Late Miocene–Quaternary volcanism, tectonics and drainage system evolution in the East Carpathians, Romania

Middle Miocene (Sarmatian) convergence created the fold and thrust belt of the Eastern Carpathians of Romania, which subsequently experienced post-collisional crustal deformation combined with calc-alkaline and alkalic-basaltic volcanism in late Miocene–Quaternary time. This deformation led to the rise of the Cǎlimani–Gurghiu–Harghita volcanic mountains and to the subsidence of the N–S-oriented intramontane Borsec/Bilbor–Gheorgheni–Ciuc and Braşov pull-apart basins, and the E-oriented monocline-related Fǎgǎraş basin. The regional drainage network is the composite of:

(1) Older E-, SE- and S-flowing rivers, which cross the Carpathians, radiate towards the foreland and were probably established during the Middle Miocene (Sarmatian) collision event.

(2) A more recent drainage system related to the contemporaneous development of the volcanoes and intramontaneous basins, which generally drains westward into the Transylvanian Basin since late Miocene time and has been capturing the older river system.

The older river drainage system has also been modified by Late Pliocene–Quaternary folding, thrusting and monoclinal tilting along the Pericarpathian orogenic front and by reactivated transverse high angle basement faults, which cross the Eastern Carpathian foreland.     

Revised age of proximal deposits in the Zagros foreland basin and implications for Cenozoic evolution of the High Zagros

The regionally extensive, coarse-grained Bakhtiyari Formation represents the youngest synorogenic fill in the Zagros foreland basin of Iran. The Bakhtiyari is present throughout the Zagros fold-thrust belt and consists of conglomerate with subordinate sandstone and marl. The formation is up to 3000 m thick and was deposited in foredeep and wedge-top depocenters flanked by fold-thrust structures. Although the Bakhtiyari concordantly overlies Miocene deposits in foreland regions, an angular unconformity above tilted Paleozoic to Miocene rocks is expressed in the hinterland (High Zagros).

The Bakhtiyari Formation has been widely considered to be a regional sheet of Pliocene–Pleistocene conglomerate deposited during and after major late Miocene–Pliocene shortening. It is further believed that rapid fold growth and Bakhtiyari deposition commenced simultaneously across the fold-thrust belt, with limited migration from hinterland (NE) to foreland (SW). Thus, the Bakhtiyari is generally interpreted as an unmistakable time indicator for shortening and surface uplift across the Zagros. However, new structural and stratigraphic data show that the most-proximal Bakhtiyari exposures, in the High Zagros south of Shahr-kord, were deposited during the early Miocene and probably Oligocene. In this locality, a coarse-grained Bakhtiyari succession several hundred meters thick contains gray marl, limestone, and sandstone with diagnostic marine pelecypod, gastropod, coral, and coralline algae fossils. Foraminiferal and palynological species indicate deposition during early Miocene time. However, the lower Miocene marine interval lies in angular unconformity above ~ 150 m of Bakhtiyari conglomerate that, in turn, unconformably caps an Oligocene marine sequence. These relationships attest to syndepositional deformation and suggest that the oldest Bakhtiyari conglomerate could be Oligocene in age.

The new age information constrains the timing of initial foreland-basin development and proximal Bakhtiyari deposition in the Zagros hinterland. These findings reveal that structural evolution of the High Zagros was underway by early Miocene and probably Oligocene time, earlier than commonly envisioned. The age of the Bakhtiyari Formation in the High Zagros contrasts significantly with the Pliocene–Quaternary Bakhtiyari deposits near the modern deformation front, suggesting a long-term (> 20 Myr) advance of deformation toward the foreland.     

塔里木盆地西北缘与南天山早-中二叠世盆山耦合特征

通过对塔里木盆地西北缘及相邻南天山造山带的早-中二叠世岩相古地理、构造和岩浆作用的分析表明,塔里木盆地西北缘在早-中二叠世由于地幔柱作用而导致玄武质岩浆活动,南天山造山带内部则发育几乎同时代的碰撞后花岗岩.盆山结合部位早-中二叠世的沉积中心处于不断沉降的状态,而且沉积中心逐渐向塔里木地块之上迁移.南天山在早-中二叠世碰撞后伸展背景下的隆升作用导致塔里木岩石圈向南天山之下发生陆内俯冲作用,在山前形成类似周缘前陆盆地的构造环境,山前沉积中心相当于周缘前陆盆地系统的前渊相带.塔里木盆地内部早二叠世的地幔柱活动与南天山的碰撞后伸展作用没有明显的相关关系,但是南天山在早-中二叠世的碰撞后伸展作用则与塔里木盆地西北缘的沉积-构造作用具有良好耦合关系.     

第四纪华容隆起构造活动、成因及动力机制

第四纪华容隆起位于江汉—洞庭盆地中部。通过地表观察和第四系钻孔对华容隆起及周缘地貌、第四纪断裂和沉积进行调查,恢复华容隆起构造升降特征与过程,进而探讨华容隆起的成因及其构造活动的动力机制。研究表明:早更新世-中更新世中期华容隆起与周缘凹陷一道沉降,同时前者受周边正断裂控制相对后者有抬升,中更新世晚期一道抬升,晚更新世—全新世构造稳定或弱沉降。第四纪期间华容隆起总体表现为明显的构造沉降。以上表明第四纪华容隆起主要由前第四纪盆—山地貌分异造成,其次与第四纪期间相对周缘凹陷抬升有关。上述地质特征以及区域第四纪地质资料,表明早更新世-中更新世中期江汉—洞庭盆地为断陷盆地,中更新世晚期—全新世转变为坳陷盆地。就华容隆起第四纪构造活动的动力机制进行了探讨并提出:1)早更新世-中更新世中期江汉—洞庭盆地断陷沉降与地幔上隆背景下的深部物质迁出有关。2)中更新世晚期以来的构造活动可能与深部物质蠕移运动的回返以及板块尺度的物质运动和挤压作用有关。3)江汉—洞庭盆地的整体性沉降导致盆地中部的华容隆起以沉降为主;华容隆起特殊的地壳物质结构可能导致深部物质更难向外迁移,使其相对周缘凹陷有抬升。     

Potential evidence for slab detachment from the flexural backstripping of a foredeep: Insight on the evolution of the Pescara basin (Italy)

The discrepancy between the size of the Apenninic chain and the depth of the Adriatic foredeep is investigated using 2D flexural backstripping on well‐constrained depth‐converted cross‐sections in the Pescara basin (Central Italy). The procedure consisted of removal, uplift, unfolding and unfaulting of the Pliocene–Pleistocene foreland deposits to produce a palaeogeographic map of the basin at the end of the Messinian and to constrain sedimentary rates since the Miocene. Results are found to support the contribution of an external load to the foreland evolution together with the Apenninic chain load. The interplay of the two types of loads resulted in spatial and temporal variations of the foredeep evolution that are quantified by palaeogeographic maps and sedimentation rates obtained through backstripping. Results are interpreted as representing the effects of a southward‐migrating wave linked to slab detachment beneath the Adriatic foredeep. This procedure can be useful to investigate similar problems on other chains worldwide.     

Alpine polyphase tectono-metamorphic evolution of the South Carpathians: A new overview

The main terrains involved in the Cretaceous–Tertiary tectonism in the South Carpathians segment of the European Alpine orogen are the Getic–Supragetic and Danubian continental crust fragments separated by the Severin oceanic crust-floored basin. During the Early–Middle Cretaceous times the Danubian microplate acted initially as a foreland unit strongly involved in the South Carpathians nappe stacking. Multistage folding/thrusting events, uplift/erosion and extensional stages and the development of associated sedimentary basins characterize the South Carpathians during Cretaceous to Tertiary convergence and collision events. The main Cretaceous tectogenetic events responsible for contraction and crustal thickening processes in the South Carpathians are Mid-Cretaceous (“Austrian phase”) and Latest Cretaceous (“Laramide” or “Getic phase”) in age. The architecture of the South Carpathians suggests polyphase tectonic evolution and mountain building and includes from top to bottom: the Getic–Supragetic basement/cover nappes, the Severin and Arjana cover nappes, and Danubian basement/cover nappes, all tectonically overriding the Moesian Platform. The Severin nappe complex (including Obarsia and Severin nappes) with Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous ophiolites and turbidites is squeezed between the Danubian and Getic–Supragetic basement nappes as a result of successive thrusting of dismembered units during the inferred Mid- to Late Cretaceous subduction/collision followed by tectonic inversion processes.

Early Cretaceous thick-skinned tectonics was replaced by thin-skinned tectonics in Late Cretaceous. Thus, the former Middle Cretaceous “Austrian” nappe stack and its Albian–Lower Senonian cover got incorporated in the intra-Senonian “Laramide/Getic” stacking of the Getic–Supragetic/Severin/Arjana nappes onto the Danubian nappe duplex. The two contraction events are separated by an extensional tectonic phase in the upper plate recorded by the intrusion of the “Banatitic” magmas (84–73 Ma). The overthrusting of the entire South Carpathian Cretaceous nappe stack onto the fold/thrust foredeep units and to the Moesian Platform took place in the Late Miocene (intra-Sarmatian) times and was followed by extensional events and sedimentary basin formation.     

循化-化隆盆地晚白垩世以来盆山耦合过程: 来自物源与磷灰石裂变径迹年代学分析的证据

循化-化隆盆地新生代沉积及盆地基底和周缘山系磷灰石裂变径迹年代学分析揭示了青藏高原东北缘晚白垩世以来经历过3期隆升剥露事件: (1)盆地基底及拉脊山和西秦岭北缘构造带磷灰石裂变径迹年龄分析普遍记录了晚白垩世-始新世中期相对快速的区域性的隆升剥露事件, 西秦岭北缘快速抬升的起始时间为84Ma, 受控于向北的逆冲抬升; 向北到循化-化隆盆地中部的拉目峡抬升的起始时间为69Ma; 更北的拉脊山一带快速抬升期主要为40~50Ma, 从而反映晚白垩世-始新世中期的快速抬升由南向北逐渐扩展.这一期构造隆升事件导致循化-化隆盆地和临夏盆地缺失了北部西宁-民和盆地古近纪所具有的西宁群沉积.隆升剥露结束于31Ma左右, 此时化隆-循化盆地向东与同时期的临夏盆地相连为一个统一的大型西秦岭山前盆地, 两者具有相同的构造、沉积演化史, 因此循化-化隆盆地他拉组底部地层年龄最老不会超过临夏盆地最老地层的古地磁年龄, 即29Ma.(2)渐新世晚期约26Ma拉脊山开始双向逆冲隆升, 并可能延续到中新世早期约21Ma, 隆升作用使循化-化隆盆地成为挟持于拉脊山逆冲带和西秦岭构造带之间的山前挤压型前陆盆地, 循化-化隆盆地开始大规模沉积巨厚的他拉组冲积扇相粗碎屑岩.(3)通过循化-化隆盆地咸水河组和临夏组的沉积相分析、古流方向和砾石成分分析, 揭示出拉脊山构造带在中新世8Ma左右发生的最大规模的双向逆冲隆升事件, 这次事件直接导致循化-化隆盆地由前陆挤压盆地转变为山间盆地, 形成现今青藏高原东北缘的盆山地貌基本格局.      

青藏高原中侏罗世-早白垩世羌塘复合型前陆盆地充填模式

根据沉积物碎屑组分、粗碎屑楔状体、边缘相、古流向和沉积、沉降中心等重建了盆地结构、古地理和古地貌,认为该盆地是在中侏罗世-早白垩世多岛洋体制下形成的一种复杂的、特殊类型的复合前陆盆地,它的形成和发展同金沙江缝合带与班公湖-怒江缝合带的碰撞和对冲有关,是盆地两侧板块边缘的大型逆冲作用的产物。在此基础上,根据中央隆起地貌景观交替性变化和盆地中“三砂二灰”的幕式沉积特点,将中侏罗世-早白垩世羌塘前陆盆地演化过程分为 5个阶段,其中巴通期和牛津-提唐期是羌塘盆地南北两侧构造活动相对平静期,而巴柔期、卡洛期、提唐-贝里阿斯期是羌塘盆地南北两侧构造活动强烈时期,强烈的逆冲推覆作用产生大量的构造负载,导致中央隆起强烈地挠曲隆升,造成了盆地中的幕式沉积,产生构造层序和层序,恢复了羌塘前陆盆地沉积记录与两侧缝合带的逆冲作用的相互关系.     

Tectono‐stratigraphic history of the southern Junggar basin: seismic profiling evidences

The modern Tianshan is an active intracontinental range in central Asia. Its initial timing is poorly known and still hotly debated. As the subsidence of foreland basins is intrinsically coupled with the uplift of orogenic wedges, the foreland sedimentary records may accurately constrain the Tianshan uplifting history. To better address the question, we analyse a seismic profile across the southern Junggar foreland basin to decipher its tectonic and stratigraphic history. Four structural layers can be identified in an ascending order: the Permian – Lower Jurassic transtension‐related layer, the Jurassic – Cretaceous thermal‐subsistence layer, the Palaeogene layer and the Miocene – Quaternary foreland sedimentary layer. The oldest sedimentary sequence in the foreland succession is of the Shawan Formation deposited at ~24 Ma based on magnetostratigraphic constraints. This indicates that foreland deformation in the northern Tianshan and uplifting of the modern Tianshan probably initiated at the beginning of the Miocene.     

米仓山南缘中生代沉积盆地性质讨论

米仓山南缘位于四川盆地北部地区,前人认为该地区晚三叠世-白垩纪受控于米仓山造山作用形成的前陆盆地.实际上,无论是按照经典的前陆盆地概念,还是陆内前陆盆地或陆内俯冲前陆盆地等术语,米仓山南缘中生代为前陆盆地值得商榷,其一些关键的地质问题必须给以重视.主要表现在:①平面构造图显示,米仓山地区,前震旦系基底与震旦系盖层之间构成一规模较大的不完整的背斜穹隆,盖层围绕基底分布,说明不是构造推覆体;②不存在形成前陆盆地的区域应力,即该区在晚三叠世开始主要是升隆作用而非强烈的推覆挤压,研究资料表明该地区大规模的逆冲推覆作用发生在燕山期,米仓山的形成也应在该时限之内,之前米仓山为一继承性的隆起;③不具备前陆盆地的沉积格局,即晚三叠世-侏罗纪的沉积格局不是呈楔形展布.鉴于此,笔者认为前陆盆地术语不适用于米仓山南缘晚三叠世-侏罗纪沉积盆地的类型.     

Quantitative subsidence-uplift analysis of the Bajo Segura Basin (eastern Betic Cordillera, Spain): tectonic control on the stratigraphic architecture

The Bajo Segura Basin is located in the eastern Betic Cordillera, at present connected with the Mediterranean Sea to the east. It has a complete stratigraphic record from the Tortonian to the Quaternary, which has been separated into six units bounded by unconformities. This paper is concerned with the northern edge of the basin, controlled by a major strike–slip fault (the Crevillente Fault Zone, CFZ), where the most complete stratigraphic successions are found. The results obtained (summarised below) are based on an integrated analysis of the sedimentary evolution and the subsidence-uplift movements. Unit I (Early Tortonian) is transgressive on the basin basement and is represented by ramp-type platform facies, organised in a shallowing-upward sequence related to tectonic uplift during the first stages of movement along the CFZ. Unit II (lower Late Tortonian) consists of shallow platform facies at bottom and pelagic basin facies at top, forming a deepening-upward sequence associated with tectonic subsidence due to sinistral motion along the CFZ. Unit III (middle Late Tortonian) is made up of exotic turbiditic facies related to a stage of uplift and erosion of the southern edge of the basin. Unit IV (upper Late Tortonian) consists of pelagic basin facies at bottom and shallow platform facies at top, defining a shallowing-upward sequence related to tectonic uplift during continued sinistral movement on the basin-bounding fault. Units V (latest Tortonian–Messinian) and VI (Pliocene–Pleistocene p.p.) consist of shallowing-upward sequences deposited during folding and uplift of the northern margin of the basin. No definitive evidence of any major eustatic sea-level fall, associated with the ‘Messinian salinity crisis’, has been recorded in the stratigraphic sections studied.     

秦岭加里东晚期-华力西早期复式前陆盆地

南秦岭西段的志留纪－早泥盆世及中秦岭北缘的志留纪－早石炭世的沉积特征表明,两区均存在有早期理里石相和晚期磨拉石相,构成完整的前陆盆地充填序列,并由冲断造山 －前渊－前隆３部分构成完整的前陆盆地体系,南秦岭前陆盆地是扬子北缘裂陷盆地闭合的产物,形成于４３０Ｍａ,结束于３９０Ｍａ,历时４０Ｍａ,属板内前陆盆地,中秦岭前陆盆地位于扬子北缘的边缘,是秦岭洋闭合后的产物,形成于４４０Ｍａ,结束于３２３Ｍａ,历时１０７Ｍａ,属周缘前陆盆地,北秦岭二郎坪弧后陆盆地的上限是３２０Ｍａ,是在另里东晚期－华力西早期于陆－弧－陆碰撞的背景下形成３种类型的前陆盆地,它们组成了秦岭复式前陆盆地,总历程达１２０Ｍａ。     

准噶尔东北缘前陆盆地构造演化与油气关系

在挤压构造环境下，造山带与相邻的克拉通之间形成前陆盆地，其演化是由早期不稳定阶段向晚期稳定阶段不断发展。准噶尔盆地东北缘于克拉麦里山前形成典型的前陆盆地。前陆盆地及前缘陆隆的演化、迁移与克拉麦里深大断裂的走滑发展休戚相关。早石炭世前陆盆地位于陆南－滴西地区，晚石炭世迁至东部大井－石钱滩北部，二叠纪，受克拉麦里大断裂影响，开始向西迁移至五彩湾一带；晚二叠世晚期前陆盆地消失，进入统一拗陷时期。前陆盆地的发展演化过程中，早期与晚期的构造应力作用松弛期，为前陆盆地发育期，分别形成该地区滴水泉组与平地泉组两套烃源岩。其中滴水泉组形成的石炭纪原生油气藏，在后期的构造变动中，遭受了破坏，油气发生散失，而平地泉组最具现实意义。前缘陆隆的变迁，控制着油气的运移方向；前缘陆隆于演化过程中逐步被ＮＥ向构造改造，后期得到不断加强的古隆起之上的ＮＥ向构造是油气有利聚集带。     

Stages of development in the Polish Carpathian Foredeep basin

In southern Poland, Miocene deposits have been recognised both in the Outer Carpathians and the Carpathian Foredeep (PCF). In the Outer Carpathians, the Early Miocene deposits represent the youngest part of the flysch sequence, while in the Polish Carpathian Foredeep they are developed on the basement platform. The inner foredeep (beneath the Carpathians) is composed of Early to Middle Miocene deposits, while the outer foredeep is filled up with the Middle Miocene (Badenian and Sarmatian) strata, up to 3,000mthick. The Early Miocene strata are mainly terrestrial in origin, whereas the Badenian and Sarmatian strata are marine. The Carpathian Foredeep developed as a peripheral foreland basin related to the moving Carpathian front. The main episodes of intensive subsidence in the PCF correspond to the period of progressive emplacement of the Western Carpathians onto the foreland plate. The important driving force of tectonic subsidence was the emplacement of the nappe load related to subduction roll-back. During that time the loading effect of the thickening of the Carpathian accretionary wedge on the foreland plate increased and was followed by progressive acceleration of total subsidence. The mean rate of the Carpathian overthrusting, and north to north-east migration of the axes of depocentres reached 12 mm/yr at that time. During the Late Badenian-Sarmatian, the rate of advance of the Carpathian accretionary wedge was lower than that of pinch-out migration and, as a result, the basin widened. The Miocene convergence of the Carpathian wedge resulted in the migration of depocentres and onlap of successively younger deposits onto the foreland plate.     

前陆、前陆盆地和前陆盆地系统

前陆是指与造山带相毗连的构造相对稳定地区，造山带的岩石向着它俯冲成掩覆，可分为三种类型，即曾为被动型大陆边缘的（Ⅰ型），曾与沟－弧系有关的（Ⅱ型）和陆内造山带前方的（Ⅲ型）。前陆盆地为沿造山带前陆区分布的线状压性深坳陷，可分为周缘前陆盆地，弧后前陆盆地和陆内前陆盆地三种类型。前陆盆地系统是一个沿造山带分布的长条状的潜在沉积可容空间，可划分为楔顶，前渊，前隆和隆后等4个部分。     

Cenozoic tectonics and landform evolution in the Qilian Mountains and adjacent areas

ABSTRACT

The formation of the Qilian mountains and the evolution of adjacent basins were controlled by the uplift and northeastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau. In a field survey conducted on the main Cenozoic basin sediments in the Qilian Mountains and adjacent areas, fission track age data of apatite obtained previously were analyzed. Cenozoic tectonics and landform evolution in the area where the Qilian Mountains now stand and its response to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau were studied. In the Oligocene Epoch, the Tibetan Plateau was initially uplifted and extended northeastward, forming the Guide-Xining-Lanzhou-Linxia foreland basin on the northern margin of the western Qinling Mountains, and the foreland basin in the area where the Qilian Mountains now stand received widespread sediments. In the Miocene, influenced by the enhanced uplift and northeastward thrust of the Tibetan Plateau, a stage of intracontinental squeezing orogeny and foreland basin splitting began in the area where the Qilian Mountains now stand. In the Pliocene Epoch, the Qilian Mountains were continuously uplifted, the basins shrank, large lake basins disappeared gradually, and large-area red-clay-type aeolian sediments appeared. During the Quaternary Period, the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau accelerated, causing a rapid rise in the altitude of the Qilian Mountains. Global climate change occurred and mountain glaciers began to develop. Quaternary moraine deposits appeared for the first time in the area, and very thick loess sediments appeared in the Longzhong area, east of the area where the Qilian Mountains now stand, forming the famous Loess Plateau.     

Long-term fluvial archives in Hungary: response of the Danube and Tisza rivers to tectonic movements and climatic changes during the Quaternary: a review and new synthesis

The paper discusses the Quaternary evolution of the Danube and Tisza rivers and their main tributaries in the context of evolution of the entire Pannonian Basin, which is Europe's largest intramontane basin, within the Alp–Carpathian orogen. The palaeo-drainage reconstruction of the Pannonian Basin for the pre-Quaternary period is outlined in connection with the gradual regression of Lake Pannon since the Late Miocene. Deltas of rivers that entered the basin from the northwest and northeast were gradually transformed into extended alluvial plains; thus, the earliest possible ancestor of the Danube coming southeastwards from the Alps could be as old as Late Miocene. By the Pliocene the whole Lake Pannon was infilled. The former extensional basin formation was replaced by a compresional stress field, which resulted in an uplift of the marginal flanks and late-stage subsidence anomalies. The increasing relief led to the formation of the Quaternary drainage pattern. The actively subsiding young basins were filled by fluvial sediments, transported by the Danube and Tisza river systems from the uplifting mountains. Between the subsiding regions of the Little and Great Plains, the Danube has formed an antecedent valley with terrace staircases between the uplifting sections of the Transdanubian Range and the North Midmountains. The formation of the terraces is attributed to periodic climate changes during the Pleistocene combined with differences in the uplift rate. The paper gives a complex overview of the classical chronology of the six terraces based on various data sources: mostly dating of loess/paleosol sequences, travertines, aeolian sand, and tephra strata overlying the fluvial sediments, complemented by scattered vertebrate faunal data and archaeological evidence directly from the terrace sediments.The Quaternary drainage pattern evolution of the Great Plain, with a strong tectonic control, is discussed in detail. Rivers originating from the uplifting marginal areas were drawn towards the subsiding depressions which served as local base level. Changes in subsidence rates in space and time throughout the Quaternary resulted in the evolution of a complex drainage pattern. A special emphasis is placed on the Late Pleistocene–Holocene development of the Middle–Tisza region and the Körös basin, where the Berettyó–Körös Rivers form an eastern tributary system of the Tisza River. A comparative evaluation of these two areas is especially relevant, as they provide insights into large-scale Late Pleistocene avulsion of the Tisza River. OSL dating, complemented with inferred transport directions determined from heavy mineral analysis of fluvial sediments in the Körös basin, has revealed an ancient large meandering river system that can be identified with the palaeo-Tisza, which was flowing along a tectonically controlled depression during the Late Pleniglacial. Successions in the Middle Tisza region have allowed differentiation between the older channels of the palaeo-Bodrog River and the Sajó–Hernád alluvial fan and the younger meander belts of the new course of the Tisza. In the Tisza system, changes in river style (braided to various scales of meandering) show correspondence to millennial-scale climate changes of the last 25 ka, while in the Körös basin the effects of tectonics are overprinted onto the regional climatic signals.     

The South Westland Basin: seismic stratigraphy, basin geometry and evolution of a foreland basin within the Southern Alps collision zone, New Zealand

This paper develops further the case for a foreland basin origin of South Westland Basin, located adjacent to the Southern Alps mountain belt. Geohistory analyses show Middle Miocene initiation of subsidence in the basin, with marked increases at 5–6 Ma. Five seismic reflection horizons, including basement, Middle Miocene (top Awarua Limestone), top Miocene, mid-Pliocene (PPB) and mid-Pleistocene (PPA) have been mapped through the grid of seismic data. A series of five back-stripped structure contour maps taken together with five isopach maps show that prior to the Middle Miocene, subsidence and sedimentation occurred mainly along the rifted continental margin of the Challenger Plateau facing the Tasman Sea; subsequently it shifted to a foredeep trending parallel to the Southern Alps and located northwest of them. Through the Late Miocene–Recent this depocentre has progressively widened, and the loci of thickest sediment accumulation have moved northwestward, most prominently during the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene with the progradation of a shelf–slope complex. At the northern end of the basin the shelf–slope break is currently located over the forebulge, which appears not to have migrated significantly, probably because the mountain belt is not advancing significantly northwestwards. Modelling of the lithospheric flexure of the basement surface normal to the trend of the basin establishes values of 3.1 to 9.8×10²⁰ N m for the flexural rigidity of the Australia Plate. This is at the very low end of rigidities for plates, and 1–2 orders of magnitude less than for the Australia Plate beneath the Taranaki Basin. Maps of tectonic subsidence where the influence of sediment loading is removed also clearly identify the source of the loading as lying within or beneath the mountain belt. The basin fill shows a stratigraphic architecture typical of underfilled ancient peripheral foreland basins. This comprises transgressive (basal unconformity, thin limestone, slope-depth mudstone, flysch sequence) and regressive (prograding shelf–slope complex followed by molasse deposits) components. In addition the inner margin of the basin has been inverted as a result of becoming involved in the mountain building, as revealed earlier by fission track thermochronological data. The timing and degree of inversion fits well with the geometrical and stratigraphic development of the basin. That the inversion zone and the coastal plain underlain by molasse deposits are narrow, and most of the basin is beneath the sea, highlights this as an underfilled active foreland basin. The basin is geodynamically part of the Southern Alps collision zone.     

THE MESOZOIC QIANGTANG FORELAND BASIN IN QINGHAI—XIZANG PLATEAU,CHINA

THE MESOZOIC QIANGTANG FORELAND BASIN IN QINGHAI—XIZANG PLATEAU,CHINANationalKeyFundamentalResearchProjects(973) (G1990 40 80 15 ) ;NSFCGeneralProjects(4980 2 0 13)     

川东北前陆盆地须家河组层序-岩相古地理特征

根据控制高分辨率层序的构造和天文因素将川东北前陆盆地晚三叠世须家河期划分为2个超长期、5个长期、18个中期及数十个短期旋回层序,并分析了须家河组超长期层序的岩相古地理特征与演化.在SLSC1超长期旋回时期,米仓山-大巴山构造山系尚处于低幅稳定隆升状态,而龙门山构造山系的逆冲推覆作用较为活跃,川东北前陆盆地属于受龙门山逆冲推覆作用远端效应影响的前陆斜坡,沿米仓山-大巴山前缘地带主要发育辫状河三角洲沉积,而盆地西南部主要发育浅湖沉积.在SLSC2超长期旋回时期,龙门山逆冲推覆进一步增强,同时,米仓山-大巴山开始进入逆冲推覆前的强烈构造隆升阶段,川东北前陆盆地有较大幅度的持续拗陷沉降,在继承SLSC1古地理演化的基础上,形成了以沿龙门山和米仓山-大巴山两逆冲推覆带前缘广泛发育的、以巨厚块状砾岩为特征的大型冲积扇沉积体系.