128 research outputs found
Origins of chemical diversity of back-arc basin basalts: a segment-scale study of the Eastern Lau Spreading Center
We report major, trace, and volatile element data on basaltic glasses from the northernmost segment of the Eastern Lau Spreading Center (ELSC1) in the Lau back-arc basin to further test and constrain models of back-arc volcanism. The zero-age samples come from 47 precisely collected stations from an 85 km length spreading center. The chemical data covary similarly to other back-arc systems but with tighter correlations and well-developed spatial systematics. We confirm a correlation between volatile content and apparent extent of melting of the mantle source but also show that the data cannot be reproduced by the model of isobaric addition of water that has been broadly applied to back-arc basins. The new data also confirm that there is no relationship between mantle temperature and the wet melting productivity. Two distinct magmatic provinces can be identified along the ELSC1 axis, a southern province influenced by a âwet componentâ with strong affinities to arc volcanism and a northern province influenced by a âdamp componentâ intermediate between enriched mid-ocean ridge basalts (E-MORB) and arc basalts. Highâfield strength elements and rare earth elements are all mobilized to some extent by the wet component, and the detailed composition of this component is determined. It differs in significant ways from the Mariana component reported by E. Stolper and S. Newman (1994), particularly by having lower abundances of most elements relative to H_(2)O. The differences can be explained if the slab temperature is higher for the Mariana and the source from which the fluid is derived is more enriched. The ELSC1 damp component is best explained by mixing between the wet component and an E-MORB-like component. We propose that mixing between water-rich fluids and low-degree silicate melts occurs at depth in the subduction zone to generate the chemical diversity of the ELSC1 subduction components. These modified sources then rise independently to the surface and melt, and these melts mix with melts of the background mantle from the ridge melting regime to generate the linear data arrays characteristic of back-arc basalts. The major and trace element framework for ELSC1, combined with different slab temperatures and compositions for difference convergent margins, may be able to be applied to other back-arc basins around the globe
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Origins of Chemical Diversity of Back-Arc Basin Basalts: A Segment-Scale Study of the Eastern Lau Spreading Center
We report major, trace, and volatile element data on basaltic glasses from the northernmost segment of the Eastern Lau Spreading Center (ELSC1) in the Lau back-arc basin to further test and constrain models of back-arc volcanism. The zero-age samples come from 47 precisely collected stations from an 85 km length spreading center. The chemical data covary similarly to other back-arc systems but with tighter correlations and well-developed spatial systematics. We confirm a correlation between volatile content and apparent extent of melting of the mantle source but also show that the data cannot be reproduced by the model of isobaric addition of water that has been broadly applied to back-arc basins. The new data also confirm that there is no relationship between mantle temperature and the wet melting productivity. Two distinct magmatic provinces can be identified along the ELSC1 axis, a southern province influenced by a wet component with strong affinities to arc volcanism and a northern province influenced by a damp component intermediate between enriched mid-ocean ridge basalts (E-MORB) and arc basalts. High field strength elements and rare earth elements are all mobilized to some extent by the wet component, and the detailed composition of this component is determined. It differs in significant ways from the Mariana component reported by E. Stolper and S. Newman (1994), particularly by having lower abundances of most elements relative to . The differences can be explained if the slab temperature is higher for the Mariana and the source from which the fluid is derived is more enriched. The ELSC1 damp component is best explained by mixing between the wet component and an E-MORB-like component. We propose that mixing between water-rich fluids and low-degree silicate melts occurs at depth in the subduction zone to generate the chemical diversity of the ELSC1 subduction components. These modified sources then rise independently to the surface and melt, and these melts mix with melts of the background mantle from the ridge melting regime to generate the linear data arrays characteristic of back-arc basalts. The major and trace element framework for ELSC1, combined with different slab temperatures and compositions for difference convergent margins, may be able to be applied to other back-arc basins around the globe.Earth and Planetary Science
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Mantle Source Variations beneath the Eastern Lau Spreading Center and the Nature of Subduction Components in the Lau Basin-Tonga Arc System
New high-density sampling of the Eastern Lau Spreading Center provides constraints on the processes that affect the mantle wedge beneath a back-arc environment, including the effect of the subduction input on basalt petrogenesis and the change in subduction input with distance from the Tonga arc. We obtained trace element and Pb-Sr-Nd isotopic compositions of 64 samples distributed between 20.2 degree S and 22.3 degree S with an average spacing of ~3.6 km. The trace element and isotope variations do not vary simply with distance from the arc and reflect variations in the mantle wedge composition and the presence of multiple components in the subduction input. The mantle wedge composition varies form north to south, owing to the southward migration of Indian-like mantle, progressively replacing the initially Pacific-like mantle wedge. The mantle wedge compositions also require an enriched mid-ocean ridge basalt-like trace element enrichment that has little effect on isotope ratios, suggesting recent low-degree melt enrichment events. The composition of the subduction input added to the mantle wedge is geographically variable and mirrors the changes observed in the Tonga arc island lavas. The combination of the back-arc and arc data allows identification of several components contributing to the subduction input. These are a fluid derived from the altered oceanic crust with a possible sedimentary contribution, a pelagic sediment partial melt, and, in the southern Lau basin, a volcaniclastic sediment partial melt. While on a regional scale, there is a rough decrease in subduction influence with the distance from the arc, on smaller scales, the distribution of the subduction input reflects different mechanisms of the addition of the subduction input to a variable mantle wedge.Earth and Planetary Science
Sites dâacquisition, de transformation et dâutilisation de la dolĂ©rite et des grĂšs Ă©ocĂšnes
LâannĂ©e 2011 a Ă©tĂ© lâoccasion de dĂ©buter Ă lâuniversitĂ© de Nantes les analyses gĂ©ochimiques de dolĂ©rite (AB, CL et GK) provenant du site de Beulin et dâĂ©chantillons provenant dâautres affleurements de dolĂ©rite limitrophes. Lâobjectif de ces analyses est dâĂ©tablir leur Ă©ventuelle signature gĂ©ochimique afin de faciliter lâidentification des productions de lâatelier de Beulin. Par ailleurs, la publication de la carte gĂ©ologique de Mayenne par le BRGM nous a permis de corriger la nature de la roc..
MnâCa intra- and inter-test variability in the benthic foraminifer <i>Ammonia tepida</i>
The adaptation of some benthic foraminiferal species to low-oxygen conditions provides the prospect of using the chemical composition of their tests as proxies for bottom water oxygenation. Manganese may be particularly suitable as such a geochemical proxy because this redox element is soluble in reduced form (Mn2+) and hence can be incorporated into benthic foraminiferal tests under low-oxygen conditions. Therefore, intra- and inter-test differences in foraminiferal MnâCa ratios may hold important information about short-term variability in pore water Mn2+ concentrations and sediment redox conditions. Here, we studied MnâCa intra- and inter-test variability in living individuals of the shallow infaunal foraminifer Ammonia tepida sampled in Lake Grevelingen (the Netherlands) in three different months of 2012. The deeper parts of this lake are characterized by seasonal hypoxia/anoxia with associated shifts in microbial activity and sediment geochemistry, leading to seasonal Mn2+ accumulation in the pore water. Earlier laboratory experiments with similar seawater Mn2+ concentrations as encountered in the pore waters of Lake Grevelingen suggest that intra-test variability due to ontogenetic trends (i.e. size-related effects) and/or other vital effects occurring during calcification in A. tepida (11â25âŻ% relative SD, RSD) is responsible for part of the observed variability in MnâCa. Our present results show that the seasonally highly dynamic environmental conditions in the study area lead to a strongly increased MnâCa intra- and inter-test variability (average of 45âŻ% RSD). Within single specimens, both increasing and decreasing trends in MnâCa ratios with size are observed. Our results suggest that the variability in successive single-chamber MnâCa ratios reflects the temporal variability in pore water Mn2+. Additionally, active or passive migration of the foraminifera in the surface sediment may explain part of the observed MnâCa variability
Nickel and helium evidence for melt above the coreâmantle boundary
High ^(3)He/^(4)He ratios in some basalts have generally been interpreted as originating in an incompletely degassed lower-mantle source. This helium source may have been isolated at the coreâmantle boundary region since Earthâs accretion. Alternatively, it may have taken part in whole-mantle convection and crust production over the age of the Earth; if so, it is now either a primitive refugium at the coreâmantle boundary or is distributed throughout the lower mantle. Here we constrain the problem using lavas from Baffin Island, West Greenland, the Ontong Java Plateau, Isla Gorgona and Fernandina (Galapagos). Olivine phenocryst compositions show that these lavas originated from a peridotite source that was about 20 per cent higher in nickel content than in the modern mid-ocean-ridge basalt source. Where data are available, these lavas also have high ^(3)He/^(4)He. We propose that a less-degassed nickel-rich source formed by coreâmantle interaction during the crystallization of a melt-rich layer or basal magma ocean, and that this source continues to be sampled by mantle plumes. The spatial distribution of this source may be constrained by nickel partitioning experiments at the pressures of the coreâmantle boundary
Chemistry of hot springs along the Eastern Lau Spreading Center
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2010. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 75 (2011): 1013-1038, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2010.12.008.The Eastern Lau Spreading Center (ELSC) is the southernmost part of the back-arc spreading axis in the Lau Basin, west of the Tonga trench and the active Tofua volcanic arc. Over its 397-km length it exhibits large and systematic changes in spreading rate, magmatic/tectonic processes, and proximity to the volcanic arc. In 2005 we collected 81 samples of vent water from six hydrothermal fields along the ELSC. The chemistry of these waters varies both within and between vent fields, in response to changes in substrate composition, temperature and pressure, pH, water/rock ratio, and input from magmatic gases and subducted sediment. Hot-spring temperatures range from 229Âș to 363ÂșC at the five northernmost fields, with a general decrease to the south that is reversed at the Mariner field. The southernmost field, Vai Lili, emitted water at up to 334°C in 1989 but had a maximum venting temperature of only 121ÂșC in 2005, due to waning activity and admixture of bottom seawater into the subseafloor plumbing system. Chloride varies both within fields and from one field to another, from a low of 528 mmol/kg to a high of 656 mmol/kg, and may be enriched by phase separation and/or leaching of Cl from the rock. Concentrations of the soluble elements K, Rb, Cs, and B likewise increase southward as the volcanic substrate becomes more silica-rich, especially on the Valu Fa Ridge. Iodine and ÎŽ7Li increase southward, and ÎŽ11B decreases as B increases, apparently in response to increased input from subducted sediment as the arc is approached. Species that decrease southward as temperature falls are Si, H2S, Li, Na/Cl, Fe, Mn, and 87Sr/86Sr, whereas pH, alkalinity, Ca, and Sr increase. Oxygen isotopes indicate a higher water/rock ratio in the three systems on Valu Fa Ridge, consistent with higher porosity in more felsic volcanic rocks. Vent waters at the Mariner vent field on the Valu Fa Ridge are significantly hotter, more acid and metal-rich, less saline, and richer in dissolved gases and other volatiles, including H2S, CO2, and F, than the other vent fields, consistent with input of magmatic gases. The large variations in geologic and geophysical parameters produced by back-arc spreading along the ELSC, which exceed those along mid-ocean ridge spreading axes, produce similar large variations in the composition of vent waters, and thus provide new insights into the processes that control the chemistry of submarine hot springs.We thank the U.S. National Science Foundation and its RIDGE 2000 Program for funding this study via grants OCE0241826 (to MJM), OCE0242902 (to PJM), OCE0241796 (to JSS, MKT), and OCE0242088 (to CGW), as well as the Deep Ocean Exploration Institute at WHOI (to GP, ER)
Residential Security Maps and Neighborhood Appraisals. The Homeowners\u27 Loan Corporation and the Case of Philadelphia
At the request of the Home Loan Bank Board, the Home Ownersâ Loan Corporation (HOLC) created color-coded maps for cities across the country between 1935 and 1940 that indicated risk levels for long-term real estate investment. Involvement in this City Survey Program marked a departure from the original mission of HOLC to provide new mortgages on an emergency basis to homeowners at risk of losing their homes during the Depression. This article considers why HOLC made these maps, how HOLC created them, and what the basis was for the grades on the maps. Geographic information systems and spatial regression models are used to show that racial composition was a significant predictor of map grades, controlling for housing characteristics
On the iron isotope composition of Mars and volatile depletion in the terrestrial planets
Iron is the most abundant multivalent element in planetary reservoirs, meaning its isotope composition (expressed as ÎŽ57Fe) may record signatures of processes that occurred during the formation and subsequent differentiation of the terrestrial planets. Chondritic meteorites, putative constituents of the planets and remnants of undifferentiated inner solar system bodies, have ÎŽ57Fe â 0â°; an isotopic signature shared with the Martian ShergottiteâNakhliteâChassignite (SNC) suite of meteorites. The silicate Earth and Moon, as represented by basaltic rocks, are distinctly heavier, ÎŽ57Feâ+0.1â°. However, some authors have recently argued, on the basis of iron isotope measurements of abyssal peridotites, that the composition of the Earthâs mantle is ÎŽ57Fe = +0.04 ± 0.04â°, indistinguishable from the mean Martian value. To provide a more robust estimate for Mars, we present new high-precision iron isotope data on 17 SNC meteorites and 5 mineral separates. We find that the iron isotope compositions of Martian meteorites reflect igneous processes, with nakhlites and evolved shergottites displaying heavier ÎŽ57Fe(+0.05 ± 0.03â°), whereas MgO-rich rocks are lighter (ÎŽ57Feââ0.01 ±0.02â°). These systematics are controlled by the fractionation of olivine and pyroxene, attested to by the lighter isotope composition of pyroxene compared to whole rock nakhlites. Extrapolation of the ÎŽ57Fe SNC liquid line of descent to a putative Martian mantle yields a ÎŽ57Fe value lighter than its terrestrial counterpart, but indistinguishable from chondrites. Iron isotopes in planetary basalts of the inner solar system correlate positively with Fe/Mn and silicon isotopes. While Mars and IV-Vesta are undepleted in iron and accordingly have chondritic ÎŽ57Fe, the Earth experienced volatile depletion at low (1300 K) temperatures, likely at an early stage in the solar nebula, whereas additional post-nebular Fe loss is possible for the Moon and angrites
Origins of chemical diversity of back-arc basin basalts: A segment-scale study of the Eastern Lau Spreading Center
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