Development-Conservation Dilemma in the NilgiriMountains of South India

The Nilgiri Mountains of south India is considered unique by anthropologists, geologists, climatologists, botanists as well as tourists. It has remained a subject of constant study and research over the last two centuries. Man-nature balance had continued undisturbed in the Nilgiris for thousands of years until the early 19th century when it became a British colony attracting, in due course, various developmental activities. Subsequently, the Nilgiris and its popular hill stations emerged as favourite places for the British population in India for rest and recuperation, game and for raising commercial plantations. In the process, the traditional indigenous crops were replaced by “English“ vegetables and the natural forests gave way to commercial plantations of coffee, tea and other exotic species of trees.     

Giant ancient landslide in the Alma water gap (Crimean Mountains,Ukraine): notes to the predisposition,structure, and chronology

Large-scale ancient landslides of the area of more than 5 km² and volume exceeding 200 × 10⁶ m³ are characteristic features of the valleys incised in the northern periphery of the Crimean Mountains (Ukraine). The largely affected area is located in the outermost cuesta range of the Crimean Mountains which consists of rigid Sarmatian limestones overlying weak Middle Miocene and Upper Palaeogene deposits. A giant landslide arose in the Alma water gap as a reflection of several coincident preparatory factors such as suitable bedrock stratification, smectite-rich bedrock exposed to swelling activity, presence of faults parallel to the valley trend, and river capture event which preceded the landslide event. The occurrence of such ancient megaslides is particularly interesting in the area which is characterized by low precipitation (<500 mm/year) and weak contemporary seismicity. It probably reflects a more dynamic environment in humid phases of the Holocene; however, seismic triggering along the Mesozoic suture zone cannot be rejected. Compressional features such as gravitational folds in the central and distal parts of the landslide, which probably correlate with the whole landslide genesis or its significant reactivation, arose, according to the radiocarbon dating, during the Holocene climatic optimum in the Atlantic period. The slope deformation has been relatively quiescent since that time, except minor historic reactivization which took place in the frontal part of the landslide. We suppose that the studied landslide could be classified as a transitional type of slope deformation with some signs of spreading and translational block slides.     

北秦岭古聚会带壳幔再循环

以同构造期代表古洋壳残片的蛇绿岩及产于古岛弧的玄武岩为基础，通过Ｎｄ，Ｐｂ同位素与微量元素示踪及岩浆源区分析，揭示出北秦岭元古宙上地幔以强亏损（εＮｄ（ｔ）＋６．３～＋７．３）和高的Ｙｂ／Ｈｆ，Ｎｂ／Ｌａ和Ｔｈ／Ｌａ比值为特征，北秦岭地壳和上地幔明显具有Ｐｂ同位素比值高的特征．北秦岭丹凤群岛弧火山岩、二郎坪群弧后玄武岩以及松树沟蛇绿岩中变拉斑玄武岩εＮｄ（ｔ）、放射成因Ｐｂ同位素、Ｙ／Ｔｂ和Ｔｉ－ＭｇＯ研究表明，本区玄武岩存在两类性质不同的岩浆源．一类与亏损的北秦岭岩石圈上地幔源区有关；另一类与携带海洋沉积物的洋壳板块俯冲参与有关．由此，论证了北秦岭古聚会带壳幔之间物质再循环     

Geochemistry of the subduction-related magmatic rocks in the Dahong Mountains, northern Hubei Province——Constraint on the existence and subduction of the eastern Mianle oceanic basin

Being a composite collisional orogen between North China and South China blocks, the Qinling orogenic belt is the key to understand the composite combination, prolonged evolutionary history and their continental dynamics. The main suture between north and south Qinling, called Shangdan suture zone (SDSZ), had been studied in detail for about twenty years. Recently, another suture zone, called Mianl黣 suture zone (MLSZ), has been identified in the Qinling Mountains. It is characterized b…     

Rainfall thresholds for landsliding in the Himalayas of Nepal

Landsliding of the hillslope regolith is an important source of sediment to the fluvial network in the unglaciated portions of the Himalayas of Nepal. These landslides can produce abrupt increases of up to three orders of magnitude in the fluvial sediment load in less than a day. An analysis of 3 years of daily sediment load and daily rainfall data defines a relationship between monsoonal rainfall and the triggering of landslides in the Annapurna region of Nepal. Two distinct rainfall thresholds, a seasonal accumulation and a daily total, must be overcome before landslides are initiated. To explore the geomorphological controls on these thresholds, we develop a slope stability model, driven by daily rainfall data, which accounts for changes in regolith moisture. The pattern of rainfall thresholds predicted by the model is similar to the field data, including the decrease in the daily rainfall threshold as the seasonal rainfall accumulation increases. Results from the model suggest that, for a given hillslope, regolith thickness determines the seasonal rainfall necessary for failure, whereas slope angle controls the daily rainfall required for failure.     

Estimation of regional material yield from coastal landslides based on historical digital terrain modelling

High‐resolution historical (1942) and recent (1994) digital terrain models were derived from aerial photographs along the Big Sur coastline in central California to measure the long‐term volume of material that enters the nearshore environment. During the 52‐year measurement time period, an average of 21 000 ± 3100 m³ km^?1 a^?1 of material was eroded from nine study sections distributed along the coast, with a low yield of 1000 ± 240 m³ km^?1 a^?1 and a high of 46 700 ± 7300 m³ km^?1 a^?1. The results compare well with known volumes from several deep‐seated landslides in the area and suggest that the processes by which material is delivered to the coast are episodic in nature. In addition, a number of parameters are investigated to determine what influences the substantial variation in yield along the coast. It is found that the magnitude of regional coastal landslide sediment yield is primarily related to the physical strength of the slope‐forming material. Coastal Highway 1 runs along the lower portion of the slope along this stretch of coastline, and winter storms frequently damage the highway. The California Department of Transportation is responsible for maintaining this scenic highway while minimizing the impacts to the coastal ecosystems that are part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. This study provides environmental managers with critical background data on the volumes of material that historically enter the nearshore from landslides, as well as demonstrating the application of deriving historical digital terrain data to model landscape evolution. Published in 2005 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

地质雷达在拟建机场隐患调查中的应用

文章结合工程实例，介绍在敦煌机场扩建中采用地质雷达进行古墓不良地质体的勘查，取得明显效果。     

地幔柱大辩论及如何验证地幔柱假说

目前关于地幔柱存在与否的争论主要集中在地幔柱学说的三个假设上:(1)起源于地球核幔边界缓慢上升的细长柱状热物质流;(2)热点下具有异常高温地幔;(3)地幔柱是相对静止的。这三个方面的验证需要今后深部地球物理探测、岩石学和古地磁等学科的综合运用和进一步的工作。文中认为,地幔柱学说依然能合理地解释地球上一级地质现象,反对地幔柱的学者过分强调了一些小尺度的与地幔柱理论不符的细节,而小尺度地壳特征显然还受到其他许多因素的影响。可以从以下5个方面来鉴别老地幔柱:(1)大规模火山作用前的地壳抬升;(2)放射状岩墙群;(3)火山作用的物理特征;(4)火山链的年代学变化;(5)地幔柱产出岩浆的化学组成。研究表明,峨眉山大火成岩省满足其中的3到4个指标,因此地幔柱是形成峨眉山玄武岩的主要动力学机制。     

勉略缝合带三岔子辉绿岩墙锆石U-Pb年龄及Hf同位素组成——古特提斯洋壳俯冲的年代学证据

为了弄清楚勉略构造带中三岔子岛弧火山岩的形成时代及源区特征,对南秦岭勉略缝合带三岔子岛弧蛇绿混杂岩中的辉绿岩墙样品进行了锆石U—PB年代学、锆石Hf同位素组成及微量元素组成研究。结果表明,三岔子辉绿岩中的锆石主要包括2个年龄区间：有8颗锆石记录古生代年龄信息,其n（205Pb）／n（238u）年龄为264～487Ma,Ⅷ（Th）／w（U）为0．4～0．8,其中有6颗锆石的N（176Hf）／N（177Hf）初始值为0．281934～0．282292,埘应的EHf（f）值为9．4～-16．4,为典型的壳源岩浆锆石,另外2个测点（BQG-014,BQG-021）的N（176Hf）/N（177Hf）为0．282722～0．282798,对应的εHf（f）值为4．5～6．3,为典型的幔源岩浆锆石;有15颗锆石记录厂元古代-太古代的年龄信息,N（207Pb）/N（206Pb）年龄主要为1713～2559Ma,N（176Hf）／N（177Hf）初始值为0．281288～0．282263,对应的εHf（t）值为-1．3～8．7,绝大部分锆石的εHf（t）值大于2,显示出幔源岩浆锆行的特征。根据锆石Hf同位素组成,BQG-014和BQG-021样品为典型的幔源岩浆锆石,因此,其形成年龄（264～295Ma）应代表了勉略洋消减过程中一次重要的大陆弧岩浆作用时间。     

Comparative analysis of contributing parameters for rainfall-triggered landslides in the Lesser Himalaya of Nepal

In the Himalaya, people live in widely spread settlements and suffer more from landslides than from any other type of natural disaster. The intense summer monsoons are the main factor in triggering landslides. However, the relations between landslides and slope hydrology have not been a focal topic in Himalayan landslide research. This paper deals with the contributing parameters for the rainfall-triggered landslides which occurred during an extreme monsoon rainfall event on 23 July 2002, in the south-western hills of Kathmandu valley, in the Lesser Himalaya, Nepal. Parameters such as bedrock geology, geomorphology, geotechnical properties of soil, and clay mineralogy are described in this paper. Landslide modeling was performed in SEEP/W and SLOPE/W to understand the relationship of pore water pressure variations in soil layers and to determine the spatial variation of landslide occurrence. Soil characteristics, low angle of internal friction of fines in soil, medium range of soil permeability, presence of clay minerals in soil, bedrock hydrogeology, and human intervention were found to be the main contributing parameters for slope failures in the region.