Mineralogic variability of the uppermost mantle along mid-ocean ridges

Modal analyses of 273 different peridotites representing 43 dredge stations in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Indian Oceans define three separate melting trends. Peridotites dredged in the vicinity of “mantle plumes” or hot spots have the most depleted compositions in terms of basaltic components, while peridotites dredged at locations removed from such regions are systematically less depleted. The modal data correlate well with mineral compositions, with the peridotites most depleted in pyroxene also having the most refractory mineral compositions. This demonstrates that they are the probable residues of variable degrees of mantle melting. Further, there is a good correlation between the modal compositions of the peridotites and the major element composition of spatially associated dredged basalts. This demonstrates for the first time that the two must be directly related, as is frequently postulated. The high degree of depletion of the peridotites in basaltic major element components in the vicinity of some documented mantle plumes provides direct evidence for a thermal anomaly in such regions—justifying their frequent designation as “hot spots”. The high incompatible element concentrations in these “plume” basalts, however, are contrary to what is expected for such high degrees of melting, and thus require either selective contributions from locally more abundant enriched veins and/or contamination by a volatile-rich metasomatic front from depth.     

Breaching in fine sands and the generation of sustained turbidity currents in submarine canyons

Abstract Natural, moderately loosely packed sands can only erode from the surface of the bed after an increase in pore volume. Because of this shear dilatancy, negative pore pressures are generated in the bed. In cases of low permeability, these negative pressures are released relatively slowly, which retards the maximum rate of erosion. This effect is incorporated in a new, analytically derived, pick‐up function that can explain the observation of gradual retrogressive failure of very steep subaqueous slopes, sometimes more than 5 m high, in fine non‐cohesive sands. This process, termed ‘breaching’ in the field of sediment dredging, may produce large failures in sand bars or river banks. The analytical function that describes the breaching process in fine sand is incorporated in a one‐dimensional, steady‐state numerical model of turbidity currents describing the spatial development of flow. This model is applied to simulate a large ‘flushing’ event in Scripps Submarine Canyon, Pacific coast of California. Breach retrogradation and the successive evolution in time of the resulting turbidity current in the canyon are predicted in a sequence of discrete steps. Predicted velocities are compared with values measured during a flushing event. Implications for the interpretation of deep‐water massive sands are discussed.     

Cenozoic history of the Bering Sea and its northwestern margin

Tectonic reconstructions based on the geodynamic analysis of geologic, paleomagnetic, structural and kinematic data of Cenozoic age from the western Bering Sea region are proposed in the present paper. The most active tectonic and magmatic processes took place in the Komandorsky segment of the Bering Sea, exemplified by the Late Cretaceous–Early Eocene Olutorsky Arc and Eocene–Oligocene Govena–Karaginsky Arc, which was built on the structures of the Olutorsky Arc. A model of the complex collision of these two arcs with the paleocontinental margin, which considers rotations of the geological blocks from the various structural zones of the western margin of the Bering Sea in the horizontal plane (paleomagnetic data), was proposed by the authors. According to this model the collision of the flanks of the Olutorsky and Govena–Karaginsky arcs took place in the Eocene, before the collision of the central parts in the Miocene.     

A word about the teacher

This is a memorial report on the biography and scientific heritage of M.A. Svechnikov — an outstanding scientist and teacher, the founder of the Ural school of close binary stars and the author of the classification scheme for eclipsing variable stars.     

Role of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect in the study of close binaries

This paper is devoted to binary stars belonging to the class of eclipsing-variable systems.Photometric and spectroscopic analysis of eclipses allows us to determine geometric parameters of the orbit and physical characteristics of stellar components as well as inclinations of stellar equators to the orbital plane. Estimations of inclinations can be obtained from measurement of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, which is discussed using examples of some eccentric binaries with an anomalous apsidal effect. Our task is to find the complete spectrum of solutions of the equation of apsidal motion, depending on the inclinations of the polar axes of the components to the orbital one for these systems, based on their individual spectroscopic and photometric observational data. The matrix of solutions allows us to select those pairs of polar inclinations that provide agreement with the observational apsidal period.     

Winter distribution of euphausiids (Euphausiacea) in the Barents Sea (2000–2005)

The purpose of the study is to analyze the state of the Barents Sea euphausiids populations in the warm period (2000–2005) based on the study of their structure dynamics and distribution under the influence of abiotic and biotic factors. For estimation of their aggregations in the bottom layer, the traditional method was used with the help of the modified egg net (0.2 m² opening area, 564 μm mesh size). The net is used for collecting euphausiids in the autumn–winter period when their activity is reduced, which results in high-catch efficiency. The findings confirmed the major formation patterns of the euphausiids species composition associated with climate change in the Arctic basin. As before, in the warm years, one can see a clear-cut differentiation of space distribution of the dominant euphausiids Thysanoessa genus with localization of the more thermophilic Thysanoessa inermis in the north-west Barents Sea and Thysanoessa raschii in the east. The major euphausiids aggregations are formed of these species. In 2004, the first data of euphausiids distribution in the northern Barents Sea (77–79°N) were obtained, and demonstrated extremely high concentrations of T. inermis in this area, with the biomass as high as 1.7–2.4 g m⁻² in terms of dry weight. These data have improved our knowledge of the distribution and euphausiids abundance during periods of elevated sea-water temperatures in the Barents Sea. The oceanic Atlantic species were found to increase in abundance due to elevated advection to the Barents Sea during the study period. Thus, after nearly a 30-year-long absence of the moderate subtropical Nematoscelis megalops in the Barents Sea, they were found again in 2003–2005. However in comparison with 1960, the north-east border of its distribution considerably shifted to 73°50′N 50°22′E. The portion of Meganyctiphanes norvegica also varied considerably—from 10% to 20% of the total euphausiids population in the warm 1950s–1960s almost to complete disappearing in 1970–1990s. The peak of this species’ occurrence (18–26%) took place in the beginning of warm period (1999–2000) after a succession of cold years. The subsequent reduction of the relative abundance of M. norvegica to 7% might have been mostly caused by fish predation during a period of low population densities of capelin. This high predation pressure may therefore have been mediated both by other pelagic fishes (i.e. herring, blue whiting, polar cod) but also by demersal fishes such as cod and haddock. Similar sharp fluctuations in the capelin stock (the major consumer of euphausiids) created marked perturbations in the food web in the Barents Sea in the middle 1980s and the early 1990s.     

Respiration partitioning in contrasting subtidal sediments: seasonality and response to a spring phytoplankton deposition

Biomass and respiration rates of bacteria, nematodes and macrobenthos were estimated in relation to the deposition of the spring phytoplankton bloom at two contrasting sites in the Southern North Sea: one with fine‐grained sediment close to the coastline and another with highly permeable sediments. Sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC) was also measured. Bacterial biomass was relatively similar at both stations, whereas nematode and macrobenthic biomass were higher in fine‐grained sediment. In fine sediments, bacterial biomass increased quickly after deposition of the phytoplankton bloom, whereas the response of nematodes and macrobenthos was delayed. In coarser sediments, nematodes and macrobenthos also showed a fast response in terms of density and biomass. Respiration in permeable sediments was mainly dominated by bacteria at all periods of the year. Hence, nematode and macrobenthic respiration did not contribute strongly to SCOC. This is in contrast to the patterns observed in finer sediments, where both macrofauna and nematodes were important oxygen consumers as well. Macrobenthos contributed more to total SCOC than did nematodes in winter. However, shortly after the arrival of phytodetritus at the sea floor, nematodes and macrobenthos contributed equally to the total SCOC, indicating that all benthic size classes should be taken into account when investigating marine benthic respiration rates.     

慢速扩张脊下的复杂熔-岩相互作用：来自大西洋北纬14°97′区段洋中脊含铬铁矿纯橄岩的记录

在大西洋洋中脊北纬14°97′附近贫岩浆型慢速扩张脊区段的洋底岩石调查中,拖网取样及洋底钻探均发现蛇纹石化地幔岩石中有脉状纯橄岩。纯橄岩中的铬铁矿粒度以毫米级为主,个别颗粒直径接近厘米级别,成分上显示中等程度的铬值与镁值(Cr^#=52.2～56.1;Mg^#=44.6～51.5)较高的TiO₂含量(0.60%～0.91%)。铬铁矿内部包裹体中大量出现韭闪石+金云母组合,并发现自形磷灰石包裹体。这些特征与“俯冲带型铬铁矿”的成分特征及矿物包裹体组合非常类似。本文的样品观察说明在洋中脊下方的熔体通道内,高度演化的熔体可以形成小体积的富水岩浆并参与铬铁矿的形成。拖网调查与钻探研究证实,研究区的纯橄岩、异剥橄榄岩、富橄榄石橄长岩、辉石岩、辉长岩及橄榄辉长岩等均以脉体形式产于难熔的大洋岩石圈橄榄岩质地幔中。这些脉状岩石共同记录了洋中脊玄武质熔体向上迁移过程中与围岩方辉橄榄岩间的熔-岩反应,属于“交代橄榄岩”的范畴,揭示了慢速扩张洋脊之下熔体迁移诱发的复杂熔-岩相互作用。     

Pyroxenites from the Southwest Indian Ridge, 9-16{degrees}E: Cumulates from Incremental Melt Fractions Produced at the Top of a Cold Melting Regime

The Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) at 9–16°E and 52–53°Sis characterized by ultra-slow, oblique spreading and containsone of the few documented occurrences of pyroxenite veins associatedwith abyssal peridotites. The origin of these uncommon lithologiesis still debated. We present a detailed study (including electronmicroprobe and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma massspectrometry) of spinel websterites collected during Cruise162, Leg 9, of the R.V. Knorr. Rare earth element patterns inclinopyroxenes (Cpx) lead us to discard a possible origin ofthe pyroxenites as residues from partial melting of garnet pyroxenites(i.e. relics of a layered mantle protolith). Their compositionand cumulate texture (when not obscured by mylonitization relatedto emplacement on the seafloor) are better interpreted in termsof fractional crystallization from a basaltic melt at relativelyhigh pressure. Evidence for a high pressure of crystallizationincludes the lack of plagioclase in the cumulate assemblageand the high Al₂O₃ contents of the pyroxenes: up to 5 wt % inorthopyroxene (Opx) and up to 7 wt % in Cpx. These values areamong the highest reported for pyroxenes in a mid-ocean ridgesetting. Sub-solidus breakdown of spinel to plagioclase (nowaltered) is observed in one sample, providing a rough estimateof the final equilibration pressure of these cumulates, around0· 6–0· 7 GPa (plagioclase–spineltransition for a bulk pyroxenite composition). The inferredpyroxenite parent melts were close to equilibrium with the associatedresidual peridotites; some samples have a slightly evolved compositionin terms of the Mg-number [Mg/(Mg + total Fe)]. These parentalmelts had major and trace element compositions consistent witha mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) affinity, although they werenot rigorously identical to MORB. Among other characteristics,these melts were relatively depleted in highly incompatibleelements. We propose that they correspond to the latest, shallowest,incremental melt fractions produced during fractional decompressionmelting of a normal MORB (N-MORB) mantle source. These meltsexperienced fractional crystallization as soon as they segregatedfrom the peridotite matrix, moved upward, and crossed the lithosphere–asthenosphereboundary (defined here as the base of the conductive lid). Asa consequence, these shallow melt fractions produced beneathmid-ocean ridges did not fully mix with melt fractions producedand extracted at greater depths. Our study provides concreteevidence for the actuality of pyroxene crystallization in meltchannels beneath mid-ocean ridges at relatively high pressures,a process frequently invoked to account for the ‘pyroxeneparadox’ in MORB petrogenesis. KEY WORDS: abyssal pyroxenites; cumulates; lithospheric mantle; melt migration; Southwest Indian Ridge