Uplift Rates Research Articles

Interactions between Cenozoic tectonics and landscape dynamics in Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

The Londrina City, located in southern Brazil, is situated on the basalt of the Paraná Igneous Province (PIP), near tectonic structures such as the Guaxupé faults and the São Jerônimo-Curiúva and São Sebastião lineaments, with a history of reactivation in the Cenozoic. Between 2015 and 2018, low-magnitude earthquakes hit the municipality, suggesting a possible connection with these structures. This study investigates the relationship between Cenozoic tectonics and geomorphological dynamics, combining quantitative geomorphological analysis with field analysis of faults. The results reveal signs of tectonic control on the landscape, with two pulses of regional uplift/base level drop affecting the drainage network. Reactivated segments, especially at intersections of NE and NW structures, influence dynamics, with variations in uplift rates between basins and block rotation under a transtensive regime. Recent earthquakes are related to the reactivation of an N50-60E fault scarp, possibly the Guaxupé Fault, indicating recurrent tectonic movement. Paleostress analyses identify three deformation pulses, highlighting the complexity of landscape evolution in intraplate regions. These findings enhance understanding of regional tectonics, emphasizing the need to comprehend landscape evolution in interior plate areas, such as the South American Plate.

CO2 drawdown from weathering is maximized at moderate erosion rates.

Uplift and erosion modulate the carbon cycle over geologic timescales by exposing minerals to chemical weathering. However, the erosion sensitivity of mineral weathering remains difficult to quantify. Solute-chemistry datasets from mountain streams in different orogens isolate the impact of erosion on silicate weathering-a carbon dioxide (CO2) sink-and coupled sulfide and carbonate weathering-a CO2 source. Contrasting erosion sensitivities of these reactions produce a CO2-drawdown maximum at erosion rates of ~0.07 millimeters per year. Thus, landscapes with moderate uplift rates bolster Earth's inorganic CO2 sink, whereas more rapid uplift decreases or even reverses CO2 sequestration. This concept of an "erosion optimum" for CO2 drawdown reconciles conflicting views on the impact of mountain building on the carbon cycle and permits estimates of geologic CO2 fluxes dependent upon tectonic changes.

Timescales of glacial isostatic adjustment in Greenland: is transient rheology required?

SUMMARY The possibility of a transient rheological response to ice age loading, first discussed in the literature of the 1980s, has received renewed attention. Transient behaviour across centennial to millennial timescales has been invoked to reconcile apparently contradictory inferences of steady-state (Maxwell) viscosity based on two distinct data sets from Greenland: Holocene sea-level curves and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) derived modern crustal uplift data. To revisit this issue, we first compute depth-dependent Fréchet kernels using 1-D Maxwell viscoelastic Earth models and demonstrate that the mantle resolving power of the two Greenland data sets is highly distinct, reflecting the differing spatial scale of the associated surface loading: the sea-level records are sensitive to viscosity structure across the entire upper mantle while uplift rates associated with post-1000 CE fluctuations of the Greenland Ice Sheet have a dominant sensitivity to shallow asthenosphere viscosity. Guided by these results, we present forward models which demonstrate that a moderate low viscosity zone beneath the lithosphere in Maxwell Earth models provides a simple route to simultaneously reconciling both data sets by significantly increasing predictions of present-day uplift rates in Greenland whilst having negligible impact on predictions of Holocene relative sea-level curves from the region. Our analysis does not rule out the possibility of transient deformation, but it suggests that it is not required to simultaneously explain these two data sets. A definitive demonstration of transient behaviour requires that one account for the resolving power of the data sets in modelling the glacial isostatic adjustment process.

Quantifying the migration rate of drainage divides from high-resolution topographic data

Abstract. The lateral movement of drainage divides is co-influenced by tectonics, lithology, and climate and therefore archives a wealth of geologic and climatic information. It also has wide-ranging implications for topography, the sedimentary record, and biological evolution and thus has drawn much attention in recent years. Several methods have been proposed to determine drainage divides' migration state (direction and rate), including geochronological approaches (e.g., 10Be) and topography-based approaches (e.g., χ plots or Gilbert metrics). A key object in these methods is the channel head, which separates the hillslope and channel. However, due to the limited resolution of topography data, the required channel-head parameters in the calculation often cannot be determined accurately, and empirical values are used in the calculation, which may induce uncertainties. Here, we propose two methods to calculate the migration rate of drainage divides based on the relatively accurate channel-head parameters derived from high-resolution topographic data. We then apply the methods to an active rift shoulder (Wutai Shan) in the Shanxi Rift and a tectonically stable area (Yingwang Shan) in the Loess Plateau, to illustrate how to calculate drainage-divide migration rates. Our results show that the Wutai Shan drainage divide is migrating northwestward at a rate between 0.21 and 0.27 mm yr−1, whereas the migration rates at the Yingwang Shan are approximately zero. This study indicates that the drainage-divide stability can be determined more accurately using high-resolution topographic data. Furthermore, this study takes the cross-divide differences in the uplift rate of channel heads into account in the measurement of drainage-divide migration rate for the first time.

Dynamic strategy for low-carbon supply chain considering retailers competition and technological innovation

This paper discusses how managers adjust their strategies to allocate relevant resources more effectively and maximize economic benefits when major technological changes are predicted for the future. For a supply chain system consisting of a single manufacturer and two competing retailers as the research object. First, random stop model is applied to portray the impact of technological innovation on the decision-making of supply chain members. On this basis, differential game models for supply chain members are constructed based on different cooperation modes, including centralized, decentralized, and retailers alliance. Second, we solve and compare the optimal decision-making, emissions reduction, low-carbon goodwill, and profit levels before and after technological innovation in different modes. Finally, we design a bilateral cost-sharing contract to achieve coordination. Results demonstrate that: (1) Before the success of technological innovation, when a higher probability of success and uplift rate is predicted can incentivize supply chain members' emissions reduction and low-carbon promotion inputs; (2) In the presuccess period of technological innovation, members' independent decision-making (decentralized decision-making) can optimize the retailer's low-carbon promotional inputs under certain conditions. In contrast, the optimality of decentralized decision-making after technological innovation depends only on the influence of competition intensity. (3) The bilateral cost-sharing contract designed in this paper can optimize supply chain-related inputs and performance levels to achieve perfect coordination within the supply chain system, given that specific preconditions are satisfied.

Thermochronology of the Laojunshan–Song Chai Granite Gneiss Massif (North Vietnam, South China)

A reconstruction of the tectonothermal evolution of the Laojunshan–Song Chai granite gneiss massif (North Vietnam, South China) was carried out, based on summaries of the latest isotopic and fission-track dating results. The recorded wide range (420–465 Ma) of the age of granite gneiss rocks testifies to the long-term existence of a partially molten layer at a depth of 20–30 km for several tens of Ma. By the Devonian–early Carboniferous, a section of the excessively thickened crust was denudated, the massif was exhumated to the level of the upper crust, and isotope systems were “frozen”. The rate of uplift of the rocks of the massif is estimated to be about 0.2–0.5 mm/year. In the further history of the granite gneiss massif, episodes of repeated burial to a depth of about 13 km are recorded, associated with the Indosinian collision. The rocks have experienced metamorphism of the amphibolite-green schist facies, accompanied by tectonic transport in the form of a thrust sheet. Over the next 200 Ma, the uplift of the massif and the erosion of the overlying strata occurred in discrete pulses, during a sequence of active tectonic events. Thus, the thermochronological and P-T history of the Laojunshan–Song Chai massif is a kind of chronicle of regional tectonic–thermal events. In the history of the massif, traces of two orogenic cycles associated with the collision of the Cathaysia and Yangtze blocks in the Lower Paleozoic and the Indosinian collision in the Triassic are recorded.

Increasing uplift rate since ~10 Ma in the eastern Tibetan Plateau from river profile inversion

Increasing uplift rate since ~10 Ma in the eastern Tibetan Plateau from river profile inversion

Deciphering differential exhumation in the Gangdese orogen in southern Tibet using exposed porphyry alteration systems and geomorphic analysis

Topography and exhumation vary strongly in the Tibetan Plateau, reflecting different geodynamics and surface processes. The Gangdese orogen in southern Tibet is characterized by west-to-east variations in topography and occurrences of the Miocene porphyry copper deposits. We integrated remote sensing based hydrothermal alteration mapping and geomorphological analysis to detect patterns of differential exhumation since the Miocene. High abundances of propylitic and potassic alteration of the eastern Miocene granitoids are identified, indicating >2 km of exhumation since the Miocene. The western Gangdese has intensive phyllic and argillic alteration representing ∼1 km of exhumation. Geomorphic analyses also show E-W changes that most likely resulted from differential rock uplift histories. Channel steepness index values indicate the eastern Gangdese has channel gradients between 211 m1.02 and 457 m1.02, compared to values between 30 m1.02 and 160 m1.02 in the west. Linear inversion of tributaries of the Yarlung river shows a pulse of rock uplift between 25 Ma and 7 Ma with a maximum rate of 110 m/ m.y. in the east. In contrast, the western Gangdese exhibits slower and persistent rock uplift rates between 20 m/m.y. and 40 m/m.y. since 20 Ma. The integrated results record differential exhumation and rock uplift since the Miocene. We invoke the geometric variations of the subducted Indian lithosphere to interpret the E-W differential exhumation since the Miocene. Steeper subduction of the Indian lithosphere beneath the eastern Gangdese induced mantle upwelling, triggering rapid rock uplift and deep exhumation. Conversely, the shallower subduction of the Indian slab in the west generated slow and prolonged rock uplift with less exhumation. Our study refines the exhumation process of the Gangdese since the Miocene.

Shallow structure and late quaternary slip rate of the Osaka Bay fault, western Japan

The Osaka Bay is situated at a seismically active region north of the Median Tectonic Line and east of Awaji Island in western Japan, known as part of the Kinki Triangle and the Niigata–Kobe Tectonic Zone. Dense distribution of active faults and high geodetic strain rates characterize the region, posing a major seismic hazard potential to the coastal and metropolitan areas of the Kansai region. To investigate the shallow structure and recent deformation history of active faults in the Osaka Bay, we acquired 15 high-resolution seismic profiles using a Mini-GI airgun and a Boomer as active sources, together with multi-beam bathymetry data across the Osaka Bay Fault. Our seismic sections image a ~ 0.1 to 3.7 km-wide asymmetric anticline forelimb above the Osaka Bay Fault at shallow depths, coupled with a ~ 2.6 km-wide syncline to the west, and a broad, ~ 11 km-wide syncline in the footwall to the east. The synclinal axial surface at shallow depths measured in this study ranges 75°–89°. We observe the vertical displacement of the Osaka Bay Fault increasing northwards along strike. The sediment thickness on the hanging wall, however, is variable, modified by non-tectonic processes such as by tidal currents, affecting the geometry of growth strata. The most recent deformation by the Osaka Bay Fault reaches to near the seafloor by active folding, with large vertical offsets of 8–14 m over the last ~ 11 ka, and 5–11 m over the last ~ 5 ka. By combining with previously reported borehole age data, the average uplift rate on the Osaka Bay Fault is estimated to be ~ 1.0 to 1.7 m/ka during the Latest Pleistocene to Holocene. The inferred slip of the Osaka Bay Fault during the Holocene is likely to account for > 5% of the regional geodetic strain accumulation within the Kinki Triangle. Further studies to evaluate the Holocene slip rates of regional faults are necessary to assess the seismic hazards and the internal strain budgets within the Kinki Triangle and the Niigata–Kobe Tectonic Zone.Graphical abstract

Understanding tectonics from fluvial topography by using the stochastic‐threshold incision model: Theory and application to the Dadu River basin, eastern Tibetan Plateau

AbstractThe flood distribution and bedrock incision threshold exert important influences on the erosion efficiency, which can result into a nonlinear scaling between channel steepness (normalized channel gradients for the downstream increases in drainage area) and erosion rates. Here, we explore the incorporation of both river incision threshold and discharge probability distribution into erosion efficiency to construct a stochastic‐threshold incision model equation to simulate river power incision and the evolution of fluvial topography. Assuming time‐dependent tectonic uplift, we develop a closed‐form analytical solution to the model equation and derive a linear inverse procedure to retrieve relative uplift rate history from river longitudinal profiles. Application of the inverse scheme to the Dadu River basin in the eastern Tibetan Plateau produces a history with three‐phase increases in the uplift/incision rates during the Cenozoic. We use the inversion results to forward the time‐changed river long profile, which indicates the existence of paleo relief before the Oligocene and significant contributions of the late Miocene regional uplift and early Pleistocene river capture on the present topography.

Mesozoic and Cenozoic Tectono-Thermal Reconstruction of the Southern Ordos Basin: Revealed by Apatite Fission Track and (U-Th)/He Dating

The Ordos Basin is rich in oil and gas resources in the Paleozoic strata. The southern part of the basin boasts a thick Paleozoic sedimentary sequence, enriched organic matter, favorable sedimentary facies, and hydrocarbon source rocks with an over-mature thermal evolution stage. However, the lack of in-depth study of the tectono-thermal evolution in the southern basin limits regional oil and gas exploration. In this study, drill core and outcrop samples were collected from the Shanbei Slope and the Weibei Uplift, respectively. These samples were subjected to apatite fission track (AFT) and (U-Th)/He dating (AHe). The results were used to reconstruct the thermal history of the southern basin, calculate exhumation rates, and analyze the tectonic evolution of the basin. The seven annealed AFT data values from the Shanbei Slope range from 21.4 to 52.8 Ma, with mean track lengths of 13.24 μm, and the twelve unannealed AFT data values from the Weibei Uplift range from 111.9 to 204.6 Ma. The seven AHe data values from the Shanbei Slope range from 17.0 to 31.8 Ma, and the eight AHe data values from the Weibei Uplift range from 31.7 to 47.5 Ma. The thermal history is characterized by a prolonged phase of burial and heating from the Triassic to the Late Early Cretaceous, followed by a phase of uplift and cooling that continued into the Cenozoic. This cooling phase exhibits three distinct stages with varying rates of uplift and cooling. According to the dating results, the cooling timing of the southern basin was earlier than that of the central part, and the southern basin experienced higher uplift rates during the Paleogene than in other periods of the Cenozoic. This may be attributed to the far-field effects of the collision between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate during the Paleogene.

One Million Years of Climate-Driven Rock Uplift Rate Variation on the Wasatch Fault Revealed by Fluvial Topography

Displacement along the Wasatch Fault, Utah, has created the Wasatch Range. Owing to its topographic prominence, location on the eastern boundary of the Basin and Range, presently active fault slip, and proximity to Utah’s largest cities, the range and fault have garnered much attention. On the 102–103 year timescale, the behavior, displacement and seismic history of the Wasatch Fault has been well categorized in order to assess seismic hazard. On the 107 year timescale, the rock uplift rate history of the Wasatch range has also been resolved using thermochronometric data, owing to its importance in inferring the history of extension in the western US. However, little data exists that bridges the gap between these two timescales. Here, we infer an approximately 1 Ma rock uplift rate history from analysis of three river networks located in the center of the range. Our recovered rock uplift rate histories evidence periodic changes to rock uplift on the Wasatch Fault, that coincide with climate driven filling and unfilling of lakes in the Bonnneville Basin. To ensure our rock uplift rate histories are robust, we use field data and previously published cosmogenic 10Be erosion rate data to tightly constrain the erodibility parameter, and investigate an appropriate value for the slope exponent of the stream power model, n. We use our river network inversion to reconcile estimates of erodibility from a number of methodologies and show that the contrast between bedrock and bedload strength is an important factor that determines erodibility.

Present-day kinematics of the northwest Moroccan Atlantic Margin from GNSS data: west southwest extrusion at the western end of the High Atlas

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has emerged as a practical and effective technique for studying slow and steady geodynamic movements, enabling continuous monitoring and precise quantification of deformation over different timescales. In Morocco, a network of GNSS stations has been established, offering valuable insights into tectonic processes. This paper focuses on investigating the geodynamic motion of the northwest Moroccan Atlantic Margin. By utilizing GNSS data, subsidence rates and horizontal velocity fields were determined for the first time, providing valuable information for oil and gas exploration activities. The study reveals an active uplift rate of 1 mm/year and a westward horizontal motion of 2.04 mm/year in the Essaouira segment. The paper presents a case study of the Essaouira–Agadir basin (EAB) onshore segment and investigates the anomalous displacement observed in this region compared to other coastal GNSS stations. Possible explanations for the observed movements include local processes such as salt tectonics and regional northwest–southeast compression related to Africa–Eurasia convergence. We suggest that the anomalous movement detected in this work is due to the regional northwest–southeast compression related to Africa–Eurasia convergence imparting an extrusion of the EAB to the west. This research contributes to a better understanding of the geodynamics in the northwest Moroccan Atlantic margin, thereby providing valuable insights for ongoing efforts in oil and gas exploration. Furthermore, it indicates the continued activity of the Agadir fault, which would exhibit a sinistral wrench movement, thus posing a threat to the city of Agadir and its inhabitants.

Late Pleistocene sea level change and tectonism control on the formation of the Old Red Sand along the southeastern coast of China

The Zhe-Min Uplift (ZMU) has undergone tectonic subsidence, which has been associated with a notable transgression in the northern marginal seas of China since the middle Pleistocene. However, its uplift history during the late Quaternary is still inadequate. The Old Red Sand (ORS) is a late Pleistocene deposit that is widely distributed along the southeastern coast of China. The ORS consists of partially-cemented fine- to medium-grained sand. In this paper, we focus on mud-rich ORS deposits of the Liushui area, Pingtan Island, Fujian Province, and report optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages, and new datasets of grain size, mineralogy (detrital zircon, clay and detrital minerals) and organic carbon and nitrogen isotope profiles to improve understanding of chronology, provenance, palaeoenvironmental evolution and tectonic infuence. Based on the OSL data, we hypothesize that the development of the ORS was associated with lower sea levels, with most deposition occurring within MIS4. Based on comparison of detrital zircon UPb ages, the coarse fraction of the Liushui ORS was mainly derived from the Minjiang River, with modest input from weathering of coastal granites. The East Asian Winter Monsoon contributed some materials from the East China Sea shelf during the last glacial period, as indicated by the fine-grained nature of the Liushui ORS, low K-feldspar/plagioclase ratios, high dolomite content and the frequency of Neoproterozoic and Palaeoproterozoic detrital zircons. The deposition of the ORS was influenced by both the East Asian Winter Monsoon and sea level changes. The clay minerals in the mud layers of the Liushui ORS were dominated by kaolinite and illite, with little chlorite and no smectite, indicating that they originated from the Minjiang River. The TOC/TN ratios of the mud layers, as well as their isotope characteristics, indicate the organic matter was derived from marine sources, presumably during the transgression event in MIS5. The average uplift rate of the ORS was about 0.03 mm/yr. The uplift of the ORS provided new insights into the geological records of the ZMU, which differed from the subsidence observed in the northern region of the Minjiang River during the late Pleistocene.

Late quaternary morpho-stratigraphic record of diapir rise in the Cardona salt extrusion, NE Spain. Halokinetic sequences, raised terraces and uplift rates

Active diapirism has received very limited attention from the geomorphological and Quaternary Science perspective, despite the role played by this ground deformation process in the development of landforms and sedimentary environments, and the important practical implications associated with mobile salt structures (e,g., mining, hydrocarbon production, geostorage). The Cardona salt extrusion (NE Spain) was initiated in late Quaternary times from the post-shortening unroofing of the crest of a salt anticline by the entrenchment of the transverse Cardener River. Detailed mapping, outcrop analysis, geophysical data and trenching indicate that the diapir-flanking deposits show halokinetic complexes comprising two types of morpho-stratigraphic units: (1) an older flap of coarse-grained drapefolded colluvial deposits; and (2) younger lacustrine and fluvial deposits in peripheral depressions confined between the upturned colluvial flaps and the country rock slope. These synkinematic units record an overall relief inversion and correspond to the so-called wedge and hook halokinetic sequences, recording ratios between diapir rise rate and sedimentation rate lower and greater than 1, respectively. The radiocarbon ages obtained from several raised late Holocene strath terraces carved in the salt indicate uplift rates within the range of 36.5–12.1 mm/yr, consistent with geodetic data. The spatial variability of the uplift rates can be related to increasing flow rates towards the axis of the salt wall and potential along-strike variations. The relatively high diapir rise rates observed at Cardona diapir, unaffected by contractional displacement loading (tectonic squeezing), is attributed to the youthful stage of the salt extrusion and the low dynamic viscosity of the Cardona Saline Formation, with a low proportion of impurities and a significant amount of potash salts.

Late Quaternary deformation, strain partitioning, and fold-thrust belt widening in the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis, India

The easternmost Himalaya near the 96°E longitude shows a sharp ~90° orogenic bend known as the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis. A complicated configuration of the region and related space problems, combined with extreme vigorous erosion and surface processes makes it difficult to understand the strain release pattern, slip rate on the participating thrust/s, and the seismic potential of the geological structures. To understand the deformation pattern in the region, luminescence and radiocarbon dating methods were used on deformed landforms in the frontal Siang and Mishmi ranges of the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis. We obtained fault slip rates of Late Quaternary period. The Holocene rates range over 7.5 ± 0.2 mm/yr in the northern segment, 1 ± 0.1 to 10.1 ± 1.5 mm/yr in the central segment, and 8 ± 0.5 mm/yr in the southern segment of the Mishmi Thrust, whereas the Late Pleistocene rates are of the order of 1 ± 0.1 mm/yr in the central segment and 0.9 ± 0.1 mm/yr in the southern segment of the Mishmi range. The obtained Late Pleistocene rates are lesser than the Holocene rates, but consistent with exhumation rates reported earlier from the northern segment. Holocene fault slip rates of the range 2–9.1 mm/yr across the Manabhum Anticline suggest foreland strain partitioning due to widening of the fold-thrust belt and the locked zone. A widening of the locking width implies an increase in the seismic potential of the region. We suggest that the Manabhum Thrust is possibly a proto-thrust or else a footwall imbrication of the Mishmi Thrust. Contrastingly, a lesser Holocene fault slip rate of 2.3 ± 0.3 mm/yr obtained from the eastern Siang range along the Main Boundary Thrust indicates considerable strain partitioning in the hinterland. Results demonstrate that in tectonically active regions, representative rates of rock uplift inferred from incised bedrock should be integrated over at least one complete seismic and inter-seismic cycle.

Integrated uplift, subsidence, erosion and deposition in a tightly coupled source‐to‐sink system, Pagliara basin, northeastern Sicily, Italy

AbstractHow tectonic forcing, expressed as base level change, is encoded in the stratigraphic and geomorphic records of coupled source‐to‐sink systems remains uncertain. Using sedimentological, geochronological and geomorphic approaches, we describe the relationship between transient topographic change and sediment deposition for a low‐storage system forced by rapid rock uplift. We present five new luminescence ages and two terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide paleo‐erosion rates for the late Pleistocene Pagliara fan‐delta complex and we model corresponding base level fall history and erosion of the source catchment located on the Ionian flank of the Peloritani Mountains (NE‐Sicily, Italy). The Pagliara delta complex is part of the broader Messina Gravel‐and‐Sands lithostratigraphic unit that outcrops along the Peloritani coastal belt as extensional basins have been recently inverted by both normal faults and regional uplift at the Messina Straits. The deltas exposed at the mouth of the Pagliara River have constructional tops at ca. 300 m a.s.l. and onlap steeply east‐dipping bedrock at the coast to thickness between ca. 100 and 200 m. Five infrared‐stimulated luminescence (IRSL) ages collected from the delta range in age from ca. 327 to 208 ka and indicate a vertical long‐term sediment accumulation rate as rapid as ca. 2.2 cm/yr during MIS 7. Two cosmogenic 10Be concentrations measured in samples of delta sediment indicate paleo‐erosion rates during MIS 8–7 near or slightly higher than the modern rates of ca. 1 mm/yr. Linear inversion of Pagliara fluvial topography indicates an unsteady base level fall history in phase with eustasy that is superimposed on a longer, tectonically driven trend that doubled in rate from ca. 0.95 to 1.8 mm/yr in the past 150 ky. The combination of footwall uplift rate and eustasy determines the accommodation space history to trap the fan‐deltas at the Peloritani coast in hanging wall basins, which are now inverted, uplifted and exposed hundreds of metres above the sea level.

Oilfield Reservoir Parameter Inversion Based on 2D Ground Deformation Measurements Acquired by a Time-Series MSBAS-InSAR Method

Time-series ground deformation monitoring and reservoir parameter inversion are crucial for the dynamic assessment of oilfield resources and sustainable exploitation in oilfields. As some of the regions with the richest oil reserves in China, the oilfield areas in the western Qaidam Basin were selected as a typical study area. Firstly, we used SAR images collected by the Sentinel-1A satellite from January 2021 to December 2022 and applied the multidimensional small baseline subset (MSBAS) method to obtain vertical and east–west deformation measurements. On this basis, a nonlinear Bayesian inversion method was applied to model the shallow reservoir in a series of complex deformation areas, based on a single-source model and a multi-source model, respectively. As a result, the ground deformation monitoring results obtained by long time-series InSAR clearly reflect the uneven ground deformation caused by the oil extraction and water injection operation processes. There was slight subsidence in the Huatugou oilfield, while significant uplift deformation occurred in the Ganchaigou oilfield and the Youshashan oilfield, with a maximum uplift rate of 48 mm/year. Further analysis indicated that the introduction of the 2D deformation field helps to improve the robustness of oilfield reservoir parameter inversion. Moreover, the dual-source model is more suitable than the single-source model for inverting reservoir parameters of complex deformation. This study not only fills the gap of InSAR deformation monitoring for the oilfields in the western Qaidam Basin but also provides a theoretical reference for the model and method selection of reservoir parameter inversion in other oilfields.

Geochemical and mineralogical responses to thermal alteration by an igneous intrusion in the Dashucun Coal Mine of the Fengfeng coalfield, Hebei, North China

Igneous intrusions into coal affect the safety, productivity, and economic viability of many coal mines. Also, the alterations in coal caused by igneous intrusions encompass a deterioration in coal quality, a decrease in permeability, an enhancement of coal rank, and geochemical and mineralogical compositions. Although there have been some studies related to the effects of igneous intrusions on the inorganic constituents in the coal, the mechanism of newly formed chemical and mineralogical associations caused by igneous intrusions has not been fully understood.This paper investigates the mineralogical and geochemical responses of coal to thermal alteration by igneous intrusion into an Early Permian coal seam in Hebei Province, North China. The Fengfeng coalfield is structurally complex, experiencing variable rates of burial and uplift, with abundant intrusions during the upper Jurassic and maximum burial in the Cretaceous resulting in an increase in rank to the north. In the search for critical minerals and elements, intrusions and hydrothermal alteration are often cited as the source for elevated concentrations.Towards the intrusion, the coal rank indicators increase from semi-anthracite to anthracite over a 500-cm distance, as does the mineral matter. The clay minerals present in coals include NH4-illite, kaolinite, paragonite, and chlorite (chamosite and cookeite), which were all resulted from igneous intrusions. The epigenetic minerals mainly include quartz, ankerite, calcite, pyrite, and apatite, which were derived from fluids permeating into the coal seam and chemically interacting with the original minerals or precipitating directly to form new minerals.Geochemical indicators in this coal indicate hydrothermal solutions derived from igneous intrusion. The enrichment of Li and Hg is linked to the igneous activity, potentially influencing the utilization of the coal adjacent to the intrusions. However, the concentrations of the remaining elements in the coal closest to the intrusion show no significant changes, thereby supporting the notion of a “non-universal effect” of igneous intrusions on the elemental composition and concentrations.

Uplift rate calculation based on the comparison between marine terrace data and river profile analysis: A morphotectonic insight form the Ionian coastal belt of Basilicata, Italy

Geomorphological analyses of a wide coastal belt between northern Calabria and Puglia, where a well-exposed staircase of marine terraces extensively crops out, were performed in order to unravel the uplift history of this key-area. As a matter of fact, the Ionian coast of southern Italy represents a strategic sector for investigating the middle-late Quaternary morphotectonic evolution of the orogenic system of southern Italy.The main goal of our research was the reconstruction of a detailed uplift history using spatial distribution of marine terraces and river profile inversion. This was achieved by producing a new, detailed and complete map of the entire sequence of marine terraces and associated palaeoshorelines along the entire coastal sector. A critical review of the literature related to geochronological data from the study area, integrated with a modeling of the interaction between eustatic changes and tectonic uplift allowed demonstrating that the different terraces are correlated to many highstand peaks, dating the highest/oldest terrace to mid-Pleistocene times. Additional constraints on the spatio-temporal variation of tectonic uplift (or base-level fall) have been derived from the inversion of longitudinal river profiles. Such an approach adopts an independent geomorphic marker than the marine terraces and allowed us to obtain an additional estimation the uplift history of the area. The uplift values from the two methods differ in some cases by an order of magnitude, which could be attributed to the rigorous assumption of the river profile inversion or a limitation related to the chronological scheme of marine terraces.Our results highlight a spatial and temporal variation in the uplift rates, which can be only explained with a morphotectonic framework and likely the whole chain-foredeep-foreland system, remained under a prevailingly compressional tectonic regime during the Quaternary, with significant consequences for the seismic hazard of the region.