ALBERT

Beschreibung: Publication date: Available online 12 November 2014 Source: Geoscience Frontiers Author(s): Wengang Zhang , Anthony T.C. Goh Piles are long, slender structural elements used to transfer the loads from the superstructure through weak strata onto stiffer soils or rocks. For driven piles, the impact of the piling hammer induces compression and tension stresses in the piles. Hence, an important design consideration is to check that the strength of the pile is sufficient to resist the stresses caused by the impact of the pile hammer. Due to its complexity, pile drivability lacks a precise analytical solution with regard to the phenomena involved. In situations where measured data or numerical hypothetical results are available, neural networks stand out in mapping the nonlinear interactions and relationships between the system's predictors and dependent responses. In addition, unlike most computational tools, no mathematical relationship assumption between the dependent and independent variables has to be made. Nevertheless, neural networks have been criticized for their long trial-and-error training process since the optimal configuration is not known a priori. This paper investigates the use of a fairly simple nonparametric regression algorithm known as multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS), as an alternative to neural networks, to approximate the relationship between the inputs and dependent response, and to mathematically interpret the relationship between the various parameters. In this paper, the Back propagation neural network (BPNN) and MARS models are developed for assessing pile drivability in relation to the prediction of the Maximum compressive stresses (MCS), Maximum tensile stresses (MTS), and Blow per foot (BPF). A database of more than four thousand piles is utilized for model development and comparative performance between BPNN and MARS predictions. Graphical abstract

Beschreibung: Publication date: Available online 18 November 2014 Source: Geoscience Frontiers Author(s): Fei Gao , Lily Wang , Mudan Yin

Beschreibung: Publication date: Available online 20 November 2014 Source: Geoscience Frontiers Author(s): I.V. Ashchepkov , A.M. Logvinova , T. Ntaflos , L.F. Reimers , Z.V. Spetsius , N.V. Vladykin , D.S. Yudin , A.V. Travin , H. Downes , V.S. Palesskiy Heavy mineral concentrate and xenoliths from late autolithic breccia and porphyritic kimberlite of the Sytykanskaya pipe (Alakit field, Yakutia, Russia) were studied by EPMA and LA-ICPMS methods to obtain PTXfO 2 diagrams. Trends in P- Fe# - CaO - fO 2 for minerals from the porphyritic kimberlite show greater discontinuities than xenocrysts from the breccia. Xenoliths show the widest variation at all pressures. Protokimberlite systems are marked by ilmenite PT points that range from the lithosphere base (7.5 GPa) to a pyroxenite lens situated at intermediate depths (5 - 3.5 GPa) with increasing Cr because of AFC that formed two metasomatic groups with differing Fe#Ol (∼ 10-12 and 13-15). The first Opx-Gar-based mantle geotherm for the Alakit field based on 10 mineral associations is close to the 35 mW/m 2 geotherm at 6.5 GPa and 600 ° C, i.e. near to the Moho. The oxidation state for the megacrystalline ilmenites in the lithosphere base is higher than for other kimberlites in Yakutia. Calculated parental melts for clinopyroxene and garnet by xenocrysts from the breccia show highly inclined linear REE patterns with deep HFSE troughs similar to differentiated protokimberlite magmas. Melts calculated for metasomatic xenoliths have less inclined slopes without troughs in spider diagrams. Garnets reveal S-shaped REE patterns. Calculated melts for garnets from graphite-bearing Cr-websterites located mainly in middle part of the mantle column show slightly inclined convex REE patterns and Ba-Sr troughs with variable enrichment in Nb-Ta-U. The calculated parental melts for clinopyroxenes have inclined REE spectra with a depression in HFSE. Metasomatic clinopyroxenes have enriched patterns with Ba, Zr peaks. 40 Ar- 39 Ar analyses of dispersed phlogopites from the Alakit mantle xenoliths yield a Proterozoic (1154 Ma) age, corresponding to continental arc metasomatism. Alkaline and Ti-rich veins with alkali amphiboles close to richterite formed at ∼1015 Ma and mark a plume event in Rodinia mantle. The∼600-550 Ma stage relates to Rodinia break-up. The last metasomatic event near 385 Ma is related to the protokimberlite. Graphical abstract

Beschreibung: Publication date: Available online 15 December 2014 Source: Geoscience Frontiers Author(s): Inna Safonova , Konstantin Litasov , Shigenori Maruyama The paper discusses generation of volatile-bearing plumes in the mantle transition zone (MTZ) in terms of mineral-fluid petrology and their related formation of numerous localities of intra-plate bimodal volcanic series in Central and East Asia. The plume generation in the MTZ can be triggered by the tectonic erosion of continental crust at Pacific-type convergent margins and by the presence of water and carbon dioxide in the mantle. Most probable sources of volatiles are the hydrated/carbonated sediments and basalts and serpentinite of oceanic slabs, which can be subducted down to the deep mantle. Tectonic erosion of continental crust supplies crustal material enriched in uranium and thorium into the mantle, which can serve source of heat in the MTZ. The heating in the MTZ induces melting of subducted slabs and continental crust and mantle upwelling, to produce OIB-type mafic and felsic melts, respectively. Graphical abstract

Beschreibung: Publication date: Available online 11 January 2014 Source: Geoscience Frontiers Author(s): C. Doglioni , S. Barba , E. Carminati , F. Riguzzi We propose that the brittle-ductile transition (BDT) controls the seismic cycle. In particular, the movements detected by space geodesy record the steady state deformation in the ductile lower crust, whereas the stick-slip behavior of the brittle upper crust is constrained by its larger friction. GPS data allow analyzing the strain rate along active plate boundaries. In all tectonic settings, we propose that earthquakes primarily occur along active fault segments characterized by relative minima of strain rate, segments which are locked or slowly creeping. We discuss regional examples where large earthquakes happened in areas of relative low strain rate. Regardless the tectonic style, the interseismic stress and strain pattern inverts during the coseismic stage. Where a dilated band formed during the interseismic stage, this will be shortened at the coseismic stage, and vice-versa what was previously shortened, it will be dilated. The interseismic energy accumulation and the coseismic expenditure rather depend on the tectonic setting (extensional, contractional, or strike-slip). The gravitational potential energy dominates along normal faults, whereas the elastic energy prevails for thrust earthquakes and performs work against the gravity force. The energy budget in strike-slip tectonic setting is also primarily due elastic energy. Therefore, precursors may be different as a function of the tectonic setting. In this model, with a given displacement, the magnitude of an earthquake results from the coseismic slip of the deformed volume above the BDT rather than only on the fault length, and it also depends on the fault kinematics. Graphical abstract

Beschreibung: Publication date: Available online 17 January 2014 Source: Geoscience Frontiers Author(s): Oksana V. Lunina , Riccardo Caputo , Anton A. Gladkov , Andrey S. Gladkov This paper presents the first release of an Informational System (IS) devoted to the systematic collection of all available data relating to Pliocene–Quaternary faults in southern East Siberia, their critical analysis and their seismotectonic parameterization. The final goal of this project is to form a new base for improving the assessment of seismic hazard and other natural processes associated with crustal deformation. The presented IS has been exploited to create a relational database of active and conditionally active faults in southern East Siberia (between 100°–114°E and 50°–57°N) whose central sector is characterized by the highly seismic Baikal rift zone. The information within the database for each fault segment is organized as distinct but intercorrelated sections (tables, texts and pictures, etc.) and can be easily visualized as HTML pages in offline browsing. The preliminary version of the database distributed free on disk already highlights the general fault pattern showing that the Holocene and historical activity is quite uniform and dominated by NE–SW and nearly E–W trending faults; the former with a prevailing dip-slip normal kinematics, while the latter structures are left-lateral strike-slip and oblique-slip (with different proportion of left-lateral and normal fault slip components). These faults are mainly concentrated along the borders of the rift basins and are the main sources of moderate-to-strong ( М ≥ 5.5) earthquakes on the southern sectors of East Siberia in recent times. As a whole, based on analyzing the diverse fault kinematics and their variable spatial distribution with respect to the overall pattern of the tectonic structures formed and/or activated during the late Pliocene–Quaternary, we conclude they were generated under a regional stress field mainly characterized by a relatively uniform NW–SE tension, but strongly influenced by the irregular hard boundary of the old Siberian craton. The obtained inferences are in an agreement with the existing models of the development of the Baikal region. Graphical abstract

Beschreibung: Publication date: Available online 10 January 2014 Source: Geoscience Frontiers Author(s): Susmita Gupta , M. Jayananda , Fareeduddin Abstract Tourmaline occurs as a minor but important mineral in the alteration zone of the Archean orogenic gold deposit of Guddadarangavanahalli (G.R.Halli) in the Chitradurga greenstone belt of the western Dharwar craton, southern India. It occurs in the distal alteration halo of the G.R.Halli gold deposit as (a) clusters of very fine grained aggregates which form a minor constituent in the matrix of the altered metabasalt (AMB tourmaline) and (b) in quartz-carbonate veins (vein tourmaline). The vein tourmaline, based upon the association of specific carbonate minerals, is further grouped as (i) albite-tourmaline-ankerite-quartz veins (vein-1 tourmaline) and (ii) albite-tourmaline-calcite-quartz veins (vein-2 tourmaline). Both the AMB tourmaline and the vein tourmalines (vein-1 and vein-2) belong to the alkali group and are classified under schorl-dravite series. Tourmalines occurring in the veins are zoned while the AMB tourmalines are unzoned. Mineral chemistry and discrimination diagrams reveal that cores and rims of the vein tourmalines are distinctly different. Core composition of the vein tourmalines is similar to the composition of the AMB tourmaline. The formation of the AMB tourmaline and cores of the vein tourmalines are proposed to be related to the regional D 1 deformational event associated with the emplacement of the adjoining ca. 2.61 Ga Chitradurga granite whilst rims of the vein tourmalines vis-à-vis gold mineralization is spatially linked to the juvenile magmatic accretion (2.56–2.50 Ga) east of the studied area in the western part of the eastern Dharwar craton. Graphical abstract

Beschreibung: Publication date: Available online 12 March 2014 Source: Geoscience Frontiers Author(s): Michael Brown In the early 1980s, evidence that crustal rocks had reached temperatures >1,000°C at normal lower crustal pressures while others had followed low thermal gradients to record pressures characteristic of mantle conditions began to appear in the literature, and the importance of melting in the tectonic evolution of orogens and metamorphic–metasomatic reworking of the lithospheric mantle was realized. In parallel, new developments in instrumentation, the expansion of in situ analysis of geological materials and increases in computing power opened up new fields of investigation. The robust quantification of pressure ( P ), temperature ( T ) and time ( t ) that followed these advances has provided reliable data to benchmark geodynamic models and to investigate secular change in the thermal state of the lithosphere as registered by metamorphism through time. As a result, the last 30 years have seen significant progress in our understanding of lithospheric evolution, particularly as it relates to Precambrian geodynamics. Eoarchean–Mesoarchean crust registers uniformly high T/P metamorphism that may reflect a stagnant lid regime. In contrast, two contrasting types of metamorphism, eclogite–high-pressure granulite metamorphism, with apparent thermal gradients of 350–750°C/GPa, and granulite–ultrahigh temperature metamorphism, with apparent thermal gradients of 750–1500°C/GPa, appeared in the Neoarchean rock record. The emergence of paired metamorphism is interpreted to register the onset of one-sided subduction, which introduced an asymmetric thermal structure at these developing convergent plate margins characterized by lower T / P in the subduction channel and higher T / P in the overriding plate. During the Paleoarchean to Paleoproterozoic the ambient mantle temperature was warmer than at present by ∼300–150°C. Although the thermal history of Earth is only poorly constrained, it is likely that prior to c . 3.0 Ga heating from radioactive decay would have exceeded surface heat loss, whereas since c . 2.5 Ga secular cooling has dominated the thermal history of the Earth. The advent of paired metamorphism is consistent with other changes in the geological record during the Neoarchean that are best explained as the result of a transition from a stagnant lid to subduction and a global plate tectonics regime by c . 2.5 Ga. This interpretation is supported by results from 2-d numerical experiments of oceanic subduction that demonstrate a change to one-sided subduction is plausible as upper mantle temperature declined to 〈200°C warmer than at present during the late Neoarchean–Paleoproterozoic. This is the beginning of the Proterozoic plate tectonics regime. At 1.0 Ga the ambient mantle temperature was still ∼150–100°C warmer than at present. Continued secular cooling caused a transition to cold subduction registered in the crustal record of metamorphism by the first appearance of blueschist and high to ultrahigh pressure metamorphism during the Neoproterozoic. Results of 2-d numerical experiments of continental collision demonstrate a transition from shallow to deep slab breakoff associated with stronger crust–mantle coupling that enabled continental subduction to mantle depths as upper mantle temperature declined to 〈100°C warmer than at present during the late Proterozoic. This is the beginning of the modern plate tectonics regime. Graphical abstract

Beschreibung: Publication date: Available online 12 March 2014 Source: Geoscience Frontiers Author(s): M.F. Pereira , A. Castro , C. Fernández This paper presents a compilation of recent U-Pb (zircon) ages of late Carboniferous-early Permian (LC-EP) calc-alkaline batholiths from Iberia, together with a petrogenetic interpretation of magma generation based on comparisons with Mesozoic and Tertiary Cordilleran batholiths and experimental melts. Zircon U-Pb ages distributed over the range ca. 315-280 Ma, indicate a linkage between calc-alkaline magmatism, Iberian orocline generation and Paleotethys subduction. It is also shown that Iberian LC-EP calc-alkaline batholiths present unequivocal subduction-related features comparable with typical Cordilleran batholiths of the Pacific Americas active margin, although geochemical features were partially obscured by local modifications of magmas at the level of emplacement by country rock assimilation. When and how LC-EP calc-alkaline batholiths formed in Iberia is then discussed, and a new and somewhat controversial interpretation for their sources and tectonic setting (plume-assisted relamination) is suggested. The batholiths are proposed to have formed during the subduction of the Paleotethys oceanic plate (Pangaea self-subduction) and, consequently, they are unrelated to Variscan collision. The origin of the Iberian batholiths is related to the Eurasian active margin and probably represents the inception of a Paleotethyan arc in the core of Pangaea. Graphical abstract

Beschreibung: Publication date: Available online 4 May 2014 Source: Geoscience Frontiers Author(s): Wenhao Tang , Zhicheng Zhang , Jianfeng Li , Ke Li , Zhiwen Luo , Yan Chen Apatite fission track (AFT) analysis on samples collected from a Paleozoic series is used to constrain the cooling history of the Bogda Mountain, northwest China. AFT ages range from 136.2 to 85.6 Ma and are younger than rock depositional ages and the mean confined track lengths (11.0–13.2 μm) mostly showing unimodal distribution are shorten, indicating significant track-annealing. Thermal histories modeling based on the distribution of fission-track lengths combined with the regional geological data show that two rapid cooling phases occurred in the latest Jurassic–early Cretaceous and the Oligocene–Miocene. Those new data together with previous published data show that the AFT ages become younger from the southwest to northeast in the western Bogda Mountain and its adjacent areas. The fission-track ages of the southwest area are relatively older (>100 Ma), recording the earlier rapid uplift phase during the late Jurassic–Cretaceous, while the ages in the north piedmont of the Bogda Mountain (namely the northeast part) are younger (〈60 Ma), mainly reflecting the later rapid uplift phase in the Oligocene–Miocene. The trend of younger AFT ages towards the northeast might be explained by post-Cretaceous large-scale crustal tilting towards the southwest. In the thrust fault-dominated northern limbs of the Bogda Mountain, AFT ages reveal a discontinuous pattern with age-jumps across the major fault zones, showing a possible strata tilting across each thrust faults due to the thrust ramps during the Cenozoic. The two rapid uplift stages might be related to the accretion and collision in the southern margin of the Asian continent during the late Jurassic and late Cenozoic, respectively. Graphical abstract