Space–time distribution of ancient and active alluvial karst subsidence: examples from the central Ebro Basin,Spain

Space and time variations of alluvial karst subsidence in the central Ebro Basin are analysed in trenches (paleodolines), aerial photographs (historical dolines) and field surveys (present-day active dolines). The measured subsidence rates, as well as a comparison between densities of paleodolines computed in randomly selected scan-lines and density of active dolines computed in maps, suggest that present-day subsidence in favourable areas is more intense than that of Pleistocene times. According to diachronic maps drawn from (a) different aerial photographs taken after 1946 and (b) field surveys on deformations in urbanized areas, subsidence behaved as a nearly steady process while the whole area was used for agriculture. In contrast, rapid changes (through periods of several tens of years) have occurred in urbanized areas, in which dolines expand their boundaries through small marginal collapses, shifting sharply their sinking centres to neighbouring sites. These rapid changes do not have an equivalent in observed paleodolines.     

Glacier change and glacier runoff variation in the Tuotuo River basin,the source region of Yangtze River in western China

Glaciers in the Tuotuo River basin, western China, have been monitored in recent decades by applying topographical maps and high-resolution satellite images. Results indicate that most of glaciers in the Tuotuo River basin have retreated in the period from 1968/1971 to 2001/2002, and their shrinkage area is 3.2% of the total area in the late 1960s. To assess the influence of glacier runoff on river runoff, a modified degree–day model including potential clear-sky direct solar radiation has been applied to the glaciated regions of the river basin over the period 1961–2004. It was found that glacier runoff has increased in the last 44 years, especially in the 1990s when a two-thirds increase in river runoff was derived from the increase in glacier runoff caused by loss of ice mass in the entire Tuotuo River basin.     

Sedimentary petrology and geochemistry of siliciclastic rocks from the upper Jurassic Tordillo Formation (Neuquén Basin, western Argentina): Implications for provenance and tectonic setting

The Upper Jurassic Tordillo Formation is exposed along the western edge of the Neuquén Basin (west central Argentina) and consists of fluvial strata deposited under arid/semiarid conditions. The pebble composition of conglomerates, mineralogical composition of sandstones and pelitic rocks, and major- and trace-element geochemistry of sandstones, mudstones, and primary pyroclastic deposits are evaluated to determine the provenance and tectonic setting of the sedimentary basin. Conglomerates and sandstones derived almost exclusively from volcanic sources. The stratigraphic sections to the south show a clast population of conglomerates dominated by silicic volcanic fragments and a predominance of feldspathic litharenites. This framework composition records erosion of Triassic–Jurassic synrift volcaniclastic rocks and basement rocks from the Huincul arch, which was exhumed as a result of Late Jurassic inversion. In the northwestern part of the study area, conglomerates show a large proportion of mafic and acidic volcanic rock fragments, and sandstones are characterised by a high content of mafic volcanic rock fragments and plagioclase. These data suggest that the source of the sandstones and conglomerates was primarily the Andean magmatic arc, located west of the Neuquén Basin. The clay mineral assemblage is interpreted as the result of a complex set of factors, including source rock, climate, transport, and diagenesis. Postdepositional processes produced significant variations in the original compositions, especially the fine-grained deposits. The Tordillo sediments are characterised by moderate SiO₂ contents, variable abundances of K₂O and Na₂O, and a relatively high proportion of ferromagnesian elements. The degree of chemical weathering in the source area, expressed as the chemical index of alteration, is low to moderate. The major element geochemistry and Th/Sc, K/Rb, Co/Th, La/Sc, and Cr/Th values point to a significant input of detrital volcanic material of calcalkaline felsic and intermediate composition. However, major element geochemistry is not useful for interpreting the tectonic setting. Discrimination plots based on immobile trace elements, such as Ti, Zr, La, Sc, and Th, show that most data lie in the active continental margin field. Geochemical information is not sufficiently sensitive to differentiate the two different source areas recognized by petrographic and modal analyses of conglomerates and sandstones.     

湖南石门杨家坪下寒武统杷榔组三段混合沉积研究

湖南石门杨家坪下寒武统杷榔组三段发育陆源碎屑与海相碳酸盐的混合沉积。综合前人研究成果,通过对研究区野外露头资料的详细观测和室内样品分析及数据统计等工作,对研究区杷榔组三段混合沉积进行了详细的研究。研究区混合沉积特征宏观上表现为由陆源碎屑与混积物交互沉积、碳酸盐与混积物交互沉积和不同类型混积物本身的交互沉积构成的混积层系,微观上表现为陆源碎屑组分与碳酸盐组分混合沉积所形成混积岩;混合沉积类型主要为内潮汐沉积作用和浊流沉积作用形成的复合式混合沉积Ⅱ,次为深水原地沉积作用形成的渐变式混合沉积,但是不同成因的沉积作用形成的混合沉积类型往往叠加在一起,形成复合式混合沉积Ⅱ+渐变式混合沉积的混合沉积复合体;混合沉积环境为深水斜坡,发育内波、内潮汐混合沉积微相、深水原地混合沉积微相和远源浊流混合沉积微相等类型;在沉积环境分析的基础上,根据内波、内潮汐沉积特征,剖析了混合沉积的沉积机理;结合混合沉积的成因、沉积机理、产出部位及沉积环境等因素,以沉积学原理为指导,建立了研究区杷榔组三段的混合沉积模式。     

塔里木西部地区古生代断裂活动的方式和机制

基于系统的地震剖面解释及其与塔中地区的对比,本文探讨了塔里木西部地区古生代断裂活动的方式和机制。玛东断裂带是一条宽阔的北东向盖层滑脱型褶皱冲断带,前展式向东南扩展,冲断作用发生在奥陶纪末。巴东断裂(吐土休克Ⅱ号断裂)为北西向基底卷入型冲断带,奥陶纪末和中二叠世末发生冲断。巴西断裂和塔参2井南断裂是海西期的正断层。塔里木古板块古生代的发育受邻侧的造山带演化制约,近东西向和北东向断裂奥陶纪末的冲断是继承基底构造发育的。塔中地区的近北西向断裂是晚寒武世的新生断裂,加里东运动可分为两幕:奥陶纪末的冲断(艾比湖运动)和晚志留-中泥盆世的冲断-走滑,后者向西明显减弱。塔里木西部的部分北西向断裂(如康西断裂)可归入塔中北西向断裂系。北东向的玛东断裂带是其西的向北(东)冲断的吐木休克断裂带与其东的向南偏东冲断的塔中8-1井——塔中5井断裂带之间的调节断层。     

Influence of Structural Non-Stationarity of Surface Roughness on Morphological Characterization and Mechanical Deformation of Rock Joints

Summary Structural non-stationarity of surface roughness affects accurate morphological characterization as well as mechanical behaviour of rock joints at the laboratory scale using samples with a size below the stationarity threshold. In this paper, the effect of structural non-stationarity of surface roughness is investigated by studying the scale dependence of surface roughness and mechanical behaviour of rock joints. The results show that the structural non-stationarity mainly affects the accurate characterization of the surface roughness of the fracture samples. It also controls the amount and location of the contact areas during shear tests, which in turn affects the mechanical properties and asperity degradation of the samples. It is concluded that for accurate determination of the morphological and mechanical properties of rock joints at laboratory and field scales, samples with size equal to or larger than the stationarity threshold are required. Author’s address: Nader Fardin, Rock Mechanics Group, Department of Mining Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box: 11365/4563, Tehran, Iran     

Soil erosion susceptibility assessment and validation using a geostatistical multivariate approach: a test in Southern Sicily

A certain number of studies have been carried out in recent years that aim at developing and applying a model capable of assessing water erosion of soil. Some of these have tried to quantitatively evaluate the volumes of soil loss, while others have focused their efforts on the recognition of the areas most prone to water erosion processes. This article presents the results of a research whose objective was that of evaluating water erosion susceptibility in a Sicilian watershed: the Naro river basin. A geomorphological study was carried out to recognize the water erosion landforms and define a set of parameters expressing both the intensity of hydraulic forces and the resistance of rocks/soils. The landforms were mapped and classified according to the dominant process in landsurfaces affected by diffuse or linear water erosion. A GIS layer was obtained by combining six determining factors (bedrock lithology, land use, soil texture, plan curvature, stream power index and slope-length factor) in unique conditions units. A geostatistical multivariate approach was applied by analysing the relationships between the spatial distributions of the erosion landforms and the unique condition units. Particularly, the density of eroded area for each combination of determining factors has been calculated: such function corresponds, in fact, to the conditional probability of erosion landforms to develop, under the same geoenvironmental conditions. In light of the obtained results, a general geomorphologic model for water erosion in the Naro river basin can be depicted: cultivated areas in clayey slopes, having fine-medium soil texture, are the most prone to be eroded; linear or diffuse water erosion processes dominate where the topography is favourable to a convergent or divergent runoff, respectively. For each of the two erosion process types, a susceptibility map was produced and submitted to a validation procedure based on a spatial random partition strategy. Both the success of the validation procedure of the susceptibility models and the geomorphological coherence of the relationships between factors and process that such models suggest, confirm the reliability of the method and the goodness of the predictions.     

华北克拉通北缘隆化地区S型花岗岩的独居石年龄图谱

位于华北克拉通北缘中段的隆化S型花岗岩由石榴石黑云母花岗岩、石榴石花岗岩以及片麻理化的黑云母花岗岩组成。其主体岩性石榴石黑云母花岗岩SiO_2和Al_2O_3含量分别为64.09%～69.6%以及14.6%～16.13%,K_2O/Na_2O>1.0,A/CNK>1,0,Mg~#在20.76～34.89之间变化,具有明显的Nb、Ta、P、Ti和Sr亏损以及Rb、K和Th富集。石榴石黑云母花岗岩(样品JB6031-1)采用独居石电子探针U-Th-Pb化学法进行测年,获得了2553±120Ma、2180±42Ma和1854±24Ma三个年龄峰值。一颗独居石内部成分分带上6个分析点定年结果构成2553±120Ma的峰值年龄,这一年龄与我们最新获得的2506±7Ma和2541±8Ma(继承锆石年龄)LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb同位素年龄相似,我们将这一独居石年龄解释为继承独居石的年龄,表明在赤城-隆化断裂以北存在太古宙陆块,并且在后期构造-热事件中发生部分熔融形成S型花岗岩。该独居石颗粒幔部成分分带上10个分析点的测年结果揭示的峰值年龄为2181±42Ma,该年龄也是出现频率最高的年龄值,我们建议2181±42Ma为S型花岗岩的结晶年龄,反映了S型花岗岩的侵位时代。独居石颗粒外部成分分带上8个分析点的测年结果构成1854±24Ma的峰值年龄,该年龄与华北克拉通中部带的变质年龄接近,我们将其解释为S型花岗岩的变质年龄,表明华北克拉通北缘的构造演化与中部带的构造演化密切相关。     

柴达木盆地北缘侏罗系两类不同有机质丰度泥岩的 生物标志物特征对比研究

在柴达木盆地北缘地区,分别选取有机碳含量很低和较高的侏罗系泥岩样品,对比分析了它们在生物标志物组成上的差异。结果发现,高有机质丰度泥岩的生标组成与我国西北地区侏罗纪煤系有机质的特征差异不大,相比而言,低有机质丰度泥岩的正烷烃以前主峰为特征,Pr/Ph比值在1.0左右,三环萜烷和伽马蜡烷丰度较高,并在部分样品中检出了25 降藿烷系列。结合泥岩的有机岩石学特征,认为这些差异可能反映了泥岩沉积环境和生烃母质的不同:高有机质丰度泥岩的有机显微组分以相对弱还原条件下的形态有机质为主,包括藻类体、孢子体和角质体等,而低有机质丰度泥岩的有机显微组分以相对强还原条件下的矿物沥青基质为主,其母质可能来源于低等显微菌藻类。进一步通过对比不同有机质丰度泥岩,以及区内原油生标组成之间的相互关系,讨论了研究区的油源问题。     

新疆北部库尔提蛇绿岩中角闪片岩的原岩恢复及其成因

库尔提角闪片岩产于库尔提蛇绿岩南部岩片中,与斜长花岗岩呈互层产出。这套角闪片岩的不相容微量元素组分显示了大洋中脊和岛弧玄武岩的双重特征,主要表现为大离子亲石元素(LILE)富集,高场强元素(HFSE)亏损以及平坦到亏损的轻稀土(LREE)配分模式。原岩恢复的结果表明,该角闪片岩的原岩为亚碱性的拉斑玄武岩类。库尔提角闪片岩亏损的LREE、高ε_(Nd)(t),以及关键元素比值(Th/Nb,La/Yb和Th/Yb)呈正相关都表明,其源区可能以MORB地幔为主,同时还伴有少量弧组分。因此,我们认为其形成于弧后盆地环境,同时推断该区弧后盆地存在一个二阶段的熔融演化模式:第一阶段,大约在晚古生代早期,古亚洲洋向西伯利亚板块发生北向俯冲,在会聚板块边界,弧火山岩被从含水的地幔楔中提取出来,留下一个亏损地幔;第二阶段,随着古亚洲洋板块持续消减,在中-晚泥盆世形成了库尔提弧后盆地,下部的亏损地幔发生了小比例的部分熔融形成了这套角闪片岩的原岩。