The longest voyage: Tectonic,magmatic, and paleoclimatic evolution of the Indian plate during its northward flight from Gondwana to Asia

The tectonic evolution of the Indian plate, which started in Late Jurassic about 167 million years ago (~ 167 Ma) with the breakup of Gondwana, presents an exceptional and intricate case history against which a variety of plate tectonic events such as: continental breakup, sea-floor spreading, birth of new oceans, flood basalt volcanism, hotspot tracks, transform faults, subduction, obduction, continental collision, accretion, and mountain building can be investigated. Plate tectonic maps are presented here illustrating the repeated rifting of the Indian plate from surrounding Gondwana continents, its northward migration, and its collision first with the Kohistan–Ladakh Arc at the Indus Suture Zone, and then with Tibet at the Shyok–Tsangpo Suture. The associations between flood basalts and the recurrent separation of the Indian plate from Gondwana are assessed. The breakup of India from Gondwana and the opening of the Indian Ocean is thought to have been caused by plate tectonic forces (i.e., slab pull emanating from the subduction of the Tethyan ocean floor beneath Eurasia) which were localized along zones of weakness caused by mantle plumes (Bouvet, Marion, Kerguelen, and Reunion plumes). The sequential spreading of the Southwest Indian Ridge/Davie Ridge, Southeast Indian Ridge, Central Indian Ridge, Palitana Ridge, and Carlsberg Ridge in the Indian Ocean were responsible for the fragmentation of the Indian plate during the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous times. The Réunion and the Kerguelen plumes left two spectacular hotspot tracks on either side of the Indian plate. With the breakup of Gondwana, India remained isolated as an island continent, but reestablished its biotic links with Africa during the Late Cretaceous during its collision with the Kohistan–Ladakh Arc (~ 85 Ma) along the Indus Suture. Soon after the Deccan eruption, India drifted northward as an island continent by rapid motion carrying Gondwana biota, about 20 cm/year, between 67 Ma to 50 Ma; it slowed down dramatically to 5 cm/year during its collision with Asia in Early Eocene (~ 50 Ma). A northern corridor was established between India and Asia soon after the collision allowing faunal interchange. This is reflected by mixed Gondwana and Eurasian elements in the fossil record preserved in several continental Eocene formations of India. A revised India–Asia collision model suggests that the Indus Suture represents the obduction zone between India and the Kohistan–Ladakh Arc, whereas the Shyok-Suture represents the collision between the Kohistan–Ladakh arc and Tibet. Eventually, the Indus–Tsangpo Zone became the locus of the final India–Asia collision, which probably began in Early Eocene (~ 50 Ma) with the closure of Neotethys Ocean. The post-collisional tectonics for the last 50 million years is best expressed in the evolution of the Himalaya–Tibetan orogen. The great thickness of crust beneath Tibet and Himalaya and a series of north vergent thrust zones in the Himalaya and the south-vergent subduction zones in Tibetan Plateau suggest the progressive convergence between India and Asia of about 2500 km since the time of collision. In the early Eohimalayan phase (~ 50 to 25 Ma) of Himalayan orogeny (Middle Eocene–Late Oligocene), thick sediments on the leading edge of the Indian plate were squeezed, folded, and faulted to form the Tethyan Himalaya. With continuing convergence of India, the architecture of the Himalayan–Tibetan orogen is dominated by deformational structures developed in the Neogene Period during the Neohimalayan phase (~ 21 Ma to present), creating a series of north-vergent thrust belt systems such as the Main Central Thrust, the Main Boundary Thrust, and the Main Frontal Thrust to accommodate crustal shortening. Neogene molassic sediment shed from the rise of the Himalaya was deposited in a nearly continuous foreland trough in the Siwalik Group containing rich vertebrate assemblages. Tomographic imaging of the India–Asia orogen reveals that Indian lithospheric slab has been subducted subhorizontally beneath the entire Tibetan Plateau that has played a key role in the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. The low-viscosity channel flow in response to topographic loading of Tibet provides a mechanism to explain the Himalayan–Tibetan orogen. From the start of its voyage in Southern Hemisphere, to its final impact with the Asia, the Indian plate has experienced changes in climatic conditions both short-term and long-term. We present a series of paleoclimatic maps illustrating the temperature and precipitation conditions based on estimates of Fast Ocean Atmospheric Model (FOAM), a coupled global climate model. The uplift of the Himalaya–Tibetan Plateau above the snow line created two most important global climate phenomena—the birth of the Asian monsoon and the onset of Pleistocene glaciation. As the mountains rose, and the monsoon rains intensified, increasing erosional sediments from the Himalaya were carried down by the Ganga River in the east and the Indus River in the west, and were deposited in two great deep-sea fans, the Bengal and the Indus. Vertebrate fossils provide additional resolution for the timing of three crucial tectonic events: India–KL Arc collision during the Late Cretaceous, India–Asia collision during the Early Eocene, and the rise of the Himalaya during the Early Miocene.     

东北亚地区的若干重要基础地质问题

东北亚地区由南部的华北地块、北部的西伯利亚地块和其间的造山带组成,古生代期间基本完成块体拼贴的造山作用过程,中新生代期间受到东部太平洋板块运动的影响。通过对近１０年来新的研究成果的总结,作者对该区的若干重要基础地质问题进行了详细的分析,如古老地块的性质及与冈瓦纳大陆和劳亚大陆的关系、古生代造山作用的特点及地球动力学模型、中新生代东亚大陆边缘的地质演化格局、深部地质与地壳演化等,并讨论了该区在全球地     

Zonal correlation and boundaries of the lower Carnian Substage in Northeastern Asia

The stratigraphic distribution of ammonoids was analyzed in the Daxatina canadensis Subzone of the Trachyceras Zone distinguished in the Dolomites of Italy. It was established that ammonoids of the Daxatina and Trachyceras genera are confined to the lower and upper parts of the canadensis Subzone in the Stuores-Wiesen section, which was suggested as a global stratigraphic section of the lower boundary of the Carnian Stage. Owing to discreteness of the ammonoid complex and absence of the Trachyceras genus, the lower part of the canadensis Subzone was excluded from the Trachyceras generic zone and is considered as the independent Daxatina canadensis Zone, which overlies the Frankites regoledanus Zone. On the basis of the principle of priority and similar ammonoids of the canadensis and regoledanus zones, the lower boundary of the Carnian Stage was accepted in the basement of the Alpine Trachyceras aon Zone and coincides with appearance of the Trachyceras genus. The main problems of the Boreal-Tethyan correlation of the Lower Carnian and adjacent stratigraphic levels are reviewed. The composition and distribution of the Lower Carnian ammonoids of northeastern Asia are specified taking into account the results of the revision of the Early Carnian trachyceratids of this region. Being the traditional biomarkers of the basal beds of the Carnian Stage in the Tethys, the ammonoids of the Trachyceras genus, which were unknown before in the Boreal Realm, were identified for the first time in the Lower Carnian of northeastern Asia. The Lower Carnian rocks of northeastern Asia, British Columbia, and the Alps were zonally correlated and the Lower Carnian boundaries were substantiated in the Boreal Realm. The Boreotrachyceras omkutchanicum Zone correlates with the Alpine Trachyceras aon Zone by the presence of the Trachyceras genus and stratigraphic position over the Stolleyites tenuis Zone and its analogs in British Columbia. The ammonoid complex of the Neosirennites armiger Zone includes Sirenites s.s., in particular, Sirenites ovinus Tozer species, known in the upper zone of the Lower Carnian of British Columbia (Sirenites nanseni), which allows comparison of the armiger and nanseni zones and, through it, with the upper part of the Alpine Austrotrachyceras austriacum Zone.     

Basin evolution model during cretaceous in the northeastern of Arabian plate in Kurdistan region

The research area concentrates in a part of the main Zagros fold and thrust belt in the Kurdistan region (Northern Iraq). From study tectono-stratigraphy we constrain the story of the basin evolution of Kurdistan during Cretaceous. However we mainly investigated the evolution of the pre-Subduction and Pre-collision periods, focusing on the relationship between tectonics and sedimentation. For this purposes we developed (1) a biostratigraphic approach using nannofossil analysis, (2) a fault tectonic analysis, and (3) a stratigraphic study. The Zagros fold belt in Kurdistan exhibits many lateral and vertical environmental and facies changes, especially during the Cretaceous times. During the Jurassic period the Kurdistan is occupied by the restricted Gotnia Basin. This basin disappeared and the Kurdistan area changed to open marine of a southwest Kermanshah Basin during the Cretaceous. During the Berriasian to Barremian the Kurdistan was covered by the carbonates of the Balambo and Sarmord formations. In the east and southeast the neritic Sarmord Formation gradationally and laterally passes to the basinal facies of the Balambo Formation. In the Aptian to Cenomanian period shallow massive reefal limestone of the Qamchuqa Formation deposited. The normal faulting that initiates during the Aptian is associated with an abrupt lateral change of the reefal Qamchuqa Formation to the Aptian-Cenomanian part of the Balambo Formation. During the Cenomanian-Early Turonian periods the graben formed in the Dokan Lake in eastern Kurdistan, where developed a deeper restricted environment (Dokan and Gulneri formations) surrounded by a shallow marine platform. During the Turonian the marine pelagic micritic cherty limestones of Kometan Formation covered northeast of Kurdistan, whereas in the Safeen, Shakrok and Harir anticlines the formation was totally, or partially, weathered during the Coniacian-Early Campanian period. The deposition during the Late Cretaceous is very heterogeneous with a gap in the Coniacian-Santonian times probably related to a non-deposition. Associated with extensive tectonics a basin developed during the Campanian with the deposition of shales, marls and marly limestones of the Shiranish Formation. The first appearance is the Kurdistan of the flysch facies of the Tanjero Formation was precisely dated of the Upper Campanian in northeastern Kurdistan. The Tanjero Formation conformably overlaying the Shiranish Formation and was deposited in the foredeep basin associated with the obduction of Tethyan ophiolites onto the Arabian Platform. The Early to Late Campanian period is a time of non-deposition in Central Kurdistan (Safeen, Shakrok and Harir anticlines). During the Late Campanian the Bekhme carbonate platform in the north disappeared when the marly limestones of the Shiranish Formation transgressed over the Bekmeh Platform. In the Aqra area the Maastrichtian Tanjero Formation laterally changed to the thick reefal sequence of the Aqra Formation that unconformably overlies by the Late Paleocene-Early Eocene lagoonal carbonate of the Khurmala Formation. The Campanian sedimentation is mainly controlled by NE- oriented normal faults forming Grabens in Dokan, Spilk and Soran areas. During the Maastrichtian in the extreme northeastern Kurdistan the NE-SW and NNW-SSE normal faults developed in the foredeep basin and originated horsts and grabens.     

Ore-magmatic systems and metallogeny of gold and silver in Northeastern Asia

Regional ore-magmatic systems (OMS’s) and metallogenic gold-silver belts in northeastern Asia are considered, with emphasis placed on their relationships owing to the effect of geodynamic settings and underlying and host rock sequences on the localization of gold and silver deposits of different types. Particular types of lithologic assemblages with specific mineralogical and geochemical features are persistent throughout the metallogenic belts, controlled by regional noble-metal OMS’s. Regional OMS’s with one-, two-, and multilevel local OMS’s producing different types of noble-metal mineralization are described. The problem of mineral typomorphism in metallogenic analysis has been first raised. This analysis permits one to recognize indicators of ore formation (a particular genetic type of deposits, their formation and denudation levels), sources of ore-forming fluids, regional specific geochemistry and its relationship with magmatism. Regular presence of platinum in gold-bearing metallogenic zones is shown.     

The Metal Potential of Carbonate Rocks in Ancient Reef Systems of Northeastern Asia

Carbonate organogenic buildups (reefs) are lithofacies barriers of marine basins separating sedimentation facies zones. Together with seafloor depressions, they make up two-facies systems that are favorable for the formation of stratiform lead, zinc, and copper deposits. Organogenic reefs are formed at the boundary between the littoral zone and the remaining shelf area, as well as on terraces separating the shelf and continental slope zones. The reefs control the stratiform copper mineralization in the first case and the MV-type lead–zinc mineralization in the second case. This work describes the following reef systems of northeastern Asia incorporating base metal deposits: Chencha (Late Riphean) system of the Zhuya–Patom Trough, West Yakutian (Early–Middle Cambrian), Tankhai–Ust'mil (Middle Cambrian), and Lena (Late Cambrian) systems of the Siberian Platform, and Urul'tun (Early Devonian) and Kamenka (Middle Devonian) systems of the Omulev and Kolyma blocks. The two-facies genetic model of the MV-type lead–zinc and stratiform copper deposits is substantiated.     

Paleogene and Neogene strata in Northeastern Asia: paleocarpological background

Fossil seed assemblages of Paleogene and Neogene strata in northeastern Asia are reviewed based on data of Novosibirsk paleocarpologists and literature data. The composition and age of flora are refined, and recommendations on improving stratigraphic charts of deposits in northeastern Russia are given.     

Flora development in Northeastern Asia and Northern Alaska during the Cretaceous-Paleogene transitional epoch

Study of floral succession from the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary interval in Russian Far East (Zeya-Bureya depression), Northeastern Russia (Koryak Upland), and Northern Alaska (Sagavanirktok River basin) is crucial for better understanding palaeoclimatic and palaeogeographic factors, which controlled events in vegetation evolution at that time. The succession of fossil floras in the Zeya-Bureya depression includes plant assemblages of the Santonian, Campanian, early Danian, Danian, and Danian-Selandian age. The early Danian Boguchan Flora keeps continuity in composition and dominating taxa with the Campanian Late Kundur Flora. The Koryak Flora of the Amaam Lagoon area (Northeastern Russia) is dated as late Maastrichtian based on correlation of plant-bearing beds with marine biostratigraphy, whereas the Early and Late Sagwon floras of Northern Alaska are dated back to the Danian-Selandian and early Paleocene based on palynological and macrofloristic data. The Early Sagwon Flora is most close to the late Maastrichtian Koryak Flora of the Amaam Lagoon area in composition and main dominants, while the Late Sagwon Flora is comparable with the Danian or Danian-(?) Selandian flora from the Upper Tsagayan Subformation of the Amur area. In a florogenic aspect, trans-Beringian plant migrations from northeastern Asia and southern palaeolatitudes of the Far East, which became possible due to Paleocene climate warming in Arctic, have played an important role in forming of the Paleocene floras of Northern Alaska. Floras of the Far East and high latitudes of Asia and North America show no evidence of catastrophic event at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Their development was most probably controlled by climate changes, plant evolution and migration.     

河南桐柏老湾花岗岩岩浆动力学与成矿

基于岩浆岩岩石学、流体动力学、热力学研究。本文计算了河南桐伯老湾花岗岩岩浆过程的上升速度、冷凝速度及岩浆熔体的密度、粘度、含水量等物理参数，探讨了熔体中晶体的成核密度和生长速度以及岩浆对流形式等动力学行为，并分析了它们与成矿作用的联系。研究表明，老湾花岗岩岩浆含水量为4．76％，在侵位的温度和压力下是饱和的，较高的水含量有利于矿化。老湾花岗岩熔体上升较快而冷却缓慢，晶体成核密度和生长速度较低，以挥发分为迁移形式的成分对流是熔体中成矿物质迁移、富集的主要方式。老湾花岗岩特殊的岩浆物理性质和动力学行为指示其岩浆作用与老湾金矿床的形成具有密切的成因联系。     

Global Climate Change and the Temperature Regime of the Mesozoic Marine Environment in Northeastern Asia

A combination of the facies-geodynamic and radiolarian methods allowed us to determine the morphometric and temperature conditions for the initial accumulation of the Mesozoic siliceous-volcanic allochthonous complexes from the tectonic slabs of the Okhotsk–Koryak Orogenic Belt, which involves different marginal marine and ocean water areas and heterogenous marine rises. The radiolarian analysis made it possible to estimate approximately the paleolatitudinal position of these complexes and to reveal the pattern of the Mesozoic climate change in the Pacific and worldwide: from the warm Triassic through the Jurassic cooling to the Cretaceous optimum; the stages of warming demonstrate the dependence on global superplume episodes.     

The Variscan belt: correlations and plate dynamics

International Journal of Earth Sciences -     

四川南江地区发现始新世50Ma岩浆活动报道

正1研究目的(Objective)喜马拉雅运动是古近纪以来最重要的一次构造活动,但在上扬子区域其表现主要呈现为盆地的抬升消亡、沉积物的改变以及频繁的断裂构造活动。南江地区位于四川北部、川陕交界附近,属上扬子北缘基底褶皱构造带。据研究,区内岩浆活动主要有3期:吕梁期、晋宁期—澄江期、加里东—燕山期,没有喜马拉雅期岩浆活动的报道。     

Zoned Calc-Alkaline Plutons in Northeastern Kamchatka,Russia: Implications for the crustal growth in magmatic arcs

Summary The Upper Cretaceous oceanic and island-arc terranes of Northeastern Kamchatka (Russia) are intruded by numerous ultramafic and mafic to intermediate plutons. Ultramafic plutons north of Epilchik Lake show a concentric structure: dunites in the core pass progressively outwards into wehrlites and pyroxenites and into gabbros along the rim which are occasionally phlogopite- and amphibole-bearing. Compositional layering and mineral orientations marked by spinel clusters in the dunites and by acicular amphiboles in the marginal gabbros are parallel to the contacts. The mafic to intermediate plutons studied in the Machevna area show similar concentric structure with a dioritic core and a gabbroic rim. Magmatic flow lines are near-vertical in the central part of the plutons. These internal structures and general geometry of the plutons suggest vertical magma intrusion into mega-tension gashes developed initially at a high angle to the subduction zone.Olivine, pyroxenes, and plagioclase have primitive compositions. Al-rich, highpressure amphiboles are followed by Al-poor, low-pressure hornblendes. A two stage model of pluton crystallization and emplacement is proposed: initial crystallization and seggregation at the Moho level below the intraoceanic island are (approximately 22–25 km depth) and final emplacement followed by partial recycling of primary ultramafic cumulates and solidification at upper crustal levels (approximately 8–10 km depth). Emplacement of the arc plutons was accompanied by epidote amphibolite-facies contact metamorphism of host volcanic and pyroclastic rocks.Major- and trace-element analyses of plutonic rocks indicate calc-alkaline affinities and emplacement in a primitive arc setting. The tectonic setting, age, and emplacement structures suggest that these plutons mark the change of geodynamic conditions from arc-related compression to local extension probably related to the initial stages of opening of the proto-Komandorsky basin. A two stage model for the crustal growth in magmatic arcs is proposed based on northeastern Kamchatka plutons. During stage I, primitive basaltic melts were emplaced along the crust-mantle boundary below the arc. Continuous fractionation and accumulation of olivine-rich cumulate rocks at the base of the growing island-arc crust resulted in production of evolved melt which was further emplaced in the upper arc crust. Crystal fractionation of a shallow, stage II magmatic reservoir below the active arc volcanoes resulted in formation of a significant amount of plutonic rocks and eruption of mafic to intermediate calc-alkaline lavas at the surface.

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Zonierte kalk-alkalische Plutone im nardöstlichen Kamchatka, Russland: Hinweise auf Krusten Wachstum inmagmatischen Bögen

Zusammenfassung Zahlreiche ultramafische, Bowie mafische bis intermediäre Plutone intrudieren die oberkretazischen ozeanischen und Inselbogen-Terrains in Nordost-Kamchatka (Russland). Ultramafische Plutone nördlich des Epilchik Lake zeigen eine konzentrische Struktur: Dunite im Kern gehen graduell in Wehrlite und Pyroxenite, und schließlich am Rand in Gabbros über, die gelegentlich Phlogopit und Amphibol führen. Lagenbau und Orientierung von Mineralkörnern sind durch Spinell-Kluster in den Duniten und durch nadelige Amphibole in den randlichen Gabbros gekennzeichnet und liegen parallel zu den Kontakten. Die mafischen bis intermediären Plutone in dem Machevna-Gebiet zeigen ähnliche konzentrische Strukturen mit einem dioritischen Kern und einem gabbroischen Rand. Magmatische Flußlinien Bind fast vertikal in den zentralen Teilen der Plutone. Diese internen Strukturen und die allgemeine Geometrie der Plutone legen es nahe, daß es sich hier um vertikale Magmen-Intrusion in Mega-Strukturen handelt, die sich ursprünglich in einem hohen Winkel zur Subduktionszone gebildet haben.Olivine, Pyroxene und Plagioklase haben primitive Zusammensetzungen. Auf Alreiche Hochdruck-Amphibole folgen Al-arme Tiefdruck-Hornblenden. Ein Modell, das zwei Stadien der Pluton-Kristallisation und Platznahme vorsieht, wird vorgeschlagen: Ursprüngliche Kristallisation und Segregation im Moho-Niveau zwischen dem intraozeanischen Inselbogen (ungefähr 22–25 km Tiefe) und schließliche Platznahme gefolgt von teilweise Recycling primärer ultramafischer Kumulate und Verfestigung in oberen Krustenniveaus (ungefähr 8–10 km Tiefe). Die Platznahme der Bogen-Plutone war von Epidot-Amphibolit-Fazies Kontaktmetamorphose der intrudierten Vulkanite und Pyroklastite begleitet.Haupt- und Spurenelement-Analysen der plutonischen Gesteine weisen auf kalkalkalischen Charakter und eine Platznahme in einem primitiven Insenbogensetting hin. Die tektonische Situation, das Alter und die Strukturen der Platznahme lassen erkennen, daß these Plutone den Wechsel in geodynamischen Bedingungen von Inselbogenbezogener Kompression zu lokaler Extension repräsentieren, Vorgänge die mit den initialen Stadien der Öffnung des proto-Komandorsky Beckens zusammenhängen. Auf der Basis der Plutone des nordöstlichen Kamchatka wird ein Modell des Krustenwachstums in magmatischen Bögen vorgeschlagen, das auf zwei Stadien beruht. Während des ersten Stadiums werden primitive basaltische Schmelzen längs der Kruste-MantelGrenze unter dem Bogen intrudiert. Andauernde Fraktionicrung und Akkumulation Olivin-reicher Kumulatgesteine an der Basis der wachsenden Inselbogenkruste resultiert dann in der Produktion einer entwickelten Schmelze die spdter in der Kruste des oberen Bogens Platz genommen hat. Kristallfraktionierung eines seichten magmatischen Reservoirs des zweiten Stadiums unter den aktiven Vulkanen des Bogens führte dann zur Bildung signifikanter Mengen plutonischer Gesteine und zur Eruption von mafischen bis intermediären kalk-alkalischen Laven an der Oberfläche.

     

Chronology of hydrothermal and magmatic activity in the Dukat gold-silver ore field

The previously published and newly obtained geological and geochronological (Rb-Sr and Ar-Ar) data show that the igneous rocks and products of hydrothermal alteration in the Dukat ore field pertain to two ore-forming magmatic-hydrothermal systems (OMHSs). The igneous rocks of the Early Cretaceous rift-related OMHS are represented by potassium rhyolites of the Askol’d Formation with Rb-Sr ages of 124 ± 3 and 119.3 ± 3.4 Ma and intercalating amygdaloidal basalts. The products of the hydrothermal activity of this OMHS are the metasomatic anatase-chlorite assemblage of the root zone, which replaces potassium rhyolites, and shallow-seated quartz-adularia and quartz-carbonate-feldspar veinlets retained in rhyolite fragments in Late Cretaceous conglomerate and breccia. The Late Cretaceous OMHS was related to the origination of the Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belt and consists of calc-alkaline basaltic andesites of the Tavvatum Formation and moderately silicic K-Na rhyolites of the Nayakhan Formation with a Rb-Sr age of 84 ± 4 Ma. The Late Cretaceous postmagmatic hydrothermal activity in the Dukat ore field resulted in the formation of preore metasomatic rocks and orebodies of the unique Dukat Au-Ag deposit. The first stage of the Late Cretaceous hydrothermal activity gave birth to preore propylites with a Rb-Sr isochron age of adularia samples estimated at 85 ± 1 Ma and quartz-chlorite-sulfide and Ag-bearing quartz-chlorite-adularia orebodies with Rb-Sr isochron ages of adularia estimated at 84 ± 1 and 86.1 ± 4 Ma. The second stage was marked by the formation of garnet-bearing propylites and quartz-rhodonite orebodies with a Rb-Sr age of 73 ± 3 Ma. Further hydrothermal activity occurred after a break related to structural rearrangement of the ore field and was expressed in the replacement of propylites by products of argillin alteration and Ag-bearing Mn hydroxides. Paleogene basaltic dikes and related subeconomic mineralization concluded magmatic and hydrothermal processes in the Dukat ore field.     

Variscan plate dynamics in the circum-carpathian area

Abstract

Magmatic and metamorphic events, imprinted in the crystalline rocks of the so-called core mountains inside the Alpine structure of the Inner Carpathians, allow the re-construction of the history of the Rheic Ocean opening, its development and its final closure. Intra-Carpathian core-mountains are the remnants of the continents that drifted away from Gondwana and docked, initially, with Baltica as part of Avalonia and later on as parts of the Gondwana-derived Armorica Terrane Group or as a separate micro-continent.

All magmatic suites, mafic and felsic, present in the Carpathians core mountains, show similarities to those found in the European Variscan Belt. All described- and dated metamorphic and magmatic events also have equivalents in the evolution of the Caledonian-Variscan Belts of Europe. The most pronounced feature of all Carpathian core mountains is the syn-collisional, multistage I/S granitoid magmatism (370-340 Ma) related to subduction, mafic-magma influx, extensional decompression and slab melting. That episode marked the Laurussia - Gondwana collision and closure of the Rheic Ocean, as in the whole of Central and Western Europe.

The Carpathian core-mountains, currently dispersed inside the Alpine mountain chain, can be considered the broken fragments of the eastern prolongation of the Variscan orogenic belts – possibly part of the Moldanubian Unit.     

中国东部燕山期和四川期岩石圈构造滑脱与岩浆起源深度

较确切地研究岩石圈内部构造滑脱面在地质历史时期形成的时间和部位是当前大地构造学研究的一个重要课题。通过大量收集中国东部燕山期(205~135Ma)和四川期(135~52Ma)岩浆起源深度资料来判断岩石圈内部和底部是否存在局部的构造滑脱界面,是否发生层圈相互作用,是否发生部分的解耦现象,是一种可行的研究方法。研究表明,中国东部燕山期和四川期岩石圈板块的构造滑脱、圈层的解耦作用及相互作用主要集中在中地壳、莫霍面与区域性主干断层的交线附近,而岩石圈板块的底面却并不存在大幅度的滑移。中国东部燕山期和四川期岩浆活动比较发育的地区基本上都位于大兴安岭—山西西部—武陵山—十万大山一线以东地区,而在此线以西地区岩浆活动相当微弱。笔者认为,在侏罗—白垩纪时期,该线以西缺少岩浆活动的地区可能就是当时的大陆型岩石圈,而该线以东岩浆活动剧烈的地区可能就属于海陆过渡型岩石圈。中国东部岩石圈的转型和"变薄",不太可能是深部地幔羽、去根作用、深部地幔热物质上涌或大陆伸展作用的结果,也不太可能与太平洋板块的俯冲作用有直接联系。     

Recent plate tectonics of the Arctic Basin and of northeastern Asia

The recent tectonics of the Arctic Basin and northeastern Asia are considered as a result of interaction between three lithospheric plates: North-America, Eurasia and Spitsbergen. Seismic zones (coinciding in the Norway-Greenland basin with the Kolbeinsey, Mohns and Knipovich ridges, and in the Arctic Ocean with the Gakkel Ridge) clearly mark the boundaries between them. In southernmost Svalbard (Spitsbergen), the secondary seismic belt deviates from the major seismic zone. This belt continues into the seismic zone of the Franz Josef Land and then merges into the seismic zone of the Gakkel Ridge at 70°–90°E. The smaller Spitsbergen plate is located between the major seismic zone and its secondary branch.Within northeastern Asia, earthquake epicenters with magnitude over 4.5 are concentrated within a 300-km wide belt crossing the Eurasian continent over a distance of 3000 km from the Lena estuary to the Komandorskye Islands. A single seismic belt crosses the northern sections of the Verkhoyansky Ridge and runs along the Chersky Ridge to the Kolymo-Okhotsk Divide.To compute the poles of relative rotation of the Eurasian, North-American and Spitsbergen plates we use 23 new determinations of focal-mechanism solutions for earthquakes, and 38 azimuths of slip vectors obtained by matching of symmetric mountain pairs on both sides of the Knipovich and Gakkel ridges; we also use 14 azimuths of strike-slip faults within the Chersky Ridge determined by satellite images. The following parameters of plate displacement were obtained: Eurasia/North America: 62.2°N, 140.2°E (from the Knipovich Ridge section south of the triple junction); 61.9°N, 143.1°E (from fault strikes in the Chersky Ridge); 60.42°N, 141.56°C (from the Knipovich section and from fault strikes in the Chersky Ridge); 59.48°N, 140.83°E, α = 1.89 · 10⁻⁷ deg/year (from the Knipovich section, from fault strikes in the Chersky Ridge and from the Gakkel Ridge section east of the triple junction). The rate was calculated by fitting the 2′ magnetic lineations within the Gakkel Ridge).North-America/Spitsbergen: 70.96°N, 121.18°E, α = −2.7 · 10⁻⁷ deg/year from the Knipovich Ridge section north of the triple junction, from earthquakes in the Spitsbergen fracture zone and from the Gakkel Ridge section west of the triple junction). Eurasia/Spitsbergen: 70.7°N, 25.49°E, α = −0.99 · 10⁻⁷ deg/year (from closure of vector triangles).     

The Northern Carpathians plate tectonic evolutionary stages and origin of olistoliths and olistostromes

The olistostromes formed in Northern Carpathians during the different stages of the development of flysch basins, from rift trough post-rift, orogenic to postorogenic stage. They are known from the Cretaceous, Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene and Early Miocene flysch deposits of main tectonic units. Those units are the Skole, Subsilesian, Silesian, Dukla and Magura nappes as well as the Pieniny Klippen Belt suture zone. The oldest olistoliths in the Northern Carpathians represent the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rifting and post-rifting stage of the Northern Carpathians and origin of the proto-Silesian basin. They are known from the Upper Jurassic as well as Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous formations. In the southern part of the Polish Northern Carpathians as well as in the adjacent part of Slovakia, the olistoliths are known in the Cretaceous- Paleocene flysch deposits of the Pieniny Klippen Belt Zlatne Unit and in Magura Nappe marking the second stage of the plate tectonic evolution - an early stage of the development of the accretionary prism. The most spectacular olistostromes have been found in the vicinity of Haligovce village in the Pieniny Klippen Belt and in Jaworki village in the border zone between the Magura Nappe and the Pieniny Klippen Belt. Olistoliths that originated during the second stage of the plate tectonic evolution occur also in the northern part of the Polish Carpathians, in the various Upper Cretaceous-Early Miocene flysch deposits within the Magura, Fore-Magura, Dukla, Silesian and Subsilesian nappes. The Fore-Magura and Silesian ridges were destroyed totally and are only interpreted from olistoliths and exotic pebbles in the Outer Carpathian flysch. Their destruction is related to the advance of the accretionary prism. This prism has obliquely overridden the ridges leading to the origin of the Menilite-Krosno basin.

In the final, postcollisional stage of the Northern Carpathian plate tectonic development, some olistoliths were deposited within the late Early Miocene molasse. These are known mainly from the subsurface sequences reached by numerous bore-holes in the western part of the Polish Carpathians as well as from outcrops in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The largest olistoliths (kilometers in size bodies of shallow-water rocks of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous age) are known from the Moravia region. The largest olistoliths in Poland were found in the vicinity of Andrychów and are known as Andrychów Klippen. The olistostromes bear witness to the processes of the destruction of the Northern Carpathian ridges. The ridge basement rocks, their Mesozoic platform cover, Paleogene deposits of the slope as well as older Cretaceous flysch deposits partly folded and thrust within the prism slid northward toward the basin, forming the olistostromes.     

Implications of north pacific plate tectonics in central Alaska: Focal mechanisms of earthquakes

The focal mechanisms for 86 selected earthquakes (3.0 m_b 5.5) located in central Alaska have been investigated from P-wave first motions; the data were gathered by local seismic networks. The results show a depth-dependent characteristic to the fault-plane solutions. For earthquakes having focal depths shallower than 60–70 km, the focal mechanisms indicate either strike-slip or normal faults, while for earthquakes with foci at intermediate depths the focal mechanisms correspond to thrust faults. The nature of the seismicity indicates the hinge line of the Pacific lithospheric plate under the study area to be striking N17°E from Cook Inlet towards interior Alaska. The comparison of the focal mechanisms with the seismicity shows that the strike-slip and normal faults are the predominant processes of stress release along the shallow section of the plate. The earthquakes with intermediate foci systematically occur along the inclined section of the plate. If the gently dipping nodal planes for these earthquakes are chosen as the fault planes, the focal mechanisms correspond to underthrust motions at the foci. In these, the slip vectors are oriented either to the west or north with the resultant being in the N30°W direction. The tension axes for the underthrust solutions are also found to be parallel to the local dip of the plate, indicating that the subducted plate in interior Alaska is undergoing gravitational sinking.