The dynamics of turbulent, transitional and laminar clay-laden flow over a fixed current ripple

Most aqueous sedimentary environments contain varying concentrations of fine‐grained, often clay‐rich, sediment that is transported in suspension and may modify the properties of the flow and underlying mobile bed. This paper presents results from a series of laboratory experiments examining the mean and turbulent properties of clay‐laden (kaolinite) flows, of various volumetric sediment concentrations between 0·046% and 12·7%, moving over a fixed, idealized current ripple. As the kaolinite concentration was raised, with flow velocity and depth constant, four flow types were observed to occur: (i) turbulent flow, in which flow separation is dominant in the leeside of the ripple; (ii) turbulence‐enhanced transitional flow, in which turbulence in the leeside separation zone region is enhanced; (iii) turbulence‐attenuated transitional flow, in which turbulence along the separation zone shear layer and in the free flow above it becomes damped, eventually leading to a reduction in the size of the separation zone wake region; and (iv) laminar plug flow, in which turbulence is damped and flow is almost stagnant in the lee of the ripple. Such modulation of turbulence by increasing clay concentrations suggests that many paradigms of flow and bedform dynamics, which have been based on extensive past work in clear water flows, require revision. The present results highlight a need to fully characterize the boundary conditions for turbulence modulation as a function of clay type and applied flow conditions, and the effects of such flows on fully mobile cohesionless beds.     

The silicate inclusions of the Ocotillo IAB iron meteorite

Abstract— The Ocotillo IAB iron meteorite contains small silicate inclusions consisting of olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, chromian diopside, plagioclase, magnesiochromite, apatite, troilite and metal. The ferromagnesian silicates have a small range of Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios that are not due to zoning. These phases appear to be not well equilibrated. The FeO content of magnesiochromite is lower than values normally seen in silicate assemblages in IAB iron meteorites. The minerals in Ocotillo are generally like silicate assemblages in other IAB meteorites, covering similar composition ranges and exhibiting a metamorphic (granoblastic) texture. An estimate was made of the bulk composition of Ocotillo silicate inclusions. The bulk composition is close to that of ordinary chondrites with the exception of a deficiency in CaO that might be due to a sampling problem associated with the method used to estimate the bulk composition.     

Effects of P, f(O2) and Mg/Fe Ratio on Dehydration Melting of Model Metagreywackes

We present results of dehydration melting experiments [3–15kbar, 810–950C f(O₂) QFM (quartz-fayalite-magetite)and Ni-NiO] on two Fe-rich mixtures of biotite (37%), plagioclaseAn₃₈ (27%), quartz (34%) and ilmenite (2%), which differ onlyin their biotite compositions (mg-number 23 and 0.4). Dehydrationmelting of metagreywackes of constant modal composition generatesa wide range of melt fractions, melt compositions and residualassemblages, through the combined effects of pressure, Fe/Mgratio and f(O₂). Crystallization of garnet is the chief controlon melting behavior, and is limited by two reactions: (1) thebreakdown of garnet + quartz to orthopyroxene + plagioclaseat low P, and (2) the oxidation of garnet to magnetite + anorthite+ quartz (enstatite), which is sensitive to both f(O₂) andP. Because of these reactions, melting of Mg-rich metagreywackesis rather insensitive to f(O₂) but strongly sensitive to P;the converse is true for Fe-rich metagreywackes. Garnet crystallizationrequires that plagioclase break down incongruently, liberatingalbite. This increases the Na₂O content of the melts and enhancesmelt production. Thus, melting of metagreywacke in a reducingdeep-crustal environment (with garnet stable) would producemore, and more sodic, melt than would garnet-absent meltingof the same source material in a relatively oxidizing, shallow-crustalenvironment. KEY WORDS: anatexis; metasediments; gneisses; granites; garnet ^*Corresponding author. Telephone: 706-542-2394; fax: 706-542-2425; e-mail: alpatino{at}uga.cc.uga.edu     

Petrology of Submarine Lavas from Kilauea's Puna Ridge, Hawaii

We have studied 30 quenched tholeiitic lava flows recoveredby 20 dredge hauls and one submersible dive along Puna Ridge,the submarine part of the East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano,Hawaii Glass grains from numerous additional flows were recoveredin turbidite sands cored in the Hawaiian Trough. These quenchedlavas document variable primary magma compositions; olivineand multiphase crystallization and fractionation; degassing;wall-rock stoping and assimilation; mixing in the crustal reservoirand the rift zone; entrainment of olivine xenocrysts from ahot, ductile, olivine cumulate body; and disruption of gabbrowallrocks in the rift zone. Glass grains in turbidite sands contain up to 15•0wt% MgO,in contrast to < 7•0wt% MgO for the sampled glass rindson lavas. The most forsteritic olivine phenocryst (F0₉₀₇) isin equilibrium with primary Kilauea liquid containing an average16•5 wt% MgO, but ranging from 13•4 to 18•4%.Lavas and glass grains have more restricted P₂O₅/K₂O and TiO₂/K₂Othan glass inclusions in olivine, because more diverse liquidstrapped as glass inclusions are mixed and homogenized beforeeruption. Variable trace element compositions in glass grainsand whole rocks indicate that the primary liquids form by partialmelting of mantle sources retaining clinopyroxene and garnet. Orthopyroxene xenocrysts formed at moderate pressures provideevidence for a sub-crustal staging zone. Chromite and olivinecrystallize in the crustal magma reservoir as the liquid coolsfrom an average 1346C to 1170C. Low viscosities of the primaryliquids (04 Pas) facilitate olivine settling, and the crystallizedolivine forms an olivine cumulate body at the base of the reservoir.Olivine is deformed as the hot ductile dunite body flows downand away from the summit. This flow drives instability of theHilina landslide on Kilauea. Dikes intrude the dunite, and magmaflowing through the dikes disaggregates and entrains olivinexenocrysts in Puna Ridge magmas. Primary liquids pond at or near the base of Kilauea's crustalreservoir because they are denser than more fractionated liquidsthat occupy the upper parts of the reservoir. The sulfur andwater contents of glass rinds indicate that fractionated liquidsnear the top of the reservoir degas at low pressure, a processthat increases their density and causes them to sink to levelswhere they mix with resident undegassed, near-primary liquid.The fractionated liquids near the top of the magma reservoiracquire excess Cl, owing to assimilation of hydrothermally alteredroofrocks. Magma flowing into the rift zone encounters and mixes with low-temperature,multiphase-fractionated melt. The mixed magmas typically containrare orthopyroxene, plagioclase as sodic as andesine, olivineas fayalitic as F0₇₅ and Fe-rich augite derived from the fractionatedmagma. Magma flowing through dikes also dislodged fragmentsof gabbroic wallrocks that occur as xenoliths. The interrelations in the Kilauean submarine lavas between hostglass and glass inclusion compositions, volatile contents andmineral chemistry reveal an extraordinarily complex sequenceof petrogenetic processes and events that are difficult or impossibleto determine in subaerial Kilauea lavas because of crystallization,reequilibration and degassing during or after their eruption. KEY WORDS: submarine lavas; petrology; Kilauea; Hawaii; magma mixing ^*Corresponding authorPresent address: Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Division of Marine Geology and Geophysics, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149-1098, USA     

Evidence for magma mixing in the Mariana arc system

Volcanoes of the Mariana arc system produce magmas that belong to several liquid lines of descent and that originated from several different primary magmas. Despite differences in parental magmas, phenocryst assemblages are very similar throughout the arc. The different liquid lines of descent are attributed to differences in degree of silica saturation of the primary liquids and in the processes of magmatic evolution (fractional crystallization vs magma mixing). Pseudoternary projections of volcanic rocks from several arc volcanoes are used to show differences between different magmatic suites. In most of the arc, parental liquids were Ol- and Hy-normative basalts that crystallized olivine, augite, and plagioclase (± iron-titanium oxide) and then plagioclase and two pyroxenes, apparently at low pressure. Eruptive rocks follow subparallel liquid lines of descent on element–element diagrams and on pseudoternary projections. Magmas at North Hiyoshi are Ne-normative and have a liquid line of descent along the thermal divide due to precipitation of olivine, augite, and plagioclase. Derived liquids are large ion lithophile element (LILE)-rich. Magmas at other Hiyoshi seamounts included an alkaline component but had more complex evolution. Those at Central Hiyoshi formed by a process dominated by mixing alkaline and subalkaline magmas, whereas those at other Hiyoshi seamounts evolved by combined magma mixing and fractional crystallization. Influence of the alkaline component wanes as one goes south from North Hiyoshi. Alkaline and subalkaline magmas were also mixed to produce magmas erupted at the Kasuga seamounts that are behind the arc front. The alkaline magmas at both Hiyoshi and Kasuga seamounts had different sources from those of the subalkaline magmas at those sites as indicated by trace element ratios and by _Nd.     

The Rio Dell Formation: a Plio-Pleistocene basin slope deposit in Northern California

The Rio Dell Formation (Pleistocene and Pliocene), exposed south of Eureka, California, is a prograded sequence of basinal turbidites overlain by basin slope and shelf deposits. The slope deposits studied in the Centerville Beach section accumulated in a steadily shallowing environment delineated by analysis of palaeobathymetrically significant benthonic foraminiferal biofacies in turn suggesting deposition at depths of 1000–100 m. Lower slope deposits interfinger with basinal turbidites derived from the Eel River delta to the north. Slumped blocks of silty mudstone, and associated silt and mud beds, are common. The middle slope deposits are mudstones; coarser sediments bypassed this zone. Mudstones and muddy siltstones alternate on the upper slope. Shallow depressions, probably slump scars, that have been rapidly filled by upper slope sediment are common. The transition to shelf deposits is marked by an increase in sediment grain size, in the degree of oxidation, and in the abundance of megafossils. High percentages of benthonic foraminifera displaced from shelf depths indicate that resedimentation processes are most important on the upper slope.     

Cordierite-Cummingtonite Facies Rocks from the Gold Brick District, Colorado

The unusual association of cordierite and cummingtonite (? gedrite+ chlorite + biotite + ilmenite + plagioclase + quartz) definesa metamorphic facies within aluminous, low-Ca amphibolites fromthe Proterozoic rocks of the Gold Brick District, east of Gunnison,Colorado. More Fe-rich bulk chemistries in the same facies arecharacterized by assemblages consisting of cordierite+-gedrite+ garnet + chlorite + biotite + ilmenite + plagioclase + quartz,whereas more Mg-rich compositions are characterized by cordierite+ anthophyllite + chlorite + biotite + ilmenite ? plagioclase+ quartz. The assemblage gedrite 4- cummingtonite + chlorite+ biotite + ilmenite + plagioclase + quartz was also observed.Coexisting cordierite+ anthophyllite + cummingtonite was notobserved in any rocks, apparently because this assemblage isstable over only a very narrow range of bulk compositions. Metamorphosedpelitic rocks are more iron rich than the assemblage cordierite+ gedrite + garnet + chlorite + biotite + ilmenite + plagioclase+ quartz and consist of garnet ?cordierite ?staurolite ? chlorite? andalusite + biotite + ilmenite + plagioclase + quartz? microclineor muscovite. Mineral rim compositions from cordierite-bearing amphibolitesand metapelites determined by electron microprobe analysis showsystematic Fe/Mg partitioning and define assemblages that occupynon-overlapping regions of the compositional system SiO₂-TiO₂-Al₂O₃-MnO-FeO-MgO-CaO-Na₂O-K₂O-H₂Oas determined by algebraic and statistical methods developedby Braun & Stout (1975) and Fisher (1989). Graphical methods(projections) produced spurious overlaps not confirmed by themore rigorous algebraic tests. The spurious overlaps were generatedbecause standard projective analysis was not able simultaneouslyto account for the important effects of the components Na₂O,CaO, and MnO on the AFM topologies. The results of algebraicand statistical analysis are consistent with an equilibriumorigin at constant values of temperature and pressure. The cordierite-cummingtonite facies encompasses the relativelylow-pressure and moderate-temperature conditions associatedwith the stability field of andalusite. Garnet-biotite geothermo-metry,and garnet, aluminosilicate, silica, plagioclase (GASP) geobarometrysuggest that temperatures and pressures were nearly constantacross the study area at 550( ? 70) ?C and 3 kb, respectively,near the peak of metamorphism. Other geothermometers and geobarometers,and independent pressure and temperature estimates, are compatiblewith garnet-biotite thermometry and GASP geo-barometry. Gradientsin fO₂ or H₂O are not required to explain the compatibilityof these assemblages at constant T and P. Cordierite + cummingtonite-bearingrocks can apparently be derived from anthophyllite +garnet-bearingrocks by increasing temperature or decreasing pressure.