Anomalous lithospheric structure of Northern Juan de Fuca plate — a consequence of oceanic rift propagation?     

Alastair F. McClymont  Ron M. Clowes 《Tectonophysics》2005,406(3-4):213-231

Anomalous crustal and upper mantle structure of northern Juan de Fuca plate is revealed from wide-angle seismic and gravity modelling. A 2-D velocity model is produced for refraction line II of the 1980 Vancouver Island Seismic Project (VISP80). The refraction data were recorded on three ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) deployed at the ends and middle of a 110 km line oriented parallel to the North American continental margin. The velocity model is constructed via ray tracing and conforms to first-arrival amplitude observations and travel time picks of direct, converted and reflected phases. Between sub-sediment depths of 3 to 11 km, depths normally associated with the lower crust and upper oceanic mantle, the final model shows that compressional-wave velocities decrease significantly from southeast to northwest along the profile. At sub-sediment depths of 11 km at the northwestern end of the profile, P-wave velocities are as low as 7.2 km/s. A complementary 2-D gravity model using the geometry of the velocity model and velocity–density relationships characteristic of oceanic crust is produced. The high densities required to match the gravity field indicate the presence of peridotites containing 25–30% serpentine by volume, rather than excess gabbroic crust, within the deep low velocity zone. Anomalous travel time delays and unusual reflection characteristics observed from proximal seismic refraction and reflection experiments suggest a broader zone of partially serpentinized peridotites coincident with the trace of a pseudofault. We propose that partial serpentinization of the upper mantle is a consequence of slow spreading at the tip of a propagating rift.  相似文献   

Late Cretaceous–Cenozoic subduction–collision history of the Southern Neotethys: new evidence from the Çağlayancerit area,SE Turkey     

Ahmet Can Akıncı  Alastair H. F. Robertson  Ulvi Can Ünlügenç 《International Journal of Earth Sciences》2016,105(1):315-337

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Depositional setting,provenance, and tectonic-volcanic setting of Eocene–Recent deep-sea sediments of the oceanic Izu–Bonin forearc,northwest Pacific (IODP Expedition 352)     

Alastair H. F. Robertson  Steffen Kutterolf  Aaron Avery  Alan T. Baxter  Katerina Petronotis  Gary D. Acton 《International Geology Review》2018,60(15):1816-1854

New biostratigraphical, geochemical, and magnetic evidence is synthesized with IODP Expedition 352 shipboard results to understand the sedimentary and tectono-magmatic development of the Izu–Bonin outer forearc region. The oceanic basement of the Izu–Bonin forearc was created by supra-subduction zone seafloor spreading during early Eocene (c. 50–51 Ma). Seafloor spreading created an irregular seafloor topography on which talus locally accumulated. Oxide-rich sediments accumulated above the igneous basement by mixing of hydrothermal and pelagic sediment. Basaltic volcanism was followed by a hiatus of up to 15 million years as a result of topographic isolation or sediment bypassing. Variably tuffaceous deep-sea sediments were deposited during Oligocene to early Miocene and from mid-Miocene to Pleistocene. The sediments ponded into extensional fault-controlled basins, whereas condensed sediments accumulated on a local basement high. Oligocene nannofossil ooze accumulated together with felsic tuff that was mainly derived from the nearby Izu–Bonin arc. Accumulation of radiolarian-bearing mud, silty clay, and hydrogenous metal oxides beneath the carbonate compensation depth (CCD) characterized the early Miocene, followed by middle Miocene–Pleistocene increased carbonate preservation, deepened CCD and tephra input from both the oceanic Izu–Bonin arc and the continental margin Honshu arc. The Izu–Bonin forearc basement formed in a near-equatorial setting, with late Mesozoic arc remnants to the west. Subduction-initiation magmatism is likely to have taken place near a pre-existing continent–oceanic crust boundary. The Izu–Bonin arc migrated northward and clockwise to collide with Honshu by early Miocene, strongly influencing regional sedimentation.  相似文献   

Influence of environmental and prey variables on low tide shorebird habitat use within the Robbins Passage wetlands,Northwest Tasmania   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Fiona L. Spruzen  Alastair M.M. RichardsonEric J. Woehler 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》2008

Shorebirds feed primarily on tidal flats, and their distribution over these flats is influenced by their prey and abiotic factors. These factors act by influencing the distribution and abundance of the prey, or the shorebirds ability to exploit it. The aims of this study were to investigate the low tide foraging distribution of shorebirds at four sites within the Robbins Passage wetlands, and the environmental and invertebrate factors that may influence their distribution. The greatest densities and number of shorebirds were found at Shipwreck Point and East Inlet. The shorebirds within-site distribution was also non-random, with the shorebirds present in greatest densities at the water's edge and low intertidal stratum, although this varied among species. Generally, on a small spatial scale, invertebrate diversity was positively correlated, and seagrass leaf mass was negatively correlated, with shorebird feeding density. On a large spatial scale, invertebrate biomass and seagrass root mass were positively correlated with shorebird feeding density. Invertebrate biomass and seagrass root mass explained 71% of the variance in total shorebird feeding density on the tidal flats. The variation in shorebird feeding density and diversity was therefore partly explained by invertebrate diversity and biomass, as well as the environmental factors seagrass roots and leaf mass and tidal flat area, although the strength of these relationships was influenced by the two different spatial scales of the study. The strength of the relationships between shorebird feeding density and the invertebrate and environmental variables was stronger on a large spatial scale. The presence of seagrass may have influenced shorebird-feeding density by affecting the invertebrate abundance and composition or the shorebirds ability to detect and capture their prey. The area of the tidal flat had opposing effects on the shorebird species. These results can be used to assist in the development of management plans for the Robbins Passage wetlands and the conservation of important shorebird areas.  相似文献   

Quaternary sea-level changes in Western Scotland     

Alastair G. Dawson 《Quaternary Science Reviews》1984,3(4):345-368

In recent years, major advances have been made in our understanding of Late Quaternary sea-level changes in western Scotland. In particular, new hypotheses have been advanced to explain the ages and origins of high-level rock platform fragments and high-level marine shell beds. Certain raised shorelines in Islay and Jura, SW Argyll and Wester Ross have been related to former margins of the last ice sheet and are associated with drops in the Lateglacial marine limit. In some areas the decline in Lateglacial sea-level took place in association with a stationary ice margin while in others the fall in sea-level occurred in conjunction with considerable ice retreat.During the Lateglacial Interstadial, relative sea-level fell rapidly between ca. 13 and ca. 12 ka BP and thereafter more slowly until ca. 11 ka BP. Renewed marine erosion during the cold climate of the Loch Lomond (Younger Dryas) Stadial (ca. 11-10 ka BP) resulted in the production of the Main Lateglacial Shoreline, which declines in altitude to the W, SW and S away from the centre of glacio-isostatic uplift in the W Highlands. The shoreline has a maximum altitude of 10–11 m O.D. in the Oban area and passes below sea-level in NE Islay, Ardnamurchan, Colonsay, W Mull, Kintyre and Arran.During the early Holocene a pronounced marine transgression took place, probably culminating between 6.6 and 7.0 ka BP. The culmination of the transgression is represented by the Main Postglacial Shoreline that reaches a maximum altitude of ca. 14 m in the Oban area and declines gently in altitude away from the centre of glacio-isostatic uplift. Reconstruction of the uplift isobases for this shoreline appears to indicate a slight eastward migration of the uplift centre since the Younger Dryas. In peripheral areas of western Scotland the Main Postglacial Shoreline is not present owing to the effect of Holocene submergence.  相似文献   

The seismic detection of a magma chamber beneath Mount Etna,sicily     

Alastair D. L. Sharp 《Surveys in Geophysics》1982,5(3):229-244

Macroseismic studies, linear refraction profiles, and a two-dimensional seismic array study on Mount Etna, have all detected anomalous low velocity zones beneath the volcano. Seismic travel time delays together with high frequency attenuation observations confirm the presence of a large volume of partial melt beneath the volcano. A simplified three-dimensional model of the main storage system of Mount Etna is presented.Paper presented at the Symposium Volcanoes of the Earth and Planets, held at the University of Lancaster, March 17, 1981.  相似文献   

Syntectonic vein development in a thrust sheet from the external French Alps     

Alastair Beach  Sue Jack 《Tectonophysics》1982,81(1-2)

The geometry and age relations of syntectonic veins within calcareous rocks of one imbricate sheet within a thrust belt in the external French Alps, are described.The earliest veins developed during the main ductile deformation by cleavage-parallel extension. The majority of the syntectonic veins developed towards the end of the deformation, and after the formation of second folds. They include a conjugate set of normal shears, an abundant set of upright extension veins, and en echelon sets.The dominantly simple shear strain making up the main ductile phase of deformation occurred by a mechanism of grain to grain pressure solution. The stretching lineation records the overall direction of thrust sheet movement. A change in the microchemical mechanism of pressure solution is thought to have caused the change from first to second phase deformation as recorded by slaty cleavage and crenulation folds in the field. From the shear and vein geometries, directions of principal stress have been inferred. The directions rotated throughout the deformation, the maximum principal stress being inclined to bedding during simple shear strain, becoming normal to bedding during the phase of abundant vein growth, and becoming vertical at the very end of the deformation.  相似文献   

Editor's report 2006     

Alastair Bonnett 《Area》2007,39(1):3-3

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Major and trace element patterns established during retrogressive metamorphism of granulite-facies gneisses,NW Scotland     

Alastair Beach  John Tarney 《Precambrian Research》1978,7(4):325-348

A detailed study of geochemical changes associated with the retrogressive metamorphism of granulite-facies gneisses of the Lewisian Complex of NW Scotland has been made, using nearly 250 gneisses analysed for 24 major, minor and trace elements. The gneiss samples have been divided into 3 groups: (1) granulite facies, (2) granulite facies retrogressed to amphibolite facies but remaining undeformed, and (3) retrogressed (amphibolite-facies) gneisses deformed in shear zones. Element distributions within these groups have been examined using correlation coefficients, and have been compared and tested for significance using Student's t and Fisher z statistics. It is shown that the process of retrogression involved considerable large-scale chemical equilibration. Major-element pairs show marked increases in correlation during retrogression, reflecting considerable reordering of elements into one or other of the main amphibolite-facies minerals: hornblende, plagioclase and (minor) biotite. These correlations are enhanced, but otherwise unchanged, in the deformed gneisses. The retrogressed gneisses have a much more constant Fe/Mg ratio and a more uniform plagioclase composition, while there is a strong correlation between Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺ throughout the area studied. Trace elements, by contrast, mostly show a significant loss of correlation during retrogression, although Cr and Ni are exceptions. Retrogression occurred as a result of widespread introduction of hydrous fluids up vertical structures in the gneiss complex during the Early Proterozoic. These fluids allowed considerable metasomatic redistribution of elements within the complex as the whole-rock compositions adjusted to the new mineralogy. Throughout the North Atlantic Archaean Craton there is a close association between retrogression of high-grade gneisses and basic magmatism in the form of dyke swarms. It is suggested that the two may be connected, and that the fluids causing retrogression are mantle-derived.  相似文献   

Tsunami deposits in the geological record   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Alastair G. Dawson  Iain Stewart 《Sedimentary Geology》2007,200(3-4):166-183

A review is presented here of tsunami deposits in the geological record. It begins with a discussion of the relationships between the processes of tsunami generation and propagation and the sedimentary responses. This is followed by a consideration of the sedimentary processes associated with the passage of tsunami waves across coastlines. Attention is also given to the sedimentary processes associated with tsunami-triggered gravity backwash flows and comparisons are made with turbidity current action. We observe that despite sedimentary evidence for recent tsunamiites, geological research on ancient tsunamis has not identified stratigraphic units associated with onshore tsunami sedimentation. Equally, it is noted that nearly all published studies of sedimentary processes associated with modern tsunamis have not considered patterns of sediment transport and deposition in the offshore zone.  相似文献