Ancient refractory asthenosphere revealed by mantle re-melting at the Arctic Mid Atlantic Ridge

The upper mantle is a heterogeneous mixture of refractory and recycled crustal domains. The recycled portions, more fertile and thus preferentially melted, dominate the composition of the basalts erupted on the surface, whereas the imprint of melting of the refractory counterparts is more difficult to discern from the basalt chemistry. Contrasting radiogenic isotopic signatures of mid-ocean ridge basalts and oceanic mantle, however, show that Hf isotope ratios may provide hints for melting of refractory source materials despite ubiquitous magma mixing during ascent and stalling in the crust. This property may allow identifying contributions from depleted mantle materials unseen in other isotope systematics in basalts. Here, we show that basalts from Mohns and Knipovich ridges, two >500-km long oblique super-segments in the Arctic Atlantic, have distinctly high Hf isotope ratios, not mirrored by comparatively high Nd and low Sr and Pb isotope ratios. These compositions can be explained if a highly depleted asthenospheric mantle melts beneath this section of the Arctic Mid Atlantic Ridge. We argue that this depleted source consists of high proportions of ancient (>1 Ga), ultra-depleted mantle, previously drained of enriched components before being re-melted in its current location following a recent ridge-jump, allowing the identification of ultra-depleted mantle components in the arctic subridge mantle

Geo-neutrinos: A systematic approach to uncertainties and correlations

Geo-neutrinos emitted by heat-producing elements (U, Th and K) represent a unique probe of the Earth interior. The characterization of their fluxes is subject, however, to rather large and highly correlated uncertainties. The geochemical covariance of the U, Th and K abundances in various Earth reservoirs induces positive correlations among the associated geo-neutrino fluxes, and between these and the radiogenic heat. Mass-balance constraints in the Bulk Silicate Earth (BSE) tend instead to anti-correlate the radiogenic element abundances in complementary reservoirs. Experimental geo-neutrino observables may be further (anti)correlated by instrumental effects. In this context, we propose a systematic approach to covariance matrices, based on the fact that all the relevant geo-neutrino observables and constraints can be expressed as linear functions of the U, Th and K abundances in the Earth's reservoirs (with relatively well-known coefficients). We briefly discuss here the construction of a tentative "geo-neutrino source model" (GNSM) for the U, Th, and K abundances in the main Earth reservoirs, based on selected geophysical and geochemical data and models (when available), on plausible hypotheses (when possible), and admittedly on arbitrary assumptions (when unavoidable). We use then the GNSM to make predictions about several experiments ("forward approach"), and to show how future data can constrain - a posteriori - the error matrix of the model itself ("backward approach"). The method may provide a useful statistical framework for evaluating the impact and the global consistency of prospective geo-neutrino measurements and Earth models.Comment: 17 pages, including 4 figures. To appear on "Earth, Moon, and Planets," Special Issue on "Neutrino Geophysics," Proceedings of Neutrino Science 2005 (Honolulu, Hawaii, Dec. 2005

Cumulate causes for the low contents of sulfide-loving elements in the continental crust

Despite the economic importance of chalcophile (sulfide-loving) and siderophile (metal-loving) elements (CSEs), it is unclear how they become enriched or depleted in the continental crust, compared with the oceanic crust. This is due in part to our limited understanding of the partitioning behaviour of the CSEs. Here I compile compositional data for mid-ocean ridge basalts and subduction-related volcanic rocks. I show that the mantle-derived melts that contribute to oceanic and continental crust formation rarely avoid sulfide saturation during cooling in the crust and, on average, subduction-zone magmas fractionate sulfide at the base of the continental crust prior to ascent. Differentiation of mantle-derived melts enriches lower crustal sulfide- and silicate-bearing cumulates in some CSEs compared with the upper crust. This storage predisposes the cumulate-hosted compatible CSEs (such as Cu and Au) to be recycled back into the mantle during subduction and delamination, resulting in their low contents in the bulk continental crust and potentially contributing to the scarcity of ore deposits in the upper continental crust. By contrast, differentiation causes the upper oceanic and continental crust to become enriched in incompatible CSEs (such as W) compared with the lower oceanic and continental crust. Consequently, incompatible CSEs are predisposed to become enriched in subduction-zone magmas that contribute to continental crust formation and are less susceptible to removal from the continental crust via delamination compared with the compatible CSEs

The Problematization of Sexuality among Women Living with HIV and a New Feminist Approach for Understanding and Enhancing Women’s Sexual Lives

In the context of HIV, women’s sexual rights and sexual autonomy are important but frequently overlooked and violated. Guided by community voices, feminist theories, and qualitative empirical research, we reviewed two decades of global quantitative research on sexuality among women living with HIV. In the 32 studies we found, conducted in 25 countries and composed mostly of cis-gender heterosexual women, sexuality was narrowly constructed as sexual behaviours involving risk (namely, penetration) and physiological dysfunctions relating to HIV illness, with far less attention given to the fullness of sexual lives in context, including more positive and rewarding experiences such as satisfaction and pleasure. Findings suggest that women experience declines in sexual activity, function, satisfaction, and pleasure following HIV diagnosis, at least for some period. The extent of such declines, however, is varied, with numerous contextual forces shaping women’s sexual well-being. Clinical markers of HIV (e.g., viral load, CD4 cell count) poorly predicted sexual outcomes, interrupting widely held assumptions about sexuality for women with HIV. Instead, the effects of HIV-related stigma intersecting with inequities related to trauma, violence, intimate relations, substance use, poverty, aging, and other social and cultural conditions primarily influenced the ways in which women experienced and enacted their sexuality. However, studies framed through a medical lens tended to pathologize outcomes as individual “problems,” whereas others driven by a public health agenda remained primarily preoccupied with protecting the public from HIV. In light of these findings, we present a new feminist approach for research, policy, and practice toward understanding and enhancing women’s sexual lives—one that affirms sexual diversity; engages deeply with society, politics, and history; and is grounded in women’s sexual rights

Light Stable Isotopic Compositions of Enriched Mantle Sources: Resolving the Dehydration Paradox

Volatile and stable isotope data provide tests of mantle processes that give rise to mantle heterogeneity. New data on enriched mid‐oceanic ridge basalts (MORB) show a diversity of enriched components. Pacific PREMA‐type basalts (H2O/Ce = 215 ± 30, δDSMOW = −45 ± 5 ‰) are similar to those in the northern Atlantic (H2O/Ce = 220 ± 30; δDSMOW = −30 to −40 ‰). Basalts with EM‐type signatures have regionally variable volatile compositions. Northern Atlantic EM‐type basalts are wetter (H2O/Ce = 330 ± 30) and have isotopically heavier hydrogen (δDSMOW = −57 ± 5 ‰) than northern Atlantic MORB. Southern Atlantic EM‐type basalts are damp (H2O/Ce = 120 ± 10) with intermediate δDSMOW (−68 ± 2 ‰), similar to δDSMOW for Pacific MORB. Northern Pacific EM‐type basalts are dry (H2O/Ce = 110 ± 20) and isotopically light (δDSMOW = −94 ± 3 ‰). A multistage metasomatic and melting model accounts for the origin of the enriched components by extending the subduction factory concept down through the mantle transition zone, with slab temperature a key variable. Volatiles and their stable isotopes are decoupled from lithophile elements, reflecting primary dehydration of the slab followed by secondary rehydration, infiltration, and re‐equilibration by fluids derived from dehydrating subcrustal hydrous phases (e.g., antigorite) in cooler, deeper parts of the slab. Enriched mantle sources form by addition of <1% carbonated eclogite ± sediment‐derived C‐O‐H‐Cl fluids to depleted mantle at 180–280 km (EM) or within the transition zone (PREMA). Plain Language Summary Water in enriched oceanic basalts is mostly recycled seawater that has been added to the mantle through deep melting of subducted slab igneous crust and sediments. The stable isotopic composition of the melted slab materials reflects complex dehydration and rehydration processes, as different lithologies dehydrate at different depths depending on their position in the slab and the overall slab thermal profile. Key Points H2O and δD of EM and PREMA‐type basalts correlate with indicators of mantle heterogeneity with distinctive correlations for each region δD in enriched mantle sources reflects slab dehydration and rehydration by fluids derived from cooler, deeper parts of the slab A multistage metasomatic and melting model accounts for the data by extending the subduction factory through the mantle transition zon

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