A Holocene cryptotephra record from the Chukchi margin: the first tephrostratigraphic study in the Arctic Ocean

Developing geochronology for sediments in the Arctic Ocean and its continental margins is an important but challenging task complicated by multiple problems. In particular, the Chukchi/Beaufort margin, a critical area for reconstructing paleoceanographic conditions in the Pacific sector of the Arctic, features widespread dissolution of calcareous material, which limits posibilities for radiocarbon chronology. In order to evaluate the untapped potential of tephrochronology for constraining the age of these sediments, we investigated a sediment core from the eastern Chukchi Sea margin for cryptotephra. The core was collected in the area of sediment focusing on the upper slope (Darby et al., 2009). Samples were taken from the upper sedimentary unit composed of homogenous, fine-grained mud inferred to represent marine environmental conditions of the last 8-9 ka. Based on this age estimate, the initial set of 36 samples has an average resolution of ~250 years. Freeze-dried samples (0.5 g) were treated with HCl, wet-sieved to obtain a 80-25-μm fraction, treated with 1% NaOH to disaggregate clay clumps, and separated at specific density between 2.3 and 2.5 g/cm3. Residues in all samples featured abundant shards of colorless volcanic glass with an admixture of brown shards in the lower part of the unit. Three apparent tephra peaks were identified in the upper part of the record. The electron microprobe analysis of individual shards from these peaks showed nearly identical chemical compositions indicative of the late-Holocene tephras of the Aniakchak volcano in southwestern Alaska (e.g., Kaufman et al., 2012). The glasses analyzed exhibit a continuous composition range from 55 to 77 wt% SiO2 overlapping with two major populations of Aniakchak glasses (andesitic and dacitic) and also including some intermediate compositions. We infer that the three tephra peaks identified correspond to the three prominent tephra layers investigated in lake deposits between Aniakchak and the core site and dated to ~0.4, 3.1, and 3.7 ka (Kaufman et al., 2012). Further detailed study of tephra distribution in the Chukchi margin cores is underway. Identification of distinct tephra peaks with the composition traceable to specific known eruptions provides a powerful, independent chronological tool, much needed for Arctic paleoceanography. The consistent presence of cryptotephra in the analyzed samples suggests its wide occurrence in at least the Chukchi margin sediments; studies from other Arctic shelves and basins are needed to understand the geographic pattern of tephra distribution in seafloor sediments from this part of the world. Darby, D.A., Ortiz, J. Polyak, L., et al., 2009. The role of currents and sea ice in both slowly deposited central Arctic and rapidly deposited Chukchi-Alaskan margin sediments. Global Planet. Change 68, 58-72. Kaufman, D.S., Jensen, B.J.L., Reyes, A.V., et al., 2012. Late Quaternary tephrostratigraphy, Ahklun Mountains, SW Alaska. J. Quatern. Sci. 27, 344–359

Multi-cyclic and isotopically diverse silicic magma generation in an arc volcano : Gorely Eruptive Center, Kamchatka, Russia

The Kamchatka Peninsula is home to some of the most frequent and prolific subduction-related volcanic activity in the world, with the largest number of caldera-forming eruptions per length of the volcanic arc. Among those, Gorely volcano has a topographically prominent Late Pleistocene caldera (13 km × 12 km, estimated to have produced >100 km3 of magma), which is now almost completely filled by a central cone. We report new 40Ar/39Ar ages and geochemical and isotopic data for newly recognized Mid-Pleistocene ignimbrite units of large but unknown volume sourced from the Gorely eruptive center, most of which were deposited in marginal glacial conditions. These ignimbrites have crystallinities of 9–24% and most are quartz-, amphibole-, and zircon-undersaturated. Additionally, we studied 32 eruptive units, including stratigraphically constrained Holocene tephra, and pre- and post-caldera lava sequences, to understand the petrogenetic and temporal evolution of this long-lived, multi-cyclic, arc volcano. Material erupted prior to the formation of the modern Gorely edifice, including the voluminous ignimbrites and eruptions of the ‘pra-Gorely’ stage, consist primarily of dacite and andesite, whereas sequences of the modern Gorely edifice are represented by basalt to basaltic andesite. MELTS and EC-AFC modeling shows that it is possible to obtain silicic compositions near those of the evolved ignimbrite compositions through 60–75% fractional crystallization at 1 kbar and nickel–nickel oxide (NNO) oxygen fugacity. However, our newly compiled major and trace element data for Gorely yield two separate bimodal peaks in a SiO2–frequency diagram, showing a prominent Daly Gap, with a deficiency in andesite. Trace element concentrations define two separate trends, one for more silicic and another for more mafic sequences. Additionally, δ18Omelt values reconstructed from coexisting plagioclase and clinopyroxene phenocrysts range from a low value of 4·85‰ to a normal value of 6·22‰. The low δ18O values range throughout the known lifespan of Gorely, with the lowest value being from the first known ignimbrite to erupt, indicating episodic but temporally decreasing crustal assimilation of previously hydrothermally altered material. 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd ratios show wide ranges from 0·70328 to 0·70351 and from 0·51303 to 0·51309 respectively, also suggesting incorporation of surrounding crust, although there are less clear trends throughout the lifespan of Gorely. The combination of light and diverse δ18O values with elevated 87Sr/86Sr and low 143Nd/144Nd ratios suggests contamination by older and isotopically diverse, low-δ18O country-rocks, such as the neighboring 11 Ma Akhomten granitic massif, which shows ranges in δ18O, 87Sr/86Sr, and 144Nd/143Nd values overlapping with the Gorely magmas. In addition, the presence of glomerocrysts and mafic enclaves in the majority of Gorely dacites indicates a period of crystal settling and subsequent intrusion of hot, primitive basalt that probably triggered eruption. Finally, elevated Nb concentrations relative to other Kamchatkan volcanoes suggest that Gorely magmas may involve an enriched component, probably caused by delamination of a lower crustal root. Our results argue for an incremental view of silicic magma generation at so-called ‘long-term eruptive centers’, in Kamchatka and worldwide, consisting of alternating episodes of magmatic and hydrothermal activity, and glacial advances and retreats. We demonstrate that large-volume, isotopically distinct, silicic magma can be generated rapidly between cone-building phases of volcanic activity through a combination of fractional crystallization, assimilation of older country rocks, and shallow assimilation of hydrothermally altered but otherwise petrochemically similar older intracaldera tuffs and intrusions. These transient shallow silicic magma chambers empty nearly completely in ignimbrite-forming eruptions after 103–105 years of assembly, partially triggered by glacial surface dynamics

Identification of a widespread Kamchatkan tephra: A middle Pleistocene tie-point between Arctic and Pacific paleoclimatic records

Very few age controls exist for Quaternary deposits over the vast territory of the East Russian Arctic, which hampers dating of major environmental changes in this area and prevents their correlation to climatic changes in the Arctic and Pacific marine domains. We report a newly identified ~177 ka old Rauchua tephra, which has been dispersed over an area of >1,500,000 km2 and directly links terrestrial paleoenvironmental archives from Arctic Siberia with marine cores in the northwest Pacific, thus permitting their synchronization and dating. The Rauchua tephra can help to identify deposits formed in terrestrial and marine environments during the oxygen isotope stage 6.5 warming event. Chemical composition of volcanic glass from the Rauchua tephra points to its island-arc origin, while its spatial distribution singles out the Kamchatka volcanic arc as a source. The Rauchua tephra represents a previously unknown, large (magnitude >6.5) explosive eruption from the Kamchatka volcanic arc

Study of oil recovery from reservoirs of different void types with use of multidimensional statistical analysis

Oil recovery laws that take into account distribution of reservoirs with different void types within the same accumulation. Carbonate field data of development of Tournaisian-Famennian oil accumulation was used. For comparison purposes data of development of the field with similar oil properties but reservoir of clastic grain rock and pore type were used. One injector and neighbor producers were used as components of applied production scheme. The type of reservoir within one development object was determined by several studies including pressure build-up curve processed by Warren-Root method. At the first stage correlation coefficients between injection and production of neighbor well were calculated. Calculation was done for different time and with assumption, according to which correlation coefficient is a quantitative measure of interactions between two wells. It is determined that use of correlation coefficient for pore reservoirs is significantly differ to the character of its behavior for fracture reservoir type. Multidimensional mathematical models that characterize flooding and allow determining producer’s rate were obtained with considered void type. Linear discriminant functions are built with considered void type of reservoir. Analysis of those functions determined that replacement of oil by water in clastic and carbonates porous rocks and carbonate naturally fractured reservoirs follow different scenarios

Early Holocene M~6 explosive eruption from Plosky volcanic massif (Kamchatka) and its tephra as a link between terrestrial and marine paleoenvironmental records

We report tephrochronological and geochemical data on early Holocene activity from Plosky volcanic massif in the Kliuchevskoi volcanic group, Kamchatka Peninsula. Explosive activity of this volcano lasted for ~1.5 kyr, produced a series of widely dispersed tephra layers, and was followed by profuse low-viscosity lava flows. This eruptive episode started a major reorganization of the volcanic structures in the western part of the Kliuchevskoi volcanic group. An explosive eruption from Plosky (M~6), previously unstudied, produced tephra (coded PL2) of a volume of 10–12 km3 (11–13 Gt), being one of the largest Holocene explosive eruptions in Kamchatka. Characteristic diagnostic features of the PL2 tephra are predominantly vitric sponge-shaped fragments with rare phenocrysts and microlites of plagioclase, olivine and pyroxenes, medium- to high-K basaltic andesitic bulk composition, high-K, high-Al and high-P trachyandesitic glass composition with SiO2 = 57.5–59.5 wt%, K2O = 2.3–2.7 wt%, Al2O3 = 15.8–16.5 wt%, and P2O5 = 0.5–0.7 wt%. Other diagnostic features include a typical subduction-related pattern of incompatible elements, high concentrations of all REE (>10× mantle values), moderate enrichment in LREE (La/Yb ~ 5.3), and non-fractionated mantle-like pattern of LILE. Geochemical fingerprinting of the PL2 tephra with the help of EMP and LA-ICP-MS analyses allowed us to map its occurrence in terrestrial sections across Kamchatka and to identify this layer in Bering Sea sediment cores at a distance of >600 km from the source. New high-precision 14C dates suggest that the PL2 eruption occurred ~10,200 cal BP, which makes it a valuable isochrone for early Holocene climate fluctuations and permits direct links between terrestrial and marine paleoenvironmental records. The terrestrial and marine 14C dates related to the PL2 tephra have allowed us to estimate an early Holocene reservoir age for the western Bering Sea at 1,410 ± 64 14C years. Another important tephra from the early Holocene eruptive episode of Plosky volcano, coded PL1, was dated at 11,650 cal BP. This marker is the oldest geochemically characterized and dated tephra marker layer in Kamchatka to date and is an important local marker for the Younger Dryas—early Holocene transition. One more tephra from Plosky, coded PL3, can be used as a marker northeast of the source at a distance of ~110 km