Engineering Geological Study of Regional Tectonic Stability in the Area of the Longyang Gorge Power Station on the Huanghe (Yellow) River

In the stability study of the regional structures in the area of the Longyang Gorge Hydroelectrical Power Station, a model of the current stress-deformation field of the area was constructed based on analyses of available data of regional surveys and historical earthquakes and field investigations of active faults and ancient earthquakes. This model was examined and verified by physical and mathematical simulation experiments, and quantitative relations and data were obtained.

2015–2020 Geological Survey Program of China Geological Survey Bureau

On 1–5 September 2014,the China Geological Survey Bureau held a 2015–2020 Geology and Mineral Resources Investigation and Assessment Special Planning and Deployment Meeting to plan the next six years in order to invest nearly ten billion US dollars to implement 9 programs and 50 projects with the aim of developing geological survey work,and to play a leading role in ensuring sustained and stable development.

Research on the Mechanism and Prevention of Rockburst at the Yinxin Gold Mine

The occurrence and nature of shaft rockburst in the Yinxin gold mine are recorded and analyzed. Rockburst happens along an obvious south-north orientation. The ground and surrounding rock stresses are measured in this mine. The research indicates that the directivity of rockburst is closely related to geological structure and to abnormal distri-bution of ground stress in some parts of the mining area. The mechanism of past rockbursts is discussed based upon the theory of fracture mechanics. Some rockburst release measures and their execution in the Yinxin Gold Mine are de-scribed. These measures have been successful in eliminating rockburst.

The Geology and Tectonic Settings of China's Mineral Deposits by Franco Pirajno

China is the third largest country in the world, with a land area of about 9.6 million km2. It is endowed with abundant mineral resources, and the metal mining activity can be traced back to ca. 8000 years ago. However, due to language barrier, little has been known about the geology and tectonics to the outside world until 1980s. In the last three decades, a great deal of knowledge has been gained, enhanced by a vigorous cooperation between Chinese and Western geologists. Research papers about geological, geochemical, and geochronological features of mineral deposits of China are widely published and cited in international journals. A comprehen- sive and comprehensible English literature that summarises the features of mineral deposits in China, however, is still lacking.

The mapping methods and division of tectonic units of the regional tectonic map in the eastern China seas and adjacent regions

The geological-geophysical map series of the eastern China seas and adjacent region （1：1 000 000） will be published in the late half year of 2009. The regional tectonic map is one of the main professional maps. The Mapping methods, the division method of geological tectonic units and the main geological tectonic units are mainly discussed. The strata from Pliocene to Holocene are peeled off so as to display the Pre-Pliocene structures. In basins, isopaches are drawn for the Cenozoic deposits. The plate tectonic theory and present tectonic pattern are adopted as the priorities in tectonic division. As to the division of intraplate tectonic units, it is a revision, complement and improvement of previous dividing systems, and the nomenclature for each tectonic unit follows the current system in China. The first-order tectonic unit is plate （Pacific Plate, Eurasian Plate and Philippine Sea Plate）. The second-order tectonic unit is tectonic domain （East Asian continental tectonic domain,East Asian continental margin tectonic domain and west Pacific tectonic domain）. The Philippine Sea Plate and the west part of the Pacific Plate are called the West Pacific tectonic domain. The part of the Eurasian Plate involved in this study area can be further divided into East Asian continental tectonic domain and East Asian continental margin tectonic domain. The East Asian continental margin domain is composed of the Ryukyu island arc, the Okinawa Trough back-arc basin and the back-arc basin of Sea of Japan. The East Asian continental tectonic domain in this study area is composed of the Sino-Korea Massif, the Changjiang River （Yangtze） Massif and South China Massif. In turn, these massifs consist of basins, folded belts or uplift zones. The basins,the folded belts or the uplift zones are further divided into uplifts and depressions made up of sags and swells.

Genetic mechanism and development of the unsteady Sarvak play of the Azadegan oil field,southwest of Iran

The upper Cretaceous Sarvak reservoir in the Azadegan oil field of southwest Iran has its oil–water contact nearly horizontal from the north to the center and dips steeply from the center to the south.The purpose of this paper is to interpret this abnormal reservoir feature by examining the accumulation elements,characteristics,and evolution based on the 3D seismic,coring,and well logging data.Generally,in the field,the Sarvak reservoir is massive and vertically heterogeneous,and impermeable interlayers are rare.The distribution of petrophysical properties is mainly dominated by the depositional paleogeomorphology and degrades from north to south laterally.The source is the lower Cretaceous Kazhdumi Formation of the eastern Dezful sag,and the seal is the muddy dense limestone of the Cenozoic Gurpi and Pebdeh Formations.Combined with the trap evolution,the accumulation evolution can be summarized as follows： the Sarvak play became a paleo-anticlinal trap in the Alpine tectonic activity after the late Cretaceous（96 Ma） and then was relatively peaceful in the later long geologic period.The Kazhdumi Formation entered in the oil window at the early Miocene（12–10 Ma） and charged the Sarvak bed,thus forming the paleo-reservoir.Impacted by the ZagrosOrogeny,the paleo-reservoir trap experienced a strong secondary deformation in the late Pliocene（4 Ma）,which shows as the paleo-trap shrank dramatically and the prelow southern area uplifted and formed a new secondary anticline trap,hence evolving to the current two structural highs with the south point（secondary trap） higher than the north（paleo-trap）.The trap deformation broke the paleoreservoir kinetic equilibrium and caused the secondary reservoir adjustment.The upper seal prevented vertical oil dissipation,and thus,the migration is mainly in interior Sarvak bed from northern paleo-reservoir to the southern secondary trap.The strong reservoir heterogeneity and the degradation trend of reservoir properties along migration path（north to south） made the reservoir readjustment extremely slow,plus the short and insufficient re-balance time,making the Sarvak form an ‘‘unsteady reservoir＇＇which is still in the readjustment process and has not reached a new balance state.The current abnormal oil–water contact versus the trap evolutionary trend indicates the secondary readjustment is still in its early stage and has only impacted part of paleo-reservoir.Consequently,not all of the reservoir is dominated by the current structure,and some parts still stay at the paleo-reservoir form.From the overview above,we suggest the following for the future development： In the northern structural high,the field development should be focused on the original paleoreservoir zone.In the southern structural high,compared with the secondary reservoir of the Sarvak with the tilted oil–water contact and huge geologic uncertainty,the lower sandstone reservoirs are more reliable and could be developed first,and then the deployment optimized of the upper Sarvak after obtaining sufficient geological data.By the hints of the similar reservoir characteristics and tectonic inheritance with Sarvak,the lower Cretaceous Fahliyancarbonate reservoir is also proved to be an unsteady reservoir with a tilted oil–water contact.

Research on the relationship between geophysical structural features and earthquakes in Mid-Yunnan and the surrounding area

In this study, we analyzed the gravity and, magnetic characteristics, and the occurrence of a fault zone and discussed the relationships between the two locations. The results reveal that the subsurface structures strikes are different compared with those in the research region. In other words, the geophysical advantageous directions from the gravity and magnetic anomalies are not the same as those caused by the surface structures. The local horizontal gradient results from the gravity and magnetic anomalies show that the majority of earthquakes occur along an intense fault zone, which is a zone of abrupt gravity and negative magnetic change, where the shapes match very well. From the distribution of earthquakes in this area, we find that it has experienced more than 11 earthquake events with magnitude larger than Ms7.0. In addition, water development sites such as Jinshajiang, Lancangjiang, and the Red River and Pearl River watersheds have been hit ten times by earthquakes of this magnitude. It is observed that strong earthquakes occur frequently in the Holocene active fault zone.

Application of Fluid Inclusions in Tectonic Geology

The release of thermal fluids is expected during tectonic movement. These thermal fluids may be trappedby minerals (newly formed or recrystallized)to form fluid inclusions. The aim of this paper is to discuss thetectonic relations between the North China Platform and the Qinling Geosyncline based mainly on the fluidinclusion data. Some preliminary conclusions have been drawn as follows:1. Recognized between the platform and tbe geosyncline are several tectonic belts, each of whch hasdifferent characteristics with respect to fluid inclusions.2. Various tectonic beits are bounded by the fault, on both sides of which fluid inclusions found areconsiderably different.3. Research on fluid inclusions provides further information on the history of tectonic evolution of theNorth China Platform and the Qinling Geosyncline.This work is an initial attempt to the study of tectonic geology in terms of fluid inclusion data.

Structural Geology and Tectonics in Marine Science:Perspectives in the Research of Deep Sea and Deep Interior

The fields of structural geology and tectonics have witnessed great progress over the last decade and are poised for further expansion in the future. One of the significant breakthroughs is the establishment of the 'Beyond Plate Tectonics Theory' where a combination of conceptual models and numerical modeling on plume tectonics and plate tectonics has enabled new insights into the structural and tectonic architecture and processes in the deep interior and deep sea. This paper synthesizes developments of structural geology and tectonics from a macroscopic perspective in deep interior and deep sea. Four key techniques are also reviewed: satellite altimetry for surface structures in deep-sea multi-beam sea-floor mapping; tomography for tectonics of the deep interior; diverse modeling approaches and software for unfolding dynamic evolution; and techniques for HT/HP experiments on material rheology and in situ component measurements.

The Active Yakutat （Kula？） Plate and Its Southcentral Alaska Megathrust and Intraplate Earthquakes

Alaska geology and plate tectonics have not been well understood due to an active Yakutat plate, believed to be part of the remains of an ancient Kula plate, not being acknowledged to exist in Alaska. It is positioned throughout most of southcentral Alaska beneath the North American plate and above the NNW subducting Pacific plate. The Kula？ plate and its eastern spreading ridge were partially ＂captured＂ by the North American plate in the Paleocene. Between 63 Ma and 32 Ma, large volumes of volcanics erupted from its subducted N-S striking spreading ridge through a slab window. The eruptions stopped at 32 Ma, likely due to the Pacific plate fiat-slab subducting from the south beneath this spreading ridge. At 28 Ma, magmatism started again to the east; indicating a major shift to the east of this ＂refusing to die＂ spreading ridge. The captured Yakutat plate has also been subducting since 63 Ma to the WSW. It started to change to WSW fiat-slab subduction at 32 Ma, which stopped all subduction magmatism in W and SW Alaska by 22 Ma. The Yakutat plate subduction has again increased with the impact/joining of the coastal Yakutat terrane from the ESE about 5 Ma, resulting in the Cook Inlet Quaternary volcanism of southcentral Alaska. During the 1964 Alaska earthquake, sudden movements along the southcentral Alaska thrust faults between the Yakutat plate and the Pacific plate occurred. Specifically, the movements consisted of the Pacific plate moving NNW under the buried Yakutat plate and of the coastal Yakutat terrane, which is considered part of the Yakutat plate, thrusting WSW onto the Pacific plate. These were the two main sources of energy release for the E part of this earthquake. Only limited movement between the Yakutat plate and the North American plate occurred during this 1964 earthquake event. Buried paleopeat age dates indicate the thrust boundary between the Yakutat plate and North American plate will move in about 230 years, resulting in a more ＂continental＂ type megathrust earthquake for southcentral Alaska. There are, therefore, at least two different types ofmegathrust earthquakes occurring in southcentral Alaska： the more oceanic 1964 type and the more continental type. In addition, large ＂active＂ WSW oriented strike-slip faults are recognized in the Yakutat plate, called slice faults, which represent another earthquake hazard for the region. These slice faults also indicate important oil/gas and mineral resource locations.

Gravity gradient distribution in China's Mainland from GOCE satellite gravity gradiometry data

At present, gravity field and steady-state ocean circulation explorer（GOCE） gravity data are always used to compute regional gravity anomaly and geoid height. In this study, the latest GOCE gravity field model data（from Oct. 2009 to Jul. 2010） are used to compute the gravity gradient of China's Mainland according to a rigorous recursion formula（in all the six directions）. The results show that the numerical values of the gravity gradients are larger in the T rr direction than those in the other directions. They reflect the terrain characteristics in detail and correlate with the regional tectonics; however, in the T ql and T r l directions,the numerical values are relatively smaller and the gravity gradients in the T r l direction do not reflect the terrain characteristics in detail.