印度与欧亚板块强烈相互作用区深部结构特征研究

The central-south Tibet is a part of the products of the continental plate collision between Eurasia and India. To study the deep structure of the study area is significant for understanding the dynamics of the continental-continental collision. A 3-D density model matched well with the observations in the central-south Tibet was proposed in this study. In addition, this study has also used numerical simulation method to prove that Quasi-Love (QL) wave is deduced by anisotropy variation but not by lateral heterogeneity. Meanwhile, anisotropy variation in the upper mantle of the Qiangtang terrane and Lhasa terrane is detected by the QL waves observed in recorded seismograms. Based on the gravity modeling, some results are summarized as follows: 1) Under the constrain of geometrical structure detected by seismic data, a 3-D density model and Moho interface are proposed by gravity inversion of the central-south Tibet. 2) The fact that the lower crustal densities are smaller than 3.2 g/cm3, suggests absence of eclogite or partial eclogitization due to delamination under the central-south Tibet. 3) Seismicity will be strong or weak in the most negative Bouguer gravity anomaly. So there is no a certain relationship between seismicity and Bouguer gravity anomaly. 4) Crustal composition are determined after temperature-pressure calibration of seismic P wave velocity. The composition of lower crust might be one or a mixture of: 1. amphibolite and greenschist facies basalt beneath the Qiangtang terrane; 2. gabbro-norite-troctolite and mafic granulite beneath the Lhasa terrane. Because the composition of the middle crust cannot be well constrained by the above data set, the data set published by Rudnick & Fountain (1995) is used for comparison. It indicated the composition of the middle crust is granulite facies and might be pelitic gneisses.Granulite facies used to be interpreted as residues of partial melting, which coincidences with the previous study on partial melting middle crust. Amphibolite facies are thought to be produced after delamination, when underplating works in the rebound of the lower crust and lithospheric mantle. From the seismology study, I have made several followed conclusions: 1) Through the numerical simulation experiment of surface wave propagating in heterogeneity media, we can find that amplitude and polarization of surface wave only change a little when considering heterogeneity. Furthermore, it is proved that QL waves, generated by surface wave scattering, are caused by lateral variation of anisotropy but not by heterogeneity. 2) QL waves are utilized to determine the variation of uppermost mantle anisotropy of the Tibetan plateau. QL waves are identified from the seismograms of the selected paths recorded by the CAD station. The location of azimuth anisotropy gradient is estimated from the group velocities of Rayleigh wave, Love wave and QL wave. It suggests that south-north lateral variation of azimuthal anisotropy locates in Tanggula mountain, and east-west lateral variation in the north of Gandese mountain with 85°E longitude and near the Jinsha river fault with 85°E longitude.

陇西盆地晚第三纪风尘沉积的地层学研究

In Asia, the significant environment changes in Cenozoic include: uplift of Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau, formation Asian monsoon system, Aridification in Central Asia. One of major advances in recent studies of eolian deposit on the Loess Plateau is the verification of the eolian origin for the Late Tertiary Hipparion Red-Earth (also called red-Clay) underlying the Quaternary loess. Thus, the Late Tertiary eolian deposit, which has been proven a nearly continuous terrestrial record and sensitive to climate change, provides us an important archive to understand these above Cenozoic environment events. The deposit in eastern Loess Plateau has been extensively studied, while the property and age of deposit underlying the Quaternary loess in western plateau remains unclear. In this paper, detail investigations were made on the Sedimentology, geochemistry of Longxi section, a typical section in western Loess Plateau, to address its origin, and on micromammalian fossils and magnetostratigraphy to address its age. The main conclusions are presented as following: 1. The sedimentological and geochemical properties in Longxi section are highly similar to typical Quaternary eolian deposit in Loess Plateau. Nearly 100 paleosols are recognized in the field, and the grain size are very fine with the median grain size centered at 4～7μm. There is a good agreement of both major and trace element compositions between Longxi deposit and the Quaternary Loess. The REE distribution patterns of Longxi deposit and the Quaternary loess are remarkably similar in shape, with enrichment LREE and fairly flat HREE profiles and clear negative Eu anomaly. The mangnetic minerals in Longxi deposit are mainly magnetite, hematite and maghematite, which are similar to those of the Hipparion Red-Earth and Quaternary Loess. The major difference among them is that the samples from Longxi section contain more hematite. The characteristics of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) in Longxi deposit is highly consistent with that of Quaternary loess, while values of the major AMS parameters, e.g. anisotropy degree, magnetic foliation and lineation, are significantly lower than those of fluvial and lake deposits. These evidences indicate an eolian origin for the sediment. 2. An investigation of micromammalian fossils was firstly carried out for determining the approximate age of the sequence because of lack of materials for accurate isotope dating. Three fossil assemblages were obtained which indicate a chronological range from the Middle Miocene to Late Miocene. The magnetostratigraphical study suggests that it is a near continuous terrestrial record for the period from 13.23 to 6.23 MaB.P. The obtained chronology is highly consistent with fossils assemblages. This section is the oldest eolian deposit presently known in Loess Plateau. 3. The magnetic susceptibly value is high in paleosols than in surrounded weak-weathered layers, which suggests that it may be a climate index on orbital time scale. While it cannot be used as a proxy to address the long-term, change of climate on tectonic time scale, as content of the magnetic minerals is highly variable in different parts of the section. 4. The appearance of Middle Miocene eolian deposit in the Loess Plateau marks the strengthening of aridification of Central Asia. The high degree of similarity between the geochemical properties of Longxi eolian deposit, Hipparion Red-Earth and Quaternary loess a suggests that a rather similar source provenance. The dust accumulation rate (DAR) of Longxi section, which is widely used as a proxy to document the aridity in source areas in marine and terrestrial record studies, recorded the aridity condition in northwestern China over a period from Middle Miocene to Late Miocene. The DAR of the section shows that the continent aridity remains moderate and relative stable over that period.

西南天山托云盆地白垩-新生代古地磁结果及其构造意义

Western China is regarded as an assemblage of blocks or microplates. The India/Asia postcollisional kinematics of these blocks has attracted many geologists to pay attentions, especially on the geodynamics and intracontinental deformation of Tibetan and adjoining parts of central Asia. So far there are still many debates on the amount of continental shortening and extrusion within Western China blocks. Paleomagnetism plays a very important role in the paleogeographic reconstruction and depiction of kinematics of the blocks, however the unequilibrium of paleomagentic data obtained from Western China prevents paleomagnetists from studying the kinematics and intracontinental deformation on the Tibetan plateau and the central Asia. Moreover, shallower inclinations observed in the Cretaceous and Cenozoic terrestrial red sediments in central Asia makes it difficult to precisely estimate the northward convergence of Tibetan plateau and its adjacent areas since the onset of the Indian/Asian collision. In this thesis, detailed rock magnetic, chronological and paleomagnetic studies have been carried out on the Tuoyun Basin in the southwestern Tianshan to discuss the possible continental shortening and tectonic movements since the Cretaceous-Tertiary. Ar-Ar geochronological study has been conducted on the upper and lower basalt series from the Tuoyun Basin, yielding that the lower and upper basalt series were extruded during 115-113 Ma and 61.8-56.9 Ma, respectively. Both the age spectrum and inverse isochron show that the samples from the upper and lower basalt series have experienced no significant thermal events since extrusion of the baslts. Rock magnetic studies including temperature dependence of magnetization and susceptibility during a heating-cooling cycle from temperature up to 600 ℃ suggest that the baslt samples from the lower and upper basalt series are ferromagnetically predominant of magnetite and a subordinate hematite with a few sites of titanomagnetite. The predominant magnetic mineral of the intercalated red beds is magnetite and hematite. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility shows that both the baslts and the intercalated red beds are unlikely to have undergone significant strain due to compaction or tectonic stress since formation of the rocks. The stable characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) isolated from the most samples of the upper and lower basalt series and intercalated red beds, passes fold test at the 99% confidence level. Together with the geochronological results, we interpret the characteristic component as a primary magnetization acquired in the formation of rocks. Some sites from both the upper and lower basalts yielded shallower inclinations than the reference field computed from the Eurasia APW, we prefer to argue that these shallow inclinations might be related to geomagnetic secular variation, whereas the shallow inclination in the intercalated red beds is likely to be related to detrital remanent magnetization. Paleomagnetic results from the early Cretaceous-Paleogene basalts indicate that no significant N-S convergence has taken place between the Tuoyun Basin and the south margin of Siberia. Furthermore, the Cretaceous and Tertiary paleomagnetic results suggest that the Tuoyun Basin was subjected to a local clockwise rotation of 20°-30° with respect to Eurasia since the Paleocene time, which is probably subsequent to the Cenozoic northward compression of the Pamir arc.

Simulation of monsoon disturbances in the LMD GCM

The monsoon depressions that form over India during the summer are analyzed using simulations from the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique general circulation model. This type of synoptic system often occurs with a frequency of one to two per month and can produce a strong Indian rainfall. Two kinds of analyses are conducted in this study. The first one is a subjective analysis based on the evolution of the precipitation rate and the pattern of the sea level pressure. The second one is an objective analysis performed using the TRACK program, which identifies and tracks the minima in the sea level pressure anomaly held and computes the statistics for the distribution of systems. The analysis of a 9-yr control run, which simulates strong precipitation rates over the foothills of the Himalayas and over southern India but weak rates over central India, shows that the number of disturbances is coo low and that they almost never occur during August, when break conditions prevail. The generated disturbances more often move north, toward the foothills of the Himalayas. Another analysis is performed to study the effect of the Tibetan Plateau elevation on these disturbances with a 9-yr run carried out with a Tibetan Plateau at 50% of its current height. It is shown that this later integration simulates more frequent monsoon disturbances, which move rather northwestward, in agreement with the current observations. The comparison between the two runs shows that the June-July-August rainfall difference is in large part due to changes in the occurrence of the monsoon disturbances.

Impact of Tibetan Orography and Heating on the Summer Flow over Asia

The influence on the summer flow over Asia of both the orographic and thermal forcing of the Tibetan Plateau is investigated using a sequence of idealised experiments with a global primitive equation model. The zonally averaged flow is prescribed and both realistic and idealised orography and heating are used. There is some similarity between the responses to the two forcings when applied separately. The upper tropospheric Tibetan anticyclone is predominantly forced by the heating but also weakly by the orography. Below this, both forcings tend to give air descending in an equatorward anticyclonic circulation down the isentropes to the west and rising in a similar poleward circulation to the east. However the heating-only response has a strong ascending southwesterly flow that is guided around the south and south-east of the orography when it is included. On the northern side, the westerly flow over the orography gives ascent on the upslope and descent on the downslope. It is found that heating over the Plateau leads to a potential vorticity (PV) minimum and that if it is sufficiently strong the flow is unstable, producing a quasi-biweekly oscillation. During this oscillation the Tibetan anticyclone changes between a single centre over the southwestern side of the Plateau and a split/double structure with centres over China and the Middle East. These characteristics are similar to observed variability in the region. Associated with this quasi-biweekly oscillation are significant variations in the strength of the ascent over the Plateau and the Rossby wave pattern over the North Pacific. The origin of the variability is instability associated with the zonally extended potential vorticity PV minimum on a θ-surface, as proposed by Hsu and Plumb (2000). This minimum is due to the tendency to reduce the PV above the heating over the Plateau and to advection by the consequent anticyclone of high PV around from the east and low PV to the west. The deep convection to the south and southeast of the Plateau tends to suppress the quasi-biweekly oscillation because the low PV produced above it acts to reduce the meridional PV gradient reversal. The occurrence of the oscillation depends on the relative magnitude of the heating in the two regions.

Palaeovegetation in China during the late Quaternary: Biome reconstructions based on a global scheme of plant functional types

Two previous reconstructions of palaeovegetation across the whole of China were performed using a simple classification of plant functional types (PFTs). Now a more explicit, global PFT classification scheme has been developed, and a substantial number of additional pollen records have become available. Here we apply the global scheme of PFTs to a comprehensive set of pollen records available from China to test the applicability of the global scheme of PFTs in China, and to obtain a well-founded reconstruction of changing palaeovegetation patterns. A total of 806 pollen surface samples, 188 mid-Holocene (MH, 6000 14C yr BP) and 50 last glacial maximum (LGM, 18,000 14C yr BP) pollen records were used to reconstruct vegetation patterns in China, based on a new global classification system of PFTs and a standard numerical technique for biome assignment (biomization). The biome reconstruction based on pollen surface samples showed convincing agreement with present potential natural vegetation. Coherent patterns of change in biome distribution between MH, LGM and present are observed. In the MH, cold and cool-temperate evergreen needleleaf forests and mixed forests, temperate deciduous broadleaf forest, and warm-temperate evergreen broadleaf and mixed forest in eastern China were shifted northward by 200–500 km. Cold-deciduous forest in northeastern China was replaced by cold evergreen needleleaf forest while in central northern China, cold-deciduous forest was present at some sites now occupied by temperate grassland and desert. The forest–grassland boundary was 200–300 km west of its present position. Temperate xerophytic shrubland, temperate grassland and desert covered a large area on the Tibetan Plateau, but the area of tundra was reduced. Treeline was 300–500 m higher than present in Tibet. These changes imply generally warmer winters, longer growing seasons and more precipitation during the MH. Westward shifts of the forest–shrubland–grassland and grassland–desert boundaries imply greater moisture availability in the MH, consistent with a stronger summer monsoon. During the LGM, in contrast, cold-deciduous forest, cool-temperate evergreen needleleaf forest, cool mixed forests, warm-temperate evergreen broadleaf and mixed forest in eastern China were displaced to the south by 300–1000 km, while temperate deciduous broadleaf forest, pure warm-temperate evergreen forest, tropical semi-evergreen and evergreen broadleaf forests were restricted or absent from the mainland of southern China, implying colder winters than present. Strong shifts of temperate xerophytic shrubland, temperate grassland and desert to the south and east in northern and western China and on the Tibetan Plateau imply drier conditions than present.

Distributions and phylogeographic data of rheophilic freshwater fishes provide evidences on the geographic extension of a central-brazilian amazonian palaeoplateau in the area of the present day Pantanal Wetland

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Tectonics and kinematics of curved mountain belts: examples from the Andes and the Alps

Curved mountain belts have always fascinated geologists and geophysicists because of their peculiar structural setting and geodynamic mechanisms of formation. The need of studying orogenic bends arises from the numerous questions to which geologists and geophysicists have tried to answer to during the last two decades, such as: what are the mechanisms governing orogenic bends formation? Why do they form? Do they develop in particular geological conditions? And if so, what are the most favorable conditions? What are their relationships with the deformational history of the belt? Why is the shape of arcuate orogens in many parts of the Earth so different? What are the factors controlling the shape of orogenic bends? Paleomagnetism demonstrated to be one of the most effective techniques in order to document the deformation of a curved belt through the determination of vertical axis rotations. In fact, the pattern of rotations within a curved belt can reveal the occurrence of a bending, and its timing. Nevertheless, paleomagnetic data alone are not sufficient to constrain the tectonic evolution of a curved belt. Usually, structural analysis integrates paleomagnetic data, in defining the kinematics of a belt through kinematic indicators on brittle fault planes (i.e., slickensides, mineral fibers growth, SC-structures). My research program has been focused on the study of curved mountain belts through paleomagnetism, in order to define their kinematics, timing, and mechanisms of formation. Structural analysis, performed only in some regions, supported and integrated paleomagnetic data. In particular, three arcuate orogenic systems have been investigated: the Western Alpine Arc (NW Italy), the Bolivian Orocline (Central Andes, NW Argentina), and the Patagonian Orocline (Tierra del Fuego, southern Argentina). The bending of the Western Alpine Arc has been investigated so far using different approaches, though few based on reliable paleomagnetic data. Results from our paleomagnetic study carried out in the Tertiary Piedmont Basin, located on top of Alpine nappes, indicate that the Western Alpine Arc is a primary bend that has been subsequently tightened by further ~50° during Aquitanian-Serravallian times (23-12 Ma). This mid-Miocene oroclinal bending, superimposing onto a pre-existing Eocene nonrotational arc, is the result of a composite geodynamic mechanism, where slab rollback, mantle flows, and rotating thrust emplacement are intimately linked. Relying on our paleomagnetic and structural evidence, the Bolivian Orocline can be considered as a progressive bend, whose formation has been driven by the along-strike gradient of crustal shortening. The documented clockwise rotations up to 45° are compatible with a secondary-bending type mechanism occurring after Eocene-Oligocene times (30-40 Ma), and their nature is probably related to the widespread shearing taking place between zones of differential shortening. Since ~15 Ma ago, the activity of N-S left-lateral strike-slip faults in the Eastern Cordillera at the border with the Altiplano-Puna plateau induced up to ~40° counterclockwise rotations along the fault zone, locally annulling the regional clockwise rotation. We proposed that mid-Miocene strike-slip activity developed in response of a compressive stress (related to body forces) at the plateau margins, caused by the progressive lateral (southward) growth of the Altiplano-Puna plateau, laterally spreading from the overthickened crustal region of the salient apex. The growth of plateaux by lateral spreading seems to be a mechanism common to other major plateaux in the Earth (i.e., Tibetan plateau). Results from the Patagonian Orocline represent the first reliable constraint to the timing of bending in the southern tip of South America. They indicate that the Patagonian Orocline did not undergo any significant rotation since early Eocene times (~50 Ma), implying that it may be considered either a primary bend, or an orocline formed during the late Cretaceous-early Eocene deformation phase. This result has important implications on the opening of the Drake Passage at ~32 Ma, since it is definitely not related to the formation of the Patagonian orocline, but the sole consequence of the Scotia plate spreading. Finally, relying on the results and implications from the study of the Western Alpine Arc, the Bolivian Orocline, and the Patagonian Orocline, general conclusions on curved mountain belt formation have been inferred.

The ancestry of Tibetan

The Tibeto-Burman linguistic phylum was identified in 1823. However, the term “Tibeto-Burman” was later used with two different mean- ings, one by scholars following Klaproth’s polyphyletic framework and another by scholars operating within the Indo-Chinese paradigm. Yet the enduring failure of Sino-Tibetanists to produce any evidence for the Indo-Chinese phylogenetic model compels us to conclude that there is no such language family as Sino-Tibetan. Instead, Tibetan forms part of the Trans-Himalayan linguistic phylum, or Tibeto-Burman in Klaproth’s sense. Robert Shafer coined the terms “Bodic” and “Bodish” for subgroups including Tibetan and languages with varying degrees of linguistic propin- quity to Tibetan, and Nicolas Tournadre has also recently coined the term “Tibetic.” What are Tibetic, Bodish, and Bodic? Which languages are the closest relatives of Tibetan? What do we know about the structure of the Trans-Himalayan linguistic phylum as a whole? Based on the phylogeny of the language family, which inferences can be made about the ethnolinguis- tic prehistory of the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding regions?

Pasture degradation modifies the water and carbon cycles of the Tibetan highlands

The Tibetan Plateau has a significant role with regard to atmospheric circulation and the monsoon in particular. Changes between a closed plant cover and open bare soil are one of the striking effects of land use degradation observed with unsustainable range management or climate change, but experiments investigating changes of surface properties and processes together with atmospheric feedbacks are rare and have not been undertaken in the world's two largest alpine ecosystems, the alpine steppe and the Kobresia pygmaea pastures of the Tibetan Plateau. We connected measurements of micro-lysimeter, chamber, 13C labelling, and eddy covariance and combined the observations with land surface and atmospheric models, adapted to the highland conditions. This allowed us to analyse how three degradation stages affect the water and carbon cycle of pastures on the landscape scale within the core region of the Kobresia pygmaea ecosystem. The study revealed that increasing degradation of the Kobresia turf affects carbon allocation and strongly reduces the carbon uptake, compromising the function of Kobresia pastures as a carbon sink. Pasture degradation leads to a shift from transpiration to evaporation while a change in the sum of evapotranspiration over a longer period cannot be confirmed. The results show an earlier onset of convection and cloud generation, likely triggered by a shift in evapotranspiration timing when dominated by evaporation. Consequently, precipitation starts earlier and clouds decrease the incoming solar radiation. In summary, the changes in surface properties by pasture degradation found on the highland have a significant influence on larger scales.

Reconstruction of sea surface temperature and salinity of the Arabian Sea

High-frequency suborbital variations (Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles) characterize the climatic history of the Northern Hemisphere as observed in Greenland ice cores, deep-sea sediments of the North Atlantic, the Californian borderland, the Arabian Sea, the South China Sea, and the Chinese loess area. Paleoceanographic data from core KL126 from the Bay of Bengal in combination with data from the other Asian monsoonal areas indicate that the feedback processes involving snow and dust of the Tibetan Plateau vary the summer monsoon capacity to transport moisture into central South Asia and into the atmosphere. We postulate that the summer monsoon initiates, amplifies, and terminates these cycles in the Northern Hemisphere.

Radiolaria abundance and faunal indices of ODP Hole 183-1138A, Kerguelen Plateau

Three sites from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 183 (Kerguelen Plateau) have been analyzed to document faunal change in high-latitude radiolarians and to compare the faunal change to Eocene-Oligocene climatic deterioration. Radiolarians are not preserved in Eocene sediments. In Oligocene sediments, radiolarian preservation improves in a stepwise manner toward the Miocene. A total of 115 species were found in lower Oligocene samples from Site 1138; all are documented herein. Radiolarian preservation is presumably linked to productivity triggered by climatic cooling during the early Oligocene. Similar patterns of improving preservation through the Eocene/Oligocene boundary are documented from several Deep Sea Drilling Project and ODP sites in the Southern Ocean, indicating a general pattern. In contrast to the Southern Kerguelen Plateau, however, proxies for productivity are more divergent at Site 1138 (Central Kerguelen Plateau). Whereas carbonate dissolution, as indicated by poor preservation of foraminifers and common hiatuses, is very pronounced in the upper Eocene-lowermost Oligocene, the quality of radiolarian and diatom preservation does not significantly increase until the uppermost lower Oligocene. Multiple measures of radiolarian diversity in the Oligocene from Site 1138 closely parallel radiolarian preservation, indicating that preserved radiolarian diversity is controlled by productivity.

Petrography and geochemistry of organic matter in Triassic and Cretaceous sediments from the Wombat and Exmouth Plateau

Triassic (Carnian-Rhaetian) continental margin sediments from the Wombat Plateau off northwest Australia (Sites 759, 760, 761, and 764) contain mainly detrital organic matter of terrestrial higher plant origin. Although deposited in a nearshore deltaic environment, little liptinitic material was preserved. The dominant vitrinites and inertinites are hydrogen-lean, and the small quantities of extractable bitumen contain w-alkanes and bacterial hopanoid hydrocarbons as the most dominant single gas-chromatography-amenable compounds. Lower Cretaceous sediments on the central Exmouth Plateau (Sites 762 and 763) farther south in general have an organic matter composition similar to that in the Wombat Plateau sediments with the exception of a smaller particle size of vitrinites and inertinites, indicating more distal transport and probably deposition in deeper water. Nevertheless, organic matter preservation is slightly better than in the Triassic sediments. Long-chain fatty acids, as well as aliphatic ketones and alcohols, are common constituents in the Lower Cretaceous sediments in addition to n-alkanes and hopanoid hydrocarbons. Thin, black shale layers at the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary, although present at several sites (Sites 762 and 763 on the Exmouth Plateau, Site 765 in the Argo Abyssal Plain, and Site 766 on the continental margin of the Gascoyne Abyssal Plain), are particularly enriched in organic matter only at Site 763 (up to 26%). These organic-matter-rich layers contain mainly bituminite of probable fecal-pellet origin. Considering the high organic carbon content, the moderate hydrogen indices of 350-450 milligrams of hydrocarbon-type material per gram of Corg, the maceral composition, and the low sedimentation rates in the middle Cretaceous, we suggest that these black shales were accumulated in an area of oxygen-depleted bottom-water mass (oceanwide reduced circulation?) underlying an oxygen-rich water column (in which most of the primary biomass other than fecal pellets is destroyed) and a zone of relatively high bioproductivity. Differences in organic matter accumulation at the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary at different sites off northwest Australia are ascribed to regional variations in primary bioproductivity.

40Ar/39Ar single-crystal dating of detrital muscovite and K-feldspar of ODP Holes 116-717A and 116-718C

Detrital K-feldspars and muscovites from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 116 cores that have depositional ages from 0 to 18 Ma have been dated by the 40Ar/39Ar technique. Four to thirteen individual K-feldspars have been dated from seven stratigraphic levels, each of which have a very large range, up to 1660 Ma. At each level investigated, at least one K-feldspar yielded an age minimum which is, within uncertainty, identical to the age of deposition. One to twelve single muscovite crystals from each of six levels have also been studied. The range of muscovite ages is less than that of the K-feldspars and, with one exception, reveal only a 20-Ma spread in ages. As with the K-feldspars, each level investigated contains muscovites with mineral ages essentially identical to depositional ages. These results indicate that a significant portion of the material in the Bengal Fan is first-cycle detritus derived from the Himalayas. Therefore, the significant proportion of sediment deposited in the distal fan in the early to mid Miocene can be ascribed to a significant pulse of uplift and erosion in the collision zone. Moreover, these data indicate that during the entire Neogene, some portion of the Himalayan orogen was experiencing rapid erosion (<= uplift). The lack of granulite facies rocks in the eastern Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau suggests that very rapid uplift must have been distributed in brief pulses in different places in the mountain belt. We suggest that the great majority of the crystals with young apparent ages have been derived from the southern slope of the Himalayas, predominantly from near the main central thrust zone. These data provide further evidence against tectonic models in which the Himalayas and Tibetan plateaus are uplifted either uniformly during the past 40 m.y. or mostly within the last 2 to 5 m.y.

Neogene benthic foraminifers from the Kerguelen Plateau

Benthic foraminifers were studied quantitatively in 120 lower Miocene through upper Pleistocene samples from Ocean Drilling Program Site 747 (Central Kerguelen Plateau) and Sites 748 and 751 (Southern Kerguelen Plateau). These sites are situated on an 450-km-long, north-south transect between 54°49'S and 58°26'S at present water depths between 1696 and 1288 m. Principal component analysis on the census data of the most abundant 92 taxa helped to identify 8 benthic foraminifer assemblages. These benthic foraminifer assemblages were compared with Holocene faunas from southern high latitudes to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions. Middle lower Miocene sediments are characterized by a Uvigerina hispidocostata assemblage, indicating high paleoproductivity and/or not well-ventilated bottom water. From late early to late middle Miocene time, the Southern Kerguelen Plateau was bathed by a young, well-oxygenated, and carbonate-aggressive water mass, as indicated by a Nuttallides umbonifer-dominated benthic foraminifer assemblage. During late middle Miocene time, an Astrononion pusillum assemblage took over for only about 1 m.y., probably indicating the first injection of an aged water mass, similar to the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), into a developing circumpolar current system. Around the middle to late Miocene boundary, the fauna again became dominated by N. umbonifer. After the last appearance of N. umbonifer, reestablishment of the A. pusillum assemblage from the early late through at least the late late Miocene, indicated the established influence of a NADW-like water mass. The latest Miocene through middle late Pliocene benthic foraminifer assemblage was characterized by Epistominella exigua and strong carbonate dissolution, indicating very high biosiliceous production, and this in turn may indicate the formation and paleoposition of an Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone. From the late late Pliocene, a Trifarina angulosa assemblage (indicative today of sandy substrate and vigorous bottom currents) strongly dominated the fauna up to the late Pleistocene, when Bulimina aculeata (indicative today of calm sedimentation with high organic matter fluxes) became an important and partly dominating constituent of the fauna. This is interpreted as the faunal response to the decreased winnowing force (bottom current velocities) of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current during periods of global climatic amelioration and raised sea level.