On the response of a free span pipeline subjected to ocean currents

A mechanistic study is performed to examine the coupling between the in-line and the cross-flow motion of a cylindrical structure subjected to current forces. The structure represents a free span pipeline but concerns marine risers as well.A time domain model is formulated in which the in-line and cross-flow deflections are coupled through the axial tension which in turn is computed from the pipeline prolongation at any time. This formulation introduces time dependent tensions and non-linearity into the problem.Preliminary validation of the model simulations vs. physical test data are carried out for one specific case to ensure that the sag and the in-line deflection are correctly resolved by the model. Using this as the initial condition a series of calculations are carried out to examine cross-flow induced deflections induced by an in-line prescribed deflection and vice versa. Finally, an idealistic simulation of flow induced vibration is presented.The model simulations demonstrate that the coupling varies with the mode shape and with which component it is initially introduced into. However, it is evident that the coupling effects may be significant and not negligible.     

Origin of some bedded welded tuffs

Well defined, laterally continuous welded tuff beds from <1 cm to 2 m thick are more common than has previously been recognized. Examples ranging in composition from rhyolitic to basaltic are described from Ordovician volcanic areas in Britain and Norway, and from the Miocene of the Canary Islands. Bedded welded tuffs are most common in areas of alkaline and peralkaline acidic pyroclastics. They generally occur within successions of massive, welded ash-flow tuff, or within non-welded air-fall tuff successions. Sequences consisting entirely of bedded welded tuff range from <1 m up to 75 m thick. Bedded welded tuffs are thought to originate in three ways. Poorly sorted, thick-bedded welded tuffs are interpreted as the deposits of pyroclastic flows, in which case the beds represent either individual flows units or the layers within flow units. Better sorted, thin-bedded welded tuffs are thought to be of air-fall origin. Thirdly, welding may be produced by the effects of an external heat source on non-welded bedded tuffs.     

Relationship between the chemistry and axial dimensions of some shallow water pillow lavas of alkaline olivine basalt-and olivine tholeiitic composition

The axial ratio of basalt pillows in some shallow water pillow lava sequences from Azores and Iceland, is defined as V/H, where V and H represent the vertical and horizontal axes in cross section perpendicular to the elongate direction of undisturbed pillows. The axial ratios show a great spread of overlapping values for pillows from different sequences. However, alkaline olivine basaltic pillows tend to be more flattened than the olivine tholeiitic pillows. Another, and probably more discriminative feature between the two, is the difference in the maximum size of V and H of a pillow body. The limit for V and H for alkaline olivine basalt pillows is significantly lower than that of the olivine tholeiite pillows. A lower viscosity for alkaline olivine basalt than for olivine tholeiite probably accounts for the differences.     

Petrology and geochemistry of Jurassic basalt dykes from Vestfjella, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

Mineral and whole rocks analyses of 12 Jurassic basalt dykes from Vestfjella, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, are presented, and their genesis discussed. On the basis of major oxides and norms the basalts may be classified as olivine and quartz tholeiites. Plotted in the Plag---Cpx---(Opx + 4Q) and Ol---Plag---Q projections, the compositions are most compatible with fractional crystallization of olivine, clinopyroxene and plagioclase from a basalt liquid at very low pressure. The ratios between strongly incompatible elements such as Rb, Cs, Zr, Hf, Ta and Th vary considerably, and petrographic mixing calculations give poor fits with respect to Rb, Cs, Ta, Th and light REE. Initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶ Sr ratios range between 0.70347 and 0.70687, and show no correlation with Rb/Sr or any other SIE ratios. The trace element and Sr isotope data thus do not suggest any simple cogenetic petrogenetic model. It is concluded that the basalt melts most plausibly have been contaminated by, or mixed with anatectic melts of crustal material, rather than reflecting mantle heterogeneity.     

Contrasting tonalite genesis in the Lyngen magmatic complex, north Norwegian Caledonides

The Lyngen gabbro (LG), defining the major part of the Lyngen magmatic complex, is characterised by layered gabbros of N-MORB affinity (western suite) and layered gabbronorites, quartz-bearing gabbros and diorites/quartz-diorites of IAT (island-arc tholeiite) to boninitic affinity (eastern suite). The boundary between the eastern and western suites is generally defined by a large-scale ductile shear zone of suboceanic origin, the Rypdalen shear zone (RSZ). Tonalites occur within the RSZ and in the eastern suite of the LG. Variations in field occurrence and chemical composition of the tonalites suggest that they represent two petrologically different groups. Tonalite intrusion (the Vakkas pluton) up to 5 km² large occur in the eastern suite of the LG, and are characterised by high Y contents (average 26 ppm) and high K₂O/Rb ratios (average 0.062) compared to tonalites on the RSZ. The Vakkas pluton has lightly concave REE (rare earth element) patterns with negative Eu-anomalies, and positive _ND-values (+3.7 to +3.9). Geochemical modelling based on the REE and field evidence suggests that these tonalites may have formed by fractional crystallization from a boninitic parental magma. Tonalites related to the RSZ form irregular veins and dikes that net vein the shear zone. They are characterised by low Y contents (average 6 ppm), low K₂O/Rb ratios (average 0.025), and highly variable contents of Na₂O, K₂O, Sr and Ba, compared to the Vakkas pluton. Tonalites related to the RSZ show substantial variation in the content of the LREEs. They possess low abundances of the HREEs, and absence of, or slightly positive Eu-anomalies. The tonalites have highly variable _ND-values (−0.6 to −9.4), probably resulting from enrichment of Nd from an external source. Geochemical modelling suggests that the LREE-rich tonalites formed by H₂O-rich partial melting of differentiated products from the eastern suite of the LG. The presence of B in the fluid phase is suggested by the presence of tourmaline-bearing tonalite pegmatites. Thus, the anatectic tonalites of this group could have been formed by water-excess melting of a variety of gabbroic cumulates of the LG. In the LG, LREE-depleted tonalites (_ND-values +5.1) also occur, and these are best explained in terms of partial melting of gabbroic cumulates from the transition zone between the eastern and the western suites of the LG.     

Variations in basaltic geochemistry along a propagating rift of the late Ordovician marginal basin of the West Norwegian Caledonides

The late Ordovician Solund-Stavfjord ophiolite complex in the western Norwegian Caledonides records a multi stage seafloor spreading history of an Iapetus marginal basin and contains three structural domains with distinctive tectonomagmatic evolutionary paths. The NNE-trending Domain 1 consisting of high-level gabbro, sheeted dykes and extrusive rocks is interpreted to represent fossil oceanic crust developed along a spreading centre that propagated northwards into pre-existing oceanic crust in the marginal basin. Dyke swarms at the head of this inferred propagating rift range from primitive, high-MgO basalts to highly fractionated quartz-diorites. Southwards along-strike of Domain 1, the abundance of primitive basalts decreases and the proportion of FeTi-basalts increases to become predominant furthest behind the tip of the propagating rift. This geochemical evolution is comparable to that of the basalts of modern propagating rifts at the East Pacific Rise and the Galapagos spreading ridge. We suggest that the chemical variations of the metabasalts reflect changes in magma supply rates and in the increasing size of magma chamber(s) along-strike of the spreading centres.     

Pillow lavas as a habitat for microbial life

The upper oceanic crust consists predominantly of pillow lavas that, soon after their eruption, are colonized by microbes when the ambient temperature ameliorates. During the process of microbial interaction with the glassy rims of pillows several types of bio-traces are generated, of which micro-textures are the most spectacular. Microbial textures are most useful for mapping the depth of the oceanic biosphere, and in the search for the earliest life on Earth.     

Magma development of the Leka Ophiolite Complex, central Norwegian Caledonides

The magmatic products of the Leka Ophiolite Complex of Lower Ordovician age, indicate formation in different tectonic settings and generation from different mantle sources. Harzburgites of the mantle tectonite, clinopyroxenes from wehrlites of the ultramafic cumulates, the metabasalts of the dyke complex and earliest pillow lavas (IAT/MORB, boninites) all show characteristics compatible with formation above a subduction zone in an intra-oceanic setting. Nd-isotopes indicate that some of the IAT and boninites may have been derived from a source contaminated by continental material, and a CAB source differ significantly from that of the IAT and boninites. The later pillow lavas of MORB composition show only minor influence of subduction-related processes (minor or no negative Ta-anomalies), and the supposed latest volcanic sequence of an alkaline OIB-type, none at all. The MORB- and OIB-type magmas are thought developed by spreading in a back-arc setting, in which the latter magma type developed in a remote position from the subduction zone.