Km In Thickness Research Articles

Uplift at lithospheric swells-I: seismic and gravity constraints on the crust and uppermost mantle structure of the Cape Verde mid-plate swell

Wide-angle seismic data have been used to determine the velocity and density structure of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the Cape Verdes mid-plate swell. Seismic modelling reveals a ‘standard’ oceanic crust, ∼8 km in thickness, with no direct evidence for low-density bodies at the base of the crust. Gravity anomaly modelling within the constraints and resolution provided by the seismic model, does not preclude, however, a layer of crustal underplate up to 3 km thick beneath the swell crest. The modelling shows that while the seismically constrained crustal structure accounts for the short-wavelength free-air gravity anomaly, it fails to fully explain the long-wavelength anomaly. The main discrepancy is over the swell crest where the gravity anomaly, after correcting for crustal structure, is higher by about 30 mGal than it is over its flanks. The higher gravity can be explained if the top 100 km of the mantle beneath the swell crest is less dense than its surroundings by 30 kg m−3. The lack of evidence for low densities and velocities in the uppermost mantle, and high densities and velocities in the lower crust, suggests that neither a depleted swell root or crustal underplate are the origin of the observed shallower-than-predicted bathymetry and that, instead, the swell is most likely supported by dynamic uplift associated with an anomalously low density asthenospheric mantle.

REE-assisted U–Pb zircon age (SHRIMP) of an anatectic granodiorite: Constraints on the evolution of the A Silva granodiorite, Iberian allochthonous complexes

The A Silva granodiorite is a plutonic body intruded into the metasediments of the upper unit of the Órdenes Complex (Variscan belt, NW Spain). These metasediments represent the middle section of a magmatic arc located in northern Gondwana. The A Silva granodiorite has been classically considered a late Variscan granite. In this work, new field mapping, structural analysis, and SHRIMP U–Pb zircon dating indicate the granodiorite is significantly older. However, the data indicate a concordant age range between 540 and 460 Ma, and therefore CL images are not useful toward the interpretation of the geochronological results. This issue can be unravelled by using the hafnium and rare earth element composition of zircon in the assessment of the age. In this way, we determined that the age distribution was the result of lead loss, rather than a real age scatter or inheritance, and we could obtain a 206Pb/ 238U crystallization age of 510.28 (+ 1.57, − 1.44) Ma using the TuffZirc algorithm. This age together with the well-preserved field relationships of the host rock permit us to interpret the A Silva granodiorite as multiple sheets intruded into a sequence of metatexitic host rocks after crustal thickening and subsequent decompression that developed coeval with partial melting during the latest stages of a regional extensional event. Taken together with the underlying Monte Castelo gabbro (499 ± 2 Ma), the whole plutonic complex reaches 8 km in thickness and forms an antiformal stack structure in a shear parallel (N–S) cross-section. This structure could be responsible for previously described, localized granulite facies metamorphism. The presence of a late Cambrian magmatic event has been widely reported in other areas of northern Gondwana and it is related to the opening of the Rheic Ocean.

Porphyry Copper Systems

Porphyry Copper Systems

Cenozoic sediments in the southern Tarim Basin: implications for the uplift of northern Tibet and evolution of the Taklimakan Desert

Abstract Cenozoic sedimentary successions along the southern margin of the Tarim Basin, western China, reach up to 10 km in thickness. The two studied sections, the Yecheng and Aertashi, comprise c . 4.5 km and c . 7.0 km of clastic sedimentary rocks respectively. The base of the Yecheng section has been dated palaeomagnetically to be about 8 Ma. Age control of the Aertashi section is based on 87 Sr/ 86 Sr measurements (for the basal marine bed), together with magnetostratigraphy and regional stratigraphic correlation. The lower part of each section is mainly composed of fine-grained mudstone and fine sandstone, which makes up the Wuqian Group (Miocene). The palaeoenvironment is low-energy, meandering and braided streams. The middle part is composed of red mudstone, sandstone with thin conglomerate beds, which make up the Artux Formation (Pliocene). The palaeoenvironment is a distal- to mid-fan environment. The uppermost part of the section, known as the Xiyu Formation (Plio-Pleistocene), consists of cobble and boulder conglomerate intercalated with massive siltstone lenses, which formed as proximal alluvial fan and aeolian deposits. Neogene red beds passing upward into upward-coarsening conglomerate and debris-flow deposits record the change in palaeoslope related to uplift of the northern margin of Tibetan Plateau. The formation of aeolian dunes at c . 8 Ma, and underlying playa lake deposits (as at Aertashi), may indicate an arid, enclosed basin in the southern Tarim after this time. Sedimentological characteristics, together with grain size distribution and geochemistry of siltstone bands in the Xiyu and Artux Formations, point to an aeolian origin. This indicates that the Taklimakan Desert and the regional climate regime may have been fully developed by the Early Pliocene. The onset of aeolian sedimentation in the southern Tarim Basin coincided with uplift of the northern Tibetan Plateau, as inferred from the lithofacies change. Tibetan Plateau uplift resulted in the shift of sedimentary environments northwards into the southern Tarim Basin, and could well have triggered the onset of full aridity in the Taklimakan region as a whole.

Greenland from Archaean to Quaternary. Descriptive text to the 1995 Geological map of Greenland, 1:2 500 000. 2nd edition

The geological development of Greenland spans a period of nearly 4 Ga, from Eoarchaean to the Quaternary. Greenland is the largest island on Earth with a total area of 2 166 000 km2, but only c. 410 000 km2 are exposed bedrock, the remaining part being covered by a major ice sheet (the Inland Ice) reaching over 3 km in thickness. The adjacent offshore areas underlain by continental crust have an area of c. 825 000 km2.
 Greenland is dominated by crystalline rocks of the Precambrian shield, which formed during a succession of Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic orogenic events and stabilised as a part of the Laurentian shield about 1600 Ma ago. The shield area can be divided into three distinct types of basement provinces: (1) Archaean rocks (3200–2600 Ma old, with local older units up to> 3800 Ma) that were almost unaffected by Proterozoic or later orogenic activity; (2) Archaean terrains reworked during the Palaeoproterozoic around 1900–1750 Ma ago; and (3) terrains mainly composed of juvenile Palaeoproterozoic rocks (2000–1750 Ma in age). Subsequent geological developments mainly took place along the margins of the shield. During the Proterozoic and throughout the Phanerozoic major sedimentary basins formed, notably in North and North-East Greenland, in which sedimentary successions locally reaching 18 km in thickness were deposited. Palaeozoic orogenic activity affected parts of these successions in the Ellesmerian fold belt of North Greenland and the East Greenland Caledonides; the latter also incorporates reworked Precambrian crystalline basement complexes.
 Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary basins developed along the continent–ocean margins in North, East and West Greenland and are now preserved both onshore and offshore. Their development was closely related to continental break-up with formation of rift basins. Initial rifting in East Greenland in latest Devonian to earliest Carboniferous time and succeeding phases culminated with the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean in the late Paleocene. Sea-floor spreading was accompanied by extrusion of Palaeogene (early Tertiary) plateau basalts in both central West and central–southern East Greenland.
 During the Quaternary Greenland was almost completely covered by ice, and the present day Inland Ice is a relic from the Pleistocene ice ages. Vast amounts of glacially eroded detritus were deposited on the continental shelves around Greenland.
 Mineral exploitation in Greenland has so far encompassed cryolite, lead-zinc, gold, olivine and coal. Current prospecting activities in Greenland are concentrated on gold, base metals, platinum group elements, molybdenum, iron ore, diamonds and lead-zinc. Hydrocarbon potential is confined to the major Phanerozoic sedimentary basins, notably the large basins offshore North-East and West Greenland. While reserves of oil or gas have yet to be found, geophysical data combined with discoveries of oil seeps onshore have revealed a considerable potential for offshore oil and gas.

Development and structural architecture of the Eastern Black Sea

The Cenozoic sedimentary fill of the Eastern Black Sea (Figure 1) is up to 10 km in thickness. Its bedding is almost horizontal with the the exception of basin flanks. The Eastern Black Sea Basin is separated from the Cenozoic Sorokin and Tuapse Troughs by the buried Shatsky and Tetyaev ridges, which have Mesozoic and Paleocene-Eocene sedimentary cover (Figure 2).

Density and lithospheric strength models of the Yellowstone–Snake River Plain volcanic system from gravity and heat flow data

The structure and composition of the Yellowstone–Snake River Plain (YSRP) volcanic system were analyzed using gravity data taken at over 30,000 stations in the YSRP and surrounding region. Additional constraints were provided by tomographic seismic velocity models, new heat flow and temperature information, GPS-derived strain rates, earthquake locations, and chemical analyses of volcanic rocks. P-wave velocity models and velocity–density data based on petrologic information were used to constrain three-dimensional density models. Rheology and strength properties were calculated at selected locations and compared to earthquake focal depths. Results of this study suggest that the lower crust of the Snake River Plain (SRP) has been thickened by the addition of an underplated layer composed primarily of clinopyroxene, having a density of 3200 kg/m 3. A mid-crustal high-density sill is composed of a series of gabbroic lenses inter-fingering with the granitic upper crust. This geometry yields a bulk composition comparable to diorite and a density of 2900 kg/m 3. The mid-crustal sill varies from 4 to 11 km in thickness, resulting in a series of SE-NW-trending gravity highs observed along the axis of the SRP. The mid-crustal sill extends up to 20 km southeast of the SRP volcanic field and causes asymmetry of the gravity field. The Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field density model reveals low-density partial melt 10 km beneath the caldera that shallows under the northeastern caldera, and continues laterally 20 km north of the caldera boundary and notably increases the previously estimated size of the magma reservoir by ~ 20%. The caldera melt body has a density of 2520 kg/m 3 and a significantly lower value of 2470 kg/m 3 for the northeastern caldera melt body. Southwest of Yellowstone, the crustal section occupied by the mid-crustal sill in the SRP and the partial melt in Yellowstone constitute a transition area between the active Yellowstone magma system and the now volcanically quiescent SRP, with a density of 2820 kg/m 3. Strength models show that the crust of the YSRP becomes progressively stronger and cooler with increasing distance from Yellowstone, and tectonic earthquakes within the Yellowstone caldera are unlikely to nucleate below 4–6 km depth, thus limiting the maximum magnitude of earthquakes to M ≤ 6.5.

Compensational Stacking of Channelized Sedimentary Deposits

Abstract Compensational stacking, the tendency for sediment transport systems to preferentially fill topographic lows through deposition, is a concept widely used in the interpretation of the stratigraphic record. We propose a metric to quantify the degree of compensation by comparing observed stacking patterns in subsiding basins to what would be expected from uncorrelated random stacking. This method uses the rate of decay of spatial variability in sedimentation between picked depositional horizons with increasing vertical stratigraphic averaging distance. We present data from six sedimentary basins where this decay can be measured. The depositional environments range from river deltas to deep-water minibasins, and scales range from meters to 1.5 km in thickness. The decrease in standard deviation of sedimentation divided by subsidence with increasing vertical averaging distance is well described by a power law in each study basin. We term the exponent in this power law the compensation index, κ; its value is 0.5 for uncorrelated random stacking and 1.0 for perfect compensational stacking. Values less than 0.5 indicate anti-compensation, i.e., a tendency of depositional units to stack on top of one another. Parameters controlling the magnitude of κ include the frequency of system-scale avulsions and the temporal variability in deposition rates. Data describing the decay in the standard deviation of sedimentation/subsidence from the six studied basins collapse approximately onto a single power-law trend with κ = 0.75 when the measurement window is standardized by the mean channel depth of each system. Channel depth thus emerges as a fundamental length scale in stratigraphic architecture across environments. Although further study will likely reveal measurable variability in κ between depositional environments, the overall power-law collapse presented here suggests that a stacking behavior midway between purely random and perfect compensation is a good starting point in quantitatively estimating the stratigraphic arrangement of sedimentary deposits.

Geodynamics of the northwestern sector of the pacific mobile belt in the Late Cretaceous-Early Paleogene

In the Late Cretaceous starting from the early Coniacian, three parallel suprasubduction structural units have developed contemporaneously in the northwestern Paleopacific framework: (1) the Okhotsk-Chukchi arc at the Asian continental margin, (2) the West Kamchatka and Essoveem ensialic arcs at the northwestern margins of the Kamchatka and Central Koryak continental blocks, and (3) the Achaivayam-Valagin ensimatic arc that extended to the southwest as the Lesser Kuril ensialic arc at the southern margin of the Sea of Okhotsk continental block. In this setting, the geodynamics of the Paleopacific plates exerted an effect only on the evolution of the outer (relative to the continent) ensimatic island arc, whereas the vast inner region between this arc and the continent evolved independently. As is seen from the character of the gravity field and seismic refractor velocity, the Kamchatka and Sea of Okhotsk continental blocks differ in the structure of the consolidated crust. These blocks collided with each other and the Asian continent in the middle Campanian (77 Ma ago). The extensive pre-Paleogene land that existed on the place of the present-day Sea of Okhotsk probably supplied the terrigenous material deposited since the late Campanian on the oceanic crust of the backarc basin to the south of the rise of inner continental blocks as the Khozgon, Lesnaya, and Ukelayat flysch complexes. The accretion of the Olyutor (Achaivayam) and Valagin segments of the ensimatic arc had different consequences due to the difference in thickness of the Earth’s crust. The Valagin segment was formed on an older basement and had a much greater thickness of the crust than the Olyutor segment. As follows from computations and the results of physical modeling, the island arcs having crust more than 25 km in thickness collide with the continental margin and are thrust over the latter. In the case under consideration, the thrusting of the Valagin segment led to metamorphism of the underlying rocks. The crust of the Olyutor segment was much thinner. The contact of this segment with the continental margin resulted only in surficial accretion, which did not bring about metamorphism, and the underlying lithospheric plate continued to plunge into the subduction zone.

Behavior of iron-group elements, oxybarometry, and genesis of unique chromite deposits in the Kempirsai massif

Ultramafic rocks and high-Cr chromite ore from the Almaz-Zhemchuzhina deposit, the largest in the Main ore field of the Kempirsai massif, have been studied. The detailed mineralogical and geochemical examination of deep structure test and exploratory boreholes allowed us to establish the rough stratification of ultramafic rocks and to demonstrate the position of unique chromite deposits in the generalized vertical section of the southeastern Kempirsai massif. From top to bottom, a barren harzburgite-lherzolite series gives way to an ore-bearing dunite-harzburgite complex with the largest chromite deposits, including the unique Almaz-Zhemchuzhina deposit, in its upper portion and then to pyroxene-free dunite densely impregnated with chromite in the upper part and containing sparsely disseminated chromite at its base. The lower unit is composed of a barren lherzolite-harzburgite series transformed into blastomylonites near the contact with dunite, suggesting a tectonically doubled section in the southeastern part of the massif. The synore asymmetric geochemical zoning developed in the course of formation of chromite deposits as a result of removal of oreforming iron-group elements from the underlying and wall ultramafic rocks into the overlying rocks. Host rocks with disturbed initial proportions of Cr, Fe, Ni, and Mn, together with orebodies, made up ore-bearing zones no less than 1 km in thickness and subdivided into supra-, inter-, and subore subzones. The subore and wall rocks are characterized by partial loss (wt %) of Cr2O3(0.1), NiO (0.04), FeOtot(0.5), and MnO (0.02) and their removal into the interore and supraore (0.03 NiO) subzones. Thus, the subore ultramafic rocks served as a source of ore-forming components, while the interore zone with orebodies occurring therein served as a zone of discharge of these components. Using Mossbauer spectroscopy, the crystal chemistry of iron ions was studied in a representative selection of Cr-spinel samples from rocks and ores of the southeastern and western blocks (the Almaz-Zhemchuzhina and Geophysical XII deposits). The degree of iron oxidation in the samples varies from 8 to 33%. In most cases, a difference in degree of iron oxidation is established in stoichiometric approximation and from Mossbauer data. In other words, the integral stoichiometry of ferrous and ferric ions is disturbed. Such a disturbance may be related not only to partial inversion of the Cr-spinel structure but also to local heterogeneity of the mineral at the micro- and nanolevels with clustering of cations and formation of their associates. An empirical correction of the olivine-Cr-spinel geothermometer and oxybarometer has been performed. The inverse correlation between oxygen fugacity and degree of depletion of ultramafic rocks indicates that these rocks were formed in a closed system with participation of a water-methane fluid. Along with stratification of ultramafics, this correlation testifies to a powerful asthenospheric source of reduced fluids. The retention of low oxygen fugacity in central portions of orebodies does not rule out that after a break this source participated in the formation of unique chromite deposits in the Kempirsai massif.

Volcanic plumes and wind: Jetstream interaction examples and implications for air traffic

Volcanic plumes interact with the wind at all scales. On smaller scales, wind affects local eddy structure; on larger scales, wind shapes the entire plume trajectory. The polar jets or jetstreams are regions of high [generally eastbound] winds that span the globe from 30 to 60° in latitude, centered at an altitude of about 10 km. They can be hundreds of kilometers wide, but as little as 1 km in thickness. Core windspeeds are up to 130 m/s. Modern transcontinental and transoceanic air routes are configured to take advantage of the jetstream. Eastbound commercial jets can save both time and fuel by flying within it; westbound aircraft generally seek to avoid it. Using both an integral model of plume motion that is formulated within a plume-centered coordinate system (BENT) as well as the Active Tracer High-resolution Atmospheric Model (ATHAM), we have calculated plume trajectories and rise heights under different wind conditions. Model plume trajectories compare well with the observed plume trajectory of the Sept 30/Oct 1, 1994, eruption of Kliuchevskoi Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia, for which measured maximum windspeed was 30–40 m/s at about 12 km. Tephra fall patterns for some prehistoric eruptions of Avachinsky Volcano, Kamchatka, and Inyo Craters, CA, USA, are anomalously elongated and inconsistent with simple models of tephra dispersal in a constant windfield. The Avachinsky deposit is modeled well by BENT using a windspeed that varies with height. Two potentially useful conclusions can be made about air routes and volcanic eruption plumes under jetstream conditions. The first is that by taking advantage of the jetstream, aircraft are flying within an airspace that is also preferentially occupied by volcanic eruption clouds and particles. The second is that, because eruptions with highly variable mass eruption rate pump volcanic particles into the jetstream under these conditions, it is difficult to constrain the tephra grain size distribution and mass loading present within a downwind volcanic plume or cloud that has interacted with the jetstream. Furthermore, anomalously large particles and high mass loadings could be present within the cloud, if it was in fact formed by an eruption with a high mass eruption rate. In terms of interpretation of tephra dispersal patterns, the results suggest that extremely elongated isopach or isopleth patterns may often be the result of eruption into the jetstream, and that estimation of the mass eruption rate from these elongated patterns should be considered cautiously.

Mercury's internal magnetic field: Constraints on large- and small-scale fields of crustal origin

MESSENGER and Mariner 10 observations of Mercury's magnetic field suggest that small-scale crustal magnetic fields, if they exist, are at the limit of resolution. Large-scale crustal magnetic fields have also been suggested to exist at Mercury, originating from a relic of an internal dipole whose symmetry has been broken by latitudinal and longitudinal variations in surface temperature. If this large-scale magnetization is confined to a layer averaging 50 km in thickness, it must be magnetized with an intensity of at least 2.9 A/m. Fits to models constrained by such large-scale insolation variations do not reveal the predicted signal, and the absence of small-scale features attributable to remanence further weakens the case for large-scale magnetization. Our tests are hindered by the limited coverage to date and difficulty in isolating the internal magnetic field. We conclude that the case for large- and small-scale remanence on Mercury is weak, but further measurements by MESSENGER can decide the issue unequivocally. Across the terrestrial planets and the Moon, magnetization contrast and iron abundance in the crust show a positive correlation. This correlation suggests that crustal iron content plays a determining role in the strength of crustal magnetization.

Synchronous 29-19 Ma arc hiatus, exhumation and subduction of forearc in southwestern Mexico

Abstract The geology of southwestern Mexico (102–96°W) records several synchronous events in the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene (29–19 Ma): (1) a hiatus in arc magmatism; (2) removal of a wide ( c . 210 km) Upper Eocene–Lower Oligocene forearc; (3) exhumation of 13–20 km of Upper Eocene–Lower Oligocene arc along the present day coast; and (4) breakup of the Farallon Plate. Events 2 and 3 have traditionally been related to eastward displacement of the Chortís Block from a position off southwestern Mexico between 105°W and 97°W; however at 30 Ma the Chortís Block would have lain east of 95°W. We suggest that the magmatic hiatus was caused by subduction of the forearc, which replaced the mantle wedge by relatively cool crust. Assuming that the subducted block separated along the forearc–arc boundary, a likely zone of weakness due to magmatism, the subducted forearc is estimated to be wedge-shaped varying from zero to c . 90 km in thickness; however such a wedge is not apparent in seismic data across central Mexico. Given the 121 km/Ma convergence rate between 20 and 10 Ma and 67 km/Ma since 10 Ma, it is probable that any forearc has been deeply subducted. Potential causes for subduction of the forearc include collision of an oceanic plateau with the trench, and a change in plate kinematics synchronous with breakup of the Farallon Plate and initiation of the Guadalupe–Nazca spreading ridge.

Seismic anisotropy indicators in Western Tibet: Shear wave splitting and receiver function analysis

Using recently collected data from western Tibet we find significant variation in the strength, vertical distribution and attributes of seismic wave speed anisotropy, constrained through a joint application of teleseismic shear wave splitting techniques and a study of P-S mode-converted waves (receiver functions). We find that the crust of Tibet is characterized by anisotropy on the order of 5%–15% concentrated in layers 10–20 km in thickness, and with relatively steep (30°–45° from the vertical) slow symmetry axes of anisotropy. These layers contribute no more than 0.3 s to the birefringence in teleseismic shear waves, significantly smaller than splitting in many of the observations, and much smaller than birefringence predicted by models developed through group inversions of shear-wave recordings. Consequently, we interpret models constrained with shear-wave observations in terms of structures in the upper mantle. Near the Altyn–Tagh fault our data favor a two-layer model, with the upper layer fast polarization approximately aligned with the strike of the fault. Near the Karakorum fault our data are well fit with a single layer of relatively modest (~ 0.5 s delay) anisotropy. Fast polarization in this layer is ~ 60°NE, similar to that of the lower layer in the model for the Altyn Tagh fault site. Assuming that layers of similar anisotropic properties at these two sites reflect a common cause, our finding favors a scenario where Indian lithosphere under-thrusts a significant fraction of the plateau. Data from a site at the southern edge of the Tarim basin appear to be inconsistent with a common model of seismic anisotropy distribution. We suspect that thick sediments underlying the site significantly distort observed waveforms. Our ability to resolve features of anisotropic structure in the crust and the upper mantle of western Tibet is limited by the small amount of data collected in a 6 month observing period. We stress the importance of future teleseismic data collection in Tibet over extended periods, to insure better directional distribution of observed seismic sources.

Crustal structure and origin of the Cape Verde Rise

The Cape Verde Islands are located on a mid-plate topographic swell and are thought to have formed above a deep mantle plume. Wide-angle seismic data have been used to determine the crustal and uppermost mantle structure along a ~ 440 km long transect of the archipelago. Modelling shows that ‘normal’ oceanic crust, ~ 7 km in thickness, exists between the islands and is gently flexed due to volcano loading. There is no direct evidence for high density bodies in the lower crust or for an anomalously low density upper mantle. The observed flexure and free-air gravity anomaly can be explained by volcano loading of a plate with an effective elastic thickness of 30 km and a load and infill density of 2600 kg m − 3 . The origin of the Cape Verde swell is poorly understood. An elastic thickness of 30 km is expected for the ~ 125 Ma old oceanic lithosphere beneath the islands, suggesting that the observed height of the swell and the elevated heat flow cannot be attributed to thermal reheating of the lithosphere. The lack of evidence for high densities and velocities in the lower crust and low densities and velocities in the upper mantle, suggests that neither a crustal underplate or a depleted swell root are the cause of the shallower than expected bathymetry and that, instead, the swell is supported by dynamic uplift associated with the underlying plume.

Modeling the magnitude and timing of evaporative drawdown during the Messinian salinity crisis

The Mediterranean and Red Sea salt layers ofMessinian age reach up to 3 km in thickness in the subsurface of themodern abyssal plains and are rare to absent on the contemporary margin rims. Deposition of the full evaporite suite of carbonates, sulfates, halite, potash, dolomitic marl and debris from pervasive margin erosion took place during a regional Late Miocene salinity crisis once the restriction of two-way water flow through the portal from the Atlantic reached a threshold that triggered a rise in salinity everywhere sufficient for precipitation to commence on a regional scale. For the first 0.35my of the crisis the surface of the Mediterranean remained more or less at the level of the global ocean except possibly during brief episodes when brine reflux ceased as the consequence of sea-level fall in the exterior Atlantic. Evaporative drawdown on a large scale is an intra-salinity-crisis phenomenon and coincides with the precipitation of the bulk of the halite that makes up the giant flowing salt layer observed in reflection profiles. We present an integrated quantitative model that reproduces the closure of the Atlantic spillway, evaporative drawdown and eventual opening of the Gibraltar Strait for the Pliocene refilling. The model incorporates time-varying global eustacy, solar insolation, mixing of brine across sills between the Mediterranean and Red Sea depressions and water flow through subsurface aquifers. The model accounts for the precipitation of more than one million km3 of halite alone in just a few precession cycles. The closure results from the weight of the growing brine body and salt deposit that depresses the basin center and elevates its rims. Ground water leakage under high pressure from the Atlantic into the nearly empty Mediterranean corrodes and opens fissures in the Gibraltar barrier leading to eventual break through at this particular location followed by a run-away flood.

Evidence for kilometre-scale Neogene exhumation driven by compressional deformation in the Irish Sea basin system

Abstract Large tracts of the NW European continental shelf and Atlantic margin have experienced kilometre-scale exhumation during the Cenozoic, the timing and causes of which are debated. There is particular uncertainty about the exhumation history of the Irish Sea basin system, Western UK, which has been suggested to be a focal point of Cenozoic exhumation across the NW European continental shelf. Many studies have attributed the exhumation of this region to processes associated with the early Palaeogene initiation of the Iceland Plume, whilst the magnitude and causes of Neogene exhumation have attracted little attention. However, the sedimentary basins of the southern Irish Sea contain a mid–late Cenozoic sedimentary succession up to 1.5 km in thickness, the analysis of which should permit the contributions of Palaeogene and Neogene events to the Cenozoic exhumation of this region to be separated. In this paper, an analysis of the palaeothermal, mechanical and structural properties of the Cenozoic succession is presented with the aim of quantifying the timing and magnitude of Neogene exhumation, and identifying its ultimate causes. Synthesis of an extensive apatite fission-track analysis (AFTA), vitrinite reflectance (VR) and compaction (sonic velocity and density log-derived porosities) database shows that the preserved Cenozoic sediments in the southern Irish Sea were more deeply buried by up to 1.5 km of additional section prior to exhumation which began between 20 and 15 Ma. Maximum burial depths of the preserved sedimentary succession in the St George's Channel Basin were reached during mid–late Cenozoic times meaning that no evidence for early Palaeogene exhumation is preserved whereas AFTA data from the Mochras borehole (onshore NW Wales) show that early Palaeogene cooling (i.e. exhumation) at this location was not significant. Seismic reflection data indicate that compressional shortening was the principal driving mechanism for the Neogene exhumation of the southern Irish Sea. Coeval Neogene shortening and exhumation is observed in several sedimentary basins around the British Isles, including those along the UK Atlantic margin. This suggests that the forces responsible for the deformation and exhumation of the margin may also be responsible for the generation of kilometre-scale exhumation in an intraplate sedimentary basin system located >1000 km from the most proximal plate boundary. The results presented here show that compressional deformation has made an important contribution to the Neogene exhumation of the NW European continental shelf.

Quaternary Sedimentation in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Adjoining Areas, Eastern Canada: An Overview Based on High-Resolution Seismo-Stratigraphy

The regional Quaternary seismo-stratigraphy of NW Gulf of St. Lawrence, based on 5700 line km of high resolution seismic reflection profiles, is described. The Quaternary sequence can be locally missing or can exceed 1.3 km in thickness. Five major stratigraphic units are recognized, which vary in their character and distribution so that at any location a variety of bedrock types may be overlain by a distinctive Quaternary sequence. These units relate to the advance and retreat of the Late Wisconsinan Ice Sheet. We interpret these units as: Unit 1, recording the presence of grounded glacial ice, including ice-loaded and ice-deposited sediments. Unit 2, ice-proximal coarse-grained sediment deposited either as a thin, conformable layer during the rapid retreat of an ice terminus, or as a wedge-shaped fan marking the position of an ice front still stand. Unit 3, ice-distal fine-grained sediment deposited from meltwater plumes at times of elevated sea levels and rapidly ablating sea ice. Unit 4, paraglacial deltaic sediment marking the melting of terrestrially-based ice caps, and the concommittant growth of deltas, rapidly prograding into a seaway undergoing rapidly falling sea levels. Unit 5, postglacial sediment reflecting the winnowing of shallow areas and deposition of organic-rich mud in deep basins, under modern sea level and océanographie conditions. A conceptual model dealing with the deposition of sediment associated with the withdrawal of a continental ice sheet is developed. The model includes the dynamics associated with the initial ice advance, terminal ice dynamics, retreat of the ice terminus, stable ice-fronts during the recessional phase, ice sheets ablating on land, and postglacial sedimentation under conditions of fluctuating sea levels.

Metal saturation in the upper mantle

The oxygen fugacity f(O2)of the Earth's mantle is one of the fundamental variables in mantle petrology. Through ferric-ferrous iron and carbon-hydrogen-oxygen equilibria, f(O2) influences the pressure-temperature positions of mantle solidi and compositions of small-degree mantle melts. Among other parameters, f(O2) affects the water storage capacity and rheology of the mantle. The uppermost mantle, as represented by samples and partial melts, is sufficiently oxidized to sustain volatiles, such as H2O and CO2, as well as carbonatitic melts, but it is not known whether the shallow mantle is representative of the entire upper mantle. Using high-pressure experiments, we show here that large parts of the asthenosphere are likely to be metal-saturated. We found that pyroxene and garnet synthesized at >7 GPa in equilibrium with metallic Fe can incorporate sufficient ferric iron that the mantle at >250 km depth is so reduced that an (Fe,Ni)-metal phase may be stable. Our results indicate that the oxidized nature of the upper mantle can no longer be regarded as being representative for the Earth's upper mantle as a whole and instead that oxidation is a shallow phenomenon restricted to an upper veneer only about 250 km in thickness.

Distribution and identification of the low-velocity layer in the northern South China Sea

The low-velocity layer (LVL), closely related with tectonic activities and dynamic settings, has always been a hot topic in the deep crustal structure studies. The deep seismic (OBS/OBH) and onshore-offshore experiments have been extensively implemented in the northern South China Sea (SCS) since the 1990s. Six seismic profiles were finished on the northern margin of SCS by domestic and international cooperations. The features of crustal structures were revealed and five velocity-inversion layers were discovered. Among them three LVLs with 3.0–3.5 km·s−1 velocity are located in the sedimentary structure (2.0–6.0km in depth and 2.0–4.6 km in thickness) of the Yinggehai Basin and Pearl River Mouth Basin. They were identified by the reflective and refractive phases for their shallow depth. The other two LVLs with 5.5–6.0 km·s−1 velocity generally existed in the middle crust (7.0–18.0 km in depth) with an about 2.5–6.0 km thickness in the transitional crustal structure of the northeastern and northwestern SCS. They were detected by the refractive phase from their overlain and underlying layers. We explored the possible tectonic formation mechanisms combining with previously reported results, which provided evidence for the formation and evolution of SCS.