crustal structure of the western part of the southern granulite terrain of indian peninsular shield derived from gravity data abstract the southern granulite terrain sgt is composed of high grade granulite domain occurring to the south of dharwar craton dc the structural units of sgt show a marked change in the structural trend from the dominant north south in dc to east west trend in sgt and primarily consist of different crustal blocks divided by major shear zones the bouguer anomaly map prepared based on nearly 3900 gravity observations shows that the anomalies are predominantly negative and vary between 125 mgal and 22 mgal the trends of the anomalies follow structural grain of the terrain and exhibit considerable variations within the charnockite bodies two dimensional wavelength filtering as well as zero free air based zfb analysis of the geoid corrected bouguer anomaly map of the region is found to be very useful in preparing regional gravity anomaly map and inversion of this map gave rise to crustal thicknesses of 37 44 km in the sgt crustal density structure along four regional gravity profiles cutting across major shear zones lineaments plateaus and other important geological structures bring out the following structural information the bavali shear zone extending at least up to 10 km depth is manifested as a plane separating two contrasting upper crustal blocks on both sides and the gravity high north of it reveals the presence of a high density mass at the base of the crust below coorg the steepness of the moyar and bhavani shears on either side of nilgiri plateau indicates uplift of the plateau due to block faulting with a high density mass at the crustal base the bhavani shear zone is manifested as a steep southerly dipping plane extending to deeper levels along which alkaline and granite rocks intruded into the top crustal layer the gravity high over palghat gap is due to the upwarping of moho by 1 2 km with the presence of a high density mass at intermediate crustal levels the gravity low in periyar plateau is due to the granite emplacement mid crustal interface and the thicker crust the feeble gravity signature across the achankovil shear characterized by sharp velocity contrast indicates that the shear is not a superficial structure but a crustal scale zone of deformation reaching up to mid crustal level

basal ice facies and supraglacial melt out till of the laurentide ice sheet tuktoyaktuk coastlands western arctic canada glacially deformed massive ice and icy sediments mi is in the eskimo lakes fingerlands and summer island area of the tuktoyaktuk coastlands western arctic canada show in the same stratigraphic sequences features characteristic of both basal glacier ice and intrasedimental ice basal ice features comprise 1 ice facies and facies groupings similar to those from the basal ice layers of contemporary glaciers and ice sheets in alaska greenland and iceland 2 ice crystal fabrics similar to those from basal ice in antarctica and ice cored moraines on axel heiberg island canada and 3 a thaw or erosional unconformity along the top of the mi is buried by glacigenic or aeolian sediments intrasedimental ice consists of pore ice and segregated ice formed within pleistocene sands deposited before glacial overriding the co existence of basal and intrasedimental ice within the mi is records their occurrence within the basal ice layer of the laurentide ice sheet stagnation of the ice sheet and melt out of till from the ice surface allowed burial and preservation of the basal ice layer on a regional scale the widespread occurrence of supraglacial melt out till with clast fabrics similar to those in the underlying ice suggests that such till can be well preserved during partial thaw of a continental ice sheet in lowlands underlain by continuous permafrost

discharge of debris from ice at the margin of the greenland ice sheet sediment production at a terrestrial section of the ice sheet margin in west greenland is dominated by debris released through the basal ice layer the debris flux through the basal ice at the margin is estimated to be 12 45 m 3 m 1 a 1 this is three orders of magnitude higher than that previously reported for east antarctica an order of magnitude higher than sites reported from in norway iceland and switzerland but an order of magnitude lower than values previously reported from tidewater glaciers in alaska and other high rate environments such as surging glaciers at our site only negligible amounts of debris are released through englacial supraglacial or subglacial sediment transfer glaciofluvial sediment production is highly localized and long sections of the ice sheet margin receive no sediment from glaciofluvial sources these findings differ from those of studies at more temperate glacial settings where glaciofluvial routes are dominant and basal ice contributes only a minor percentage of the debris released at the margin these data on debris flux through the terrestrial margin of an outlet glacier contribute to our limited knowledge of debris production from the greenland ice sheet

how does the south asian high influence extreme precipitation over eastern china based on the high resolution observed daily precipitation data three characteristic regions over eastern china are first defined through the rotated empirical orthogonal function then the relationship between summer june july august extreme precipitation across the three characteristic regions of eastern china and the south asian high sah is examined to determine how the northwest southeast movement and area magnitude of sah influence the summer extreme precipitation across eastern china when the south asian high is located anomalously northwest there is more extreme precipitation over the northern part of eastern china but less extreme precipitation over the jiang huai river basin when the sah intensifies there is more extreme precipitation over the jiang huai river basin the mechanisms are that under the conditions of anomalously northwestward displacements the positive geopotential anomalies over central asia induce a deep barotropic korean high through a rossby wave train resulting in more water vapor transportation to eastern china with more convergence over the northern part of eastern china located at the northwestern edge of the korean high but with a divergence over the jiang huai river basin when the sah intensifies accompanied by an enhanced and westward extended western pacific subtropical high the convergence over the jiang huai river basin increases with enhanced water vapor transportation due to the confluence of warm and cold advections these mechanisms are achieved through shifts toward the high tail low tail of the daily precipitation cumulative distributions of these two regions and finally increases decreases in the occurrence of extreme precipitation

comparative tertiary stratigraphy of the rhine graben bresse graben and molasse basin correlation of alpine foreland events abstract comparative tectonostratigraphic analysis of the tertiary middle eocene pliocene of the rhine bresse graben system and the western molasse basin demonstrates the occurrence of eleven correlative sequences crf i xi these show a close relationship between intra basinal tectonics and depositional history their punctuated sediment accumulation can be related to phases of extra alpine taphrogenesis and alpine orogenesis and to coeval eustatic changes in sea level apparent simultaneity in rift and foredeep sequence development structural deformation and global change in sea level suggests a common causal control in which the development of the alps played an important role

the cenozoic evolution of the roer valley rift system integrated at a european scale the roer valley rift system rvrs is located between the west european rift and the north sea rift system during the cenozoic the rvrs was characterized by several periods of subsidence and inversion which are linked to the evolution of the adjacent rift systems combination of subsidence analysis and results from the analysis of thickness distributions and fault systems allows the determination of the cenozoic evolution and quantification of the subsidence during the early paleocene the rvrs was inverted laramide phase the backstripping method shows that the rvrs was subsequently mainly affected by two periods of subsidence during the late paleocene and the oligocene quaternary time intervals separated by an inversion phase during the late eocene during the oligocene and miocene periods the thickness of the sediments and the distribution of the active faults reveal a radical rotation of the direction of extension by about 70 80j counter clockwise integration of these results at a european scale indicates that the late paleocene subsidence was related to the evolution of the north sea basins whereas the oligocene quaternary subsidence is connected to the west european rift evolution the distribution of the inverted provinces also shows that the early paleocene inversion laramide phase has affected the whole european crust whereas the late eocene inversion was restricted to the southern north sea basins and the channel area finally comparison of these deformations in the european crust with the evolution of the alpine chain suggests that the formation of the alps has controlled the evolution of the european crust since the beginning of the cenozoic

tilting uplift volcanism and disintegration of the south german block abstract we present a large set of fault slip data together with six u pb ages on calcite vein fillings constraining the kinematics and timing of near surface uppermost 2 3 km of crust faulting of the uplifted south german block in the northern foreland of the nw ward advancing alps the structural data confirm earlier studies showing miocene subhorizontal ne directed extension with shortening mainly being subvertical but also subhorizontally nw oriented the u pb ages are between 15 3 0 2 and 2 3 1 1 ma 2 analytical uncertainty and date kinematically coordinated normal and strike slip faulting in the northern alpine foreland the faults in the south german block have limited strike lengths indicating that they do not cut deeply into the crust however the faults appear to control volcanic centers the melts of which originated at the base of the lithosphere we suggest that the miocene faults could tap the mantle because they reactivated formerly deep seated faults the ages for near surface faulting are coeval with eruption of the urach and hegau volcanics published data suggest that alpine shortening induced large wavelength lithospheric folding in the foreland since 18 16 ma volcanism in the south german block focussed along a lithospheric antiform which is in part superimposed on the foreland bulge of the alps we propose a close link between progressive southward tilting uplift and faulting of the south german block due to lithospheric scale folding and upward flow of the asthenosphere flexure of the lithosphere deep seated volcanism and the nw ward advancing alps

why the western pacific subtropical high has extended westward since the late 1970s the western pacific subtropical high wpsh is closely related to asian climate previous examination of changes in the wpsh found a westward extension since the late 1970s which has contributed to the inter decadal transition of east asian climate the reason for the westward extension is unknown however the present study suggests that this significant change of wpsh is partly due to the atmosphere s response to the observed indian ocean western pacific iwp warming coordinated by a european union s sixth framework programme understanding the dynamics of the coupled climate system dynamite five agcms were forced by identical idealized sea surface temperature patterns representative of the iwp warming and cooling the results of these numerical experiments suggest that the negative heating in the central and eastern tropical pacific and increased convective heating in the equatorial indian ocean maritime continent associated with iwp warming are in favor of the westward extension of wpsh the sst changes in iwp influences the walker circulation with a subsequent reduction of convections in the tropical central and eastern pacific which then forces an enso gill type response that modulates the wpsh the monsoon diabatic heating mechanism proposed by rodwell and hoskins plays a secondary reinforcing role in the westward extension of wpsh the low level equatorial flank of wpsh is interpreted as a kelvin response to monsoon condensational heating while the intensified poleward flow along the western flank of wpsh is in accord with sverdrup vorticity balance the iwp warming has led to an expansion of the south asian high in the upper troposphere as seen in the reanalysis

two facies interpretation of the basal layer of the greenland ice sheet contributes to a unified model of basal ice formation two exposures of basal ice in alaska and greenland which have previously provided the basis for contrasting models of basal ice development are in fact directly comparable reinterpretation of previous field descriptions combined with new structural and sedimentological data from west greenland facilitates a simple unification of previous models of basal ice development and a common terminology for the field description of basal ice sequences the stratigraphy of the basal ice sequence at any site indicates the subglacial conditions and processes operating up glacier of that site presented here are interpretations of the major sequence types

structure and growth of the izu bonin mariana arc crust 1 seismic constraint on crust and mantle structure of the mariana arc back arc system 1 a high resolution seismic velocity model is presented for the crust and upper mantle of the mariana arc back arc system mabs based on active source seismic profiling the major characteristics are 1 slow mantle velocity of 8 km s 1 in the uppermost mantle especially and deep reflectors under the mariana arc ma and the west mariana ridge wmr 2 a deep reflector in the upper mantle beneath the relative thick crust of the mariana trough mt axis 3 distribution of lower velocity lower crusts 6 7 6 9 km s 1 beneath the volcanic front and adjacent to the mt and 4 high velocity lower crust 7 2 7 4 km s 1 beneath the boundary regions between the ma and mt and between the wmr and the parece vela basin pvb adding to structural characteristics of crust and upper mantle beneath the mabs of the characteristics described above characteristic 1 suggests that the origins of the slow mantle velocity and the deep reflectors be explained by transfer of the lower crustal residues to the upper mantle across the moho considering that the wmr is extinct arc currently on the other hand characteristic 2 suggests that the origin of deep reflectors beneath the mt axis might be lower velocity materials due to the diffractive signals with strong amplitudes characteristic 3 suggests that the lower velocity lower crust advanced crustal growth and characteristic 4 suggests that the high velocity lower crust beneath arc back arc transition zone is composed of mafic ultramafic materials created by extensive partial melting of mantle peridotites or last stage of the arc magmatism rather than serpentinized peridotite

teleconnections in the geopotential height field during the northern hemisphere winter abstract contemporaneous correlations between geopotential heights on a given pressure surface at widely separated points on earth referred to as teleconnections in this paper are studied in an attempt to identify and document recurrent spatial patterns which might be indicative of standing oscillations in the planetary waves during the northern hemisphere winter with time scales on the order of a month or longer a review of existing literature on the subject reveals the existence of at least four such patterns the north atlantic and north pacific oscillations identified by walker and bliss 1932 a zonally symmetric seesaw between sea level pressures in polar and temperature latitudes first noted by lorenz 1951 and what we will refer to as the pacific north american pattern which has been known to operational long range forecasters in this country since the 1950 s a data set consisting of nmc monthly mean sea level pressure and 500 mb height analyses for a 15 year period is used as a basis fo

classification seasonality and persistence of low frequency atmospheric circulation patterns abstract orthogonally rotated principle component analysis rpca of northern hemisphere 1 month mean 700 mb heights is used to identify and describe the seasonality and persistence of the major modes of interannual variability the analysis is detailed and comprehensive in that 1 a high resolution approximately equal area 358 point grid is used for the virtually maximum possible 35 year period of record 2 a positive bias in the nmc data base in the early 1950s in the subtropics is largely eliminated for the first time and 3 homogeneous separate analyses of each month of the year are carried out detailing the mouth to month changes in the dominant circulation patterns winter results are similar to those of other recent rpca and teleconnection studies except that some less obvious patterns are identified and further detail of the better known patterns is provided two north south dipole patterns are found over the pacific ocean west pacific oscillation and east pacific pattern and over the atla

the structural evolution of the english channel area the structural evolution of the english channel area is controlled by structure and particularly by the pre existing cadomian and variscan crustal discontinuities which have been reactivated repeatedly in post variscan times they controlled the crustal subsidence that produced basin development in the mesozoic prior to the sea floor spreading in the north atlantic region they were then reactivated during the cenozoic compression and basin inversion the english channel development is ascribed to mid tertiary differential uplift oligocene to miocene during late tertiary to quaternary times the channel displays characteristics of a tectonically controlled fluvial basin periodically invaded by the sea at the lithospheric scale the channel can be considered as an active intraplate area influenced by the nw se alpine push the nw se atlantic ridge push and glacial rebound stresses copyright 2003 john wiley sons ltd

the formation mechanism of the bonin high in august the bonin high is a subtropical anticyclone that is predominant near japan in the summer this anticyclone is associated with an equivalent barotropic structure often extending throughout the entire troposphere although the equivalent barotropic structure of the bonin high has been known for years among synopticians because of its importance to the summer climate in east asia there are few dynamical explanations for such a structure the present paper attempts to provide a formation mechanism for the deep ridge near japan we propose a new hypothesis that this equivalent barotropic ridge near japan is formed as a result of the propagation of stationary rossby waves along the asian jet in the upper troposphere the silk road pattern first the monthly mean climatology is examined in order to demonstrate this hypothesis it is shown that the enhanced asian jet in august is favourable for the propagation of stationary rossby waves and that the regions of descent over the eastern mediterranean sea and the aral sea act as two major wave sources second a primitive equation model is used to simulate the climatology of august the model successfully simulates the bonin high with an equivalent barotropic structure the upper tropospheric ridge is found to be enhanced by a height anomaly of more than 80 m at 200 hpa when a wave packet arrives sensitivity experiments are conducted to show that the removal of the diabatic cooling over the asian jet suppresses the silk road pattern and formation of an equivalent barotropic ridge near japan while the removal of the diabatic heating in the western pacific does not copyright 2003 royal meteorological society

preservation of basal ice sediment texture in ice sheet moraines ice sheet moraines near kangerlussuaq in west greenland inherit distinctive particle size distributions from basal ice although debris structures from the basal ice are commonly destroyed by deposition and resedimentation processes the abundance of clay and silt in the dispersed faciesa basal ice at the ice sheet margin is clearly re ected in the sedimentology of the ice sheet moraine geographical variations in the texture or grain size of moraine sediments may thus re ect geographical variations in basal ice this o ers a new approach to reconstructing the basal ice characteristics and hence the thermal and dynamic properties of former ice sheets 2000 elsevier science ltd all rights reserved

tectonostratigraphy of the west alpine foreland correlation of tertiary sedimentary sequences changes in eustatic sea level and stress regimes abstract analysis of the tertiary depositional history of the west alpine foreland shows that its different basins were governed by essentially synchronous tectonostratigraphic scenarios the tectono sedimentary records of the west alpine foredeep and molasse basin and the rhone and massif central grabens demonstrate successions of tectonic deformation events and so called cenozoic rift and foredeep crf sequences which correlate to both changes in eustatic sea level and coeval modification in foreland stress regime since correlative successions developed in the north alpine foreland it seems likely that the western and northern alpine foreland stress fields were repeatedly modified at the same time compressional stresses associated with the intermittent tectonic and sedimentary changes in the foreland originated firstly from the alpine and pyrenean orogens in conjunction with the episodic history of the foreland stress regime the syn orogenic accumulation of widespread tectono sedimentary sequences reflects sequential kinematic events in the adjacent mountain chains the apparent synchroneity of the tectonostratigraphic events in the principal basins of the west alpine foreland testifies for a common geodynamic cause for the occurrence of correlative series of widespread tectonic phases and crf subdivisions

earthquake depth distributions in central asia and their relations with lithosphere thickness shortening and extension this paper examines the relationship between seismogenic thickness lithosphere structure and rheology in central and northeastern asia we accurately determine earthquake depth distributions which reveal important rheological variations in the lower crust these variations exert a fundamental control on the active tectonics and the morphological evolution of the continents we consider 323 earthquakes across the tibetan plateau the tien shan and their forelands as well as the baikal rift ne siberia and the laptev sea and present the source parameters of 94 of these here for the first time these parameters have been determined through body wave inversion the identification of depth phases or the modelling of regional waveforms lower crustal earthquakes are found to be restricted to the forelands in areas undergoing shortening and to locations where rifting coincides with abrupt changes in lithosphere thickness such as the ne baikal rift and w laptev sea the lower crust in these areas is seismogenic at temperatures that may be as high as 600 c suggesting that it is anhydrous and is likely to have great long term strength lower crustal earthquakes are therefore a useful proxy indicating strong lithosphere in places that are too small in areal extent for this to be confirmed independently by estimating effective elastic thickness from gravity topography relations the variation in crustal rheology indicated by the distribution of lower crustal earthquakes has many implications ranging from the support of mountain belts and the formation of steep mountain fronts to the localization and orientation of rifting in combination these processes can also be responsible for the separation of the front of the thin skinned mountain belts from their hinterlands when continents separate

distinguishing interannual variations and possible impacted factors for the northern and southern mode of south asia high given the large meridional coverage of south asian high sah the interannual variabilities of sah and the corresponding impacted factors may differ between mid to high latitude and low latitude components of sah this study distinguishes the interannual variations of the mid to high latitude and low latitude components of sah to obtain further understanding of sah variations by means of composite analysis this study investigates the characteristics of the northern and southern mode of sah variation n sah s sah when the sah is regarded as an entirety e sah based on numerous previous studies it strengthens distinctly and expands toward both meridional and zonal directions in strong e sah comparing to weak e sah the geopotential height hgt and tropospheric temperature tt anomalies related to the e sah are concurrently observed over the low latitude and mid to high latitude regions in contrast when n sah and s sah are defined in this study the sah is distinctly strengthened only over its northern southern side and expands northward southward in strong n sah s sah comparing to the weak group the hgt and tt anomalies related to the n sah s sah cases are limited over the mid to high latitude low latitude regions possible impacted factors related to e sah n sah and s sah are further analyzed the n sah is closely associated with precipitation anomalies over indian peninsula meridional circulation over tibet plateau tp land surface temperature lst anomalies over indian peninsula and northern tp meridional lst gradient between indian peninsula and northern tp and circumglobal teleconnection cgt for instance positive rainfall anomalies together with obviously ascending motion over indian peninsula contributes to a decreased lst anomalies via cloud radiation feedback here which forms a north to south lst gradient the lst gradient will reduce the climatological south to north lst gradient here which in turn contributes to a northward meridional circulation over northern tp and finally contribute to a strong n sah existing over north of 25 n furthermore the positive rainfall anomalies over indian peninsula tends to inspire a strong cgt over mid high latitude through atmospheric response to condensation latent heating source which in turn contributes to a strong n sah in contrast the meridional circulation associated with s sah is exhibited by southward shifting over southern tp south of 30 n due to atmospheric response to heating source generated by significant sst anomalies over indian ocean obviously warm center is observed in low upper troposphere from tropical region to southern tp which finally result in a strong s sah accompanied by shifting southward however variation of e sah is a result of the combined action of rainfall anomalies over indian peninsula and sst anomalies over indian ocean these differences indicate that it is necessary and of scientific significance to distinguish the northern and southern mode of the sah

circumglobal teleconnection in the northern hemisphere summer analysis of the 56 yr ncep ncar reanalysis data reveals a recurrent circumglobal teleconnection cgt pattern in the summertime midlatitude circulation of the northern hemisphere this pattern represents the second leading empirical orthogonal function of interannual variability of the uppertropospheric circulation the cgt having a zonal wavenumber 5 structure is primarily positioned within a waveguide that is associated with the westerly jet stream the spatial phases of cgt tend to lock to preferred longitudes the geographically phase locked patterns bear close similarity during june august and september but the pattern in july shows shorter wavelengths in the north pacific north america sector the cgt is accompanied by significant rainfall and surface air temperature anomalies in the continental regions of western europe european russia india east asia and north america this implies that the cgt may be a source of climate variability and predictability in the above mentioned midlatitude regions the cgt has significant correlations with the indian summer monsoon ism and el nino southern oscillation enso however in normal ism years the cgt enso correlation disappears on the other hand in the absence of el nino or la nina the cgt ism correlation remains significant it is suggested that the ism acts as a conductor connecting the cgt and enso when the interaction between the ism and enso is active enso may influence northern china via the ism and the cgt additionally the variability of the cgt has no significant association with the arctic oscillation and the variability of the western north pacific summer monsoon the circulation of the wave train shows a barotropic structure everywhere except the cell located to the northwest of india where a baroclinic circulation structure dominates two possible scenarios are proposed the abnormal ism may excite an anomalous west central asian high and downstream rossby wave train extending to the north pacific and north america on the other hand a wave train that is excited in the jet exit region of the north atlantic may affect the westcentral asian high and thus the intensity of the ism it is hypothesized that the interaction between the global wave train and the ism heat source may be instrumental in maintaining the boreal summer cgt

identification of basal layer debris in ice marginal moraines russell glacier west greenland different processes of ice formation and deformation at the glacier bed create distinctive basal ice facies the geographical distribution of these facies at the glacier margin can indicate the distribution of subglacial environments previous research has shown that debris in dispersed facies basal ice at the margin of the greenland ice sheet has a distinctive particle size distribution that can also be recognised in moraines deposited where the dispersed facies is present this permits reconstruction of the distribution of basal ice characteristics and subglacial conditions from moraine sediments here we study stratified and debris band facies of the basal ice layer at the same site we find that contrary to previous suggestions these two facies can also be distinguished sedimentologically co variant plots of the c40 aggregate shape and ra aggregate roundness indices show that pebble and cobble sized clasts 2 to 7 in the debris bands are statistically more angular than those in the stratified facies sedimentological characteristics of the parent facies are retained in ice marginal moraines combined with previous work these new observations suggest that the geographical distribution of basal ice facies at a glacier margin can be reconstructed from sedimentological characteristics preserved in moraines

impact of indian summer monsoon on the south asian high and its influence on summer rainfall over china by using the monthly era 40 reanalysis data and observed rainfall data we investigated the effect of the indian summer monsoon ism on the south asian high sah at 200 hpa and the role played by the sah in summer rainfall variation over china it is found that in the interannual timescale the east west shift is a prominent feature of the sah with its center either over the iranian plateau or over the tibetan plateau when the ism is stronger weaker than normal the sah shifts westward eastward to the iranian plateau tibetan plateau the east west position of sah has close relation to the summer rainfall over china a westward eastward location of sah corresponds to less more rainfall in the yangtze huai river valley and more less rainfall in north china and south china a possible physical process that the ism affects the summer rainfall over china via the sah is proposed a stronger weaker ism associated with more less rainfall over india corresponds to more less condensation heat release and anomalous heating cooling in the upper troposphere over the northern indian peninsula the anomalous heating cooling stimulates positive negative height anomalies to its northwest and negative positive height anomalies to its northeast in the upper troposphere causing a westward eastward shift of the sah with its center over the iranian plateau tibetan plateau as a result an anomalous cyclone anticyclone is formed over the eastern tibetan plateau and eastern china in the upper troposphere the anomalous vertical motions in association with the circulation anomalies are responsible for the rainfall anomalies over china our present study reveals that the sah may play an important role in the effect of ism on the east asian summer monsoon

effect of the thermal gradient variation through geological time on basin modeling a case study the paris basin many studies investigated the thermal modeling of the paris basin for petroleum interests during the 1970s most of the softwares developed by oil companies or research centers were based on the assumption of a constant thermal gradient in order to take into consideration the variation of the thermal gradient during basin evolution we developed the thermo s visual basic 1d program we applied our model to twenty boreholes located along a cross section roughly running ew over 150 km in the center of the paris basin the numerical results were calibrated with organic matter maturity data thermo s simulates the amount of heat provided to the sedimentary organic matter the heat parameter simulated shows lateral variation along the cross section it decreases from rambouillet to trou aux loups boreholes 87 66 mw m2 at about 100 km more to the east whereas the heat flux value simulated is 73 mw m2 in st loup borehole the mean thermal gradient calculated for liassic horizons at 87 my for the rambouillet well is 50 4 c km this value is similar to previously published results by integrating the calculation of the thermal gradients and conductivities related to the burial of each stratigraphic sequence our approach points out variations in the thermal regimes the sedimentary organic matter som has been subjected to through geological time

a new multilayered model for intraplate stress induced differential subsidence of faulted lithosphere applied to rifted basins in plane horizontal stresses acting on predeformed lithosphere induce differential flexural vertical motions a high precision record of these motions can be found in the sedimentary record of rifted basins originally it was proposed that rifted basins experience flank uplift and basin center subsidence in response to a compressive change of in plane stress which agrees well with observed differential motions subsequently published models predicted that the vertical motions may be opposite because of the flexural state of the lithosphere induced by necking during extension however the total flexural and permanent geometry of the lithosphere underlying the rifted basin is the controlling parameter for the in plane stress caused vertical motions the largest part of this preexisting geometry is caused by faulting in the uppermost brittle part of the crust and ductile deformation in the underlying parts of the lithosphere we present a new multilayered model for stress induced differential subsidence taking into account the technically induced preexisting geometry of the lithosphere including faults in the upper crust as continental lithosphere may exhibit flexural decoupling due to a weak lower crustal layer the new multilayer in plane stress model discriminates the geometries of the separate competent layers at a basin wide scale the new model predicts that a compressive change of in plane force results in basin center subsidence and flank uplift confirming the original hypothesis compared to all previous models the new model requires a lower horizontal stress level change to explain observed differential vertical motions

basin evolution in a folding lithosphere altai sayan and tien shan belts in central asia abstract central asia is a classical example for continental lithospheric folding in particular the altay sayan belt in south siberia and the kyrgyz tien shan display a special mode of lithospheric deformation involving decoupled lithospheric mantle folding and upper crustal folding and faulting both areas have a heterogenous crust with a long history of accretion collision subsequently reactivated as a far field effect of the indian eurasian collision thanks to the youthfulness of the tectonic deformation in this region peak deformation in late pliocene early pleistocene the surface expression of lithospheric deformation is well documented by the surface topography and superficial tectonic structures a review of the paleostress data and tectono stratigraphic evolution of the kurai chuya basin in siberian altai zaisan basin in kazakh south altai and issyk kul basin in kyrgyz tien shan suggests that they were initiated in an extensional context and inverted by a combination of fault controlled deformation and flexural folding in these basins fault controlled deformation alone appears largely insufficient to explain their architecture lithospheric buckling inducing surface tilting uplift and subsidence also played an important role they form typical basins in a folding lithosphere flb their characteristic basin fill and symmetry inner structure folding wavelength and amplitude thermal regime time frame are examined in relation to basement structure stress field strain rate timing of deformation and compared to existing modelling results

gravity and geomorphological evidence for a large crustal bulge cutting across brittany france a tectonic response to the closure of the bay of biscay abstract moho undulations from the analyses of the gravity anomalies over brittany computed by incorporating various improvements in the classical filtering technique have been compared with deep seismic refraction data by progressively low pass filtering the gravity anomalies with increasing cut off wavelengths some distinct new anomaly trends associated with deep structures have become prominent comparisons with heat flow and wide angle seismic reflection results confirm that the sources of these anomalies are located at the lowest part of the crust in brittany the image of the moho undulations reveals the presence of a prominent n130 moho downwarp cutting across the superficial geological trends on the surface this trend corresponds to an active topographic uplift and indicates that the deep crustal bulge is still building up this structure is bounded by n130 dextral faults that are known to accommodate the actual closure of the bay of biscay west of brittany this shortening is also at the origin of an east west oriented bulge previously mapped with the same technique this bulge limits and postdates the subsidence of mesozoic and cenozoic basins of the celtic sea

dobre 2 warr profile the earth s upper crust across crimea between the azov massif and the northeastern black sea the dobre 2 wide angle reflection and refraction profile was acquired in june 2007 as a direct southwestwards prolongation of the 1999 dobrefraction 99 that crossed the donbas foldbelt in eastern ukraine it crosses the azov massif of the east european craton the azov sea the kerch peninsula the easternmost part of crimea and the northern east black sea basin thus traversing the entire crimea caucasus compressional zone centred on the kerch peninsula the dobre 2 profile recorded a mix of onshore explosive sources as well as airguns at sea a variety of single component recorders were used on land and ocean bottom instruments were deployed offshore and recovered by ship the dobre 2 datasets were degraded by a lack of shot point reversal at the southwestern terminus and by some poor signal registration elsewhere in particular in the black sea nevertheless they allowed a robust velocity model of the upper crust to be constructed along the entire profile as well as through the entire crust beneath the azov massif a less well constrained model was constructed for much of the crust beneath the azov sea and the kerch peninsula the results showed that there is a significant change in the upper crustal lithology in the northern azov sea expressed in the near surface as the main azov fault this boundary can be taken as the boundary between the east european craton and the scythian platform the upper crustal rocks of the scythian platform in this area probably consist of metasedimentary rocks a narrow unit as shallow as about 5 km and characterized by velocities typical of the crystalline basement bounds the metasedimentary succession on its southern margin and also marks the northern margin of the northern foredeep and the underlying successions of the crimea caucasus compressional zone in the southern part of the azov sea a broader and somewhat deeper basement unit about 11 km with an antiformal shape lies beneath the northern east black sea basin and forms the southern margin of the crimea caucasus compressional zone the depth of the underlying moho discontinuity increases from 40 km beneath the azov massif to 47 km beneath the crimea caucasus compressional zone

controls of mantle plumes and lithospheric folding on modes of intraplate continental tectonics differences and similarities summary mantle plume activity and lithospheric folding by far field stresses exerted from plate boundaries are two important end members as mechanisms for continental intraplate deformation the topographic expression of mantle plume impingement on continental lithosphere and lithospheric folding has some striking similarities observations from a number of areas in europe s intraplate lithosphere demonstrate that these mechanisms commonly interact in space and time we present the results of thermomechanical modelling addressing the role of factors such as the presence of a hot upper mantle the spatial dimensions of the plume and the time constants involved in the temporal succession of plume activity and lithospheric folding by stress accumulation in intraplate continental lithosphere the results demonstrate that both the processes plume lithosphere interactions and folding may interact resulting either in strong amplification attenuation or modification of their surface expression these inferences are compatible with a number of key observations on the nature and the temporal succession of topography evolution in the alpine foreland the pannonian basin the scandinavian continental margin and the iberian peninsula

melt out till and ribbed moraine formation a case study from south sweden abstract hummocky moraine with dispersed agglomerations of ribbed moraine here named asnen type ribbed moraine forms a 20 40 km wide zone over smaland south sweden terminated to the north by a sharp boundary to streamlined terrain the hummocky ribbed moraine zone can be geomorphologically linked to the subaqueous goteborg moraine formed at an oscillation stand still phase during the deglaciation of the swedish west coast based on detailed sedimentological and structural investigations of ribbed moraine ridges it is concluded that diamict sequences and associated sorted sediment were deposited due to passive melt out from stagnant debris rich ice with synsedimentary deposition of sorted sediments preferentially at a melting ice bed interface to accommodate for the geomorphological expression such an interpretation further implies that debris rich ice formed in an intermediate adfreezing zone between ice at the pressure melting point and a frontal frozen zone at deglaciation basal debris rich ice was stacked into transversally arranged zones controlled moraine forming ribbed moraine embryos the active phase of ridge formation the stacked sequences of debris rich ice eventually melted out beneath a stable and melt retarding supraglacial ablation complex to form the final moraine ridges the passive phase of ridge formation in areas with no stable supraglacial ablation complex the resulting landform after final de icing was a hummocky moraine landscape internal composition of moraine hummocks suggests that most of them are composed of sediment gravity flow sediments intercalated with stream deposited sediments all resting on a platform of subglacial melt out till de icing of the zone now occupied by hummocky and ribbed moraine took a considerable time deglacial 14 c age differences from lake basins on either side of the geomorphic boundary to the streamlined terrain indicate a separation between active and stagnant ice along that boundary and that it took another 200 300 yr for the stagnant ice zone to melt during the final formation of present day landforms

mapping of crustal discontinuities by wavelength filtering of the gravity field1 a statistical technique based on the concept of a 1d energy density spectrum of the observed gravity field has been used to compute ensemble average depths to various horizons containing causative sources of random geometric shape size density etc the plot of the logarithm of the energy of the observed bouguer anomaly versus the angular frequency can be approximated over a certain frequency band by a linear segment whose slope is related to an average ensemble depth around which a random distribution of numerous anomalous sources exists suitable matched filters based on the computed values of intercepts and slopes of several linear segments approximating the spectrum have been used to deconvolve the gravity effects associated with the causative sources occurring around their respective mean depths the individual deconvolved gravity effects thus separated out have been modelled using the sin x x method by assuming a fluctuating interface between two formations the applicability of the present method has been assessed using two observed bouguer anomaly profiles one from ujjain to mahan and the other from jhansi to mandla where deep seismic sounding dss results are available the proposed geological crustal models along these two profiles exhibit reasonably good agreement with those obtained from dss results a geologically plausible model of the crust in a virgin region has been presented along a bouguer anomaly profile from jaipur to raipur the following main conclusions have been drawn from the present analysis 1 the depths to the moho and archaean basement interfaces fluctuate between 33 2 and 36 8 km and between 4 6 and 7 0 km respectively 2 the narmada son lineament nsl does not coincide exactly with the moho upwarp beneath it however this offset is greater in the eastern part of the nsl rather than in the western part 3 the development of the satpura horst structure is due to a rise in the moho interface in a compressional regime 4 the intrabasement feature depth from 5 to 12 km represents a hybrid massif possibly formed due to an admixture of sialic and simatic crust under a tensional regime in the ujjain mahan section

crustal structure from gravity signatures in the iberian peninsula through two dimensional fi ltering and spectral analysis of gravity data we infer the density structure of the iberia peninsula s lithosphere western europe the gravity anomaly map of the iberian peninsula displays long wavelength anomaly minima related to alpine ranges these anomalies are primarily linked to a greater crustal thickness low pass filtering of the anomaly map using a cutoff wavelength of 150 km was adequate for effective separation of shallow and deep sources used for computing the three dimensional 3 d moho interface tsuboi s technique identical to the equivalent stratum theorem is used here to map the 3 d moho interface by selecting mean source depths from the results of the spectral analysis and assuming a homogeneous density contrast of 350 kg m3 the most characteristic feature of the 3 d moho geometry was the presence of several lows associated with mountain ranges created by alpine tectonics in those areas the gravity derived moho reaches a depth of up to 45 km in the pyrenees and cantabrian mountains and close to 40 km under the betics central system and iberian chain under the iberian massif the western part of the iberian peninsula composed of a variscan basement the moho was located at a depth of 30 36 km these results are consistent with existing seismic data and indicate that gravity based techniques can provide very good estimates of lithosphere structure

lithospheric memory state of stress and rheology neotectonic controls on europe s intraplate continental topography abstract to date research on neotectonics and related continental topography development has mostly focused on active plate boundaries characterized by generally high deformation rates the intraplate sedimentary basins and rifts of the northern alpine foreland are associated with a much higher level of neotectonic activity than hitherto assumed seismicity and stress indicator data combined with geodetic and geomorphologic observations demonstrate that europe s intraplate lithosphere is being actively deformed this has major implications for the assessment of its natural hazards and environmental degradation the lithosphere of the northern alpine foreland has undergone a polyphase evolution with an intense interplay between upper mantle thermal perturbations and stress induced intraplate deformation that points to the importance of lithospheric folding of the thermally weakened lithosphere in this paper we address relationships between deeper lithospheric processes neotectonics and surface processes in the northern alpine foreland with special emphasis on tectonically induced topography the objectives are to quantify the effects of ongoing alpine collision and atlantic ridge push on the intraplate deformation in europe and its impact on topography evolution and related natural hazards this paper reviews the four dimensional topographic evolution of the european lithosphere through a multi disciplinary approach linking geology geophysics and geotechnology until now research on neotectonics and related topography development of intraplate regions has received little attention our study examines a number of selected natural laboratories in continental europe from orogen through platform to continental margin these natural laboratories include the carpathians pannonian system the northwest european platform iberia and the atlantic continental margin we focus on lithosphere memory and neotectonics with special attention to the thermo mechanical structure of the lithosphere mechanisms of large scale intraplate deformation late neogene anomalies in subsidence and uplift and links with surface processes and topography evolution

structural controls on sedimentary basin evolution introduction this volume contains a collection of papers on structural controls on sedimentary basin evolution presented at the sixth annual workshop of the international lithosphere program task force origin of sedimentary basins in sitges at the rim of the ebro basin september 1995 previous workshops of the ilp task force had been in rueil malmaison france 1990 in matrahaza hungary 1991 on the rim of the pannonian basin in sundvollen norway 1992 in the oslo graben in benevento italy 1993 in the southern apennines fold andthrust belt and in the dead sea rift of israel 1994 the task force also organized a number of sessions during the 1992 and 1996 european geophysical society and the 1993 and 1995 european union of geosciences conferences reports of these meetings have been published in a number of special volumes and papers cloetingh et al 1993a b 1994 1995a b 1996 stephenson 1993 stephenson et al 1996 a position paper cloetingh sassi and task force team 1994 published in m a r i n e a n d p e t r o l e u m geo logy has outlined the task force strategy to pursue the development of a new generation of basin models using natural laboratories with high quality data sets obtained through close partnership with industry the 7th task force workshop was held on the faroe islands northern atlantic in 1996 with the aim of examining the dynamics of rifting

lithospheric folding in iberia integration of stress indicator data gravity data crustal kinematics data and analysis of topography and recent vertical motions demonstrates the occurrence of consistently oriented spatial patterns of large scale alpine to recent intraplate deformation in iberia the inferred upper crustal and lithospheric deformation patterns and the timing of the associated expressions at or near the surface support the existence of a close coupling with plate boundary processes operating at the margins of iberia patterns of lithosphere and upper crustal folds are oriented perpendicular to the main axis of present day intraplate compression in iberia inferred from structural analysis of stress indicator data and focal mechanism solutions these findings suggest the presence of lithospheric folds with wavelengths compatible with theoretical predictions of folding wavelengths of variscan lithosphere stress induced intraplate deformation set up by plate interactions is compatible with indications for the absence of present day deep mantle lithosphere interactions inferred from seismic tomography

more intense more frequent and longer lasting heat waves in the 21st century a global coupled climate model shows that there is a distinct geographic pattern to future changes in heat waves model results for areas of europe and north america associated with the severe heat waves in chicago in 1995 and paris in 2003 show that future heat waves in these areas will become more intense more frequent and longer lasting in the second half of the 21st century observations and the model show that present day heat waves over europe and north america coincide with a specific atmospheric circulation pattern that is intensified by ongoing increases in greenhouse gases indicating that it will produce more severe heat waves in those regions in the future

topo europe from iberia to the carpathians and analogues abstract earth sciences are rapidly changing from largely descriptive to process oriented disciplines that aim at quantitative models for the reconstruction and forecasting of the complex processes in the solid earth prediction is highly relevant for the basic needs of humanity supply of water and resources protection against natural hazards and control on the environmental degradation of the earth intensive utilization of the human habitat carries largely unknown risks of and makes us increasingly vulnerable there is an urgent need for scientifically advanced geo prediction systems that can accurately locate subsurface resources and forecast timing and magnitude of natural hazards the design of such systems is a major multidisciplinary scientific challenge the quantitative understanding of the earth has made significant progress in the last few decades important ingredients in this process have been the advances made in seismological methods to obtain information on the 3d structure of the mantle and the lithosphere in the quantitative understanding of the lithospheric processes as well as the recognition of the key role of quantitative sedimentary basin analysis in connecting temporal and spatial scales quantitative understanding of the mass transfer by erosion and deposition as well as their feed back with crustal and subcrustal dynamics presents a new frontier in modern earth sciences this research bridges investigations on high resolution near surface time scales and the large scale long term approaches characteristic for the lithosphere and basin wide studies the essential step towards a 4d approach in space and time is a direct response to the need for a full incorporation of geological and geophysical constraints in the modelling of solid earth processes topo europe is a multidisciplinary international research program that addresses the interaction of processes inherent to the deep earth lithosphere and mantle with surface processes erosion climate and sea level which together shaped the topography of europe the objective of this programme is to quantify natural hazards by incorporating data interactive modelling focused on the lithosphere memory and neotectonics with special attention on the thermo mechanical structure of the lithosphere mechanisms controlling large scale plate boundaries and intraplate deformations anomalous subsidence and uplift and links with surface processes and topography evolution

genesis of the south asian high and its impact on the asian summer monsoon onset abstractthe formation of the south asian high sah in spring and its impacts on the asian summer monsoon onset are studied using daily 40 yr ecmwf re analysis era 40 data together with a climate mean composite technique and potential vorticity diabatic heating pv q analysis results demonstrate that about 2 weeks before the asian summer monsoon onset a burst of convection over the southern philippines produces a negative vorticity source to its north the sah in the upper troposphere over the south china sea is then generated as an atmospheric response to this negative vorticity forcing with the streamline field manifesting a gill type pattern afterward the persistent rainfall over the northern indochinese peninsula causes the sah to move westward toward the peninsula consequently a trumpet shaped flow field is formed to its southwest resulting in divergence pumping and atmospheric ascent just over the southeastern bay of bengal bob near the surface as a surface anticyclone is formed over t

strength reversal in europe s intraplate lithosphere transition from basin inversion to lithospheric folding an intriguing paradox in european tectonics is that present intracontinental seismicity seems to be broadly distributed whereas past deformation was restricted to sedimentary basin areas these basins were created by repeated mesozoic rifting and later affected by pervasive late cretaceous early tertiary inversion we propose that the change from localized deformation to distributed seismicity reflects changes in strength due to an interplay between neogene thermal perturbations by mantle plumes and stress induced intraplate deformation as a result inversion tectonics in the north sea basin area ceased and gave way to lithospheric folding which is most pronounced in onshore paleozoic massif areas thermomechanical models demonstrate that this important transition in the mode and distribution of intraplate deformation can be explained by a strength reversal resulting from the combined effects of changes in moho depth due to the transition from rifting to inversion and heating by mantle plumes 2005 geological society of america

how to measure the strength of the east asian summer monsoon defining the intensity of the east asian summer monsoon easm has been extremely controversial this paper elaborates on the meanings of 25 existing easm indices in terms of two observed major modes of interannual variation in the precipitation and circulation anomalies for the 1979 2006 period the existing indices can be classified into five categories the east west thermal contrast north south thermal contrast shear vorticity of zonal winds southwesterly monsoon and south china sea monsoon the last four types of indices reflect various aspects of the leading mode of interannual variability of the easm rainfall and circulations which correspond to the decaying el nino while the first category reflects the second mode that corresponds to the developing el nino the authors recommend that the easm strength can be represented by the principal component of the leading mode of the interannual variability which provides a unified index for the majority of the existing indices this new index is extremely robust captures a large portion 50 of the total variance of the precipitation and three dimensional circulation and has unique advantages over all the existing indices the authors also recommend a simple index the reversed wang and fan index which is nearly identical to the leading principal component of the easm and greatly facilitates real time monitoring the proposed index highlights the significance of the mei yu baiu changma rainfall in gauging the strength of the easm the mei yu which is produced in the primary rain bearing system the east asian ea subtropical front better represents the variability of the easm circulation system this new index reverses the traditional chinese meaning of a strong easm which corresponds to a deficient mei yu that is associated with an abnormal northward extension of southerly over northern china the new definition is consistent with the meaning used in other monsoon regions worldwide where abundant rainfall within the major local rain bearing monsoon system is considered to be a strong monsoon

basal ice facies a review and unifying approach abstract over the past 30 years numerous basal ice facies have been identified named and classified however the resulting facies descriptions and names are inconsistent and no single scheme encompasses all of the different ice types that exist at different ice masses in this paper we review and critique existing basal ice facies names descriptions and classification schemes and propose a new non genetic approach that has the capacity to name and describe all basal ice types we define six fundamental basal cryofacies and a further 12 composite cryofacies which can all be defined on the basis of a cursory evaluation of debris disposition and concentration more detailed cryofacies description is based on characterizing three sets of ice properties that can also be estimated visually in the field a the thickness of the basal ice facies and its constituent sub layers b the concentration and texture of debris included within any or all of those layers and c the concentration and size of bubbles included within any or all of those layers we also propose a shorthand method for the presentation of this descriptive information here codes for the layer thicknesses are presented as standard text and codes for the included debris characteristics and included bubble characteristics are presented as superscripts and subscripts respectively sub layers are characterized similarly but within a nested sequence of brackets we evaluate the effectiveness of these two schemes by using them to rename and reclassify several existing basal ice facies results indicate that the schemes are robust and that they provide a coherent non genetic framework for the effective naming and description of basal cryofacies

discussion on evolution of the european cenozoic rift system interaction of the alpine and pyrenean orogens with their foreland lithosphere by p dezes s m schmid and p a ziegler tectonophysics 389 2004 1 33 the evolution and origin of the european cenozoic rift system ecris is a matter of debate for several decades e g tapponnier 1977 bergerat 1987 ziegler 1992 michon et al 2003 this rift system was characterized by the development of several grabens in the pyrenean and alpine forelands and by a magmatic activity starting at the k t transition dezes et al 2004 propose an additional reappraisal and interpret the ecris formation and the associated volcanism as resulting from the alpine and pyrenean collision and the emplacement of a mantle plume at depth below western europe our remarks on this paper will be focused on three different topics which make the final conclusions of dezes et al i e origin of the extension in the ecris highly questionable

strike slip tectonics and quaternary basin formation along the vienna basin fault system inferred from bouguer gravity derivatives 1 the vienna basin at the transition between the alpine and carpathian belt hosts a number of large pleistocene sub basins forming along an active continental scale strike slip fault vienna basin strike slip fault we utilize first order derivatives from industrial bouguer gravity data to unravel the impacts of pleistocene kinematics on the vienna basin and to compensate for the lack of near surface fault data anomalies have been evaluated by independent geophysical and geological data and were integrated to build up a tectonic model factors influencing the wavelength and the amplitude of anomalies were additionally investigated by 2 d models to better interpret field data subsidence and related accumulation of quaternary sediments in the vienna basin produce significant gravity signals related to the activity of the strike slip fault the constrained fault patterns and structures highlight tight and elongated transtensional pull apart basins with typically associated features like separated depocenters and riedel fractured sidewalls in an en echelon alignment further pleistocene basins are highlighted as tectonic grabens developing along branches of the master fault the vienna basin is additionally affected by minor deformation represented by both subsidence along major miocene sidewalls and nw se faulting resulting in distinct topographic features which manifests kinematics on a regional scale the clear density contrasts between miocene marine and quaternary terrestrial sediments as well as the exceptional database provide a unique framework to demonstrate advantages of incorporating gravity derivatives for near surface fault analysis

post rift compressional reactivation potential of passive margins and extensional basins poly phase deformation of a compressional nature is a common feature in the post rift evolution of passive margins and rifts the compressional mode of deformation in these sedimentary basins originally formed by extension in an intraplate setting is characterized by a spectrum of spatial wavelengths spanning several tens of kilometres up to several hundreds of kilometres the actual mode of compressional deformation appears to be strongly affected by the rheological structure of the underlying lithosphere the level of the regional intraplate stress field and the geometry of the rifted basin configuration prior to late stage compressional reactivation the interplay of plumes and intraplate compressional deformation can lead to temporal transitions from basin inversion to lithospheric folding these modes of deformation lead to substantial differential vertical motions late stage anomalies in subsidence and uplift patterns the development of innovative combinations of numerical and analogue modelling techniques is the key to differentiating different modes of compressional deformation of passive margins and extensional basins the geological society of london 2008

intraplate deformation and 3d rheological structure of the rhine rift system and adjacent areas of the northern alpine foreland the lithosphere of the northern alpine foreland has undergone a polyphase evolution during which interacting stress induced intraplate deformation and upper mantle thermal perturbations controlled folding of the thermally weakened lithosphere in this paper we address relationships among deeper lithospheric processes neotectonics and surface processes in the northern alpine foreland with special emphasis on tectonically induced topography we focus on lithosphere memory and neotectonics paying special attention to the thermo mechanical structure of the rhine graben system and adjacent areas of the northern alpine foreland lithosphere we discuss implications for mechanisms of large scale intraplate deformation and links with surface processes and topography evolution

gravity evidence for an alpine buckling of the crust beneath the paris basin abstract the processing of the gravity data of the paris basin has enlightened the existence of crustal ridges these ridges correspond to the zones of different crustal thicknesses in plan view the ridges are concentric with the alpine orogen and were probably controlled by this tertiary alpine mountain building the thinned zones related with the mesozoic and pre mesozoic basins were already existing before the alpine deformations these are of limited size and clearly associated with the basins on a large scale two different domains have been recognized the first one corresponds with a zone where the crust is 37 km thick it is also the place where the tertiary depocentres developed the second one relates with a zone where the crust is 29 30 km thick it has been uplifted during the alpine orogeny these two observations suggest the existence of a tertiary lithospheric buckling beneath the paris basin

the nonlinear patterns of north american winter temperature and precipitation associated with enso abstract nonlinear projections of the tropical pacific sea surface temperature anomalies sstas onto north american winter november march surface air temperature sat and precipitation anomalies have been performed using neural networks during el nino the linear sat response has positive anomalies centered over alaska and western canada opposing weaker negative anomalies centered over the southeastern united states in contrast the nonlinear sat response which is excited during both strong el nino and strong la nina has negative anomalies centered over alaska and northwestern canada and positive anomalies over much of the united states and southern canada for precipitation the linear response during el nino has a positive anomaly area stretching from the east coast to the southwest coast of the united states and another positive area in northern canada in opposition to the negative anomaly area over much of southern canada and northern united states and another negative area over alaska in c

thermo mechanical controls on intra plate deformation and the role of plume folding interactions in continental topography thermo tectonic age and inherited structure exert the main controls on the bulk strength of the lithosphere in intraplate settings mechanical decoupling within the lithosphere strongly affects the interaction between deep earth and surface processes thermo mechanical models demonstrate the particular importance of the rheological stratification of the lithosphere in the preservation of ancient cratonic blocks in the surface expression of plume and mantle lithosphere interactions and their impact on the dynamic topography in general the same is true for the effect of large scale lithospheric folding on intraplate basin formation and associated differential vertical motions initiation of continental lithosphere subduction crucial for linking orogenic deformation to intraplate deformation appears to be facilitated by plume lithosphere interactions we present a discussion of these aspects focusing on better process understanding of continental deformation in the context of a number of well documented cases of intraplate deformation