TECTONOPHYSICS
A model for the formation of intrusions of the collision stage of 525–490 Ma and a model of magmatism of the transtensional shear stage of 465–440 Ma within the Mugur-Chinchilig and Erzin-Naryn blocks of Western Sangilen (Tuva) have been developed to describe the process of crust-mantle interaction. Model experiments confirm petrological data on the presence of multi-level chambers during the formation of the Pravotarlashkinsky and Bashkymugur massifs. The proposed model describes the migration of mantle magmas above the head of the mantle plume at the collision stage and assumes the rise of magmas along a permeable tectonic zone in the mantle lithosphere and crust at the transtensional-shear stage. The modeling results allow us to establish that material from the magma chamber can reach depths of the upper crust in the volume ratio of gabbroids to diorites from 1 : 2 to 3 : 4 and additionally introduce about 5 % of the volume fraction of lower crustal material.
The physical parameters of the primary magmas (viscosity, solidus and liquidus temperatures, degree of melting depending on temperature and composition, change in density) were calculated taking into account the real geochemical characteristics of igneous rocks from the polyphase massifs of Western Sangilen.
Joint zones of Reykjanes and Kolbeinsey spreading ridges with Iceland large igneous province considerably differ in structure from adjacent spreading segments despite of similar kinematics. Tjörnes transform zone is a complicated system. It comprises several volcanic and amagmatic structures. In contrast, Reykjanes rift zone has relatively simple structure and homogeneous type of tectonic and magmatic activity. The causes of those differences and their modern dynamics are not fully explained hitherto. Basing on morphometric analysis of normal fault scarps parameters it was concluded that such significant differences of transform zones are result of spatial and temporal stability of adjacent structures. In turn, the latter is controlled by periodic increase of Iceland plume magmatic activity. Rift structures development within transform zones directly correlates with their position over adjacent spreading segments and their magmatic conditions. Modern development of both transform zones is caused by Iceland rift zones instability and migration impacted by Iceland plume thermal pulses. Consequently, transform zones undergo kinematic changes. For Tjörnes transform zone it is expressed in its structure gradual simplification: the western branch and block structures cease their activity. In Reykjanes rift zone rift axis gradually migrates southwards that probably results in its intensive volcanism.
PALEOGEODYNAMICS
Petrographic, geochemical and U-Pb geochronological research studies are done into cataclastic granitoids of the southeastern part of the Irkutsk block of the Sharyzhalgay basement uplift of the Siberian craton – the uplift which is considered southern part of the Tungus superterrane according to most of tectonic schemes. The representative sample of these granitoids corresponds to granodiorite in its geochemical properties and is characterized by high contents of Al2O3, Th, Sr, Ba, low concentrations of K2O, Nb, Y, Yb, a highly fractionated rare earth elements pattern (Lan/Ybn=284), and the absence of europium anomaly. U-Pb geochronological studies of zircon from cataclastic granodiorite were carried out independently by two methods: SIMS and LA-ICP-MS, which showed good consistency of the results. The U-Pb age of the cores of zircon grains with magmatic zoning corresponds to 2893±19 Ma (SIMS method) and 2889±16 Ma (LA-ICP-MS method). These results can be interpreted as the age of the Archean granodiorite protolith. The rims of zircon crystals with the Archean cores, as well as the individual zircon crystals with parallel zoning, yielded ages of 1855±6 Ma (SIMS method) and 1864±5 Ma (LA-ICP-MS method), which record the time of granodiorite transformations. The age of about 1.86 Ga corresponds to the main Early Proterozoic stage of metamorphism, migmatization and magmatism, which show their widespread occurrence in the Sharyzhalgay basement uplift. This age estimate together with the previously published ages for metamorphic and their synchronous magmatic events in the Sharyzhalgay uplift allowed concluding that the Tungus superterrane joined the earlier formed core of the Siberian craton in the time interval 1.85–1.88 Ga. The final stage in the Siberian craton formation is the development of the South Siberian post-collisional magmatic belt, intersecting all large Early Precambrian blocks of the southern part of the Siberian craton, already united into a single structure.
The article presents new data on the age and isotopic (Sr, Nd) characteristics of the Yuzhnoe and Ulan-Ude REE-fluorite occurrences, paragenetically related to alkaline carbonatite magmatism. Age estimates of the fluorite-containing rocks were obtained from bastnaesites using U-Th-Pb (LA-ICP-MS) method and are 130.2±1.1 and 136.6±1.9 Ma for the Yuzhnoe and Ulan-Ude occurrences, respectively. The ƐNd(T) values of the bastnaesites vary from –7.41 to –6.08 for the Yuzhnoe occurrence and from –4.28 to –2.67 for the Ulan-Ude occurrence. The Yuzhnoe carbonatites are characterized by 87Sr/86Sr(I) ratios ranging from 0.705883 to 0.706011, and 87Sr/86Sr(I) ratios obtained for the Ulan-Ude bastnaesite-fluorite rocks are ranging from 0.70683 to 0.70687. The age estimates are consistent with the published geochronological data on alkaline carbonatite magmatism of the Central Asian orogenic belt related to Late Mesozoic intraplate magmatism and rifting. Isotopic Sr-Nd signatures of bastnaesite, as well as of the Yuzhnoe carbonatites and the Ulan-Ude bastnaesite-fluorites, indicate that their source rocks came from the enriched lithospheric mantle.
Thermotectonic modeling was performed for the crystalline rocks of South Tuva using the apatite fission-track analysis. Thermotectonic modeling made it possible to visualize the Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic cooling history of the Pre-Mesozoic basement rocks, and to reconstruct the chronology and scale of the denudational processes over the last 125 myr and the evolution of paleorelief of South Tuva over the last 100 myr. The modeling results depicted several Mesozoic-Cenozoic episodes of cooling due to differential denudation and exhumation of the Pre-Mesozoic basement rocks. A differential denudation is related to an asynchronous activation of fault structures controlling the tectonic evolution of South Tuva. It is shown that the Early Cretaceous (~125–100 Ma) activation of the Agar-Dag-Oka thrust fault zone could result from the post-collisional processes after the collision between Siberia and Amuria and/or consecutive collision between the Cimmerian blocks. An intense activation of the Agar-Dag-Oka fault zone in the Late Cretaceous (~100–75 Ma), accompanied by significant basement rock exhumation in the eastern South Tuva to absolute heights of 1200 m, could be caused by the Karakoram-Pamir collision in the south of Eurasia. The Late Cenozoic (25–0 Ma) activation of the main fault zones of South Tuva represents a far-field effect of the Indo-European collision on the southern Eurasian continent. At the same time, there were the maximum basement uplift in the junction zone between the South Tannuola and Ubsunur-Bii-Khem fault zones and the transformation of relief of South Tuva from moderately dissected, with absolute heights of 500 to 1400 m, to modern, with absolute heights of 800 to 2600 m.
The paper presents the first results on Sm-Nd isotopic-geochemical studies of the Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the Nora-Sukhotino terrane at the northeastern flank of the South Mongolia-Khingan orogenic belt.
According to the studies, the sedimentary rocks of the Zeya-Selemdzha and Amur fragments of the Nora-Sukhotino terrane are characterized by the two-stage Mesoproterozoic Nd-model age (TNd(DM2)=1.62–1.08 Ga) at negative εNd(0)=–9.5…–3.0 and εNd(T)=–5.8...–0.2. Based on previous geochemical and isotopic (U-Pb, Lu-Hf) studies of sedimentary rocks of the Nora-Sukhotino terrane, as well as on the available models for the formation of the South Mongolia-Khingan orogenic belt, it can be assumed that most of the Paleozoic sediments of the Nora-Sukhotino terrane were carried from the Mamyn terrane of the Argun superterrane with the participation of the island arc formations.
RECENT GEODYNAMICS
The mantle processes occurring in collisional zones give rise to the occurrence of many tectonic and geodynamic processes on the surface which is associated with a high seismicity level. Seismic tomography studies showed that beneath some collision zones, such as for example, the Arabian-Eurasian and Tien-Shan, the mantle part of the continental lithosphere delaminates from the crust, with a further separation and plunge into the mantle which is also called delamination. This paper deals with a comparative analysis of the earlier obtained different-scale 3D models for seismic tomography of the crust and mantle of the Arabian-Eurasian and Tien-Shan collision zones to identify similarities and differences between the inhomogeneities observed. The paper also provides a review of the numerical modeling studies. A comparative analysis of seismotomographic models in combination with the results of mathematical modeling and the data on tectonic evolution allows making speculations about the causes of delamination in the studied regions.
The paper presents the results of comparative analysis of the data regarding the multi-instrumental borehole monitoring data of changes in the geoenvironment stress-strain state and GPS data obtained in the time vicinity of the close strong Zhupanovsky earthquake. The purpose this study was to assess the feasibility of using GPS measurements on routine basis for effective monitoring of strong Kamchatka earthquakes in the area of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The Zhupanovsky earthquake active phase was chosen as a "test" time interval for comparing GPS and borehole monitoring data. This earthquake has been the strongest seismic event since 2000 in terms of the ratio of the earthquake focus length to the hypocentral distance. The time series borehole electromagnetic and geoacoustic data were compared with the dilatation series reflecting the relative changes in the area of a triangle composed of Kamchatka GPS observation network located in the Petropavlovsk geodynamic testing site. The analysis indicates a high degree of consistency in these time series. GPS data obtained during the active phase of the earthquake preparation is agree with the results of mathematical modeling expected values of volumetric strain on the daylight surface on the eve of the earthquake. A joint analysis of borehole and GPS data made it possible to specify the time limits for the stages of change in the stress-strain state of geoenvironment and to resolve ambiguity of interpretation of the electromagnetic and geoacoustic borehole measurement results at the final stage of preparing the Zhupanovsky earthquake.
In modeling, a study was made of the processes of the physical-chemical interaction between rainwater and sandstone. It was stated that as a result of the interaction, already in mineralization of water equal to 55 mg/l, there emerges a pure soda solution whose sharp oxidation properties, retaining up to 200 mg/l, change to sharp restorative when exceeding this value. At the mineralization of water equal to 30 mg/l, an intensive increase in the number of hydroxide ions in a solution makes it highly alkaline. The active removal of calcium from solution is due to the formation of not only solid phase calcite, whose share does not exceed 15 %, but largely limonite, whose content is as high as 25 %. The accumulation of high concentrations of sodium in a solution is caused by the absence of its secondary mineral formations in a wide range of the rock/water ratios. Under reservoir conditions, the solution is composed of carbonate. This solution, transferred from reservoir to surface conditions, undergoes transformation in the result of interaction with the atmosphere. A decrease in pH of the solution resulted in the acquisition of sharp oxidation properties, with the cation, sulfate, fluorine and chlorine contents remained at the level corresponding to the reservoir conditions and the cardinal changes affected the carbonate system components and silicon compounds. Hydrosilicate ion was transformed into precipitated silicon oxide. Carbonate ions were transformed into hydrocarbonate, and the additional hydrocarbonate ions were formed for the solution to preserve a state of equilibrium after the removal of the representative number of hydrosilicate ions therefrom. An amount of carbon required for their formation was extracted from the atmosphere. The solution became hydrocarbonate, with hydrosilicate ions almost disappeared therefrom. Different calculation options for model solution, which is in equilibrium with the atmosphere, correlate with the representative group of soda-type groundwater. The calculation results are confirmed by field observations over the authigenic mineral formation on a large part of the Russian territory.
Estimating the dynamics of exogenous geological processes and understanding their controlling factors is an urgent task faced by many regions of the world. One of the methods of its solution is monitoring. The paper presents the UAV monitoring results for short-term dynamics of complex exogenous processes at five key sites in the coastal zone south of the Bratsk reservoir. The study area is a part of the platform structure in the south of the Irkutsk amphitheater, which is considered to be relatively stable in terms of geodynamics. There has been developed a methodical scheme for obtaining data series on the dynamics of complex exogenous geological processes in the coastal geosystem. A flight altitude of 50–60 m is optimal to obtain orthophotos with a resolution of 1.1–2.2 cm/px, sufficient to estimate the areal dynamics of the processes, and a DEM with a resolution of 2.6–5.4 cm/px to estimate the volumetric dynamics.
The eroded coastal area at the Rassvet site was measured to be 6900 m2, which corresponds to an average erosion width of 3.45 m per linear meter of coastal length with maximum values of up to 6.51 m. A high rate of coastal erosion in the period 2021–2022 is related to the maximum water level in the Bratsk reservoir, close to the normal headwater level. The assessment of the volumetric dynamics of the coastal gullies yielded negative values, as most of the gully mouths were eroded. The secondary valley-bottom gullies (Mamontov and Barany sites) and coastal gullies (Khadakhan site) are characterized by positive dynamics both in area and volume growth (12–20 m2 and 1.3–35.0 m3, respectively). At the Khadakhan site, the volumetric growth of new and previously observed suffusion sinkholes was 0.45 m3.
The obtained areal and volumetric rates of the exogenous processes can serve as a basis for their modern assessment and prediction of their development in order to prevent and reduce socio-economic risks.