to enrichment in U, Pb, Cs, Ba, and Sr due to the infiltration of slab-derived fluids. The mineral assemblages are mainly formed by antigorite, lizardite, and chlorite, with local minor talc, tremolite, anthophyllite, dolomite, brucite, and relict orthopyroxene. The local presence of anthophyllite and the replacements of lizardite by antigorite indicate a metamorphic evolution from the cooling of peridotite/serpentinite at the oceanic context to mild heating and compression in a subduction setting. We propose that serpentinites formed at an oceanic transform-fault setting that was the locus of subduction initiation of the Proto-Caribbean basin below the Caribbean plate during early Cretaceous times. Onset of subduction at the fracture zone allowed the preservation of abyssal transform-fault serpentinites at the upper plate, whereas limited downward drag during mature subduction placed the rocks in the subduction channel where they tectonically mixed with the upward-migrating accreted block of the subducted Proto-Caribbean oceanic crust. Hence, we suggest that relatively fertile serpentinites of high-pressure mélanges were witness to the onset of subduction at an oceanic transform-fault setting.     

四川省北川县赵家沟地震次生泥石流形成条件分析

赵家沟位于北川县擂鼓镇坪上村西北侧,属汶川地震极重灾区,在地震发生前为一般性清水沟或洪水沟。由于地震的影响,流域内发育了多处滑坡和崩塌,斜坡上和沟道中堆积了大量松散固体物质。在2008年9月24日暴雨的作用下,赵家沟流域发生了百年不遇的泥石流灾害,成为地震次生泥石流沟。通过现场实地调查和室内分析,对地震次生泥石流灾害形成的地质地貌条件、物源条件和水源条件进行了分析。表明地震次生泥石流灾害的发生频率和规模有可能加大,其危险性由于松散固体物质的增大而上升,这是地震次生泥石流灾害显著的特征。     

强震区泥石流启动机制

地震区的泥石流物源主要来源于滑坡、崩塌等松散体,具有结构疏松,密实度低,堆积时间短等特点,与非地震环境中的滑坡、崩塌堆积体的结构有所不同,堆积体的物理力学性质发生了改变,堆积体转换为泥石流所需的外界条件也相应的改变。以汶川地震区都江堰市龙池镇典型泥石流灾害为例,分析了地震滑坡、崩塌松散体的堆积形态和堆积体的应力环境。从静力学和动力学角度分析堆积体在强降雨条件下的起动特征,探讨了降雨作用形成的地表径流水深与堆积体失稳时的应力极限状态的关系。分析得出沟道岸坡滑坡堆积体发生侵蚀时的地表径流力为F=(τ1f-f1sinα)/cos(α-26.65),并建立径流水深与地表径流力的关系:H=F/4ρsgJ。分析在动量守恒条件下,堆积体单位时间内的侵蚀体积dV=dM/γs模型。为了进一步探讨在实际现场的应用,以汶川地震区都江堰市的水打沟泥石流为例,分析发生泥石流时的地表径流水深为0.011 m,其结论与实际调查结果基本一致。     

天津市地质灾害-气象预报预警方法探讨

天津市蓟县山区面积727km2,以中低山和低山丘陵地貌形态为主,在强降雨和持续降雨条件下发生泥石流、滑坡等地质灾害的可能性客观存在。历史上地质灾害已给当地造成了一定的人员伤亡及财产损失。为了加强突发性地质灾害预防工作,提高人民群众的防灾意识,天津市2004年开始开展地质灾害-气象预报预警工作,取得了一定的效果。针对天津市山区面积较小、地质灾害事件较少的特点,目前常用的地貌分析———临界降雨量模型判据法具有一定的局限性,预报成功率较低。在区域性地质灾害-气象预报预警工作的基础上,开展单点泥石流灾害气象预报预警工作非常必要。对容易发生泥石流灾害的主要沟谷,通过现场调查可以获取沟谷的形态特征参数(沟谷的高差、纵坡的坡度、沟长、流域面积等)。以临界降雨量为变量因子,对每个监测沟谷建立泥石流灾害气象预警预报模型,可以很大程度提高预报的针对性。模型需要在实践中不断检验和完善,逐步提高预报的准确率。     

层次分析法在单沟泥石流危险度评价中的应用

单沟泥石流危险度评价是泥石流危险性评价中的重要内容,对实现山区的安全减灾有着重要意义。文章从系统理论出发,运用层次分析法(AHP)对影响泥石流沟谷危险度的相关因子进行分析,构建单沟泥石流危险度评价的层次指标系统,并对各参与评价因子的权重作了计算,建立起单沟泥石流危险度评价模型。通过对泥石流沟的实例验证,评价结果与实际情况有较好的一致性。该方法将定量与定性相结合,能很好地解决泥石流危险度综合评价问题,对提高泥石流危险度评价的可靠性、准确性及客观性有一定的实践意义。     

Development and controlling factors of gullies and gully complexes,East Coast,New Zealand

Sequential aerial photographs of a small headwater catchment in the Waiapu basin, East Coast Region, North Island, New Zealand, were interpreted to measure and analyse temporal changes in active area of gullies and gully complexes for a longer time span (1939–2003) and with higher temporal resolution compared to previous studies. We focus on the conditions leading to the development of gullies and gully complexes under pasture and forest by using topographic thresholds (slope–area relationships) of catchments for the initiation of gullies and gully complexes. In addition, the influence of two different lithologies as well as the occurrence of major rainfall events was related to gully activity. Twenty gullies and four gully complexes (occupying 62·5 ha or 12·5 per cent of the catchment area) occurred in the study catchment between 1939 and 2003. However, the majority of these were not active at all of the dates studied. Gullies developed in the sandstone‐dominated Tapuwaeroa Formation tended to attain their maximum size by 1957 with a mean catchment area of 2·1 ha. Gullies developed in mudstone of the Whangai Formation attained their maximum size in 1939 with a mean catchment area of 4·31 ha. Exceptions are gullies which developed into mass movement deposits or into an earth flow deposit as well as gullies developed under indigenous forest. Topographic threshold values for gullies under pasture and indigenous forest show that values for gullies under forest plot far above the threshold line of gullies under pasture, indicating that the topographical threshold for gully development under forest is higher compared to under pasture. A threshold value of 9·4 ha in catchment area is needed for the development of gully complexes under pasture, all located in the Whangai Formation and with the same orientation as the strike of the mudstones. Gully‐complex area and dominance of mass‐movement erosion increased with larger catchment area. A decreasing distance to the threshold line for gullies under pasture indicates a later development for gully complexes. No gully complexes developed under indigenous forest, indicating that the threshold value for gully‐complex development is higher than for gully complexes under pasture and was not reached in the study area. A model of shifting topographical threshold for gully development for a given catchment is developed which depends on land use. When a catchment has an indigenous forest cover the topographical threshold is very high. After conversion to pasture, threshold values decrease drastically. With the invasion of scrub, the threshold slowly increases and returns to a similar level to that under indigenous forest after reforestation. Development of gullies and gully complexes is a highly dynamic phenomenon, and phases of expansion and inactivity indicate that models describing only unidirectional advancing stages without periods of inactivity are not suitable. Therefore, this study adds more phases to models of gully and gully‐complex development in the East Coast Region. The threshold line for gully initiation under pasture and a value of 9·4 ha in catchment area for gully‐complex initiation permits one to predict which catchments, under similar environmental settings, develop gullies and gully complexes on a physical basis. This enables land managers to implement sustainable land‐use strategies to reduce erosion rates of gullies and gully complexes. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Use of terrain variables for mapping gully erosion susceptibility in Lebanon

This paper predicts the geographic distribution and size of gullies across central Lebanon using a geographic information system (GIS) and terrain analysis. Eleven primary (elevation; upslope contributing area; aspect; slope; plan, profile and tangential curvature; flow direction; flow width; flow path length; rate of change of specific catchment area along the direction of flow) and three secondary (steady‐state; quasi‐dynamic topographic wetness; sediment transport capacity) topographic variables were generated and used along with digital data collected from other sources (soil, geology) to statistically explain gully erosion field measurements. Three tree‐based regression models were developed using (1) all variables, (2) primary topographic variables only and (3) different pairs of variables. The best regression tree model combined the steady‐state topographic wetness and sediment transport capacity indices and explained 80% of the variability in field gully measurements. This model proved to be simple, quick, realistic and practical, and it can be applied to other areas of the Mediterranean region with similar environmental conditions, thereby providing a tool to help with the implementation of plans for soil conservation and sustainable management. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gully Initiation and Implications for Management of Scour Holes in the Vicinity of the Jabiluka Mine, Northern Territory, Australia

A track across a burnt grass swale was used intensively on the Jabiluka Mineral Lease (located adjacent to Kakadu National Park in the seasonally wet tropics of the Northern Territory, Australia) for a short time period during the 1998 dry season. Repeated vehicle passes over the burnt grass increased soil bulk density and locally disrupted the root and algal mat, lowering the critical shear stress for sediment transport. Overland flow during the next wet season was above average and eroded eleven discontinuous, flow‐aligned scour holes in the wheel ruts where the track crossed grassed sandy swales. Although the site was burnt again during the next dry season, the scour holes did not coalesce during the second wet season, which was wetter than the previous one, because infrequent traffic bypassed the eroded section allowing grass to re‐establish. Scour holes on vehicle tracks in the Kakadu region are an intermediate but reversible stage in the development of gullies in grassed swales. Treatment of scour holes by soil conservation works may prevent gully formation.     

Impact of road building on gully erosion risk: a case study from the Northern Ethiopian Highlands

Although obvious in the field, the impact of road building on hydrology and gullying in Ethiopia has rarely been analysed. This study investigates how road building in the Ethiopian Highlands affects the gully erosion risk. The road between Makalle and Adwa in the highlands of Tigray (northern Ethiopia), built in 1993–1994, caused gullying at most of the culverts and other road drains. While damage by runoff to the road itself remains limited, off‐site effects are very important. Since the building of the road, nine new gullies were created immediately downslope of the studied road segment (6·5 km long) and seven other gullies at a distance between 100 and 500 m more downslope. The road induces a concentration of surface runoff, a diversion of concentrated runoff to other catchments, and an increase in catchment size, which are the main causes for gully development after road building. Topographic thresholds for gully formation are determined in terms of slope gradient of the soil surface at the gully head and catchment area. The influence of road building on both the variation of these thresholds and the modification of the drainage pattern is analysed. The slope gradient of the soil surface at the gully heads which were induced by the road varies between 0·06 and 0·42 m m^?1 (average 0·15 m m^?1), whereas gully heads without influence of the road have slope gradients between 0·09 and 0·52 m m^?1 (average 0·25 m m^?1). Road building disturbed the equilibrium in the study area but the lowering of topographic threshold values for gullying is not statistically significant. Increased gully erosion after road building has caused the loss of fertile soil and crop yield, a decrease of land holding size, and the creation of obstacles for tillage operations. Hence roads should be designed in a way that keeps runoff interception, concentration and deviation minimal. Techniques must be used to spread concentrated runoff in space and time and to increase its infiltration instead of directing it straight onto unprotected slopes. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.