Crustal motion and deformation in Greece from a decade of GPS measurements, 1993–2003

The Hellenic plate boundary region, located in the collision zone between the Nubian/Arabian and Eurasian lithospheric plates, is one of the seismo-tectonically most active areas of Europe. During the last 15 years, GPS measurements have been used to determine the crustal motion in the area of Greece with the aim to better understand the geodynamical processes of this region. An extended reoccupation network covering whole Greece has been measured periodically in numerous GPS campaigns since the late eighties, and a continuous GPS network has been operated in the region of the Ionian Sea since 1995. In this paper, we present a new detailed high-quality solution of continuous and campaign-type measurements acquired between 1993 and 2003. During the GPS processing, a special effort was made to obtain consistent results with highest possible accuracies and reliabilities. Data of 54 mainly European IGS and EUREF sites were included in the GPS processing in order to obtain results which are internally consistent with the European kinematic field and order to allow for a regional interpretation. After an overview of the results of the IGS/EUREF sites, the results from more than 80 stations in Greece are presented in terms of velocities, time series, trajectories and strain rates. Previous geodetic, geological and seismological findings are generally confirmed and substantially refined. New important results include the observation of deformation zones to the north and to the south of the North Aegean Trough and in the West Hellenic arc region, arc-parallel extension of about 19 mm/yr along the Hellenic arc, and compression between the Ionian islands and the Greek mainland. Due to continuous long-term observations of 4–8 years, it was possible to extract height changes from the GPS time series. In Greece, we observe a differential subsidence of the order of 2 mm/yr between the northern and central Ionian islands across the Kefalonia fault zone. The differential subsidence of the central Ionian islands with respect to the northwestern Greek mainland amounts to 4 mm/yr.     

Partial crustal melting beneath the Betic Cordillera (SE Spain): The case study of Mar Menor volcanic suite

The Neogene Volcanic Province (NVP) within the Betic Cordillera (SE Spain) consists of three main metapelitic enclave suites (from SW to NE: El Hoyazo, Mazarrón and Mar Menor). Since the NVP represents a singular place in the world where crustal enclaves were immediately quenched after melting, their microstructures provide a “photograph” of the conditions at depth just after the moment of the melting.

The thermobarometric information provided by the different microstructural assemblages has been integrated with the geophysical and geodynamical published data into a model of the petrologic evolution of the Mar Menor enclaves. They were equilibrated at 2–3 kbar, 850–900 °C, and followed a sequence of heating melt producing reactions. A local cooling event evidenced by minor melt crystallization preceded the eruption.

The lower crustal studies presented in this work contribute to the knowledge of: (i) the partial melting event beneath the Mar Menor volcanic suite through a petrologic detailed study of the enclaves; (ii) how the microstructures of fast cooled anatectic rocks play an important role in tracing the magma evolution in a chamber up to the eruption, and how they can be used as pseudothermobarometers; (iii) the past and current evolution of the Alborán Domain (Betic Cordillera) and Mediterranean Sea, and how the base of a metapelitic crust has melted within an active geodynamic setting.     

Crustal structure at the easternmost termination of the Variscan belt based on CELEBRATION 2000 and ALP 2002 data

The eastern margin of the Variscan belt in Europe comprises plate boundaries between continental blocks and terranes formed during different tectonic events. The crustal structure of that complicated area was studied using the data of the international refraction experiments CELEBRATION 2000 and ALP 2002. The seismic data were acquired along SW–NE oriented refraction and wide-angle reflection profiles CEL10 and ALP04 starting in the Eastern Alps, passing through the Moravo-Silesian zone of the Bohemian Massif and the Fore-Sudetic Monocline, and terminating in the TESZ in Poland. The data were interpreted by seismic tomographic inversion and by 2-D trial-and-error forward modelling of the P waves. Velocity models determine different types of the crust–mantle transition, reflecting variable crustal thickness and delimiting contacts of tectonic units in depth. In the Alpine area, few km thick LVZ with the Vp of 5.1 km s^− 1 dipping to the SW and outcropping at the surface represents the Molasse and Helvetic Flysch sediments overthrust by the Northern Calcareous Alps with higher velocities. In the Bohemian Massif, lower velocities in the range of 5.0–5.6 km s^− 1 down to a depth of 5 km might represent the SE termination of the Elbe Fault Zone. The Fore-Sudetic Monocline and the TESZ are covered by sediments with the velocities in the range of 3.6–5.5 km s^− 1 to the maximum depth of 15 km beneath the Mid-Polish Trough. The Moho in the Eastern Alps is dipping to the SW reaching the depth of 43–45 km. The lower crust at the eastern margin of the Bohemian Massif is characterized by elevated velocities and high Vp gradient, which seems to be a characteristic feature of the Moravo-Silesian. Slightly different properties in the Moravian and Silesian units might be attributed to varying distances of the profile from the Moldanubian Thrust front as well as a different type of contact of the Brunia with the Moldanubian and its northern root sector. The Moho beneath the Fore-Sudetic Monocline is the most pronounced and is interpreted as the first-order discontinuity at a depth of 30 km.     

华北克拉通破坏与岩石圈减薄

古太古代（约4.0 Ga）时地球上可能只有一个超级大陆, 它的岩石圈厚度高达400 km。在早元古代,这个超级大陆减薄、裂解成十几块,每块中心是太古宙岩石,边缘是元古宙岩石,且各块厚度不等（150~350km）。从元古宙之后这些被称之为稳定克拉通的大陆岩石圈就一直漂游在地幔软流圈之上。中国华北地块就是这些克拉通之一,与众不同的是它在中生代时遭受了第二次破坏,岩石圈厚度从古生代时的180~200 km 减少到现今的80~100 km。本文作者从流变学的视角出发,围绕华北克拉通破坏和岩石圈减薄这一核心问题,从     

Zircon U–Pb ages, Hf and O isotopes constrain the crustal architecture of the ultrahigh-pressure Dabie orogen in China

The crustal structure of the Dabie orogen was reconstructed by a combined study of U–Pb ages, Hf and O isotope compositions of zircons from granitic gneiss from North Dabie, the largest lithotectonic unit in the orogen. The results were deciphered from metamorphic history to protolith origin with respect to continental subduction and exhumation. Zircon U–Pb dating provides consistent ages of 751 ± 7 Ma for protolith crystallization, and two group ages of 213 ± 4 to 245 ± 17 Ma and 126 ± 4 to 131 ± 36 Ma for regional metamorphism. Majority of zircon Hf isotope analyses displays negative ε_Hf(t) values of − 5.1 to − 2.9 with crust Hf model ages of 1.84 to 1.99 Ga, indicating protolith origin from reworking of middle Paleoproterozoic crust. The remaining analyses exhibit positive ε_Hf(t) values of 5.3 to 14.5 with mantle Hf model ages of 0.74 to 1.11 Ga, suggesting prompt reworking of Late Mesoproterozoic to Early Neoproterozoic juvenile crust. Zircon O isotope analyses yield δ¹⁸O values of − 3.26 to 2.79‰, indicating differential involvement of meteoric water in protolith magma by remelting of hydrothermally altered low δ¹⁸O rocks. North Dabie shares the same age of Neoproterozoic low δ¹⁸O protolith with Central Dabie experiencing the Triassic UHP metamorphism, but it was significantly reworked at Early Cretaceous in association with contemporaneous magma emplacement. The Rodinia breakup at about 750 Ma would lead to not only the reworking of juvenile crust in an active rift zone for bimodal protolith of Central Dabie, but also reworking of ancient crust in an arc-continent collision zone for the North Dabie protolith. The spatial difference in the metamorphic age (Triassic vs. Cretaceous) between the northern and southern parts of North Dabie suggests intra-crustal detachment during the continental subduction. Furthermore, the Dabie orogen would have a three-layer structure prior to the Early Cretaceous magmatism: Central Dabie in the upper, North Dabie in the middle, and the source region of Cretaceous magmas in the lower.     

冲绳海槽至马里亚纳海沟重力异常和地壳结构的初步研究

根据我们实测的水深、重力连续剖面资料,计算了自东海至北斐济盆地的地壳厚度。本文旨在对冲绳海槽至马里亚纳海沟的重力异常和地壳结构进行初步的研究。该地段位于太平洋板块俯冲带以西,构造活动十分复杂、剧烈,并含有多种类型的地壳结构。     

Tectonic core of a sedimentary drift: a potential ridge propagation feature beneath the Blake Outer Ridge

The Blake Outer Ridge is a 480–kilometer long linear sedimentary drift ridge striking perpendicular to the North American coastline. By modeling free-air gravity anomalies we tested for the presence of a crustal feature that may control the location and orientation of the Blake Outer Ridge. Most of our crustal density models that match observed gravity anomalies require an increase in oceanic crustal thickness of 1–3 km on the southwest side of the Blake Outer Ridge relative to the northeast side. Most of these models also require 1–4 km of crustal thinning in zone 20–30 km southwest of the crest of the Blake Outer Ridge. Although these features are consistent with the structure of oceanic fracture zones, the Blake Outer Ridge is not parallel to adjacent known fracture zones. Magnetic anomalies suggest that the ocean crust beneath this feature formed during a period of mid-ocean ridge reorganization, and that the Blake Outer Ridge may be built upon the bathymetric expression of an oblique extensional feature associated with ridge propagation. It is likely that the orientation of this trough acted as a catalyst for sediment deposition with the start of the Western Boundary Undercurrent in the mid-Oligocene.     

流变学:构造地质学和地球动力学的支柱学科

地球是一动态系统,其各层圈的构造运动归根到底就是多矿物复合岩石在各种物理条件(例如,温度、围压、差应力、应变速率、应变方式等)下和化学环境(例如,氧逸度和水含量)中的形变。流变学作为研究岩石力学性质和变形行为的科学,现已成为地球动力学和构造地质学的支柱学科。本文对国际上近年来岩石流变学的最新进展做些扼要的介绍,呼吁中国固体地学界加强流变学的研究,做出经得起时间淘洗、实践检验的原创性成果来,使中国的构造地质学研究迈进国际先进的行列。     

岩石圈中热压系数的计算

中国中西部地区发育众多前陆冲断带,它们具有构造变形复杂、油气潜力大和有别于经典前陆盆地的沉积和油气地质特征,但其成因过程和动力学并不清楚。文中利用中西部盆地区的地温、岩石热物性参数和地热学模拟技术,分析该区岩石圈热状态和流变学特征,进一步结合其他地质、地球物理资料,揭示盆地区的深部构造特征和岩石圈性质。研究表明,中西部各主要盆地的岩石圈具有厚度大、强度高、地温低等热-流变学特征,表现为刚硬块体;而其周缘和造山带区却表现为温度高、强度低和厚度小等特征,是构造变形的易发区。在此基础上讨论了岩石圈性质和变形过程等深部构造对前陆盆地成因演化的控制作用,进而初步归纳这类陆内再生前陆盆地的成因演化机制:发育于小型克拉通块体的边缘,其就位受控于岩石圈热-流变学非均质性和构造继承性,其动力来源是新生代印度-欧亚大陆碰撞及其持续的挤压作用。上述研究为探讨中国中西部地区的前陆盆地成因机制提供了深部资料和岩石圈热-流变学约束。