Regional fracture patterns around volcanoes: Possible evidence for volcanic spreading on Venus     

I. López  J. Lillo 《Icarus》2008,195(2):523-536

Magellan data show that the surface of Venus is dominated by volcanic landforms including large flow fields and a wide range of volcanic edifices that occur in different magmatic and tectonic environments. This study presents the results from a comprehensive survey of volcano-rift interaction in the BAT region and its surroundings. We carried out structural mapping of examples where interaction between volcanoes and regional fractures results in a deflection of the fractures around the volcanic features and discuss the nature of the local volcano-related stress fields that might be responsible for the observed variations of the regional fracture systems. We propose that the deflection of the regional fractures around these venusian volcanoes might be related to volcanic spreading, a process recognized as of great importance in the tectonic evolution of volcanoes on Earth and Mars, but not previously described on Venus.  相似文献   

Structural features of the shallow plumbing system of Vulcano Island Italy     

C.?Chiarabba  N.?A.?Pino  G.?Ventura  G.?VilardoEmail author 《Bulletin of Volcanology》2004,66(6):477-484

In this study, we integrate information gathered from surface geology and tectonics with the results of a shallow (0–2 km b.s.l.) seismic tomography of Vulcano Island (Italy), obtained from the analysis of local earthquakes. The observed low Vp regions correspond to caldera filling products, mainly consisting of pyroclastics, tuffs, lava flows and hyaloclastites. High-velocity anomalies represent intrusive bodies. The striking correspondence between the stratigraphy from deep wells and the calculated velocity structure allows us to reconstruct the geometry and distribution of a main intrusion and to recognize some intra-caldera depressions. The shape and location of the high and low Vp anomalies are consistent with NW–SE and N–S strikes. Eruptive centres younger than 42 kyr, as well as the structural depressions of Vulcano and of the neighbour Lipari Island, align along a N–S direction. The combined interpretation of the available structural data and of the results from the tomography suggests that magmatic reservoirs of Vulcano at shallow depth (>0.5 km) align along a NW–SE strike but their shape is controlled by N–S striking normal faults and/or cracks that accommodate the right-lateral movements of the NW–SE strike-slip fault system.Editorial responsibility: T. Druitt  相似文献   

A multi-scale approach to study the lithospheric structure of the southern Upper Rhine Graben: from seismic tomography through reflection seismics to surface geology     

Gideon G. O. Lopes Cardozo  Michel Granet 《International Journal of Earth Sciences》2005,94(4):615-620

This paper integrates the results of different techniques—local and regional travel time tomography, reflection seismics, and surface geology. With this integration of different techniques, working on different scales, it is possible to derive a comprehensive picture of the present-day structures in the lithosphere of the Upper Rhine Graben. It is shown that the stucture of the lithosphere is dominated by structures related to the Variscan orogeny. Late stage strike-slip reactivation of the internal faults of the Rhine Graben is observed in the field. This reactivation is of dominant influence on the geomorphology in the southern end of the Upper Rhine Graben.  相似文献   

Geology and tectonics of the Boa Vista Basin (Paraíba, northeastern Brazil) and geochemistry of associated Cenozoic tholeiitic magmatism     

Zorano Srgio de Souza  Marcos Antonio Leite do Nascimento  Rogrio Vidal Nunes Barbosa  Luis Gustavo da Silveira Dias 《Journal of South American Earth Sciences》2005,18(3-4):391-405

The Boa Vista Basin (BVB) is located approximately 60 km southwest of Campina Grande, Paraíba, northeastern Brazil. It has a half-graben geometry controlled by dip-slip normal faults striking NE–SW. From the base to the top, the BVB is composed of (1) a lower volcanic unit of altered basalts and basaltic andesites overlying Precambrian basement rocks, (2) an intermediate unit of bentonitic shales that pass upward to medium- to coarse-grained sandstones and conglomerates and downward to sandstones and siltstones, and (3) an upper volcanic unit of massive to vesiculated basaltic flows grading to pillowed or autobrecciated basalts. These basalts show porphyritic (olivine and augite microphenocrysts), glomeroporphyritic, intersetal, pilotaxitic, and variolitic textures. They are medium-K, Fe-rich tholeiites with SiO₂ of 50.2–53.3 wt%, magnesium number of 50.54–60.21 wt%, total alkali of 2.15–3.92 wt%, and TiO₂ of 1.8–1.9 wt% and are related by low-pressure fractionation of olivine, plagioclase, magnetite, ilmenite, and apatite. They are LREE-enriched (La_N/Yb_N=8.54–44.14) with no significant europium anomaly. Trace element modeling suggests a garnet-bearing metasomatised lherzolite as their source. The geological context and geochemistry of the basalts suggest a close connection between reactivated deep-rooted Precambrian shear zones, which channeled mantle-derived Tertiary tholeiitic magmas, and continental rifting in northeastern Brazil.  相似文献   

Palaeoseismology in steep terrain: The Big Bend of the San Andreas fault, Transverse Ranges, California     

Derek Rust   《Tectonophysics》2005,408(1-4):193

Transpressional tectonics are typically associated with restraining bends on major active strike-slip faults, resulting in uplift and steep terrain. This produces dynamic erosional and depositional conditions and difficulties for established lines of palaeoseismological investigation. Consequently, in these areas data are lacking to determine tectonic behaviour and future hazard potential along these important fault segments. The Big Bend of the San Andreas fault in the Transverse Ranges of southern California exemplifies these problems. However, landslides, probably seismically triggered, are widespread in the rugged terrain of the Big Bend. Fluvial reworking of these deposits rapidly produces geomorphic planes and lines that are markers for subsequent fault slip. The most useful are offset and abandoned stream channels, for these are relatively high precision markers for identifying individual faulting events. Palaeoseismological studies from the central Big Bend, involving ¹⁴C ages of charcoal fragments from trench exposures, illustrate these points and indicate that the past three faulting events, including the great 1857 earthquake, were relatively similar in scale, each producing offsets of about 7–7.5 m. The mean recurrence interval is 140–220 years. The pre-1857 event here may be the 1812 event documented south of the Big Bend or an event which took place probably between 1630 and 1690. Ground breakage in both events extended south of the Big Bend, unlike the 1857 event where rupture was skewed to the north. The preceding faulting event ruptured both to the north and south of the Big Bend and probably occurred between 1465 and 1495. All these events centred on the Big Bend and may be typical for this fault segment, suggesting that models of uniform long-term slip rates may not be applicable to the south-central San Andreas. A slip-rate estimate of 34–51 mm a^{− 1} for the central Big Bend, although uncertain, may also imply higher slip in the Big Bend and highlights difficulties in correlating slip-rates between sites with different tectonic settings. Slip rates on the San Andreas may increase within the broad compressional tectonics zone of the Big Bend, compared to the north and south where the plate boundary is a relatively linear and sub-parallel series of dominantly strike-slip faults. Partitioning slip within the Big Bend is inherently uncertain and insufficient suitably comparable data are available to sustain a uniform slip model, although such models are a common working assumption.  相似文献   

The influence of seismotectonics on precursory changes in groundwater composition for the 1995 Kobe earthquake, Japan     

Jens Hartmann  Jason K. Levy 《Hydrogeology Journal》2006,14(7):1307-1318

It is shown that temporal variation in hydrochemistry may be attributed, in part, to continuous seismotectonic activity occurring before the onset of the 1995 “Kobe” earthquake, Japan, challenging the “one earthquake–one signal” hypothesis with respect to potential precursory signals to this devastating event. A possible continuous seismotectonic influence on chloride and sulphate ion-concentration is evaluated with aggregate earthquake-information by transforming a multivariate earthquake time series (including coordinates and magnitude) into a one-dimensional time series (considering geometric relationships between earthquakes and the well-site). A piecewise analysis of ion-concentration and seismotectonic-activity time series compares trends and change points between the two time series: a positive correlation (before the proposed onset of the preparation stage) is followed by a negative correlation (during the proposed preparation stage) which, in turn, is succeeded by a positive correlation (after the heaviest aftershock sequences). This suggests that seismotectonic processes occurring before the Kobe earthquake dynamically influenced aquifer characteristics, leading to temporal variations in the hydrochemical time series. Accordingly, a dynamic change in the mixing ratios of waters with different hydrochemical characteristics is proposed as a mechanism for explaining observed variation. The research can be extended by considering vectors in the stress field that lead to changes in the aquifer-well system.The influence of seismotectonics on precursory changes in groundwater composition for the 1995 Kobe earthquake, Japan.  相似文献   

Seismic evidence of divergent rifting and subsequent deformation in the southern Japan Sea, and a Cenozoic tectonic synthesis of the eastern Eurasian margin   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Yasuto Itoh  Koji Uno  Hiroyuki Arato 《Journal of Asian Earth Sciences》2006,27(6):933-942

Neogene rift system configuration for the back-arc of southwest Japan, southern rim of the Japan Sea, is argued on the basis of reflection seismic interpretation. Divergent rifting and subsequent contraction provoked by an arc–arc collisional event are manifested by the formation of faulted grabens and their inverted deformation, respectively. We identified the following four Cenozoic tectonic epochs as a decomposition process of the eastern Eurasian margin based on reliable paleomagnetic data: (1) Plate margin rearrangement on a regional left-lateral fault through southwest Japan and Sikhote Alin, which constituted a continuous geologic province before the early Tertiary differential motion; (2) Early Tertiary clockwise rotation (>20°) of the east Tan-Lu block relative to the North China block; (3) Oligocene to early Miocene divergent rifting and spreading of the Japan Sea, which divided southwest Japan from the east Tan-Lu block; (4) Middle Miocene bending and back-arc inversion of southwest Japan caused by collision with the Izu-Bonin arc. According to the estimation of relative motions during these events, a paleogeographic reconstruction is presented through Cenozoic time.  相似文献   

Geologic and U–Pb geochronologic evidence for early Paleozoic tectonism in the Dadeldhura thrust sheet, far-west Nepal Himalaya   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

G.E. Gehrels  P.G. DeCelles  T.P. Ojha  B.N. Upreti 《Journal of Asian Earth Sciences》2006,28(4-6):385-408

The Dadeldhura thrust sheet inm western Nepal consists of Proterozoic–Lower Paleozoic sedimentary and plutonic rocks, and their metamorphic equivalents, that rest structurally on Proterozoic strata of the Lesser Himalayan sequence. Although regional metamorphism and ductile deformation were widespread during Tertiary thrust emplacement, relicts of early Paleozoic tectonism are preserved locally. New field and geochronologic studies, together with the findings of previous workers, indicate that this early Paleozoic tectonism included: (1) regional metamorphism to at least garnet grade, (2) regional folding of a thick metamorphic sequence into a broad east–west trending syncline, (3) outcrop-scale folding of metasedimentary rocks, (4) emplacement of Cambro–Ordovician granitic bodies during and after the metamorphism and deformation, (5) uplift and erosion of the metamorphic sequence, with garnet-grade rocks locally exposed at the surface, and (6) derivation of Ordovician conglomeratic sandstones from the early Paleozoic orogen. Similar records of metamorphism, deformation, and uplift/erosion have been found in other regions of the Himalaya, indicating that rocks of the Dadeldhura thrust sheet were originally involved in a regionally extensive orogenic system. Future tectonic models of Himalayan orogenesis must accommodate this early Paleozoic event.  相似文献   

Helium, radon and radiocarbon studies on a regional aquifer system of the North Gujarat-Cambay region, India     

Meetu Agarwal  R.D. Deshpande 《Chemical Geology》2006,228(4):209-232

The study reports the age evolution of groundwater as it flows from the recharge area through a regional alluvial aquifer system in North Gujarat-Cambay region in western India. Radiocarbon (¹⁴C), ⁴He and ⁴He / ²²²Rn dating methods have been employed. Sediments from a drill core in the Cambay Basin were also analysed for uranium (U) and thorium (Th) concentrations and the measured values have been used to estimate the ⁴He and ²²²Rn production rate for groundwater age calculations. Additionally, factors controlling the distribution of ²²²Rn, ⁴He and temperature anomalies in groundwater, vis-à-vis their relation to the tectonic framework and lithology of the study area, have also been examined.The multi-isotope study indicated a reasonable correspondence in groundwater age estimates by the three methods employed. The groundwater ¹⁴C ages increased, progressively, in the groundwater flow direction: from the foothills of Aravalli Mountains in the east, and reached a value of ∼35 ka towards the region of lowest elevation, linking Little Rann of Kachchh (LRK)-Nalsarovar (NS)-Gulf of Khambhat (GK) in the western part of the study area. In this region, groundwater ages obtained for free flowing thermal wells and springs employing ⁴He and ⁴He / ²²²Rn systematics are in the order of million years. Such anomalous ages are possibly due to enhanced mobilisation and migration of ‘excess helium’ from hydrothermal circulation vents along deep-seated faults. Excluding such anomalous cases and considering all uncertainties, presently estimated ⁴He and ⁴He / ²²²Rn groundwater ages are in reasonable agreement with ¹⁴C age estimates in the Cambay Basin for helium release factor (Λ_He) value of 0.4 ± 0.3. The ⁴He method also indicated west-southwards progression of groundwater ages up to ∼100 ka beyond the Cambay Basin.Large ‘excess helium’ concentrations are also seen to be generally associated with anomalous groundwater temperatures (> 35 °C) and found to overlie some of the basement faults in the study area, particularly along the east and the west flanks of the Cambay Basin. Groundwater ²²²Rn activities in most of the study area are 800 ± 400 dpm/l. But, a thermal spring at Tuwa on the east flank of the Cambay Basin, having granitic basement at shallow depth, recorded the highest ²²²Rn activity (∼63,000 dpm/l).  相似文献   

Hierarchy of tectonic control on stratigraphic signatures: Base-level changes during the Early Permian in the Paraná Basin, southernmost Brazil     

Michael Holz  Juliano Küchle  Ruy Paulo Philipp  Alan Patrick Bischoff  Naoki Arima 《Journal of South American Earth Sciences》2006,22(3-4):185

The Lower Permian sedimentary succession of the Paraná Basin in southernmost Brazil has an overall transgressive sedimentation regime, recorded by a clear retrogradation of the facies belt. However, important depositional strike-orientated variations and regional inversions occur in the sedimentation regime along the paleo-shoreline (i.e., along-strike) of the basin. At the regional scale, a huge source area was uplifted by the end of the Artinskian in the north and caused regression; the southern part of the study area increasingly was transgressed by the epicontinental sea (= regional inversion). This important tectonic overprint on the stratigraphic signature of the basin’s infill has a tectonic origin. The variable sedimentation regime along the paleo-shoreline is controlled by the structural framework of the basement, which is formed by several crustal blocks with different responses to tectonic strain induced by terrain accretion on the occidental margin of Gondwana during the Permian. Stratigraphic data indicate that during the Early Permian, there were at least two differential subsidence and uplift events, one by the end of the Sakmarian–Artinskian and another during the Late Artinskian–Kungurian.  相似文献