International Journal of Earth Sciences最新文献

Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and topographic profiles obtained by differential global positioning system were used to study depth continuity of structures showing neotectonic activity in the southwestern sector of the San Guillermo Elevated Block (SGEB), a morphostructural unit located in the Pampas region of Argentina. Data obtained from the surface and near-surface allowed us to identify the features of a fold caused by the propagation of high-angle reverse blind faults. Distribution of resistivities found in the near-surface seems to indicate westward propagation of the deformation front. One of the geoelectric levels interpreted in the ERT sections was used as a stratigraphic marker; the top of this level was compared with the depth found in wells drilled in different localities surrounding the study area, identifying lateral discontinuities that allow us to infer at least one stage of tectonic activity during the Pliocene–Early Pleistocene. The top of these deposits is shallower within the SGEB. On the other hand, the analysis of additional exploratory drilling allowed us to verify that the crystalline basement is fractured and is deeper than the western area outside the morphostructural unit. We propose that there are ancient pre-existing faults, created under an extensional regime, that were later reactivated involving multiple deformation events under a compressional regime. The normal displacement of crystalline basement blocks due to extensional tectonics would have been only partially inverted later during reactivation.

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Schematic block diagram showing the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) sections and the General Roca well projected at the latitude of the ERT, representing the interpreted folding (dashed line) and the difference in level of the stratigraphic marker of the Miocene Paraná/Puelches sands. The wider and deeper block diagram (down right) shows the normally-faulted crystalline basement at depth. Note that the ERT could be a tool to map the location of the fault tips, recently reactivated with reverse displacement. SGEB: San Guillermo Elevated Block.

Late Devonian felsic volcanic rocks of the Grand Beach complex (GBC) of Avalonia from the Burin Peninsula, southeastern Newfoundland (northwestern Appalachians) are part of an overstep sequence overlying the Neoproterozoic basement. The volcanic complex is composed of volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks deposited in a post-tectonic extensional setting proximal to the St. Lawrence granite (SLG), a Devonian pluton associated with a prominent vein-type fluorite mineralization. The volcanic rocks are alkali rhyolites, which are weakly peraluminous and exhibit geochemical characteristics of A-type felsic magmas, such as low FeO_t, MgO, CaO, and TiO₂ but high contents of alkalis, Nb, Y, and Zr and high Ga/Al and FeO_t/MgO ratios. They have positive ɛ_Nd(t) values (~ + 2.5) and their Nd-depleted mantle model ages (~ 0.9 Ga) are consistent with derivation of the parental magma from metasomatized dry Avalonian lower crustal basement via partial melting followed by fractional crystallization. The U–Pb zircon age for the volcanic complex (375.6 ± 1.1 Ma) is closely comparable to the age of the SLG, suggesting that they were emplaced during the same magmatic episode. They also have similar chemical and isotopic compositions, suggesting that the GBC represents a volcanic equivalent of the SLG. The compositional differences between the volcanic rocks and the main phase of the granite pluton, including higher oxidation state of the GBC, reflect the interaction of the parental magma with crustal material and fluids. The close proximity of SLG and GBC suggests that the volcanic complex could host fluorite mineralization.

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Glendonites and seep-related carbonate bodies from the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary interval of West Spitsbergen were studied using mineralogical, isotopic, and geochemical methods. The stratigraphic distribution of seep-related carbonate bodies and glendonites (pseudomorphs after ikaite, Ca(CO₃)·6H₂O) reveals that although they can be occasionally found close to each other, their formation differs through time. Seep carbonates are found in the Oxfordian, Kimmeridgian, Volgian, and Ryazanian deposits, while glendonites appear in the Valanginian–Hauterivian and Middle Aptian–Lower Albian deposits of West Spitsbergen. Furthermore, numerous appearances of seep carbonates correlate with warming and shelf dysoxic–anoxic events in the Arctic, while glendonite occurrences correlate with cooling events. The δ¹³C values obtained for seep-related carbonates and glendonite samples reflect mixed sources including thermogenic and biogenic methane, oil fractions, decomposing organic matter, and dissolved inorganic carbon. We assume the precipitation of seep carbonates was caused by methanogenesis and anaerobic oxidation of organic matter promoting dense communities of benthic organisms and carbonate precipitation in warm climatic condition. At the end of the Ryazanian, shallowing of the basin coupled with climate cooling led to decrease in methanogenesis and anaerobic decomposition of methane and organic matter. Locally, in areas of anaerobic organic matter oxidation under low bottom temperatures, ikaite crystallized.

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Abstract

Fieldwork provided well-preserved Laevaptychus sp. ex gr. hoplisus–obliquus specimens from the lower Kimmeridgian of Zengővárkony (Mecsek Mountains, south Hungary). This study presents the stable isotope analysis of these aptychi and control samples from brachiopods (Nucleata and Pygope) derived from the Zengővárkony section bed 3. Rarely observed structures in the upper lamellar layers of the studied laevaptychi revealed 24–32 concentric lamellae that represent primary textural features and indicate excellent preservation. After careful screening for diagenetic effects, stable oxygen isotope compositions yielded seawater temperatures between 20 and 26 °C in good agreement with earlier studies on Jurassic formations, with improved precision. Our research presents for the first time that well-preserved laevaptychi may be a reliable data source for paleoclimate and paleotemperature reconstructions.

We present a detailed description of the Middle Miocene (Chokrakian and Karaganian) depositional environments of the Eastern Paratethys Sea in the southern Caspian Basin. The Chokrakian comprises a 500-m-thick succession of marls and sandstones, termed herein Javarem Formation, which formed in coastal marine environments. The lower Javarem Fm. Developed in calm lagoonal settings, indicating frequent exposure under a predominantly dry climate and occasional formation of evaporites. The upper part of the Javarem Fm. Is characterized by mixed siliciclastic-carbonatic sediments with ooids of agitated, warm, hypersaline tidal shoals. Above follows the about 500-m-thick Vashi Formation, which is correlated with the Karaganian regional stage. The formation is characterized by an alternation of reddish marls with thick sandstones and gravel beds with terrestrial gastropods, ubiquitous pedogenetic features and occasional root horizons. The depositional environment is interpreted as a floodplain with gravelly channels of an arid to semiarid climate. The successions of the Javarem and Vashi formations capture the transition from the shallow marine Iranian shelf into the northern Iranian coastal plain around 13.8 Ma, following the onset of the Miocene Climate Transition and the coinciding global sea level drop around the Langhian/Serravallian boundary.

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One of the most remarkable features of the central Northern Calcareous Alps (Eastern Alps, Austria) is the widespread presence of Upper Triassic deep-water carbonates (the Hallstatt facies) and Permo-Triassic evaporites resting on deep-water Middle Jurassic strata and their underlying Upper Triassic shallow-water carbonate platform successions. The Hallstatt facies and accompanying evaporites have been classically interpreted to originate either from a location south of the time-equivalent carbonate platforms, or to have been deposited in deeper water seaways within the broad platform domain. To date, this dispute has been addressed mostly through the analysis of Triassic and Jurassic facies distribution in map view, which, however, is subject to some degree of ambiguity and subjectivity. In this contribution we present, for the first time, sequentially restored regional cross-sections through the central Northern Calcareous Alps to understand the implications of the contrasting paleogeographic models. We present (a) an interpretation based on a highly allochthonous origin of the Triassic deep-water units and (b) an interpretation based on their relative autochthony in which we incorporate the potential influence of salt tectonics in the central NCA. The restored cross-sections provide a framework within which the alternative scenarios and their paleogeographic implications can be better understood. Through this analysis we propose that salt tectonics in the central NCA can provide a valid explanation for apparent inconsistencies in the relative autochthony scenario and thus constitutes a reasonable alternative to the currently accepted allochthony scenario.

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Over the past few decades, Toarcian (Early Jurassic) black shale deposits of NW Europe have been extensively studied, and the possible global and regional mechanisms for their regional variation have been discussed. In this context, the black shales of the Northwest German Basin are still sparsely studied with regard to their palaeo-depositional history. This study aims to understand the connection between regional and global influences on the widespread Early Toarcian oceanic anoxic event by examining two wells covering the Upper Pliensbachian to Upper Toarcian sediments in the Northwestern German Basin. The core intervals were analysed using a multidisciplinary approach, including geochemistry, biostratigraphy and organic petrography. Marine palaeoenvironmental changes were reconstructed, and sediment sequences were stratigraphically classified to allow a supra-regional stratigraphic correlation. The results reveal complex interactions between sea level changes, climate warming, basin confinement, and Tethys–Arctic connectivity resulting in the Toarcian black shale deposition. Upper Pliensbachian sediments were deposited under terrigenous influence, shallow water depths, and predominantly oxic bottom water conditions. The deposition of black shale is characterized by algal organic material input and anoxic bottom water conditions. Strong correlations between water stratification, anoxia, and bioproductivity suggest that global warming and intensification of monsoonal rainfall, continental weathering, and increasing freshwater and nutrient inputs were the main factors controlling the formation of black shales. Prolonged deposition of OM-rich sediments in the NWGB may be related to intensified monsoonal precipitation in northern Europe and enhanced Tethys–Arctic connectivity at the serpentinum–bifrons transition.

Graphical Abstract

In the 1990s and early 2000s, it was recognized that marine muds consisted of sortable silt (63–8 µm) and aggregated (< 8 µm) particle suites and that these responded differentially to the hydraulic sorting process. Among the aggregated particle suite, the composition and hydraulic behavior of fecal pellets received the least attention. The present study focused on a tidal basin (~ 71 km²) of the East Frisian Wadden Sea (southern North Sea), in which the depositional patterns of both the sortable silt and aggregated mud fractions were compared with the aim of identifying similarities and/or dissimilarities. The results show essentially dissimilar trends, the sortable silt suite being characterized by two non-overlapping hydraulic populations, the aggregated particle suite by three overlapping populations with modal diameters separated by only a few microns. The depositional pattern of the latter is interpreted to suggest that the hydraulic populations relate to specific fecal pellet groups, each composed of a different discrete grain-size spectrum produced by different filter-feeding organisms. At the same time, it is demonstrated that the distribution of organic matter is closely linked to the aggregated (< 8 µm) particle suite. The CaCO₃ content, by contrast, is linked to the mud fraction by a power relationship, the large data scatter suggesting multiple sources. Budget calculations show that the standing stock of mud in the uppermost 5 cm of the sediment in the tidal basin amounts to ~ 0.461 × 10⁶ tons (9.78% of the total sediment), of which ~ 31.3 × 10³ tons (0.67% of the total sediment) are contributed by organic matter.

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Landslides are one of the most frequent and devastating natural disasters around the world with intensifying impacts on human lives and the environment. To effectively deal with landslides and their consequences, it is primarily important to demarcate areas susceptible to landslides. This can be done through landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM). In this study, a novel approach for landslide susceptibility mapping based on the uncertain and parameter-free density-based clustering (UPFDBSCAN) algorithm was proposed. It merges the ideas from the dominant set clustering algorithm, the DBSCAN algorithm, and the uncertain data modeling method. The study aims to overcome the limitations of depending on user-defined density parameters, the inability to identify clusters of varied densities, and to model the uncertain data, in the DBSCAN algorithm and most of the existing clustering algorithms. This improves the clustering accuracy and efficiency for LSM modeling. For this purpose, the proposed model was experimented with an inventory containing 506 samples of landslide and non-landslide locations, and data of 7 landslide influencing factors from the Baota District in Shaanxi, China. The model’s performance was evaluated and compared with existing clustering-based LSM models as state-of-the-art methods based on standard evaluation metrics. The results revealed that the proposed model obtained the highest performance (sensitivity = 0.935, specificity = 0.944, accuracy = 0.939, AUC = 0.881, JC = 0.898, and purity = 0.899) and it was thus superior to the other models. This study's findings can help decision-makers, policymakers, and land stakeholders to implement significant strategies with early warning systems to predict, prevent, and mitigate the occurrence and impacts of landslides.

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Abstract

The Karkonosze-Izera Massif in the West Sudetes preserves evidence of subduction of the Saxothuringian Ocean beneath the Teplá-Barrandian Domain. Within the massif, the Leszczyniec metaigneous complex (LMC) is identified as the upper allochthon. It exhibits a unique structural history in comparison to the underlying allochthons, suggesting that the LMC records a distinctive tectonic history. To investigate the timing of this history, two orthogneisses were studied from a single outcrop of the LMC for in situ white mica Rb/Sr geochronology. The outcrop bears a southeast-dipping foliation (S1) and a north/northeast plunging stretching lineation (L1), defined by white mica and quartz. Quartz recrystallization textures, white mica chemistry (celadonite content of 0.23–0.47), preservation of igneous plagioclase phenocrysts, and the metamorphic mineral assemblage, all indicate maximum epidote–amphibolite facies conditions. Single-spot Rb/Sr dates were calculated from white mica using initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values obtained by titanite and epidote. Results are similar for both rocks, providing weighted averages of 352.4 ± 4.1 Ma (MSWD: 0.6; n: 24) and 349.3 ± 2.5 Ma (MSWD: 0.4; n: 31). The rocks are interpreted to have the same structural and metamorphic history; thus, a pooled weighted average of 350.1 ± 5.3 Ma (2σ) is reported as the timing of white mica (re)crystallization during S1 and L1 development in epidote–amphibolite facies conditions. This event is bracketed by the timing of blueschist-facies metamorphism for the subjacent middle (c. 364 Ma) and lower (c. 345–341 Ma) allochthons, associated with an east/southeast-plunging L1. Considering the different structural and metamorphic histories of the LMC compared to the subjacent allochthons, it is likely that the complex was extracted from the Teplá-Barrandian upper plate due to subduction erosion prior to collective exhumation and stacking of the Karkonosze-Izera Massif.