Crustal thickness, discontinuity depth, and upper mantle structure beneath southern Africa: constraints from body wave conversions     

Jacek Stankiewicz  S  bastien Chevrot  Rob D. van der Hilst  Maarten J. de Wit 《Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors》2002,130(3-4):235-251

The technique of receiver function analysis is applied to the study of crustal and upper mantle structures beneath the Kaapvaal craton in southern Africa and its surroundings. Seismic data were recorded by the seismic array of 82 sites deployed from April 1997 to April 1999 across southern Africa, as well as a dense array of 32 sites near Kimberley, in operation from December 1998 to June 1999. Arrival times for phases converted at the Moho are used to determine crustal thickness. The Moho depth in the south–western section of the craton was found to vary between 37 and 40 km, except for one station that recorded a depth of 43 km (SA23). Farther north along the western block of the craton (into Botswana) the depth increases up to 43 km. The depth increases even further in the north–eastern section of the craton, where results vary from 40 to 52 km. Just north of the Kaapvaal craton, in the neighbouring Zimbabwe craton, the crustal thickness drops significantly. The results obtained there varied from 36 to 40 km. For the Kimberley area, using the dense array, the Moho depth was found to be 37.3 km. Arrivals of the Ps and Ppps phases were used to determine the Poisson’s ratio in the region. This was found to be 0.26±0.01. Arrivals of phases from the 410 and 660 km mantle discontinuities are used to interpret the relative positions of these discontinuities, as well as for comparison of mantle temperatures and seismic velocities in the region with global averages. In the Kimberley area the 410 and 660 km discontinuities were found at their expected depth, implying that mantle temperatures in the region are close to the global average. The seismic velocities above the ‘410’ were found up to 5% faster than the averages from the global iasp91 model, which is fast even by Precambrian standards. In other sections of the Kaapvaal craton, the velocities are also faster than global averages, but not as fast as beneath Kimberley. In these sections, the ‘410’ is also slightly elevated, while the ‘660’ is depressed, which implies a slightly lower mantle temperature relative to the global average. Beneath the Kaapvaal craton we find evidence suggesting the presence of a zone with a reduced wavespeed gradient at an upper bound of approximately 300 km, which may mark the lower chemical boundary of the craton.  相似文献   

On the role of subducting oceanic plateaus in the development of shallow flat subduction   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Jeroen van Hunen  Arie P. van den Berg  Nico J. Vlaar 《Tectonophysics》2002,352(3-4)

Oceanic plateaus, aseismic ridges or seamount chains all have a thickened crust and their subduction has been proposed as a possible mechanism to explain the occurrence of flat subduction and related absence of arc magmatism below Peru, Central Chile and at the Nankai Trough (Japan). Their extra compositional buoyancy could prohibit the slab from sinking into the mantle. With a numerical thermochemical convection model, we simulated the subduction of an oceanic lithosphere that contains an oceanic crustal plateau of 18-km thickness. With a systematic variation, we examined the required physical parameters to obtain shallow flat subduction. Metastability of the basaltic crust in the eclogite stability field is of crucial importance for the slab to remain buoyant throughout the subduction process. In a 44-Ma-old subducting plate, basalt must be able to survive a temperature of 600–700 °C to keep the plate buoyant sufficiently long to cause a flat-slab segment. We found that the maximum yield stress in the slab must be limited to about 600 MPa to allow for the necessary bending to the horizontal. Young slabs show flat subduction for larger parameter ranges than old slabs, since they are less gravitationally unstable and show less resistance against bending. Hydrous weakening of the mantle wedge area and lowermost continent are required to allow for the necessary deformation of a change in subduction style from steep to flat. The maximum flat slab extent is about 300 km, which is sufficient to explain the observed shallow flat subduction near the Nankai Trough (Japan). However, additional mechanisms, such as active overthrusting by an overriding continental plate, need to be invoked to explain the flat-slab segments up to 500 km long below Peru and Central Chile.  相似文献   

Response to the Commentary of Wolf Tietze     

Herman van der Wusten 《GeoJournal》2002,57(4):341-341

  相似文献   

National sovereignty & transboundary protected areas in Southern Africa     

Marloes van Amerom 《GeoJournal》2002,58(4):265-273

The notion that Transboundary Protected Areas (TBPAs) will act as `Peace Parks' has become an important argument in their promotion in post-Apartheid Southern Africa. This `Peace Parks Concept' is implicitly based upon the assumption that national sovereignty will not become a constraining factor in the creation and management of TBPAs. However, this assumption is problematic. TBPAs introduce various changes in the landscape with consequences for the ways in which a state can exercise its sovereignty over its borderland and citizens. This situation might evoke state action that could endanger the various environmental, socio-economic and political objectives of TBPAs. A state's behaviour with regard to TBPAs is not just informed by its interests in TBPAs, but also by its strategic and other interests in the wider borderland area. These are not necessarily compatible with the environmental and economic objectives of TBPAs. The ways in which these interests are mediated are highly complex and non-linear. Because of the inter-dependency that TBPAs create, the extent to which a state can pursue certain interests by means of TBPAs will be (partially) constrained by the wishes of the other states involved. In addition, power has to be shared with a wide range of non-state actors. The operation of sovereignty in TBPAs is therefore highly unpredictable and cannot be captured in static zero-sum terms. Actor Network Theory is identified as a possible starting-point to unravel and evaluate these complex political processes in TBPAs and their subsequent outcomes for state sovereignty.  相似文献   

Paleolimnological evidence for increased landslide activity due to forest clearing and land-use since 3600 cal BP in the western Swiss Alps     

Florence Dapples  André F. Lotter  Jacqueline F.N. van Leeuwen  Willem O. van der Knaap  Sophia Dimitriadis  Daniel Oswald 《Journal of Paleolimnology》2002,27(2):239-248

Schwarzsee is located in the western Swiss Alps, in a region that has been affected by numerous landslides during the Holocene, as evidenced by geological surveys. Lacustrine sediments were cored to a depth of 13 m. The vegetation history of the lake's catchment was reconstructed and investigated to identify possible impacts on slope stability. The pollen analyses record development of forest cover during the middle and late Holocene, and provide strong evidence for regional anthropogenic influence such as forest clearing and agricultural activity. Vegetation change is characterized by continuous landscape denudation that begins at ca. 4300 cal. yrs BP, with five distinct pulses of increased deforestation, at 3650, 2700, 1500, 900, and 450 cal. yrs BP. Each pulse can be attributed to increased human impact, recorded by the appearance or increase of specific anthropogenic indicator plant taxa. These periods of intensified deforestation also appear to be correlated with increased landslide activity in the lake's catchment and increased turbidite frequency in the sediment record. Therefore, this study gives new evidence for a strong influence of vegetation changes on slope stability during the middle and late Holocene in the western Swiss Alps, and may be used as a case study for anthropogenically induced landslide activity.  相似文献   

Rapid and rhythmic ice sheet fluctuations in western Scandinavia 15-40 Kya–a review     

Lars Olsen  Harald Sveian  Klaas van der  Borg  Bjørn Bergstram  Maarten Broekmans 《Polar research》2002,21(2):235-242

The onshore record of Middle to Late Weichselian sediments and glacial history in Norway indicates a succession of four major ice advances alternating with rapid, considerable ice recessions and interstadial conditions. During all the glacial advances the ice sheet expanded from onshore/inland positions to the shelf areas. The basis for visualizing these variations in glaciation curves constructed along nine transects from inland to shelf, and for interpretation of the palaeoclimatic history, is the regional Quaternary stratigraphy, more than 300 datings, fossil content and some palaeomagnetic data. The methods applied in recent years for AMS radiocarbon dating of glacial sediments with low organic carbon content have given promising results with respect to accuracy and precision, and the results of such datings were an important tool for our reconstructions and for timing of the ice oscillations. The rapid and rhythmic ice fluctuations, as reconstructed in our new model, have been fairly synchronous in most parts of Norway. Ice advances commenced and culminated at 40, 30-28, 24-21 and 18-15 (¹⁴C) Kya. We describe three intervening interstadials from inland sites: Hattfjelldal I, Hattfjelldal II and Trofors. Our stratigraphical record also includes many indications of high, pre-Holocene, relative sea levels, suggesting a considerable glacioisostatic depression of western Scandinavia during the interstadials. In our glaciation model we suggest that, in addition to precipitation, the mountainous fjord and valley topography, glacial isostasy and relative sea level changes were probably more important for the size of the glacial fluctuations than were air temperature changes.  相似文献   

Isotope (O-Sr-Nd-Pb) and Fluid Inclusion Distributions in the CCSD Main Hole     

XIAO Yi-lin  Jochen Hoefs  Rolf L. Romer  ZHANG Ze-ming  Alfons van den Kerkhof 《矿物岩石地球化学通报》2008,27(Z1)

1. Introduction The main-hole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project (CCSD) in Donghai of the Dabie-Sulu UHP metamorphic belt in East China has reached its final depth of 5118 m in March 2005. As shown in Fig.  相似文献   

Infall and SiO emission in V838 Mon     

M. T. Rushton  T. R. Geballe  A. Evans  B. Smalley  J. Th. van Loon  S. P. S. Eyres 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2005,359(2):624-628

  相似文献   

Magnetic hydrogen atmosphere models and the neutron star RX J1856.5–3754     

Wynn C. G. Ho †  David L. Kaplan ‡  Philip Chang  Matthew van Adelsberg  Alexander Y. Potekhin 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2007,375(3):821-830

RX J1856.5−3754 is one of the brightest nearby isolated neutron stars (INSs), and considerable observational resources have been devoted to it. However, current models are unable to satisfactorily explain the data. We show that our latest models of a thin, magnetic, partially ionized hydrogen atmosphere on top of a condensed surface can fit the entire spectrum, from X-rays to optical, of RX J1856.5−3754, within the uncertainties. In our simplest model, the best-fitting parameters are an interstellar column density   N _H≈ 1 × 10²⁰ cm⁻²  and an emitting area with   R ^∞≈ 17 km  (assuming a distance to RX J1856.5−3754 of 140 pc), temperature   T ^∞≈ 4.3 × 10⁵ K  , gravitational redshift   z _g ∼ 0.22  , atmospheric hydrogen column   y _H≈ 1 g cm⁻²  , and magnetic field   B ≈ (3–4) × 10¹² G  ; the values for the temperature and magnetic field indicate an effective average over the surface. We also calculate a more realistic model, which accounts for magnetic field and temperature variations over the NS surface as well as general relativistic effects, to determine pulsations; we find that there exist viewing geometries that produce pulsations near the currently observed limits. The origin of the thin atmospheres required to fit the data is an important question, and we briefly discuss mechanisms for producing these atmospheres. Our model thus represents the most self-consistent picture to date for explaining all the observations of RX J1856.5−3754.  相似文献   

Quantifying nitrogen cycling beneath a meander of a low gradient,N‐impacted,agricultural stream using tracers and numerical modelling     

Stephen J. Van der Hoven  Nicholas J. Fromm  Eric W. Peterson 《水文研究》2008,22(8):1206-1215

In watersheds impacted by nitrate from agricultural fertilizers, nitrification and denitrification may be decoupled as denitrification in the hyporheic zone is not limited to naturally produced nitrate. While most hyporheic research focuses on the 1–2 m of sediment beneath the stream bed, there are a limited number of studies that quantify nitrogen (N) cycling at larger hyporheic scales (10s of metres to kms). We conducted an investigation to quantify N cycling through a single meander of a low gradient, meandering stream, draining an agricultural watershed. Chemistry (major ions and N species) and hydrologic data were collected from the stream and groundwater beneath the meander. Evidence indicates that nearly all the shallow groundwater flowing beneath the meander originates as stream water on the upgradient side of the meander, and returns to the stream on the downgradient side. We quantified the flux of water beneath the meander using a numerical model. The flux of N into and out of the meander was quantified by multiplying the concentration of the important N species (nitrate, ammonium, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON)) by the modelled water fluxes. The flux of N into the meander is dominated by nitrate, and the flux of N out of the meander is dominated by ammonium and DON. While stream nitrate varied seasonally, ammonium and DON beneath the meander were relatively constant throughout the year. When stream nitrate concentrations are high (>2 mg litre^?1), flow beneath the meander is a net sink for N as more N from nitrate in stream water is consumed than is produced as ammonium and DON. When stream nitrate concentrations are low (<2 mg litre^?1), the flux of N entering is less than exiting the meander. On an annual basis, the meander hyporheic flow serves as a net sink for N. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献