Boron concentrations and isotope compositions have been measured for 93 water samples from the hot springs and drill-holes in the geothermal system in the Yunnan-Tibet Geothermal Belt(YTGB),China.Boron concentrations range from 0.036–472.4ppm,and theδ11B values range from -16.0‰to 13.1‰,indicating the non-marine origin for each geothermal system.We observed a clear binary mixing relationship between the B concentrations and B isotope compositions in Tibet geothermal area.This relationship can be well explained by two sources,i.e.,marine carbonate rocks and magmatic rocks,for the Tibet geothermal water.No evidence supports a mantle contribution to B.In addition,we found that the precipitation only plays a dilution role for B of geothermal waters.δ11B values for the precipitation across the southern Tibetan Plateau area range from -6.0‰ to -6.8‰at least.Due to data scarcity in Yunnan geothermal area,we observed possible different boron sources from the Tibet geothermal system.Comparing it with other geothermal systems in the world,we found that the samples from YTGB have the lowestδ11B values and the largest range of B concentration,which might be related to their special geological background.On the whole,the world geothermalδ11B-Cl/B relation suggests a mixing process between marine and non-marine sources.Additionally,we suggest that B source of B-enriched geothermal waters is mainly from B-enriched crustal country-rocks,instead of mantle.
Altyn Tagh fault controls the deformation characteristics of the northern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.The sinistral slip rate of the eastern segment of the fault reduces gradually where the reduction transforms into the deformation within Qilian Mountain,forming a series of thrust faults and strike-slip faults.Among them,the Yema River-Daxue Mountain fault is one of the important structural transform faults in the study area.Based on the differences of the geometrical characteristics and activities,the fault is divided into four segments,the Yema River segment,the Shibandun segment,the Liushapo segment and the Baishitougou segment,among which the former three are Holocene active faults,and the Baishitougou segment belongs to late Pleistocene fault.The excavated trenches imply a total of 6 paleoearthquake events,and at least 4 events have occurred during Holocene,whose occurrence times are 8300±700 yr BP,6605±140 yr BP,4540±350 yr BP,2098±47 yr BP,respectively.The recurrence interval is 2600±600 yr BP that is close to the lapsed time of the last one,2098±47 yr BP,which suggests that the Yema River-Daxue Mountain fault is in a high risk of major earthquakes in the future.The vertical coseismic displacements of the four Holocene paleoearthquake events are 100 cm,42 cm,40 cm and 50 cm,respectively,the horizontal coseismic displacements are 5 m,4.5-5.5 m,5-8 m and 4-5.5 m,separately,and then the reference magnitude of the paleoearthquake events is conjectured to be M7.6±0.1.
