Provenance Study of Fe–Ti Oxide Minerals in the Quaternary Sediments in Yichang Area and Its Implication of Formation Time of the Yangtze Three Gorges, China

The Three Gorges are considered to be critical to understand the formation of Yangtze River. Recent research results suggest that the Yangtze Three Gorges was created during the Quaternary but the exact time is debatable. Fe-Ti oxide minerals are seldom used to study sediment provenance, expecially using scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, and energy dispersive spectrometer （EDS）. In this study, the provenance of Quaternary sediments in Yichang area, which is located to the east of the Yangtze Three Gorges, was investigated by using SEM and EDS to research Fe-Ti oxides. The Panzhihua vanadium titanomagnetite and Emeishan basalt outcrop are located to the west of the Three Gorges. Further, the materials from them are observed in the Quaternary sediments of Yichang area. Fe-Ti oxide minerals from the Huangling granite are observed in the Yunchi and Shanxiyao Formations, which were formed before 0.75 Ma B.P., whereas Fe-Ti oxide minerals from the Huangling granite, Panzhihua vanadium titanomagnetite, and Emeishan basalt are observed in the riverbed and fifth-terrace sediments of the Yangtze River, which were formed after 0.73 Ma B.P.. Thus, we can infer that the Three Gorges formed after the deposition of the Shanxi Formation and before the fifth-terrace; i.e., 0.75-0.73 Ma B.P..

Provenance of Detrital Magnetites from Quaternary Sediments in the Yichang Area and its Significance to the Birth of the Three Gorges, Yangtze River

Objective In recent years, the birth time and evolution of the Three Gorges, Yangtze River has become a focused topic. Different from previous studies, this study used provenance analysis of Quaternary sediments to discuss this question. Among those minerals in Quaternary sediments, magnetite was rarely studied. This paper presents element geochemistry and backscatter images of detrital magnetites from the Quaternary sediments in the Yichang area of Hubei Province. By discussing the provenance changes of detratic magnetites, we suggested the birth time of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.

Study on Active Faults in Quaternary Unconsolidated Sediments by Microstructural Method

Active faults in Quaternary unconsolidated sediments are important indicators to determine paleoearthquake events. They can be studied by macroscopic geological survey, but some problems have been encountered, such as invisible active faults. The authors found an approach to solve these problems by microstructural observation. Firstly, oriented original-state samples of Quaternary unconsolidated sediments in active fault zones are collected. Secondly, the samples are consolidated in laboratory. Thirdly, microstructural slides are ground in three-dimension coordinate system. Lastly, microstructures are observed in the microscopic field. By this method, the movement properties of active faults can be determined in lack of the support of macroscopic data. The invisible faults in Quaternary unconsolidated sediments can be found and described. The mechanisms of die-out faults can be also studied. Moreover, the boundaries between different unconsolidated sediments in engineering sites can be studied to judge whether they are active faults or not.

Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating of Sediments from the Pearl River Delta, Southeast China

The PRD （Pearl River Delta） was subjected to two transgressions respectively in the latest Pleistocene and Holocene. Position of coastal line of the latest Pleistocene transgression in some localities, especially at the center part of PRD is still uncertain. Thus quaternary sandy sediments in the central PRD are dated by OSL Optically Stimulated Luminescence） for determining the ancient coastal line. Samples are from Xiaohushan Hill at the center of PRD, where quaternary sediments deposited on a wave-cut platlbrm consist of two kinds of sediments： marine muddy-silt on the top and alluvial fine-sand in the lower part. The former is dated at 5.0-5.5 ka, which defines the time of Holocene transgression in the PRD. The alluvial fine-sand in the part is dated at 22-26 ka. For the alluvial fine-sand rests directly on a wave-cut platform, thus this wave-cut platform should have been existed before deposit of alluvial sand, i.e., formed during an earlier marine transgression that may have culminated in the sea level high at about 40 ka. The optically stimulated luminescence results are consistent with geological observations and compatible with TL （thermoluminescence） and ^14C ages from the same layers at other localities of the PRD.

Near surface velocity and Q_s structure of the Quaternary sediment in Bohai basin,China

Heavily populated by Beijing and Tianjin cities, Bohai basin is a seismically active Cenozoic basin suffering from huge lost by devastating earthquakes, such as Tangshan earthquake. The attenuation （Qp and Qs） of the surficial Quaternary sediment has not been studied at natural seismic frequency （1-10 Hz）, which is crucial to earthquake hazards study. Borehole seismic records of micro earthquake provide us a good way to study the velocity and attenuation of the surficial structure （0-500 m）. We found that there are two pulses well separated with simple waveforms on borehole seismic records from the 2006 Mw4.9 Wen＇an earthquake sequence. Then we performed waveform modeling with generalized ray theory （GRT） to confirm that the two pulses are direct wave and surface reflected wave, and found that the average vp and Vs of the top 300 m in this region are about 1.8 km/s and 0.42 km/s, leading to high ve/vs ratio of 4.3. We also modeled surface refleeted wave with propagating matrix method to constrain Qs and the near surface velocity structure. Our modeling indicates that Qs is at least 30, or probably up to 100, much larger than the typically assumed extremely low Q（-10）, but consistent with Qs modeling in Mississippi embayment. Also, the velocity gradient just beneath the free surface （0-50 m） is very large and velocity increases gradually at larger depth. Our modeling demonstrates the importance of borebole seismic records in resolving shallow velocity and attenuation structure, and hence may help in earthquake hazard simulation.

The age measures and its layer sequence tratigraphy of Late Quaternary sediment in Lushan Dajiaochang of China

Through the scientific investigation on Lushan for a long time, detailed studies have been carried out on the geologic stratum section of Late Quaternary in Dajiaochang. The series age data of complete stratigraphic section and full time formation since 400 kaBP were based on the results of the analyses using the dating methods with various instruments such as the ancient geomagnetism, electronics spin resonance （ESR）, 36C1 and lumines- cence dating, etc. Corresponding to these data, it identified the paleomagnetic polarity events including Biwa- III event （320 kaBP）, Biwa- 1I event （260 kaBP）, Biwa- I event （180 kaBP, scarcity due to the disturbance of the iron dish）, Blake event （100 kaBP） and Laschamp event （20 kaBP, didn＇t grow due to the activities of the surface）, etc. Combined with the sequence stratigraphy, layer type characteristics and its sediment environment, the strati- graphic can be divided into 4 stages of development respectively ： Stage [ is the climate period of glacial epoch （200-400 kaBP）; stage 11 is the climate period of interglacial epoch （100-200 kaBP）; stage llI is the climate peri- od of periglacial epoch （10-100 kaBP）; stage IV is the climate period ofpostglacial epoch （0-10 kaBP）.

Soft Sediment Deformation Structures in the Sediment Deposits of Ganga River and Its Oxbow Lakes in Parts of Indo-Gangetic Plain: Implications for Quake Proxies and Paleoseismicity Tracking

The Late Quaternary thick sedimentary fills of the Ganga basin predominantly consist of unconsolidated fluvial sandy deposits which are often intercalated with mud. These deposits at various places record the evidence of earthquakes, which occurred in the recent geological past. The evidence is contained and manifested in the form of Soft Sediment Deformation Structures (SSDSs). Saturated sediments/muds/soils are liquefied by earthquake tremors which either generate SSDS or produce structural discordance in the pre-existing sedimentary structures. The present study reports the occurrence of SSDS, e.g. load and associated flame structures, clastic dikes and sill structures, slump structures and sedimentary breccias, etc. from the Ganga River and adjacent oxbow lake sediment deposits. An attempt has been made to establish the origin of soft sediment structures of this region in accordance with its neotectonic history and in turn, identification of seismic structural proxies to delineate paleoseismic events in this region with futuristic implications. The preservation of soft sediment deformation structures in large numbers with multiple geomorphology and scale, in the river and adjoining lake sediments, is indicative of frequent earthquakes of high magnitude consequent to tectonic activism in the Himalayan region.