New Frontiers in Tectonic Research - General Problems, Sedimentary Basins and Island Arcs

366 Pages·2011·105.9 MB·English

by  Evgenii V. Sharkov (Editor)

NEW FRONTIERS IN
TECTONIC RESEARCH -
GENERAL PROBLEMS,
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
AND ISLAND ARCS

Edited by Evgenii V. Sharkov
New Frontiers in Tectonic Research - General Problems,
Sedimentary Basins and Island Arcs
Edited by Evgenii V. Sharkov

Published by InTech
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Copyright © 2011 InTech
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First published July, 2011
Printed in Croatia

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Additional hard copies can be obtained from [email protected]

New Frontiers in Tectonic Research - General Problems,
Sedimentary Basins and Island Arcs, Edited by Evgenii V. Sharkov
p. cm.
ISBN 978-953-307-595-2

Contents

Preface IX
Part 1 General Problems of Tectonics 1
Chapter 1 Does the Tethys Begin to Open Again? Late Cenozoic
Tectonomagmatic Activization of the Eurasia from
Petrological and Geomechanical Points of View 3
E.V. Sharkov
Chapter 2 Geological-Geomechanical Simulation
of the Late Cenozoic Geodynamics
in the Alpine-Mediterranean Mobile Belt 19
E.V. Sharkov and V.B. Svalova
Chapter 3 Evolution of Rotation Structures in the Earth’s
Geological History 39
Victor Zemtsov
Chapter 4 Geotectonic Position and Metallogeny of the
Greater Altai Geological Structures in the System of the
Central-Asian Mobile Belt 73
B.A. Dyachkov, M.A. Mizernaya, Nina Maiorova,
Zinaida Chernenko, Victor Maiorov and O.N. Kuzmina
Chapter 5 Kelyphite and Symplectite: Textural and Mineralogical
Diversities and Universality, and a New Dynamic
View of Their Structural Formation 93
Masaaki Obata
Part 2 Sedimentary Basins 123
Chapter 6 Geophysical Modeling of the Surroundings
of La Popa Basin, NE Mexico,
with Gravity and Magnetic Data 125
Vsevolod Yutsis, Antonio Tamez Ponce and Konstantin Krivosheya
VI Contents

Chapter 7 Cenozoic Tectonic Characteristics, Evolution and
Geodynamics of Dongpu Sag, Bohai Bay Basin, China 143
Shuping Chen, Yuming Tan, Jiafu Qi, Deren Wang,
Xiaoshui Mu and Xueling Liu
Chapter 8 Geomorphic Landforms and Tectonism Along the Eastern
Margin of the Okavango Rift Zone, North Western Botswana
as Deduced From Geophysical Data in the Area 169
E.M. Shemang and L.N. Molwalefhe
Chapter 9 Synsedimentary Deformational Structures Caused by
Tectonics and Seismic Events – Examples from the Cambrian
of Sweden, Permian and Cenozoic of Germany 183
Herbert Scholz, Dorothea Frieling and Michaela Aehnelt
Part 3 Active Plate Margins 219
Chapter 10 The Caribbean Plate Evolution: Trying to Resolve
a Very Complicated Tectonic Puzzle 221
Giuseppe Giunta and Silvia Orioli
Chapter 11 Structure and Tectonics of the Andaman Subduction Zone
from Modeling of Seismological and Gravity Data 249
N. Purnachandra Rao, Ch. Nagabhushana Rao, Pinki Hazarika,
V.M. Tiwari, M. Ravi Kumar and Arun Singh
Chapter 12 Subducted and Exhumed Crust beneath Taiwan Imaged by
Magnetotelluric Data 269
Chow-Son Chen, Martyn J. Unsworth, Chih-Wen Chiang,
Edward Bertrand and Francis. T. Wu
Chapter 13 Short- / Long-Term Deformation of Upper Crust: Integrated
and Quantitative Approach for Neotectonics 283
Yasuto Itoh, Shigekazu Kusumoto, Kazunori Miyamoto and
Yoshiyuki Inui
Chapter 14 Spatio-Temporal Changes in Stress Field and Occurrence
of the 2003 Tokachi Oki Earthquake in Hokkaido,
Northern Japan 309
Subesh Ghimire and Yuichiro Tanioka
Chapter 15 The Dynamic Process Mesozoic-Cenozoic Igneous
in Tibetan Plateau, China 323
Zhou Su, Qiu Ruizhao, Sun Kai and Zhang Linlin

Preface

This book presents different aspects of tectonic research. Syntheses of recent and
earlier works, combined with new results and interpretations, are presented for
diverse tectonic settings. Most of the chapters include up-to-date material of detailed
geological investigations, often combined with geophysical data, which can help
understand the essence of mechanisms of different tectonic processes more clearly.
Some chapters are dedicated to general problems of tectonics.
One of them, discussed in the chapter by E. Sharkov, is a situation within huge late
Cenozoic Trans-Eurasian Mobile Belt (TEB), which lasted throughout Eurasia from the
Mediterranean to the Western Pacific. This belt was formed as a result of the Tethys
Ocean closure and now represents a grandiose collision zone. Large late Cenozoic
basaltic plateaus of the same age are observed over the belt suggesting existence of
mantle superplume or asthenospheric rise beneath it. The chain of andesite-latite
volcanic arcs is traced on the suture zone of the collision; back-arc depressions with
newly-formed oceanic crust appeared in their rear. It suggests that all these TEB’s
features can indicate the beginning of a new ocean opening. It is shown that the
classical case of new ocean opening – the Red Sea Rift, is, probably, not a sole case of
such a process. It is very likely that the TEB represents an alternative situation when a
new ocean opens under condition of a large collision zone. Instead of a break up, a
system of large gradually growing caverns have developed here, which begin to
divide a body of Eurasia supercontinent starting from its western part. The eastern
part of the TEB is characterized only by numerous riftogenic structures so far, which
have a chance to regenerate into zones of oceanic spreading in the future.
The situation in Cenozoic Alpine Foldbelt, which forms the western part of the TEB, is
discussed in the chapter by E. Sharkov and V. Svalova. The chapter states that above
the extended mantle superplume head was formed, which appeared after closing of
the ocean Tethys in the process of African and Eurasian plates collision. Against this
background of the large-scale uplift, multiple mantle protuberances of smaller scale
(local plumes) were formed, which are the cause of emergence of extending zones
within the overall structure of compression. Morphology of the superplume roof is
considered with complex interaction of converging lithospheric plates with plastic
plume material. It is shown that the mechanical-mathematical simulation of deep-
X Preface

seated processes of Alpine mobile belt provide an opportunity to explore the major
features of formation and development of geological structures. Ascending of mantle
plumes determines the depth of the initiation of deep-water basins. The lithospheric
material above them (the uppermost mantle and crust) is moved apart to make room
for an oceanic crust. The resulting excess of this lithospheric material is involved in
subduction zones with formation of volcanic arc-backarc basin systems. The process of
subduction depends on the difference in density of the lithospheric and plume
material. It can only contribute to back-arc spreading, freeing up space for moving
apart the ancient crust of the back-arc basin which was involved in subduction and
further buried in the deep mantle. However, the existence of the mantle plume itself is
the result of the collision of deep-seated mantle flows, which contributes to pumping
and ascending of local protuberances in the form of plumes with the formation of
extensional structures over their extended heads. Relationship between the area of
collision of mantle flows at the depth and zone of the collision of lithospheric plates,
along with relative velocities and ratios of densities, determines the dip of subduction
slab as well.
The problems of the evolution of rotation structure in the Earth’s geological history are
discussed by V. Zemtsov. He showed that rotation regime and shape changed
significantly in geological history. However, the effects of the rotation of the entire
Earth and lithosphere are generally not taken into account and important geodynamic
processes have not been discussed in this context. According to his data, rotational
tectonics of the continental lithosphere can be clearly recognized in history as periods
of acceleration and deceleration of the Earth’s rotation from tidal friction and
periodical pattern of the lunar tidal forces. It led to continental drift which occurred
with different rate and finally could lead to disintegration of supercontinents like
Rodinia and Pangeae.
Geotectonic position and metallogeny of the Greater Altai geological structure in the
system of the Central-Asian Mobile Belt are considered by B. Dyachkov and his
colleagues. They designed the common trend of the Greater Altai geological structures
development and minerageny for a long period (from Precambrian to Quaternary).
M. Obata reviewed recent research progress of a special kind of, but very commonly
observed, metamorphic reaction texture - kelyphite and symplectite rims particularly
in deep-seated rocks during their tectonic ascending. He showed that rich varieties of
mineralogical and textural types emerge, reflecting the host rock compositions and the
metamorphic histories of the host rocks. Also, a variety of material transfer has been
observed accompanying the formation of the kelyphite. By reviewing these
observations in the literature I point out several important features that are common to
these textures but that have not been fully dealt with in the past literature, such as
zonal and cellular or domain structures, and morphological discontinuities connected
to the ‘cusps’ on the surface of the garnet, and crystallographic relationships among
constituent minerals. Many of these features are unusual in metallurgical systems and