Ion microprobe isotopic measurements of individual interplanetary dust particles

Ion microprobe measurements of D/H ratios in individual fragments of eight stratospheric dust particles give δD values ranging from ?386 to +2534‰ relative to SMOW. The δD values in five particles far exceed those in terrestrial samples and prove that the samples are interplanetary dust particles (IDPs). The hydrogen isotopic composition is heterogeneous on a scale of a few microns demonstrating that the dust is unequilibrated. Measurements of D/H ratios in conjunction with elemental and molecular ion signals in different fragments of individual IDPs show that a carbonaceous phase, not water, is the carrier of the D enrichments. Previous infrared transmission measurements have shown that IDPs fall into three main spectral classes. Particles from two of those three IR classes show large D/H ratios. Two particles studied from the third class do not. However, one of these contains solar flare tracks and is extraterrestrial. Thus, most, but not all, IDPs contain hydrogen with a non-terrestrial isotopic composition.Carbon isotopic measurements on fragments of three IDPs give ratios similar to terrestrial values and show a largely uniform isotopic composition for a given particle. Small, but significant, differences in δ¹³C of ~40‰ between particles are seen. No correlations between the hydrogen and carbon isotopic compositions are observed.The magnesium and silicon isotopic compositions of fragments of three IDPs are found to be normal within measurement errors.     

Modelling of fractured carbonate reservoirs: outline of a novel technique via a case study from the Molasse Basin, southern Bavaria, Germany

Fluid flow in low-permeable carbonate rocks depends on the density of fractures, their interconnectivity and on the formation of fault damage zones. The present-day stress field influences the aperture hence the transmissivity of fractures whereas paleostress fields are responsible for the formation of faults and fractures. In low-permeable reservoir rocks, fault zones belong to the major targets. Before drilling, an estimate for reservoir productivity of wells drilled into the damage zone of faults is therefore required. Due to limitations in available data, a characterization of such reservoirs usually relies on the use of numerical techniques. The requirements of these mathematical models encompass a full integration of the actual fault geometry, comprising the dimension of the fault damage zone and of the fault core, and the individual population with properties of fault zones in the hanging and foot wall and the host rock. The paper presents both the technical approach to develop such a model and the property definition of heterogeneous fault zones and host rock with respect to the current stress field. The case study describes a deep geothermal reservoir in the western central Molasse Basin in southern Bavaria, Germany. Results from numerical simulations indicate that the well productivity can be enhanced along compressional fault zones if the interconnectivity of fractures is lateral caused by crossing synthetic and antithetic fractures. The model allows a deeper understanding of production tests and reservoir properties of faulted rocks.     

Seismicity in the outer rise offshore southern Chile: Indication of fluid effects in crust and mantle

We examine the micro-earthquake seismicity recorded by two temporary arrays of ocean bottom seismometers on the outer rise offshore southern Chile on young oceanic plate of ages 14 Ma and 6 Ma, respectively. The arrays were in operation from December 2004–January 2005 and consisted of 17 instruments and 12 instruments, respectively. Approximately 10 locatable events per day were recorded by each of the arrays. The catalogue, which is complete for magnitudes above 1.2–1.5, is characterized by a high b value, i.e., a high ratio of small to large events, and the data set is remarkable in that a large proportion of the events form clusters whose members show a high degree of waveform similarity. The largest cluster thus identified consisted of 27 similar events (average inter-event correlation coefficient > 0.8 for a 9.5 s window), and waveform similarity persists far into the coda. Inter-event spacing is irregular, but very short waiting times of a few minutes are far more common than expected from a Poisson distribution. Seismicity with these features (high b value, large number of similar events with short waiting times) is typical of swarm activity, which, based on empirical evidence and theoretical considerations, is generally thought to be driven by fluid pressure variations. Because no pronounced outer rise bulge exists on the very young plate in the study region, it is unlikely that melt is accessible from decompression melting or opening of cracks. A fluid source related to processes at the nearby ridge is conceivable for the younger segment but less likely for the older one. We infer that the fluid source could be seawater, which enters through fractures in the crust. Most of the similar-earthquake clusters are within the crust, but some of them locate significantly below the Moho. If our interpretation is correct, this implies that water is present within the mantle. Hydration of the mantle is also indicated by a decrease of P_n velocities below the outer rise seen on a refraction profile through one of the arrays [Contreras-Reyes, E., Grevemeyer, I., Flueh, E.R., Scherwath, M., Heesemann, M., 2007. Alteration of the subducting oceanic lithosphere at the southern central Chile trench-outer rise. Geochem., Geophys. Geosyst. 8, Q07003.]. The deepest events within the array on the 6 Ma old plate occur where the temperature reaches 500–600 °C, consistent with the value observed for large intraplate earthquakes within the mantle (650 °C), suggesting that the maximum temperature at which these fluid-mediated micro-earthquakes can occur is similar or identical to that of large earthquakes.     

Apparent tidal influence on magmatic activity at Oldoinyo Lengai volcano,Tanzania, as observed in Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data

This paper investigates the relative timing of solid Earth tides and thermal anomalies associated with volcanic activity at Oldoinyo Lengai (OL), Tanzania, from 2000 to 2008. The low viscosity of OL's carbonatite magmas may make it particularly susceptible to tidal stresses. Thermal data from the Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) were filtered using the MODLEN algorithm and Earth tides were modeled using TSoft. Application of the Schuster and Chi-squared tests resulted in apparent correlations between times of thermal anomalies and the phase of the semi-diurnal and biannual solid Earth tides. However, for semi-diurnal and biannual tides limited acquisition times of the MODIS data account for the apparent correlations. Re-examining the data while accounting for the bias introduced by the limited acquisition times, correlations are no longer found. Onset times of eruptive events and times of thermal anomalies show no statistically significant correlation with the fortnightly tide, indicating this is not an influence on activity at OL. Tidal influences on magmatic activity, if at all present, cannot be observed in coarse resolution thermal data on semi-diurnal and fortnightly time scales. Based on the available data, correlations on biannual timescales cannot be ruled out.     

Ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism and decompressional P-T paths of eclogites and country rocks from Weihai, eastern China

Abstract Altered quartz-rich and nearly quartz-free eclogitic rocks and completely retrograde quartz-rich garnet amphibolites occur as blocks or lenses in gneisses at Weihai, northeastern tip of the Sulu ultrahigh-P belt. Eclogitic rocks with assemblage garnet ± clinopyroxene ± coesite + rutile have experienced three-stage metamorphic events including ultrahigh-pressure eclogite, granulite and amphibolite facies. Granulite metamorphic event is characterized by formation of the hypersthene + salite + plagioclase ± hornblende corona between garnet and quartz + clinopyroxene. P-T conditions for the three-stage recrystallization sequence are 840 ± 50°C, >28 kbar, about 760±50°C, 9 kbar, and ~650°C, <8 kbar respectively. Most country rock gneisses contain dominant amphibolite-facies assemblages; some garnet-bearing clinopyroxene gneisses recrystallized under granulite-facies conditions at about 740±50°C and 8.5 kbar; similar to granulite-facies retrograde metamorphism of the enclosed eclogitic blocks. Minor cale-silicate lenses within gneisses containing an assemblage grossular + salite + titanite + quartz with secondary zoisite and plagioclase may have formed within a large pressure range of 14-35 kbar. Eclogitic boudins and quartzo-feldspathic country rocks may have experienced coeval in situ UHP and subsequent retrograde metamorphism. The established nearly isothermal decompression P-T path suggests that this area may represent the interior portion of a relatively large subducted sialic block. The recognized UHP terrane may extend eastward across the Yellow Sea to the Korean Peninsula.     

Relationship between deformation, equilibration temperatures, REE and radiogenic isotopes in mantle xenoliths (Ray Pic, Massif Central, France): an example of plume-lithosphere interaction?

Anhydrous spinel peridotite xenoliths from the Ray Pic Quaternary alkali basalt volcano (French Massif Central) show a wide range of mineralogical and geochemical compositions, reflecting significant heterogeneities in the shallow sub-continental lithospheric mantle. Variations in modal mineralogy, mineral chem istry, REE patterns and radiogenic isotope data suggest that depletion by partial melting and enrichment by cryptic metasomatism were the major mantle processes which caused the heterogeneity. The lithospheric mantle beneath Ray Pic contains two contrasting types of peridotite: (i) lherzolites with LREE-depleted compositions, high ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and unradiogenic Pb isotope ratios; (ii) lherzolites, harzburgites and a wehrlite with LREE-enriched patterns, low ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and radiogenic Pb isotope ratios. The former closely resemble depleted MORB-source mantle. The latter are related to enrichment by recent infiltration of small degree partial melts or fluids from the asthenospheric mantle, possibly related to the “low velocity component” observed by Hoernle et al. (1995) in European Neogene alkaline magmas. Thus, the Ray Pic peridotite xenoliths represent interaction between asthenospheric mantle-derived melts/fluids and depleted lithospheric mantle. This is probably linked to the upwelling mantle plume imaged beneath the Massif Central (Granet et al. 1995). A relationship between textural deformation, equilibration temperature and geochemistry of the xenoliths suggests that the hotter (> 900 °C) undeformed regions are LREE-enriched and tend to have more enriched isotope ratios, whereas the cooler (< 900 °C) regions have undergone more deformation and are more depleted both in LREE and in isotope compositions. Received: 27 July 1996 / Accepted: 25 November 1996     

Frontiers in large igneous province research

Earth history is punctuated by events during which large volumes of mafic magmas were generated and emplaced by processes distinct from “normal” seafloor spreading and subduction-related magmatism. Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) of Mesozoic and Cenozoic age are the best preserved, and comprise continental flood basalts, volcanic rifted margins, oceanic plateaus, ocean basin flood basalts, submarine ridges, ocean islands and seamount chains. Paleozoic and Proterozoic LIPs are typically more deeply eroded and are recognized by their exposed plumbing system of giant dyke swarms, sill provinces and layered intrusions. The most promising Archean LIP candidates (apart from the Fortescue and Ventersdorp platformal flood basalts) are those greenstone belts containing tholeiites with minor komatiites. Some LIPs have a substantial component of felsic rocks. Many LIPs can be linked to regional-scale uplift, continental rifting and breakup, climatic shifts that may result in extinction events, and Ni–Cu–PGE (platinum group element) ore deposits.

Some current frontiers in LIP research include:

(1) Testing various mantle plume and alternative hypotheses for the origin for LIPs.

(2) Characterizing individual LIPs in terms of (a) original volume and areal extent of their combined extrusive and intrusive components, (b) melt production rates, (c) plumbing system geometry, (d) nature of the mantle source region, and (e) links with ore deposits.

(3) Determining the distribution of LIPs in time (from Archean to Present) and in space (after continental reconstruction). This will allow assessment of proposed links between LIPs and supercontinent breakup, juvenile crust production, climatic excursions, and mass extinctions. It will also allow an evaluation of periodicity in the LIP record, the identification of clusters of LIPs, and postulated links with the reversal frequency of the Earth's magnetic field.

(4) Comparing the characteristics, origin and distribution of LIPs on Earth with planets lacking plate tectonics, such as Venus and Mars. Interplanetary comparison may also provide a better understanding of convective processes in the mantles of the inner planets.

In order to achieve rapid progress in these frontier areas, a global campaign is proposed, which would focus on high-precision geochronology, integrated with paleomagnetism and geochemistry. Most fundamentally, such a campaign could help hasten the determination of continental configurations in the Precambrian back to 2.5 Ga or greater. Such reconstructions are vital for the proper assessment of the LIP record, as well as providing first-order information related to all geodynamic processes.