Petrological Characteristics and Genesis of the Central Indian Ocean Basin Basalts

The Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) basalts are plagioclase-rich, while olivine and pyroxene are very few. The analyses of 41 samples reveal high FeOT (~10–18 wt%) and TiO2 (~1.4–2.7 wt%) indicating a ferrobasaltic composition. The basalts have high incompatible elements (Zr 63–228 ppm; Nb ~1–5 ppm; Ba ~15–78 ppm; La ~3–16 ppm), a similar U/Pb (0.02–0.4) ratio as the normal mid-oceanic basalt (0.16±0.07) but the Ba/Nb (12.5–53) ratio is much larger than that of the normal mid-oceanic ridge basalt (~5.7) and Primitive Mantle (9.56). Interestingly almost all of the basalts have a significant negative Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu*=0.78–1.00) that may have been a result of the removal of feldspar and pyroxene during crystal fractionation. These compositional variations suggest that the basalts were derived through fractional crystallization together with low partial melting of a shallow seated magma.     

西秦岭甘加地区OIB型钾质拉斑玄武岩的发现:对西秦岭晚中生代大陆裂谷作用的启示

西秦岭晚中生代火山岩出露于青海省泽库县多福屯地区、甘肃省夏河县红墙和甘加地区。初步研究表明,甘加火山岩属于一套钾质拉斑玄武岩。该玄武岩富集REE、LILE及HFSE,但轻、重稀土元素分馏程度及不相容元素含量均略低于典型OIB和西秦岭晚中生代钠质碱性玄武岩。岩浆起源于软流圈释放的小体积富挥发份硅酸盐熔体交代形成的富集岩石圈地幔,并在上升中经历了较大程度的镁铁质矿物的分离结晶作用。岩石具有典型的陆内OIB成因特点,既不同于前人提出的甘加海山玄武岩,也不属于“二叠纪隆务峡-甘加蛇绿岩”组成部分,而与西秦岭晚中生代钠质碱性玄武岩均为大陆裂谷系OIB型岩浆作用的产物。甘加玄武岩可能具有比较复杂的岩石组合,跨越了晚古生代到晚中生代的一个较长时间范围。西秦岭晚中生代的大陆裂谷作用夭折于岩石圈拉张的早期阶段,它的出现及研究区广泛发育的近SN向或NW向断裂,可能是贺兰-川滇南北构造带与大型走滑断裂系复杂叠加并相互影响与改造的表现。     

东北印度洋源汇过程及古环境与古季风演化

东北印度洋地理位置独特,其沉积物记录了青藏高原隆升及孟加拉扇的“源-汇”过程、印度季风与东亚季风的“海-气”交互作用、印-太暖池热传输的演变与高纬气候之间的相位关系等关键信息,是喜马拉雅地区“构造-气候-沉积”耦合演化的良好记录载体,是探讨多圈层相互作用、探索古气候与古环境演化的理想“窗口”。本文系统总结了近年来有关东北印度洋季风与表层环流特征、沉积物组成及物源、气候环境演化以及环境磁学记录等方面的研究进展。分析表明,东北印度洋为典型的季风风场,表层环流受季风影响强烈,夏季和冬季环流差异明显。沉积物类型丰富,包括河流输运而来的陆源碎屑、钙质和硅质为主的生物沉积以及火山物质等。但目前对于该区域的沉积物的具体组成、“源-汇”过程、迁移历史、季风演化与青藏高原隆升、高纬气候变化之间相互关系等方面的认识尚存在较大的分歧。同时,受样品获取难度大、磁学信号稀释严重等因素的限制,环境磁学作为一种在示踪沉积物物质来源、恢复古气候和古环境等方面被普遍认可的技术手段,在东北印度洋区并没有得到充分的发挥与应用。因此,未来需要在前人研究的基础上,将目光向东北印度洋更南、更深处延伸,对其“源-汇”过程进行全面分析。在研究方法上进一步拓展,采用更高精度的技术手段提取磁学信号,加大环境磁学的应用,寻找有效的替代性指标,解决该地区季风演化、古海洋环境变化等气候环境问题,为该地区环境气候研究提供新认识。并尝试开展地磁场长期变化(paleosecular variation, PSV)研究,建立东北印度洋的PSV记录,辅助修正全球地磁场模型,探究地球深部动力过程。     

Seamounts in the Central Indian Ocean Basin: indicators of the Indian plate movement

The study of seamount parameters in the tectonically most-complicated and least-understood Indian Ocean assumes importance since their properties vary as a function of tectonic setting, physics of lithosphere, conduit geometry and chemical composition of magma. More than 100 such seamounts ranging in summit height (h) from 300 to 2870 m, are indentified in the oceanic crust between Indian continent and Mid-Indian Ridge (MIR) and South-East Indian Ridge (SEIR). Most of the minor seamounts (h > 1000) are found in the southern part of the study area. Major seamounts (h < 1000 m) are roughly distributed in two groups—the northern group on Cretaceous Oceanic Crust and southern group on Pliocene-Miocene Oceanic Crust. On an average northern group seamounts (SM 1 to 6) are taller, wider and flatter than those from the southern group. These seamounts appear to be the result of continuous growth from tapped, moving magma chamber while stress depleted magma and inconsistent Indian Plate movement during Mid-Tertiary are attributed to the origin of southern group of smaller seamounts. Distribution and morphology of seamounts as a whole indicate their formation either from Reunion hotspot or from two separate hotspots in the geological past.     

Geodynamics of the Amirante Ridge and Trench Complex,Western Indian Ocean

The formation and evolution of the ～600 km long arcuate Amirante Ridge and Trench Complex (ARTC) is a significant geomorphic–structural feature in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). The WIO contains evidence of at least two major magmatic episodes followed by continental rifting within the span of a little more than 20 million years. This involved the splitting of Madagascar from India at around 85 Ma and then separation between India and the Seychelles at 64–63 Ma as a possible consequence of two powerful volcanic eruptions from the Marion and Reunion hot spots, respectively. Formation and evolution of the ARTC represents this tumultuous period in the Indian Ocean, approximately between 85 and 60 Ma (Late Cretaceous–Early Tertiary).

We integrated geophysical, palaeomagnetical, and petrological data to examine three existing models that attempt to explain the formation of ARTC. In contrast, our study hints at several stages of extension and compression responsible for its formation. Our integrated data also suggest that the Carlsberg Ridge may have played a prominent role in the evolution of the ARTC that seems to have formed through a ridge-jump process after the conjugate spreading centres – Mascarene and Palitana ridges formed earlier during the India–Madagascar separation – ceased spreading because of violent eruption of the Reunion hot spot at around 65 Ma. The eruption disturbed the plumbing system of magma ascent, resulting in cessation of spreading along the conjugate spreading centres, forcing a ridge jump.

A collage of seismic refraction and reflection, free-air gravity, magnetic anomaly data, and Ar dating of rocks indicates that as the Carlsberg Ridge swept the Seychelles towards south, the crust between Madagascar and the Seychelles was increasingly compressed, with the abandoned northern Mascarene spreading centre absorbing the maximum stress. With continued compression, the western limb of the abandoned spreading ridge was thrust below the eastern limb to a limited degree. This partial subduction agrees with the gravity and seismic results. Our new study also accounts for the anomalous presence of 14 km-thick oceanic crust beneath the ARTC and its characteristic difference in petrology with other established subduction zones in the world.     

The biogeochemical distribution of trace elements in the Indian Ocean

The present review deals with the distributions of dissolved trace metals in the Indian Ocean in relation with biological, chemical and hydrographic processes. The literature data-base is extremely limited and almost no information is available on particle processes and input and output processes of trace metals in the Indian Ocean basin and therefore much research is needed to expand our understanding of the marine chemistries of most trace metals. An area of special interest for future research is the Arabian Sea. The local conditions (upwelling induced productivity, restricted bottom water circulation and suboxic intermediate waters) create a natural laboratory for studying trace metal chemistry.     

Distribution, origin and transport process of boulders deposited by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at Pakarang Cape, Thailand

The tsunami of 2004 in the Indian Ocean transported thousands of meters-long boulders shoreward at Pakarang Cape, Thailand. We investigated size, position and long axis orientation of 467 boulders at the cape. Most of boulders found at the cape are well rounded, ellipsoid in shape, without sharp broken edges. They were fragments of reef rocks and their sizes were estimated to be < 14m³ (22.7t). The distribution pattern and orientation of long axis of boulders reflect the inundation pattern and behavior of the tsunami waves. It was found that there is no clear evidence indicating monotonous fine/coarse shoreward trends of these boulders along each transect line. On the other hand, the large boulders were deposited repeatedly along the three arcuate lines at the intertidal zone with a spacing of approximately 136m interval. This distribution pattern may suggest that long-lasting oscillatory flows might have repositioned the boulders and separated the big ones from small. No boulders were found on land, indicating that the hydraulic force of the tsunami wave rapidly dissipated on reaching the land due to the higher bottom friction and the presence of a steep slope. We further conducted numerical calculation of tsunami inundation at Pakarang Cape. According to the calculation, the sea receded and the major part of the tidal bench (area with boulders at present) was exposed above the sea surface before the arrival of the first tsunami wave. The first tsunami wave arrived at the cape from west to east at approximately 130min after the tsunami generation, and then inundated inlands. Our calculation shows that tsunami wave was focused around the offshore by a small cove at the reef edge and spread afterwards in a fan-like shape on the tidal bench. The critical wave velocities necessary to move the largest and average-size boulders by sliding can be estimated to be approximately 3.2 and 2.0m/s, respectively. The numerical result indicates that the maximum current velocity of the first tsunami wave was estimated to be from 8 to 15m/s between the reef edge and approximately 500m further offshore. This range is large enough for moving even the largest boulder shoreward. These suggest that the tsunami waves that were directed eastward, struck the reef rocks and coral colonies, originally located on the shallow sea bottom near the reef edge, and detached and transported the boulders shoreward.     

Composition and Genesis of Zeolitic Claystones from the Central Indian Ocean Basin

We examined more than fifty indurated sediments recovered from the Central Indian Ocean Basin （CIOB） during the course of collection for manganese nodules and crusts. The samples occur as slabs either over which ferromanganese oxides are present or over a substrate of altered oceanic basalt in conjunction with palagonite or within the nucleus of manganese nodules. Mineralogically and compositionally, the samples show a mixture of phillipsite, palagonite and montmorillonite. We suggest that the volcanogenic precursors occurring in the CIOB were subjected to varying degrees of alteration under the influence of low temperature conditions, resulting in the formation of zeolitic claystones. The CIOB samples have similarities to those reported from various sites in the world oceans.     

On the impacts of ENSO and Indian Ocean dipole events on sub-regional Indian summer monsoon rainfall

The relative impacts of the ENSO and Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) events on Indian summer (June–September) monsoon rainfall at sub-regional scales have been examined in this study. GISST datasets from 1958 to 1998, along with Willmott and Matsuura gridded rainfall data, all India summer monsoon rainfall data, and homogeneous and sub-regional Indian rainfall datasets were used. The spatial distribution of partial correlations between the IOD and summer rainfall over India indicates a significant impact on rainfall along the monsoon trough regions, parts of the southwest coastal regions of India, and also over Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. ENSO events have a wider impact, although opposite in nature over the monsoon trough region to that of IOD events. The ENSO (IOD) index is negatively (positively) correlated (significant at the 95% confidence level from a two-tailed Student t-test) with summer monsoon rainfall over seven (four) of the eight homogeneous rainfall zones of India. During summer, ENSO events also cause drought over northern Sri Lanka, whereas the IOD events cause surplus rainfall in its south. On monthly scales, the ENSO and IOD events have significant impacts on many parts of India. In general, the magnitude of ENSO-related correlations is greater than those related to the IOD. The monthly-stratified IOD variability during each of the months from July to September has a significant impact on Indian summer monsoon rainfall variability over different parts of India, confirming that strong IOD events indeed affect the Indian summer monsoon.

The Break-up of a Long-term Relationship: the Cretaceous Separation of New Zealand from Gondwana

After a prolonged period of convergent margin tectonics in the Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic, resulting in terrane accretion, uplift and erosion of the New Zealand segment of Gondwana, the region saw a rapid change to extensional tectonics in mid-Cretaceous times. The change in regime is commonly marked by a major angular unconformity that separates the older, often strongly-deformed subduction-related ‘basement’ rocks from the younger, less-deformed ‘cover’ strata. The youngest ‘basement’ strata locally contain Albian fossils, and the youngest associated zircons have been radiometrically dated at ca. 100 Ma. In general the oldest strata overlying the unconformity contain fossils of similar Albian age, and the oldest radiometric dates also give similar dates of ca. 100 Ma, indicating a very rapid transition between the two tectonic regimes.The onset of extension resulted in the widespread development of grabens and half grabens, associated in the northwest of the South Island with a metamorphic core complex. In the west and south, on the thicker and more buoyant crust of most of the South Island, the new basins were infilled with mainly non-marine deposits. Non-marine graben infill consists of locally-derived breccia deposited as talus or debris flows on alluvial fans, passing directly as fan deltas or via fluvial deposits into lacustrine deposits. Active faulting continued in some areas until the initiation of sea floor spreading in Santonian times. Post-subduction strata on the thinner continental crust of the northeastern South Island and eastern North Island (East Coast Basin) were mainly marine. Initial sedimentary deposits in the west of the basin, reflecting extensional tectonism, consist of coarse-grained debris-flow deposits or olistostromes, generally fining upwards as tectonic activity waned: those in the east, including allochthonous sediments derived from the northeast, are dominated by turbidites. Early Cenomanian (ca. 96–98 Ma) injection of intraplate alkaline igneous rocks in central New Zealand caused updoming, resulting in shallowing and local uplift of the basin floor above sea level. A long (ca. 10 Ma) period of slow subsidence and transgressive marine sedimentation interrupted by episodic relative sea level changes followed.This pattern changed in the Late Coniacian (ca. 87–86 Ma), with a sudden influx of coarse, transgressive sands in eastern New Zealand. This was immediately preceded in parts of the region by uplift and erosion, probably driven by convective upwelling of the mantle just prior to sea-floor spreading, resulting in a ‘break-up’ unconformity. In the Late Santonian (ca. 85–84 Ma), development of a new, diachronous, widespread low-relief erosion surface, overlain by fine-grained deposits accompanying a rapid rise in relative sea level, coincided with the beginning of sea-floor spreading, rapid passive margin subsidence, and final separation of New Zealand from Gondwana.     

Physical Properties, Morphology and Petrological Characteristics of Pumices from the Central Indian Ocean Basin

About 400 pumice clasts collected from the Central Indian Ocean Basin(CIOB)were studied for their morphology and were classified based on their shape and size.A majority of the samples range between<1 cm and 36 cm and in the Zinggs shape diagram plot in the equant and oblate fields.The Corey Shape Factor for most of the samples is close to 0.7,which is common for volcaniclastic material. The physical properties such as density,specific gravity,void ratio,porosity,moisture content and degree of saturation...     

Sheltered coastal environments as archives of paleo-tsunami deposits: Observations from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

The 2004 earthquake left several traces of coseismic land deformation and tsunami deposits, both on the islands along the plate boundary and distant shores of the Indian Ocean rim countries. Researchers are now exploring these sites to develop a chronology of past events. Where the coastal regions are also inundated by storm surges, there is an additional challenge to discriminate between the deposits formed by these two processes. Paleo-tsunami research relies largely on finding deposits where preservation potential is high and storm surge origin can be excluded. During the past decade of our work along the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the east coast of India, we have observed that the 2004 tsunami deposits are best preserved in lagoons, inland streams and also on elevated terraces. Chronological evidence for older events obtained from such sites is better correlated with those from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, reiterating their usefulness in tsunami geology studies.     

Space-time seismicity and earthquake swarms: Certain observations along the slow-spreading mid-Indian Ocean ridges

The slow spreading mid-Indian Ocean ridge system containing the Carlsberg, Central and Southwest Indian ridges is seismically very active. In the present study, a detailed analysis has been carried out of the data of earthquake sources along different ridge segments in order to investigate the spatial and temporal clustering patterns and to evaluate crustal processes related to the swarm occurrences along these ridges. The spatial and temporal clustering pattern of the recent earthquakes (1980–1990) pertaining to nine major spreading segments and eight fracture zones suggests that the events cluster in greater proportion along the spreading segments than along the fracture zones. We performed a systematic search of earthquake catalogue during the period 1964–1990 by examining the spatio-temporal hypocentral clusters in order to identify the swarm occurrences along these ridges. The search included eighteen prominent sequences, of which, thirteen were earthquake swarms. Except two, all other swarms were found to be occurring mainly on the spreading segments. The maximum magnitude observed in these swarms is m_b = 5.4 and have many events predominantly showing normal faulting mechanisms. The spatial disposition and temporal activity of the events in swarms is much similar to the foreshock-mainshock-aftershock sequences observed along the spreading rift valley zones. These characteristics help us to support that swarms along the slow spreading mid-Indian Ocean ridges are the result of extensional tectonic activity, leading to the development of the median valley topography, a mechanism similar to that proposed by Bergman and Solomon (1990) for the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.     

Geochemical characteristics of lavas from Broken Ridge, the Naturaliste Plateau and southernmost Kerguelen Plateau: Cretaceous plateau volcanism in the southeast Indian Ocean

Lavas from several major bathymetric highs in the eastern Indian Ocean that are likely to have formed as Early to Middle Cretaceous manifestations of the Kerguelen hotspot are predominantly tholeiitic; so too are glass shards from Eocene to Paleocene volcanic ash layers on Broken Ridge, which are believed to have come from eruptions on the Ninetyeast Ridge. The early dominance of tholeiitic compositions contrasts with the more recent intraplate, alkalic volcanism of the Kerguelen Archipelago. Isotopic and incompatible-element ratios of the plateau lavas are distinct from those of Indian mid-ocean ridge basalts; their Nd, Sr, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and isotopic ratios overlap with but cover a much wider range than measured for more recent oceanic products of the Kerguelen hotspot (including the Ninetyeast Ridge) or, indeed, oceanic lavas from any other hotspot in the world. Samples from the Naturaliste Plateau and ODP Site 738 on the southern tip of the Kerguelen Plateau are particularly noteworthy, with ε_Nd(T) = − 13 to −7, (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_T=0.7090 to 0.7130 and high ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb relative to ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb. In addition, the low-ε_Nd(T) Naturaliste Plateau samples are elevated in SiO₂ (> 54 wt%). In contrast to “DUPAL” oceanic islands such as the Kerguelen Archipelago, Pitcairn and Tristan da Cunha, the plateau lavas with extreme isotopic characteristics also have relative depletions in Nb and Ta (e.g., Th/Ta, La Nb > primitive mantle values); the lowest ε_Nd(T) and highest Th/Ta and La Nb values occur at sites located closest to rifted continental margins. Accepting a Kerguelen plume origin for the plateau lavas, these characteristics probably reflect the shallow-level incorporation of continental lithosphere in either the head of the early Kerguelen plume or in plume-derived magmas, and suggest that the influence of such material diminished after the period of plateau construction. Contamination of asthenosphere with the type of material affecting Naturaliste Plateau and Site 738 magmatism appears unlikely to be the cause of low-²⁰⁶Pb/⁰⁴Pb Indian mid-ocean ridge basalts. Finally, because isotopic data for the plateaus do not cluster or form converging arrays in isotope-ratio plots, they provide no evidence for either a quickly evolving, positive ε_Nd, relatively high-²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb plume composition, or a plume source dominated by mantle with ε_Nd of −3 to 0.     

Historic records of teletsunami in the Indian Ocean and insights from numerical modelling

Following the catastrophic “Great Sumatra–Andaman” earthquake- tsunami in the Indian Ocean on the 26th December 2004, questions have been asked about the frequency and magnitude of tsunami within the region. We present a summary of the previously published lists of Indian Ocean Tsunami (IOT) and the results of a preliminary search of archival materials held at the India Records Office, at the British Library in London. We demonstrate that in some cases, normal tidal movements and floods associated with tropical cyclones have been erroneously listed as tsunami. We summarise archival material for tsunami that occurred in 1945, 1941, 1881, 1819, 1762 and a little known tsunami in 1843. We present the results of modelling of the 2004, 1861 and 1833 tsunami generated by earthquakes off Sumatra and the 1945 Makran earthquake and tsunami, and examine how these results help to explain some of the historical observations. The highly directional component to tsunami propagation illustrated by the numerical models may explain why we are unable to locate archival records of the 1861 and 1833 tsunami at important locations like Rangoon, Kolkata (formally Calcutta) and Chennai (formally Madras), despite reports that these events created large tsunami that inundated western Sumatra. The numerical models identify other areas (particularly the central and southern Indian Ocean islands) where the 1833 tsunami may have had a large enough effect to produce a historic record. We recommend further archival research, coastal geological investigations of tsunami impacts and detailed modelling of tsunami propagation to better understand the record and effects of tsunami in the Indian Ocean and to estimate their likelihood of occurring in the future.     

Geochemical and Nd–Pb isotopic characteristics of the Tethyan asthenosphere: implications for the origin of the Indian Ocean mantle domain

It is unclear why the Pb, Nd, and Sr isotopic composition of the modern mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) from the Indian Ocean is different from that of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. A possible explanation for this is that the Indian MORB-type isotopic signature is a long-lived regional feature of the mantle, as evidently shown by the isotopic composition of the 350 Ma MORB-like Mian-Lue northern ophiolite, which was formed in the same region presently occupied by the Indian Ocean. However, this hypothesis is in conflict with the lack of Indian MORB-type isotopic signature in a number of 150 Ma Tethyan and Indian Ocean crusts. To further constrain the origin of the Indian MORB-type isotopic signature, we analyze the geochemical and Pb, Nd, and Sr isotopic composition of representative mafic rocks from four Tethyan ophiolites ranging in age from 90 to 360 Ma. The Sr isotopic composition of the samples is unreliable due to alteration, but the age-corrected Nd and Pb isotopic ratios and geochemical data indicate that these Tethyan rocks were derived from a geochemically depleted asthenospheric source that had a clear Indian MORB-type isotopic signature. We therefore conclude that the bulk of the Indian suboceanic mantle was most probably inherited from the Tethyan asthenosphere. A few regions in both the Tethyan and Indian Oceans, however, are most probably underlain by Pacific and North Atlantic MORB-type mantle (and vice-versa) because of the flow of the asthenosphere in response to tectonic plate reorganizations that lead to openings and closures of ocean basins. The Indian MORB-type isotopic signature of the western Pacific marginal basin crusts could be due to either flow of the Indian Ocean mantle into the western Pacific or to endogenous production of such an isotopic signature from delaminated East-Asian sublithospheric materials during closure of the Tethys Ocean.     

雷琼地区晚新生代玄武岩地球化学：EM2成分来源及大陆岩石圈地幔的贡献

对雷琼地区21个晚新生代玄武岩样品的主量、微量元素和Sr、Nd、Pb同位素分别用湿化学法、ICP-MS和MC-ICPMS进行了测定.这些玄武岩主要为石英拉斑玄武岩,其次为橄榄拉斑玄武岩和碱性玄武岩.大多数样品的微量元素和同位素成分与洋岛玄武岩(OIBs)相似,而且随着SiO_2不饱和度增加,不相容元素含量也增加.除R4-1可能受到地壳混染外,其他样品相对均一的Nd同位素(ε_(Nd)=2.5-6.0)以及变化明显但范围有限的Sr同位素(0.703106～0.704481),可能继承了地幔源区的特征.~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr与~(206)Pb/~(204)Pb的正相关和~(143)Nd/~(144)Nd与~(206)Pb/~(204)Pb的负相关特征暗示DM(软流圈地幔)与EM2(岩石圈地幔)的混合.地幔捕虏体的同位素特征暗示EM2成分不可能存在于尖晶石橄榄岩地幔,而La/Yb和Sm/Yb系统表明岩浆由石榴石橄榄岩部分熔融产生,这意味着EM2成分可能存在于石榴石橄榄岩地幔.雷琼地区玄武岩的地球化学变化可以用软流圈地幔为主的熔体加入不同比例石榴石橄榄岩地幔不同程度熔融产生的熔体来解释:碱性玄武岩和橄榄拉斑玄武岩是软流圈熔体与石榴石橄榄岩地幔较低程度(7%～9%)熔融体混合,而石英拉斑玄武岩是软流圈熔体与石榴石橄榄岩地幔较高程度(10%～20%)熔融体的混合.     

热点作用背景下的洋中脊跃迁和扩展作用:印度洋盆地张开过程探讨

在《印度洋底大地构造图》的基础上,分析了印度洋盆构造格局和洋盆演化重大事件序列,并从印度洋盆初始裂解机制、扩张中心跃迁与热点作用、洋中脊扩展作用等方面讨论了印度洋盆的张开过程,提出以下几点认识:(1)现今印度洋洋中脊可分为两个系统:东南印度洋中脊-中印度洋中脊-卡斯伯格洋脊系统(东支)和西南印度洋中脊系统(西支),前者是太平洋洋中脊扩展作用的产物,后者是太平洋-东南印度洋中脊与大西洋中脊之间构造调节的产物;(2)印度洋盆最初裂解受地幔柱垂向挤压-水平伸展作用控制,沿前寒武造山带等地壳薄弱带发育;(3)印度洋盆经历两次扩张中心的跃迁,其趋向性跃迁方向与热点相对板块的运动方向具有一致性,显示两者存在内在联系。(4)大西洋和太平洋洋中脊在印度洋交汇,于古近纪连通,末端伴随陆块持续发生碎裂化、裂解化,可称为鱼尾构造模式,表明印度洋盆衔接和调节了三大洋盆的发育和演化过程,具有全球洋盆枢纽的关键意义。     

Platinum group elements and gold in ferromanganese crusts from Afanasiy-Nikitin seamount,equatorial Indian Ocean: Sources and fractionation

The major element relationships in ferromanganese (Fe-Mn) crusts from Afanasiy-Nikitin seamount (ANS), eastern equatorial Indian Ocean, appear to be atypical. High positive correlations (r = 0.99) between Mn/Co and Fe/Co ratios, and lack of correlation of those ratios with Co, Ce, and Ce/Co, indicate that the ANS Fe-Mn crusts are distinct from Pacific seamount Fe-Mn crusts, and reflect region-specific chemical characteristics. The platinum group elements (PGE: Ir, Ru, Rh, Pt, and Pd) and Au in ANS Fe-Mn crusts are derived from seawater and are mainly of terrestrial origin, with a minor cosmogenic component. The Ru/Rh (0.5–2) and Pt/Ru ratios (7–28) are closely comparable to ratios in continental basalts, whereas Pd/Ir ratios exhibit values (<2) similar to CI-chondrite (∼1). The chondrite-normalized PGE patterns are similar to those of igneous rocks, except that Pd is relatively depleted. The water depth of Fe-Mn crust formation appears to have a first-order control on both major element and PGE enrichments. These relationships are defined statistically by significant (r > 0.75) correlations between water depth and Mn/Co, Fe/Co, Ce/Co, Co, and the PGEs. Fractionation of the PGE-Au from seawater during colloidal precipitation of the major-oxide phases is indicated by well-defined linear positive correlations (r > 0.8) of Co and Ce with Ir, Ru, Rh, and Pt; Au/Co with Mn/Co; and by weak or no correlations of Pd with water depth, Co-normalized major-element ratios, and with the other PGE (r < 0.5). The strong enrichment of Pt (up to 1 ppm) relative to the other PGE and its positive correlations with Ce and Co demonstrate a common link for the high concentrations of all three elements, which likely involves an oxidation reaction on the Mn-oxide and Fe-oxyhydroxide surfaces. The documented fractionation of PGE-Au and their positive association with redox sensitive Co and Ce may have applications in reconstructing past-ocean redox conditions and water masses.     

试用地球系统科学观解读2004年印度洋地震海啸

2004年印度洋地震海啸是本世纪初全球发生的最为惨重的自然灾害.这次地震海啸涉及地球的岩石圈、水圈、大气圈和生物圈,甚至还有地外星球和月球的作用,造成能量与物质之间的相互转化与传递,说明地球是一个完整的统一整体.因此,对地震海啸等自然灾害必须采用地球系统科学观进行分析和研究,找出彼此之间的相互关系、形成机制和演化规律,并用信息化、全球化和可持续发展的地球科学观来研究和防御地震海啸.