Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems

In this paper, we report on very efficient algorithms for the spherical harmonic transform (SHT). Explicitly vectorized variations of the algorithm based on the Gauss-Legendre quadrature are discussed and implemented in the SHTns library which includes scalar and vector transforms. The main breakthrough is to achieve very efficient on-the-fly computations of the Legendre associated functions, even for very high resolutions, by taking advantage of the specific properties of the SHT and the advanced capabilities of current and future computers. This allows us to simultaneously and significantly reduce memory usage and computation time of the SHT. We measure the performance and accuracy of our algorithms. Even though the complexity of the algorithms implemented in SHTns are in $O(N^3)$ (where N is the maximum harmonic degree of the transform), they perform much better than any third party implementation, including lower complexity algorithms, even for truncations as high as N=1023. SHTns is available at https://bitbucket.org/nschaeff/shtns as open source software.

The SNO+ detector, a new kiloton scale liquid scintillator detector capable of recording geoneutrino events, will define the strength of the Earth radiogenic heat. A detailed 3-D model of the regional crust, centered at SNO+ and based on compiled geological, geophysical and geochemical information, was used to characterize the physical and chemical attributes of crust and assign uncertainties to its structure. Monte Carlo simulations were used to predict the U and Th abundances and uncertainties in crustal lithologies and to model the regional crustal geoneutrino signal originating from the at SNO+.

Grain size is an important control on mantle viscosity and permeability, but is difficult or impossible to measure in situ. We construct a two-dimensional, single phase model for the steady state mean grain size beneath a mid-ocean ridge. The mantle rheology is modeled as a composite of diffusion creep, dislocation creep, dislocation accommodated grain boundary sliding, and a plastic stress limiter. The mean grain size is calculated by the paleowattmeter relationship of Austin and Evans (2007). We investigate the sensitivity of our model to global variations in grain growth exponent, potential temperature, spreading-rate, and mantle hydration. We interpret the mean grain-size field in terms of its permeability to melt transport. The permeability structure due to mean grain size may be approximated as a high permeability region beneath a low permeability region. The transition between high and low permeability regions occurs across a boundary that is steeply inclined toward the ridge axis. We hypothesize that such a permeability structure generated from the variability of the mean grain size may focus melt toward the ridge axis, analogous to Sparks and Parmentier (1991)-type focusing. This focusing may, in turn, constrain the region where significant melt fractions are observed by seismic or magnetotelluric surveys. This interpretation of melt focusing via the grain-size permeability structure is consistent with MT observation of the asthenosphere beneath the East Pacific Rise. Key Points: The grain-size field beneath MORs can vary over orders of magnitude The grain-size field affects the rheology and permeability of the asthenosphere The grain-size field may focus melt toward the ridge axis

Despite the fundamental importance of plates in the Earth's mantle convection, plates have not generally been included in numerical convection models or analog laboratory experiments, mainly because the physical properties which lead to plate tectonic behavior are not well understood. Strongly temperature-dependent viscosity results in an immobile rigid lid, so that plates, where included at all in 3-D models, have always been imposed by hand. An important challenge is thus to develop a physically reasonable material description which allows plates to develop self-consistently; this paper focuses on the role of ductile shear localization. In two-dimensional geometry, it is well-established that strain-rate softening, non-Newtonian rheologies (e.g. power-law, visco-plastic) cause weak zones and strain-rate localization above up- and down-wellings, resulting in a rudimentary approximation of plates. Three-dimensional geometry, however, is fundamentally different due to the presence of transform plate boundaries with associated toroidal motion. Since power-law and visco-plastic rheologies do not have the property of producing shear localization, it is not surprising that they do not produce good plate-like behavior in three-dimensional calculations. Here, it is argued that a strain-rate-weakening rheology, previously shown to produce plate-like behavior in a two-dimensional sheet representing the lithosphere, is a reasonable generic description of various weakening processes observed in nature. One- and two-dimensional models are used to show how this leads to shear localization and the formation of ‘faults’. This rheology is then applied to the high-viscosity lithosphere of 3-D mantle convection calculations, and the velocity-pressure/viscosity solution for the entire 3-D domain (lid and underlying mantle) is solved self-consistently. It is found that the lithosphere divides into a number of very high-viscosity plates, separated by narrow, sharply defined weak zones with a viscosity many orders of magnitude less than the plate interiors. Broad weak zones with dominant convergent/divergent motion above up- and down-wellings are interconnected by a network of narrow weak zones with dominant strike-slip motion. Passive spreading centers are formed in internally heated cases. While the resulting plates are not fully realistic, these results show that self-consistent plate generation is a realizable goal in three-dimensional mantle convection, and provide a promising avenue for future research.

The effects of the hydration mechanism on continental crust recycling are analyzed through a 2D finite element thermo-mechanical model. Oceanic slab dehydration and consequent mantle wedge hydration are implemented using a dynamic method. Hydration is accomplished by lawsonite and serpentine breakdown; topography is treated as a free surface. Subduction rates of 1, 3, 5, 7.5 and 10 cm/y, slab angles of 30o, 45o and 60o and a mantle rheology represented by dry dunite and dry olivine flow laws, have been taken into account during successive numerical experiments. Model predictions pointed out that a direct relationship exists between mantle rheology and the amount of recycled crustal material: the larger the viscosity contrast between hydrated and dry mantle, the larger the percentage of recycled material into the mantle wedge. Slab dip variation has a moderate impact on the recycling. Metamorphic evolution of recycled material is influenced by subduction style. TPmax, generally representative of eclogite facies conditions, is sensitive to changes in slab dip. A direct relationship between subduction rate and exhumation rate results for different slab dips that does not depend on the used mantle flow law. Thermal regimes predicted by different numerical models are compared to PT paths followed by continental crustal slices involved in ancient and recent subduction zones, making ablative subduction a suitable pre-collisional mechanism for burial and exhumation of continental crust.

This paper presents a new method to generate a three-dimensional spherical grid using natural neighbor Voronoi cells distributed by spiral functions. A unique property of this grid is the complete removal of symmetries with arbitrary selectable lateral and radial resolution, which are not restricted to discrete radial levels or geometrical constraints as compared to the commonly used grids based on projected triangulated platonic solids such as a cube, a rhomboid, or an icosahedron. The spiral grid can be refined in certain areas of interest and makes it possible to have a very small inner radius to outer radius ratio. Cell volumes can be made almost constant throughout the computational domain. Analysis, statistics, and computation methods are described in detail, as well as a possible domain decomposition suitable for parallel computing. Conductive temperature profiles were numerically calculated in the spherical shell and directly compared with the analytic solution as verification. The grid is applied to numerical simulations of mantle convection using a finite volume scheme. The model is validated by a comparison of steady state cubic and tetrahedral convection patterns with other published models.

In textbooks of geophysical fluid dynamics, the Coriolis force and the centrifugal force in a rotating fluid system are derived by making use of the fluid parcel concept. In contrast to this intuitive derivation to the apparent forces, more rigorous derivation would be useful not only for the pedagogical purpose, but also for the applications to other kinds of rotating geophysical systems rather than the fluid. The purpose of this paper is to show a general procedure to derive the transformed equations in the rotating frame of reference based on the local Galilean transformation and rotational coordinate transformation of field quantities. The generality and usefulness of this Eulerian approach is demonstrated in the derivation of apparent forces in rotating fluids as well as the transformed electromagnetic field equation in the rotating system.

The recent geoneutrino experimental results from KamLAND and Borexino detectors reveal the usefulness of analyzing the Earth geoneutrino flux, as it provides a constraint on the strength of the radiogenic heat power and this, in turn, provides a test of compositional models of the bulk silicate Earth (BSE). This flux is dependent on the amount and distribution of heat producing elements (HPEs: U, Th and K) in the Earth interior. We have developed a geophysically-based, three-dimensional global reference model for the abundances and distributions of HPEs in the BSE. The structure and composition of the outermost portion of the Earth, the crust and underlying lithospheric mantle, is detailed in the reference model, this portion of the Earth has the greatest influence on the geoneutrino fluxes. The reference model combines three existing geophysical models of the global crust and yields an average crustal thickness of 34.4+-4.1 km in the continents and 8.0+-2.7 km in the oceans. In situ seismic velocity provided by CRUST 2.0 allows us to estimate the average composition of the deep continental crust by using new and updated compositional databases for amphibolite and granulite facies rocks in combination with laboratory ultrasonic velocities measurements. An updated xenolithic peridotite database is used to represent the average composition of continental lithospheric mantle. Monte Carlo simulation is used to predict the geoneutrino flux at 16 selected locations and to track the asymmetrical uncertainties of radiogenic heat power due to the log-normal distributions of HPE concentrations in crustal rocks.

A new kind of overset grid, named Yin-Yang grid, for spherical geometry is proposed. The Yin-Yang grid is composed of two identical component grids that are combined in a complemental way to cover a spherical surface with partial overlap on their boundaries. Each component grid is a low latitude part of the latitude-longitude grid. Therefore the grid spacing is quasi-uniform and the metric tensors are simple and analytically known. One can directly apply mathematical and numerical resources that have been written in the spherical polar coordinates or latitude-longitude grid. The complemental combination of the two identical component grids enables us to make efficient and concise programs. Simulation codes for geodynamo and mantle convection simulations using finite difference scheme based on the Yin-Yang grid are developed and tested. The Yin-Yang grid is suitable for massively parallel computers.

. In a previous paper ("Part 1") it was shown that a combination of temperature-dependent viscosity and visco-plastic yielding is sufficient to give rudimentary plate tectonic-like behavior in three-dimensional models of mantle convection. Here, the calculations are extended to include two complexities which have been suggested as important in localizing deformation at plate boundaries: strain weakening and the presence of a low-viscosity asthenosphere. Introducing an asthenosphere by reducing the viscosity by a factor of 10 where material reaches a solidus (i) dramatically improves plate quality, even if the asthenosphere is restricted to regions around spreading centers, (ii) gives good, smoothly-evolving plate-like behavior over a wide range of yield stress values spanning an order of magnitude, and (iii) gives bimodal stable solutions over a range of yield stresses- either immobile-lid or plate behavior may be obtained depending on initial condition. By contrast, introd...

We investigate the role of the tropics in the melting and reforming of the Laurentide ice sheet on glacial timescales using an atmospheric general circulation model. It is found that warming of tropical sea surface temperatures (SST) from glacial boundary conditions, as observed at the end of glacial periods [Bard et al., 1997, Lea et al., 2000, Nurnberg et al., 2000], causes a large increase in summer temperatures centered over the ice-sheet-forming regions of Canada. This high-latitude response to tropical change is due to alterations in the vertical profiles of temperature and moisture in the extratropical atmosphere. This atmospheric bridge represents a mechanism for deglaciationxs which is consistent with timing constraints. In contrast, a cold perturbation to tropical SST for interglacial boundary conditions results in almost no cooling over the Canadian region. This implies that tropical SSTs could play a more important role in melting ice sheets in the northern hemisphere than in reforming them, possibly providing a mechanism which could help to explain the relative rapidity of deglaciation. 3 1.

Mafic dyke swarms are excellent time markers and paleo-stress indicators. Numerous late Paleoproterozoic mafic dykes are exposed throughout the Trans-North China Orogen (TNCO). Most of these dykes trend NW-SE or NNW-SSE, nearly parallel to the orogen, while a series of E-W-trending mafic dykes are restricted in the Lüliang and southern Taihang areas in the central segment of the TNCO. These dykes were mostly considered to be linked with break-up of the supercontinent Columbia previously. In this study, sixteen mafic dykes were investigated in the Lüliang Complex. Zircon LA-ICP-MS dating of four samples yields magmatic crystallization ages of 1.78-1.79 Ga. These dykes belong to the tholeiite series and consist of basalt, basaltic andesite and andesite. They are enriched in LREE and LILE and depleted in HFSE, and have negative zircon εHf(t) values of -1.7 to -12.2. The E-W-trending mafic dykes show similar geochemical and isotopic features compare to the NW-SE-trending dykes in other complexes. They were most likely originated from a lithospheric mantle metasomatised by subduction-related fluids and later emplaced along extensional fractures in a post-collisional setting. NW-SE-trending fractures were formed due to gravitational collapse and thinning of the lithosphere. E-W-trending fractures in the central segment of the orogen constitute a transverse accommodation belt to equilibrate the different amounts of extension between the northern and southern TNCO. The impact of the post-orogenic extension might have continued to ca. 1680 Ma as evidenced by the presence of abundant ca. 1750-1680 Ma anorthosite- gabbro- mangerite- rapakivi granite suites (AMCG-like) occurring in the northern NCC.

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 6 (2005): Q11001, doi:10.1029/2005GC001013. Heat flow measurements colocated with seismic data across 106 Ma seafloor of the Madeira Abyssal Plain (MAP) reveal variations in seafloor heat flow of ±10–20% that are positively correlated with basement relief buried below thick sediments. Conductive finite element models of sediments and upper basement using reasonable thermal properties are capable of generating the observed positive correlation between basement relief and seafloor heat flow, but with variability of just ±4–8%. Conductive simulations using a high Nusselt number (Nu) proxy for vigorous local convection suggest that Nu = 2–10 within the upper 600–100 m of basement, respectively, is sufficient to achieve a reasonable match to observations. These Nu values are much lower than those inferred on younger ridge flanks where greater thermal homogeneity is achieved in upper basement. Fully coupled simulations suggest that permeability below the MAP is on the order of 10−12–10−10 m2 within the upper 300–600 m of basement. This permeability range is broadly consistent with values determined by single-hole experiments and from modeling studies at other (mostly younger) sites. We infer that the reduction in basement permeability with age that is thought to occur within younger seafloor may slow considerably within older seafloor, helping hydrothermal convection to continue as plates age. Funding in support of this work was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation (OCE-0001892), the U.S. Science Support Program for IODP (T301A7), and the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics/Los Alamos National Laboratory (1317).

An age model for the Brunhes Chron for Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1063 (Bermuda Rise) is based on the tandem correlation of oxygen isotope and relative paleointensity data to calibrated reference templates. Four intervals in the Brunhes Chron where component inclinations are negative, for both u-channel samples and discrete samples, are correlated to the following magnetic excursions with Site 1063 ages in brackets: Laschamp (41 ka), Blake (116 ka), Iceland Basin (190 ka), Pringle Falls (239 ka). These ages are consistent with current age estimates for these excursion, other than for "Pringle Falls" which has an apparent age older than current estimates by ~20-30 kyrs. For each of these excursions, virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) reach high southerly latitudes implying paired polarity reversals in a brief time span (<2 kyr in each case) that is several times shorter than the observed duration of long-lived polarity transitions at mid-latitudes. Several intervals of low component inclinations, that are low and negative in one case, are observed both in u-channel and discrete samples at ~318 ka (MIS 9), ~413 ka (MIS 11) and in the 500-600 ka interval (MIS14-15). These may constitute inadequately recorded excursions, or high amplitude secular variation.

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union 2003. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 4 (2003): 1109, doi:10.1029/2003GC000590. Late Quaternary sections (1.2 Ma) of ODP-Site 1075 from the Congo deep-sea fan are investigated to reconstruct variations of terrigenous organic matter supply to the eastern equatorial Atlantic. To characterize the organic matter (OM) with regard to marine and terrigenous amounts we used elemental analysis (C, N, S), stable carbon isotopes (bulk δ13Corg), Rock-Eval pyrolysis, and terrigenous biomarkers (lignin phenols from CuO oxidation). The records of total organic carbon (TOC) contents, Corg/Ntot ratios, bulk OM degradation rates (Corg/Corg*), and the ratios of hydrocarbons (HC) from low-mature versus HC from high-mature OM (lm/hm) reveal pronounced cyclic changes in OM abundance, preservation, and reactivity that are closely related to the precessional controlled record of insolation, and thus, to variations in upwelling intensity and fluvial run-off. Primary productivity off the Congo is stimulated by both, enhanced nutrient supply in response to trade-induced upwelling during arid African climates (insolation minima) and fluvial nutrient delivery during humid stages (following insolation maxima), especially due to the contribution of dissolved silica that is taken up preferably by diatoms. However, results stemming from a multiparameter approach reveal that the fluvial supply of degraded OM and black carbon (BC) associated with fine-grained sediments from soil erosion is a decisive factor for the preservation of marine OM and, in addition, significantly influences the geochemical signature of bulk and terrigenous OM. Riverine and eolian supply of C4 plant matter, as well as enhanced concentrations of BC, during arid and arid-to-humid transitional climate stages, may lead to a severe underestimation of terrigenous organic carbon, if its amount is calculated from bulk isotopic ratios using binary end-member models. During the humid stages, it is the massive supply of 13C-enriched soil OM with low Corg/Ntot ratios that may suggest a mainly marine composition of bulk OM. In fact, terrigenous OM governs bulk OM geochemical signatures in the sediments of the Congo deep-sea fan, a result that is contradictory to earlier studies, especially to the conventional interpretation of the bulk δ13Corg signal. This research was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, grant Wa 1036/5, and kindly supported by the Max-Planck Society.

The Lonar impact crater is one of a few craters on Earth formed directly in basalt, providing a unique opportunity to study an analogue for crater degradation processes on Mars. Here we present surface 10Be and 26Al exposure dates in order to determine the age and geomorphic evolution of Lonar crater. Together with a 14C age of pre-impact soil, we obtain a crater age of 37.5 ± 5.0 ka, which contrasts with a recently reported and apparently older 40Ar/39Ar age (570 ± 47 ka). This suggests that the 40Ar/39Ar age may have been affected by inherited radiogenic 40Ar (40Ar*inherited) in the impact glass. The spatial distribution of surface exposure ages of Lonar crater differs from that for Barringer crater, indicating Lonar crater rim is actively eroding. Our new chronology provides a unique opportunity to compare the geomorphological history of the two craters, which have similar ages and diameters, but are located in different climate and geologic settings.

[1] Mass flows on volcanic islands generated by volcanic lava dome collapse and by larger-volume flank collapse can be highly dangerous locally and may generate tsunamis that threaten a wider area. It is therefore important to understand their frequency, emplacement dynamics, and relationship to volcanic eruption cycles. The best record of mass flow on volcanic islands may be found offshore, where most material is deposited and where intervening hemipelagic sediment aids dating. Here we analyze what is arguably the most comprehensive sediment core data set collected offshore from a volcanic island. The cores are located southeast of Montserrat, on which the Soufriere Hills volcano has been erupting since 1995. The cores provide a record of mass flow events during the last 110 thousand years. Older mass flow deposits differ significantly from those generated by the repeated lava dome collapses observed since 1995. The oldest mass flow deposit originated through collapse of the basaltic South Soufriere Hills at 103–110 ka, some 20–30 ka after eruptions formed this volcanic center. A ~1.8 km3 blocky debris avalanche deposit that extends from a chute in the island shelf records a particularly deep-seated failure. It likely formed from a collapse of almost equal amounts of volcanic edifice and coeval carbonate shelf, emplacing a mixed bioclastic-andesitic turbidite in a complex series of stages. This study illustrates how volcanic island growth and collapse involved extensive, large-volume submarine mass flows with highly variable composition. Runout turbidites indicate that mass flows are emplaced either in multiple stages or as single events.

Hole 1205A was drilled on Nintoku Seamount, which lies in the midportion of the Emperor Seamount Chain. This seamount was emergent similar to 56 Myr ago but was submerged by 54 Ma, so the lavas have endured weathering in both subaerial and submarine environments. We have studied the petrology, mineralogy, and geochemistry of intercalated altered basalts, breccias, and soil samples recovered at Hole 1205A to quantify the chemical exchanges between the seamount and seawater and/ or meteoric fluids. The secondary mineralogy is relatively uniform throughout the section and comprises smectite, Feoxyhydroxides, iddingsite, and Ca-carbonates. Soils are composed of variably altered basaltic clasts in a matrix of kaolinite, smectite, and vermiculite with minor goethite, hematite, and magnetite. Throughout the basement section, altered basalts, breccias, and soils are depleted in Si, Mg, Ca, Na, Sr, Rb, and Ba and enriched in Fe. Fe3+/Fe-T (up to similar to 1), delta O-18 (up to similar to+20 parts per thousand), and Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios are strongly elevated relative to primary igneous values. Differences in the Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios define an Upper Alteration Zone with Sr-87/Sr-86 close to 56 Ma seawater (similar to 0.7077) from a Lower Alteration Zone where Sr-87/Sr-86 are less elevated (similar to 0.704). The Lower Alteration Zone likely reflects interaction with a subaerial oxidizing fluid at low temperature. This zone probably retained most of the original subaerial weathering signature. The Upper Alteration Zone was altered through circulation of large quantities of cold oxidizing seawater that partially overprinted the subaerial weathering chemical characteristics. Altered samples were compared to estimated protolith compositions to calculate chemical gains and losses. Global chemical fluxes are calculated for the entire basement section using different lithological proportions models and different rates of oceanic island emplacement. Although the global construction rate of ocean islands is small compared to igneous accretion at mid-ocean ridges, the magnitude of the chemical changes indicates that ocean islands and seamounts may be a significant contributor to the chemical budget of the oceans.

Recent examinations of the chemical fluxes through convergent plate margins suggest the existence of significant mass imbalances for many key species: only 20–30% of the to-the-trench inventory of large-ion lithophile elements (LILE) can be accounted for by the magmatic outputs of volcanic arcs. Active serpentinite mud volcanism in the shallow forearc region of the Mariana convergent margin presents a unique opportunity to study a new outflux: the products of shallow-level exchanges between the upper mantle and slab-derived fluids. ODP Leg 125 recovered serpentinized harzburgites and dunites from three sites on the crests and flanks of the active Conical Seamount. These serpentinites have U-shaped rare earth element (REE) patterns, resembling those of boninites. U, Th, and the high field strength elements (HFSE) are highly depleted and vary in concentration by up to 2 orders of magnitude. The low U contents and positive Eu anomalies indicate that fluids from the subducting Pacific slab were probably reducing in nature. On the basis of substantial enrichments of fluid-mobile elements in serpentinized peridotites, we calculated very large slab inventory depletions of B (79%), Cs (32%), Li (18%), As (17%), and Sb (12%). Such highly enriched serpentinized peridotites dragged down to depths of arc magma generation may represent an unexplored reservoir that could help balance the input-output deficit of these elements as observed by Plank and Langmuir (1993, 1998) and others. Surprisingly, many species thought to be mobile in fluids, such as U, Ba, Rb, and to a lesser extent Sr and Pb, are not enriched in the rocks relative to the depleted mantle peridotites, and we estimate that only 1–2% of these elements leave the subducting slabs at depths of 10 to 40 km. Enrichments of these elements in volcanic front and behind-the-front arc lavas point to changes in slab fluid composition at greater depths. published 1-24

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 9 (2008): Q10O13, doi:10.1029/2008GC002188. We examine shipboard physical property measurements, wireline logs, and vertical seismic profiles (VSP) from Ocean Drilling Program/Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1256D in 15 Ma ocean crust formed at superfast spreading rates to investigate lateral and vertical variations in compressional velocity. In general, velocities from all methods agree. Porosity is inversely related to velocity in both the logging and laboratory data. We infer that microfracturing during drilling is minor in the upper 1 km of basement, probably due to connected pores and, thus, low effective stress. The closure of porosity to very low values coincides with the depth below which laboratory velocities diverge from logging velocities. We infer that porosity controls velocity in layer 2, lithostatic pressure controls the thickness of seismic layer 2, and the distribution of flow types determines seismic velocity in the upper 200 m of basement. In the sheeted dikes, changes in physical properties, mineralogy, and chemistry define clusters of dikes. Funding for this research was provided by Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI) Task Order T312A26 and NSF grant OCE-0424633.

We analyze magnetic properties from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)/Integrated ODP (IODP) Hole 1256D (6°44.1' N, 91°56.1' W) on the Cocos Plate in ~15.2 Ma oceanic crust generated by superfast seafloor spreading, the only drill hole that has sampled all three oceanic crust layers in a tectonically undisturbed setting. Fuzzy c-means cluster analysis and non-linear mapping are utilized to study down-hole trends in the ratio of the saturation remanent magnetization and the saturation magnetization, the coercive force, the ratio of the remanent coercive force and coercive force, the low-field magnetic susceptibility, and the Curie temperature, to evaluate the effects of magmatic and hydrothermal processes on magnetic properties. A statistically robust five-cluster solution separates the data predominantly into three clusters that express increasing hydrothermal alteration of the lavas, which differ from two distinct clusters mainly representing the dikes and gabbros. Extensive alteration can obliterate magnetic property differences between lavas, dikes, and gabbros. The imprint of thermochemical alteration on the iron-titanium oxides is only partially related to the porosity of the rocks. Thus, the analysis complements interpretation based on electrofacies analysis. All clusters display rock magnetic characteristics compatible with an ability to retain a stable natural remanent magnetization suggesting that the entire sampled sequence of ocean crust can contribute to marine magnetic anomalies. Paleointensity determination is difficult because of the propensity of oxy-exsolution during laboratory heating and/or the presence of intergrowths. The upper part of the extrusive sequence, the granoblastic dikes, and moderately altered gabbros may contain a comparatively uncontaminated thermoremanent magnetization.

Hydroschorlomite, a Ti-, Ca-, Fe-rich andraditic arnet present in the deepest cores of basalts (661?749 bsf) drilled in Hole 1256D during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 206 (equatorial east Pacific), is reported here for the first time in oceanic crust. Detailed petrological and mineralogical studies by optical microscope, electron microprobe, scanning and transmission electron microscope, and micro-Raman spectroscopy are used to characterize this hydrogarnet and its relationships with other minerals. Hydroschorlomite occurs in Hole 1256D as small (5?50 ?m) anhedral or euhedral crystals associated either with celadonite in black halos adjacent to celadonite veins or with brown saponitic phyllosilicate in brown alteration halos adjacent to veins of saponite and iron oxyhydroxides. Both types of halos are formed at low temperature (less than about 100?C). Textural observations suggest that hydroschorlomite formation is contemporaneous with the phyllosilicates. Hydroschorlomite is rich in CaO (22.5?26.5 wt%), TiO2 (22.0?28.6 wt%), and FeOt (6.2?12.9 wt%) and contains significant F (up to 0.85 wt%) and Zr2O3 (up to 0.34 wt%). The presence of OH suggested by the low total percentages of oxides (95.2?97.3 wt%) is confirmed by the OH vibration at 3557 cm?1 in the micro-Raman spectrum. Chemical mapping indicates that hydroschorlomite is not zoned and is always associated with either celadonitic or saponitic phyllosilicates. Some hydroschorlomite crystals partly include tiny (<10 ?m) skeletal titanomagnetite. The occurrence of hydroschorlomite in Hole 1256D basalts coincides with a general downward increase in temperatures and overall intensity of alteration manifest by the alteration of plagioclase and the occurrence of small amounts of mixed-layer chlorite-smectite. The titanium necessary to form hydroschorlomite is provided by the breakdown of primary tiny (<10 ?m) titanomagnetite, while calcium is provided by the replacement of plagioclase by albite. Hydroschorlomite is thus an indicator of alteration of titanomagnetite under conditions transitional from low-temperature alteration to hydrothermal metamorphism with formation of titanite and may affect magnetic properties of the rocks.

A log-based volcanic stratigraphy of Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1256D provides a vertical cross-section view of in situ upper crust formed at the East Pacific Rise (EPR) with unprecedented resolution. This stratigraphy model comprises ten electrofacies, principally identified from formation microscanner images. In this study, we build a lava flow stratigraphy model for the extrusive section in Hole 1256D by correlating these electrofacies with observations of flow types from the modern EPR, such as sheet flows and breccias, and pillow lavas and their distribution. The resulting flow stratigraphy model for the Hole 1256D extrusive section represents the first realization of detailed in situ EPR upper oceanic crust construction processes that have been detected only indirectly from remote geophysical data. We correlated the flow stratigraphy model with surface geology observed from the southern EPR (14°S) by Shinkai 6500 dives in order to obtain the relationship between lava flow types and ridge axis-ridge slope morphology. This dive information was also used to give a spatial-time reference frame for modeling lava deposition history in Hole 1256D. In reconstructing the lava deposition history, we interpreted that the origins of the ̃100 m thick intervals with abundant pillow lavas in Hole 1256D are within the axial slope where pillow lavas were observed during the Shinkai 6500 dives and previous EPR surveys. This correlation could constrain the lava deposition history in Hole 1256D crust. Using the lateral scale of ridge axis-ridge slope topography from the Shinkai 6500 observations and assuming the paleospreading rate was constant, 50% of the extrusive rocks in Hole 1256D crust were formed within ̃2000 m of the ridge axis, whereas nearly all of the remaining extrusive section was formed within ̃3000 m of the ridge axis. These results are consistent with the upper crustal construction model previously suggested by seismic studies.

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 9 (2008): Q08O11, doi:10.1029/2008GC002010. Seafloor drilling operations, especially those in crustal rocks, yield incomplete recovery of drilled sections, and depths of the recovered core pieces are assigned with some uncertainty. Here we present a new depth-shifting method that is simple and rapid, requires little subjective input, and is applicable to any core-log integration problem where sufficient comparable data have been collected in both the open hole and from the recovered core. Over the depth range for which both core and log data have been collected, an automatic algorithm selected the best new depth for each piece. The criteria for determining the best depth were as follows: (1) find new depths for as many pieces as possible, and (2) minimize the difference between core density and log density. In this study, depth-shifting is applied at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Hole 1256D, which is our first opportunity to study a section of intact, in situ upper ocean crust drilled down to gabbro. The new depths significantly improve the agreement between an independent data set and the logging record. Funding for this research was provided by a JOI/USSSP Post-Expedition Award to L.A.G. Mick Spillane of the NOAA Center for Tsunami Research provided tide calculations using OSU TPXO6.2.

Recent ROV dives and high-resolution bathymetric data acquired over the Ashadze fields on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (13°N) allow us to derive constraints on the regional and local geological setting of ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal fields. The active vent fields of Ashadze hydrothermal fields are located in the western axial valley wall, downslope from the termination of a prominent corrugated surface and in a transitional domain with respect to ridge segmentation. The study of the shipboard and ROV bathymetry shows that decameter (100 m by 60 m) to kilometer-scaled rockslides shape the axial valley wall slopes in this region. The Ashadze 1 vent field occurs on a coherent granular landslide rock mass that is elongated in an E-W direction. The Ashadze 1 vent field comprises hundreds of active and inactive sulfide chimneys. The Ashadze 2 vent field is located in a NNE-trending linear depression which separates outcrops of gabbros and serpentinized peridotites. Active black smokers in the Ashadze 2 field are located on ultramafic substratum in a 40-m diameter crater, 5-m deep. This crater recalls similar structures described at some vents of the Logatchev hydrothermal field (Mid-Atlantic Ridge 15°N). We discuss the mode of formation for these craters, as well as that for a breadcrust-like array of radial fissures identified at Ashadze 1. We propose that hydrothermalism at Ashadze can be an explosive phenomena associated with geyser-like explosions. Our study also constrains the geological and geophysical context of the ultramafic-hosted Ashadze hydrothermal system that may use the oceanic detachment fault as a preferred permeability conduit.

We describe a geophysical study of oceanic core complexes (OCC) and surrounding seafloor on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 13°N-14°N and off-axis to ˜1.9 Myr. Data include a detailed, deep-towed side scan sonar, magnetic field and bathymetry survey, supplemented by concurrent sea-surface bathymetry, magnetic field and gravity measurements. Using side scan and bathymetry, we infer areas and relative ages of seafloor volcanism, revealing a complex pattern of melt accretion across the median valley including close to its walls. We estimate tectonic and magmatic extension throughout the area, and find that average tectonic extension since chron 2 on plates containing OCCs is up to three times that on their conjugates. Deep-towed magnetic data reveal asymmetric spreading (faster on OCC-containing plates) and crustal magnetization that is highly heterogeneous on a scale of ˜5 km, suggesting that exhumed domes of OCCs have highly variable lithologies, perhaps comprising both serpentinized peridotite and gabbro. Improved fits to magnetic data are provided by models incorporating ˜45°of OCC footwall rotation. An axial zone of normal magnetization, of presumed Brunhes epoch, has highly variable width and amplitude, with parts of the ridge axis displaying very low or apparently reversed magnetization. Gravity requires that OCCs have dense cores capped by lower density zones several kilometers thick. Gravity data indicate longer term patterns of crustal thickness and melt distribution that are broadly consistent with numerical models of OCC formation and show that waxing magmatism may terminate OCCs.

Outcrops of deeply derived ultramafic rocks and gabbros are widespread along slow spreading ridges where they are exposed in the footwall of detachment faults. We report on the microstructural and petrological characteristics of a large number of samples from ultramafic exposures in the walls of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) axial valley at three distinct locations at lat. 13°N and 14°45'N. One of these locations corresponds to the footwall beneath a corrugated paleo-fault surface. Bearing in mind that dredging and ROV sampling may not preserve the most fragile lithologies (fault gouges), this study allows us to document a sequence of deformation, and the magmatic and hydrothermal history recorded in the footwall within a few hundred meters of the axial detachment fault. At the three sampled locations, we find that tremolitic amphiboles have localized deformation in the ultramafic rocks prior to the onset of serpentinization. We interpret these tremolites as hydrothermal alteration products after evolved gabbroic rocks intruded into the peridotites. We also document two types of brittle deformation in the ultramafic rocks, which we infer could produce the sustained low magnitude seismicity recorded at ridge axis detachment faults. The first type of brittle deformation affects fresh peridotite and is associated with the injection of the evolved gabbroic melts, and the second type affects serpentinized peridotites and is associated with the injection of Si-rich hydrothermal fluids that promote talc crystallization, leading to strain localization in thin talc shear zones. We also observed chlorite + serpentine shear zones but did not identify samples with serpentine-only shear zones. Although the proportion of magmatic injections in the ultramafic rocks is variable, these characteristics are found at each investigated location and are therefore proposed as fundamental components of the deformation in the footwall of the detachment faults associated with denudation of mantle-derived rocks at the MAR.

The region of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) between the Fifteen-Twenty and Marathon fracture zones displays the topographic characteristics of prevalent and vigorous tectonic extension. Normal faults show large amounts of rotation, dome-shaped corrugated detachment surfaces (core complexes) intersect the seafloor at the edge of the inner valley floor, and extinct core complexes cover the seafloor off-axis. We have identified 45 potential core complexes in this region whose locations are scattered everywhere along two segments (13° and 15°N segments). Steep outward-facing slopes suggest that the footwalls of many of the normal faults in these two segments have rotated by more than 30°. The rotation occurs very close to the ridge axis (as much as 20° within 5 km of the volcanic axis) and is complete by ∼1 My, producing distinctive linear ridges with roughly symmetrical slopes. This morphology is very different from linear abyssal hill faults formed at the 14°N magmatic segment, which display a smaller amount of rotation (typically <15°). We suggest that the severe rotation of faults is diagnostic of a region undergoing large amounts of tectonic extension on single faults. If faults are long-lived, a dome-shaped corrugated surface develops in front of the ridges and lower crustal and upper mantle rocks are exposed to form a core complex. A single ridge segment can have several active core complexes, some less than 25 km apart that are separated by swales. We present two models for multiple core complex formation: a continuous model in which a single detachment surface extends along axis to include all of the core complexes and swales, and a discontinuous model in which local detachment faults form the core complexes and magmatic spreading forms the intervening swales. Either model can explain the observed morphology.

Long-chain, odd-carbon-numbered C25 to C35 n-alkanes are characteristic components of epicuticular waxes produced by terrestrial higher plants. They are delivered to aquatic systems via eolian and fluvial transport and are preserved in underlying sediments. The isotopic compositions of these products can serve as records of past vegetation. We have developed a rapid method for stable carbon isotopic analyses of total plant-wax n-alkanes using a novel, moving-wire system coupled to an isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (MW-irMS). The n-alkane fractions are prepared from sediment samples by (1) saponification and extraction with organic solvents, (2) chromatographic separation using silica gel, (3) isolation of straightchain carbon skeletons using a zeolite molecular sieve, and (4) oxidation and removal of unsaturated hydrocarbons with RuO4. Short-chain n-alkanes of nonvascular plant origin (<C25) are removed by evaporation on the moving wire. Test samples processed using this procedure yielded n-alkane fractions essentially free of interfering components. The δ13C values obtained by MW-irMS did not differ significantly from weighted averages of individual n-alkane δ13C values obtained by irmGC-MS. Isotopic variations in compound-class n-alkane fractions from a latitudinal transect of core-top sediments from the Southwest African margin (3°N-28°S) were congruent with those measured by compound-specific isotopic analyses of plant-wax n-alkanes. The amplitude of the variations was smaller, indicating contributions from non-plant-wax hydrocarbons, but the measurements revealed variations in carbon isotopic composition that are consistent with vegetation zones on the adjacent continent.

Rainbow is a dome-shaped massif at the 36°14’N non-transform offset along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It hosts three ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal sites: Rainbow is active and high-temperature; Clamstone and Ghost City are fossil and low-temperature. The MoMARDREAM cruises (2007, 2008) presented here provided extensive rock sampling throughout the massif that constrains the geological setting of hydrothermal activity. The lithology is heterogeneous with abundant serpentinites surrounding gabbros, troctolites, chromitites, plagiogranites, and basalts. We propose that a W-dipping detachment fault, now inactive, uplifted the massif and exhumed these deep-seated rocks. Present-day deformation is accommodated by SSW-NNE faults and fissures, consistent with oblique teleseismic focal mechanisms and stress rotation across the discontinuity. Faults localize fluid flow and control the location of fossil and active hydrothermal fields that appear to be ephemeral and lacking in spatio-temporal progression. Markers of high-temperature hydrothermal activity (˜350°C) are restricted to some samples from the active field while a more diffuse, lower-temperature hydrothermal activity (<220°C) is inferred at various locations through anomalously high As, Sb and Pb contents, attributed to element incorporation in serpentines or microscale-sulfide precipitation. Petrographic and geochemical analyses show that the dominant basement alteration is pervasive peridotite serpentinization at ˜160-260°C, attributed to fluids chemically similar to those venting at Rainbow, and controlled by concomitant alteration of mafic-ultramafic units at depth. Rainbow provides a model for fluid circulation, possibly applicable to hydrothermalism at oceanic detachments elsewhere, where both low-temperature serpentinization and magmatic-driven high-temperature outflow develop contemporaneously, channelled by faults in the footwall and not along the detachment fault.

Contourites in the Gulf of Cádiz (GC) preserve a unique archive of Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) variability over the past 5.3 Ma. In our study we investigate the potential of geochemical data obtained by XRF scanning to decipher bottom current processes and paleoclimatic evolution at two different sites drilled during IODP Expedition 339 through contourites in the northern GC: Site U1387, which is bathed by the upper MOW core, and Site U1389, located more proximal to the Strait of Gibraltar. The lack of major downslope transport during the Pleistocene makes both locations ideally suited for our study. The results indicate that the Zr/Al ratio, representing the relative enrichment of heavy minerals (zircon) over less dense alumnosilicates under fast bottom current flow, is the most useful indicator for a semi-quantitative assessment of current velocity. Although most elements are biased by current-related processes, the bromine (Br) record, representing organic content, preserves the most pristine climate signal rather independent of grain-size changes. Hence, Br can be used for chronostratigraphy and site-to-site correlation in addition to stable isotope stratigraphy. Based on these findings we reconstructed MOW variability for Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 1 to 5 using the Zr/Al ratio from Site U1387. The results reveal abrupt, millennial-scale variations of MOW strength during Greenland Stadials (GS) and Interstadials (GI) with strong MOW during GS and glacial Terminations and a complex behavior during Heinrich Stadials. Millennial-scale variability persisting during periods of poorly expressed GS/GI cyclicities implies a strong internal oscillation of the Mediterranean/North Atlantic climate system.

Primordial silicate differentiation controlled the composition of Earth's oldest crust. Inherited 142Nd anomalies in Archean rocks are vestiges of the mantle-crust differentiation before ca. 4300 Ma. Here we report new whole-rock 147,146Sm-143,142Nd data for the Acasta Gneiss Complex (AGC; Northwest Territories, Canada). Our 147Sm-143Nd data combined with literature data define an age of 3371???141 Ma (2 SD) and yield an initial ?143Nd of ?5.6???2.1. These results are at odds with the Acasta zircon U-Pb record, which comprises emplacement ages of 3920?3960 Ma. Ten of our thirteen samples show 142Nd deficits of ?9.6???4.8 ppm (2 SD) relative to the modern Earth. The discrepancy between 142Nd anomalies and a mid-Archean 147Sm-143Nd age can be reconciled with Nd isotope reequilibration of the AGC during metamorphic perturbations at ca. 3400 Ma. A model age of ca. 4310 Ma is derived for the early enrichment of the Acasta source. Two compositional end-members can be identified: a felsic component with 142Nd/144Nd identical to the modern Earth and a mafic component with 142Nd/144Nd as low as ?14.1 ppm. The ca. 4310 Ma AGC source is ?200 Myr younger than those estimated for Nuvvuagittuq (northern Qu?bec) and Isua (Itsaq Gneiss Complex, West Greenland). The AGC does not have the same decoupled Nd-Hf isotope systematics as these other two terranes, which have been attributed to the crystallization of an early magma ocean. The Acasta signature rather is ascribed to the formation of Hadean crust that was preserved for several hundred Myr. Its longevity can be linked to 142Nd evolution in the mantle and does not require slow mantle stirring times nor modification of its convective mode.

146Sm decays to 142Nd with a relatively short half-life (˜68 Ma). The142Nd/144Nd of modern terrestrial mantle-derived lavas is 18 ± 5 ppm higher than the chondrite reservoir. The difference in142Nd/144Nd between Earth and chondrites likely owes to Sm/Nd ratios 6% higher in the accessible Earth that arose within the first 30 million years following accretion. In order to constrain the early history of the mantle domains sampled by ocean island basalts (OIB) and mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB), we present high-precision142Nd/144Nd measurements on 11 different lavas from five hot spots, and one lava each from the Indian and Atlantic ridges. The lavas examined in this study bracket much of the known Sr-Nd-Pb-He isotopic variability the in mantle. These data complement existing high-precision142Nd/144Nd data on MORB and OIB lavas. In agreement with previous studies, we find that MORB and OIB lavas examined for high-precision142Nd/144Nd exhibit ratios that are indistinguishable from the terrestrial standard and are 15-20 ppm higher than the average obtained for ordinary and enstatite chondrites. The uniform, superchondritic 142Nd/144Nd data in OIB and MORB are consistent with derivation from a common, early formed (<30 Ma after accretion) progenitor reservoir with Sm/Nd ˜6% higher than chondrites. If there exists any variability in 142Nd/144Nd in the OIBs and MORBs examined to date, it is too small to be resolved with the precision currently available.

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 10 (2009): Q03006, doi:10.1029/2008GC002324. We report 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd data on clinopyroxenes recovered from 10 ocean island lavas from three different hot spots (Samoa, Society, and Cook-Austral island chains). The clinopyroxenes recovered from eight of the 10 lavas analyzed in this study exhibit 87Sr/86Sr disequilibrium with respect to the host lava. The 87Sr/86Sr ratios in clinopyroxene separates are 95–3146 ppm (0.0095–0.31%) different from their respective host whole rocks. Clinopyroxenes in three lavas have 143Nd/144Nd ratios that are 70–160 ppm (0.007–0.016%) different from the host lavas. The 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd disequilibrium in one lava (the oldest lava considered in this study, Mangaia sample MGA-B-47) can be attributed to posteruptive radiogenic ingrowth, but the isotope disequilibrium in the other, younger lavas cannot be explained by this mechanism. In five of the lava samples, two populations of clinopyroxene were isolated (black and green, separated by color). In four out of five of these samples, the 87Sr/86Sr ratios of the two clinopyroxene populations are isotopically different from each other. In addition to 87Sr/86Sr disequilibrium, the two clinopyroxene populations in one of the lavas (Tahaa sample TAA-B-26) have 143Nd/144Nd ratios that are ∼100 ppm different from each other. Given the resilience of clinopyroxene to seawater alteration and the likelihood that the Sr and Nd isotope composition of fresh clinopyroxene separates provides a faithful record of primary magmatic compositions, the clinopyroxene-clinopyroxene isotope disequilibrium in these four lavas provides strong evidence that a mechanism other than seawater alteration has generated the observed isotopic disequilibrium. This study confirms the isotopic diversity in ocean island lavas previously observed in olivine-hosted melt inclusions. For example, the Sr isotopic variability previously observed in olivine-hosted melt inclusions is mirrored by the isotopic diversity in clinopyroxenes isolated from many of the same Samoan lavas. The isotopic data from melt inclusions and clinopyroxenes are not consistent with shallow assimilation of sediment or with entrainment of xenocrystic clinopyroxene from the oceanic crust or upper mantle. Instead, the data are interpreted as reflecting isotopic heterogeneity in the mantle sources of the lavas. The isotopic diversity in clinopyroxenes and melt inclusions suggests that a single lava can host components derived from isotopically diverse source regions. NSF grant EAR-0509891 to SRH is gratefully acknowledged.

Along the west coast of North America, climate and marine productivity is strongly affected by seasonal to interannual changes in coastal upwelling intensity. Our understanding of the variability of upwelling on these timescales in the past is limited by the short duration of instrumental records. Changes in upwelling intensity are expected to affect the δ13C and radiocarbon (14C) content of seawater dissolved inorganic carbonate (DIC) due to the variable mixing of old, upwelled seawater into surface waters. If these seasonal variations in the carbon isotope composition of seawater DIC are recorded in marine bivalve shells then they have the potential to provide valuable information about the extent of upwelling in these regions in the past. However, bivalve shell carbon isotope compositions are complicated by a number of factors including the contribution of metabolic carbon. To examine whether the carbon isotope compositions of California mussel (Mytilus californianus) shells could be used to produce records of upwelling intensity we collected living mussels from Newport Beach, CA. Sequential samples were generated from the outer calcite layer of these shells and analyzed for stable isotopes, trace elements and radiocarbon. These geochemical profiles are compared with instrumental records and a nearby timeseries of seawater DIC δ13C and 14C. We show that seasonal Mytilus californianus shell 14C values agree well with seawater DIC 14C measurements. Interpretation of δ13C is more problematic with shell δ13C lower than measured seawater DIC δ13C by up to 1 ‰, consistent with what might be expected due to incorporation of metabolic carbon. Results are also presented from Mytilus californianus shells, collected from Mexico to Oregon following the strong El Niño event of 1997-1998. This event caused a collapse of upwelling and provides an ideal opportunity to examine whether the carbon isotope composition of Mytilus californianus shells show evidence of the dramatic changes occurring within the California Current system at this time.

Radiocarbon differences between benthic and planktonic foraminifera (B-P ages) and radiocarbon projection ages are both used to determine changes of the past ocean circulation rate. A global 3-D ocean circulation model with a constant modern ocean circulation is used to study which method is less influenced by atmospheric Δ14C variations. Three factors cause uncertainties: first, the long equilibration time of the ocean after atmospheric Δ14C changes; second, different mixing processes in the ocean, which cause an ocean response of smaller amplitude than the atmospheric forcing; and third, the unknown source region and corresponding initial surface 14C reservoir age of subsurface waters. The model suggests that B-P ages and projection ages have lower uncertainties the closer they are to deepwater formation zones. In the North Atlantic the B-P age method is less influenced by atmospheric Δ14C variations than the projection-age method. Projections ages vary less in the Pacific as long as atmospheric Δ14C decreases linearly. A more irregular atmospheric Δ14C evolution leads to age variations of similar magnitude with both methods. On the basis of the model experiment, we suggest a potential improvement of the projection-age method.

Petrographic observations within oceanic gabbros drilled by Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) at Leg 153 from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Kane Fracture Zone (MARK) area (23�N) in combination with experimental findings suggest that the late stage magmatic evolution of these gabbros is characterized by pervasive hydrous partial melting. Water-saturated melting experiments on a variety of natural gabbros between 900 and 1000�C at 200 MPa produced newly formed minerals forming a characteristic paragenesis consisting of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, and pargasitic amphibole ± clinopyroxene. The An content of the new plagioclases is uniformly higher than that of the protolith. Olivine and clinopyroxene primocrysts react to form neoblastic orthopyroxene and pargasitic amphibole. These features can also be observed in the gabbros from the MARK area. Here we found zones at plagioclase grain boundaries showing a strong enrichment in An component, with An contents up to 20 to 25 mol % higher than those of the host plagioclase. Primary olivines and clinopyroxenes in contact with such zones react to orthopyroxene and pargasitic amphibole. These phases rim olivine and clinopyroxene and grow ‘‘interstitially,’’ typical petrographic characteristics of a late stage magmatic phase. The observed late stage microstructures in the gabbros thus appear to be the results of partial melting processes triggered by water-rich fluids and are not crystallization products of a percolating differentiated late melt. Here we demonstrate that hydrothermal circulation within the gabbroic layer starts at much higher temperatures (900�–1000�C) than up to now believed. Water-rich fluids propagate on grain boundaries in a ductile regime, causing hydrous partial melting on a large scale. A cracks system, a prerequisite in current models for enabling hydrothermal circulation, is not necessary. The observed process has the potential for transfer of heat and mass between the upper and lower oceanic crust. Provided that the water-rich fluids triggering the partial melting process are seawater derived, this process may have a significant influence on the cooling of the deep oceanic crust which is in concordance with new thermal models implying that high-temperature hydrothermal circulation is regarded to play an important role in transport of heat in the deep oceanic crust.

High-resolution magnetic surveys acquired near the seafloor show that active basalt-hosted hydrothermal sites are associated with zones of lower magnetization. This observation may reflect the thermal demagnetization of a hot hydrothermal zone, the alteration of basalt affected by hydrothermal circulation, and/or the presence of thick, non-magnetic hydrothermal deposits. In order to discriminate among these inferences, we acquired vector magnetic data 50 m above inactive hydrothermal site Krasnov using the Remotely-Operated Vehicle (ROV) Victor. This deep hydrothermal site, located 7 km east of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) axis at 16°38'N, is dissected by major normal faults and shows no evidence of recent hydrothermal activity. It is therefore a perfect target for investigating the magnetic signature of an inactive basalt-hosted hydrothermal site. Krasnov exhibits a strong negative magnetic anomaly, which implies that the lower magnetization observed at basalt-hosted hydrothermal sites is not a transient effect associated to hydrothermal activity, but remains after activity ceases. Thermal demagnetization plays only a secondary role, if any, in the observed magnetic low. Forward models suggest that both the non-magnetic hydrothermal deposits and an altered zone of demagnetized basalt are required to account for the observed magnetic low. The permanence of this magnetic signature makes it a useful tool to explore mid-ocean ridges and detect inactive hydrothermal sites.

This paper offers an alternative to the use of geomorphological and sedimentological evidence for the reconstruction of flood and low flow frequencies. It is based on a technique developed to estimate the hydrological impact of future climate change and it uses either observed or calculated meteorological parameters. It is possible to use this method directly without modification to ‘hindcast’ events within the period of regional meteorological records, which in areas like the UK extend back over the last 150 years. It should also be possible to extend the approach to earlier periods using reconstructed meteorological parameters based on surrogate data, such as ships' logs. The resulting extreme flow sequences may be used to study past hydrological regimes or to improve estimates of present-day risks by extending the flow records. The technique uses an airflow index-based stochastic weather generator to create hydrometeorological parameters to input into a physically based hydrological simulation model. The method is illustrated here in a reconstruction of daily flow series for the River Wye catchment above Rhayader, mid-Wales, for the period 1889–1998. The method makes use of observed climatic variables for the entire period, with the aim of capturing actual climate variability occurring over the 110-year period. Changes in high flow characteristics are assessed using the mean annual flood (MAF), Q5 flow and peaks-over-threshold (POT) calculated from the 110-year simulated daily flow series. This particular application shows evidence of a possible trend towards increasing magnitude and frequency of high flow events, which, if continued, would have implications for flood and water resource management. Looking at evidence from the last 110 years helps to place possible future trends within the context of past variations in high flow extremes due to both natural and anthropogenically influenced fluctuations in climate.

sThe complex geology and expansive axial valleys typical of slow-spreading ridges makes evaluating their hydrothermal activity a challenge. This challenge has gone largely unmet, as the most under-sampled MOR type for hydrothermal activity is slow-spreading (20-55 mm/yr). Here we report the first systematic hydrothermal plume survey conducted on the Central Indian Ridge (CIR, 8°-17°S), the most extensive such survey yet conducted on a slow-spreading ridge. Using a combined CTD/Miniature Autonomous Plume Recorder (MAPR) package we used 118 vertical casts along seven segments of the CIR (~700 km of ridge length) to estimate the frequency of hydrothermal activity. Evidence for hydrothermal activity (particle and methane plumes) was found on each of the seven spreading segments, with most plumes found between 3,000 and 3,500 m, generally <1,000 m above bottom. We most commonly found plumes on asymmetric ridge sections where ultramafic massifs formed along one ridge flank near ridge-transform intersections or non-transform offsets. The estimated plume incidence (ph) for axial and wall casts (ph=0.30, 35 of 118 casts) is consistent with the existing global trend, indicating that the long-term magmatic budget on the CIR is the primary control on the spatial frequency of hydrothermal venting. Our results show that the tectonic fabric of the CIR strongly determines where hydrothermal venting is expressed, and that using only near-axial sampling might underestimate hydrothermal activity along slow- and ultraslow-spreading ridges. Serpentinization is a minor contributor to the plume inventory, based on 15 profiles with methane anomalies only, predominantly at depths above the local valley walls.

Volcaniclastic turbidites on the Madeira Abyssal Plain provide a record of large-volume volcanic island flank collapses from the Canary Islands. This long-term record spans 17 Ma, and comprises one hundred and twenty-five volcaniclastic beds. Determining the timing, provenance and volumes of these turbidites provides key information about the occurrence of mass wasting from the Canary Islands, especially the western islands of Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro. These turbidite records demonstrate that landslides often coincide with protracted periods of volcanic edifice growth, suggesting that loading of the volcanic edifices may be a key preconditioning factor for landslide triggers. Furthermore, the last large-volume failures from Tenerife coincide with explosive volcanism at the end of eruptive cycles. Many large-volume Canary Island landslides also occurred during periods of warmer and wetter climates associated with sea-level rise and subsequent highstand. However, these turbidites are not serially dependent and any association with climate or sea level change is not statistically significant.

The long-lived176Lu-to-176Hf decay system is a powerful tool to understand ancient chemical fractionation events associated with planetary differentiation. Detrital Hadean zircons (>3.8 Gyr) from the Jack Hills metasedimentary belt of Western Australia record extremely enriched Hf-isotope signals suggesting early extraction of a continental crust (>4.5 Gyr) but fail to identify a prevalent complementary depleted mantle reservoir, suggesting that crust formation processes in the early Earth were fundamentally distinct from today. However, this conclusion assumes that the Hf-isotope composition of bulk chondrite meteorites can be used to estimate the composition of Earth prior to its differentiation into major silicate reservoirs, namely the bulk silicate Earth (BSE). We report a176Lu-176Hf internal mineral isochron age of 4869 ± 34 Myr for the pristine SAH99555 angrite meteorite. This age is ˜300 Myr older than the age of the Solar System, confirming the existence of an energetic process yielding excess 176Hf in affected early formed Solar System objects through the production of the 176Lu isomer (t1/2 ˜3.9 hours). Thus, chondrite meteorites contain excess 176Hf and their present-day composition cannot be used to infer the Lu-Hf parameters of BSE. Using a revised BSE estimate based on the SAH99555 isochron, we show that Earth's oldest zircons preserve a record of coexisting enriched and depleted hafnium reservoirs as early as ˜4.3 Gyr in Earth's history, with little evidence for the existence of continental crust prior to ˜4.4 Gyr. This new view suggests continuous juvenile crustal growth and recycling throughout the Hadean and Archean eras, perhaps analogous to modern plate tectonics.

Understanding how pelagic sediment has been eroded, transported, and deposited is critical to evaluating pelagic sediment records for paleoceanography. We use digital seismic reflection data from an Integrated Ocean Drilling Program site survey (AMAT03) to investigate pelagic sedimentation across the eastern-central equatorial Pacific, which represents the first comprehensive record published covering the 18-53 Ma eastern equatorial Pacific. Our goals are to quantify (1) basin-hill-scale primary deposition regimes and (2) the extent to which seafloor topography has been subdued by abyssal valley-filling sediments. The eastern Pacific seafloor consists of a series of abyssal hills and basins, with minor late stage faulting in the basement. Ocean crust rarely outcrops at the seafloor away from the rise crest; both hills and basins are sediment covered. The carbonate compensation depth is identified at 4440 m by the appearance of acoustically transparent clay intervals in the seismic data. Overall, we recognized three different sedimentation regimes: depositional (high sedimentation rate), transitional, and minimal sedimentation (low sedimentation rate) regimes. In all areas, the sedimented seafloor mimics the underlying basement topography, although the degree to which topography becomes subdued varies. Depositional regimes result in symmetric sedimentation within basins and subdued topography, whereas minimal sedimentation regimes have more asymmetric distribution of sediments within topographic lows and higher seafloor relief. Regardless of sedimentation regime, enhanced sediment deposition occurs within basins. However, we observe that basin infill is rarely more than twice as thick as sediment cover over abyssal hills. If this variation is due to sediment focusing, the focusing factor in the basins, as measured by 230Th, is no more than a factor of ∼1.3 of the total vertical particulate rain.

We present a georeferenced photomosaic of the Lucky Strike hydrothermal vent field (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 37̃18′N). The photomosaic was generated from digital photographs acquired using the ARGO II seafloor imaging system during the 1996 LUSTRE cruise, which surveyed a ̃1 km2 zone and provided a coverage of ̃20% of the seafloor. The photomosaic has a pixel resolution of 15 mm and encloses the areas with known active hydrothermal venting. The final mosaic is generated after an optimization that includes the automatic detection of the same benthic features across different images (feature-matching), followedby a global alignment of images based on the vehicle navigation. We also provide software to construct mosaics from large sets of images for which georeferencing information exists (location, attitude, and altitude per image), to visualize them, and to extract data. Georeferencing information can be provided by the raw navigation data (collected during the survey) or result from the optimization obtained from image matching. Mosaics based solely on navigation can be readily generated by any user but the optimization and global alignment of the mosaic requires a case-by-case approach for which no universally software is available. The Lucky Strike photomosaics (optimized and navigated-only) are publicly available through the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS, http://www.marine-geo.org). The mosaic-generating and viewing software is available through the Computer Vision and Robotics Group Web page at the University of Girona (http://eia.udg.es/̃rafa/ mosaicviewer.html).

The goal of the subduction factory project is to obtain a better understanding of processes occurring at convergent margins and performs mass balance calculations for tracer elements. As part of this project, a major objective of ODP Leg 185 is to determine the chemical composition of the inputs to the West Pacific Subduction Factory for use in calculations of elemental mass balance across the subduction zone. To understand such elemental budgets, it is critical to know the lithological diversity and chemical characteristics of the down going oceanic plate. Hole 801C, located ocean-ward of the Mariana island arc system, is the most complete section of old oceanic crust sampled to date but, core recovery in basement holes is often poor (e.g.,

High-resolution bathymetry and seafloor sampling have been used to characterize the 1891 submarine eruption of the Pantelleria volcanic complex. This submarine eruption has been documented mainly by historical reports, describing basaltic scoria bombs floating on the sea surface (i.e., lava balloons). In this study, the 1891 eruptive vent has been identified as a small cone (volume of ~700,000 m3) rising ~90 m from 350 m w.d., and located within a newly discovered submarine volcanic field covering a wide area offshore from the NW coast of Pantelleria; recently, Kelly et al. [2012] confirmed this location by a multibeam and ROV survey. Pyroclasts from the 1891 eruption crop out directly on the seafloor and are fresh scoria clasts (i.e. small bombs, bomb fragments and lapilli) and glass ash-sized grains; both have been characterized in their morphology, textures, and geochemistry. The distinctive vesicularity and crystallization characteristics displayed by the scoriaceous pyroclasts reflect modes of degassing in both syn- and post-eruptive regimes; these characteristics, along with the distribution of deposits suggest for the strongest eruptive phase of the 1891 eruption a style analogous to Hawaiian fountaining. Glass grains from a buoyant plume were dispersed northward from the vent, up to distances of 1.5 km, redirected by the Levantine Intermediate Water. The identification of the 1891 submarine eruptive vent offshore Pantelleria, as well as the features of erupted pyroclasts improve our knowledge of submarine explosive eruptions that occur at shallow-intermediate depths and, among these, of the rare eruptions producing lava balloons.

copyrighted by American Geophysical Union. Lavas of the Rano Rahi seamount field define a Nd-Pb-Sr isotopic array that connects, and substantially overlaps, the arrays of the nearby East Pacific Rise axis and 5.6–28 Ma lavas of the Pukapuka ridge system, situated between the seamount field and French Polynesia. Dating of Rano Rahi samples by ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar incremental heating methods yields ages between 0.23 and 4.67 Ma. Most of the dated lavas were erupted within 60 km of the axis, and no systematic isotopic variation with age is observed. The isotopic and incompatible element data indicate a persistent two-component mantle source comprising variable proportions of normal Pacific ocean-ridge-type mantle and a ‘‘C’’-like Pukapuka end-member with lower εnd, higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, and relative enrichment in the highly incompatible elements. The Rano Rahi data reveal peaks of low εnd, high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, and high ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb at about 16°– 17°S and 18.5°–19°S that appear to correspond to two concentrations of C-rich mantle, probably streaming eastward from French Polynesia. The northern stream may have reached the axis more recently and/or be less continuous than the southern stream.

We have modeled the nucleation and isothermal growth of bubbles in dacite from the 1912 Plinian eruption of Novarupta, Alaska. Bubble growth calculations account for the exsolution of H2O and CO2, beginning with bubble nucleation and ending when bubble sizes reproduced the observed size distribution of vesicles in Novarupta pumice clasts. Assuming classical nucleation theory, bubbles nucleated with a diameter of the order of 10-8 m and grew to sizes ranging from 10-6 m to greater than 10-3 m, the typical range of vesicle sizes found in Novarupta pumice. The smallest vesicles in Novarupta pumices are also the most abundant and bubbles with radii of 10-6 m to 10-5 m comprise almost 90% of the entire bubble population. We find that these bubbles must have nucleated and grown to their final size within a few 100 milliseconds. Despite these extremely fast growth rates, the pressures of exsolved volatiles contained within the bubbles remained high, up to about 107Pa in excess of ambient pressure. Assuming a closed-system, the potential energy of these compressed volatiles was sufficient to cause magma fragmentation, even though only a fraction of the pre-eruptive volatiles had exsolved. Unless the matrix glasses of Novarupta pyroclasts retains a large fraction of pre-eruptive volatiles, the majority of magmatic volatiles (80-90%) was likely lost by open-system degassing between magma fragmentation and quenching.

The Kuril Trench subduction zone is one of the most seismogenic regions, where underthrust earthquakes with M> 8 recur along the trench. The seismic gap between the source areas of the 1973 Nemuro-oki and 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquakes, which are typical underthrust earthquakes faulting with rupture velocities of ˜3 km/s, has been ruptured by the 1952 Tokachi-oki earthquake. The seismic gap has also slipped incidental to neighboring asperities. The difference in slip pattern on the plate interface generally appears as a spatial difference in seismic structure on the plate interface, such as a reflectivity of the plate interface. We estimated the crustal velocity structure and analyzed the reflectivity of the plate interface to investigate the physical properties of the plate interface by performing an air gun-ocean bottom seismometer experiment on the along-trench profile across the seismic gap. Strong reflections from the plate interface were observed in the 1952 Tokachi-oki source area including the seismic gap, rather than in the 1973 Nemuro-oki source area. The strong reflectivity of the plate interface in such the seismic gap with an incidental slip suggests that a slip pattern in the corresponding seismic gap would be conditionally stable. The coupling condition in the source areas of the eastern part of the source area of the 1952 earthquake is different from that in source areas of typical underthrust earthquakes, such as the 2003 Tokachi-oki and 1973 Nemuro-oki earthquakes. Our results suggest that the 1952 Tokachi-oki earthquake was a complex earthquake with the characteristic of a tsunami earthquake.

[1] The 1959 Mw 7.3 Hebgen Lake, MT, normal-faulting earthquake occurred in an extensional stress regime near the Yellowstone volcanic field. Time-dependent crustal deformation data following this major earthquake were acquired by precise trilateration and GPS surveys from 1973 to 2000 around the Hebgen Lake fault zone. Modeling the changes of baseline lengths across and near the fault reveals a lateral variation of transient rheology, in which the lithosphere is stronger near the Hebgen Lake fault zone than in the vicinity of the Yellowstone volcano system. The models also imply that the lower crust is stronger than the upper mantle, in agreement with results from studies of postseismic and post-lake-filling relaxations (