Roof-rock contamination of magma along the top of the reservoir for the Bishop Tuff

The Bishop Tuff, a well known Quaternary high-silica rhyolite in east-central California, is widely considered the type example of a vertically and monotonically zoned pyroclastic deposit that represents zoning in the source magma reservoir, inverted during the process of pyroclastic emplacement. However, the deposit of plinian pumice, which forms the base of the Bishop Tuff and represents the initial 10% or so of all magma erupted during the event that produced the Bishop Tuff, contains features at odds with monotonie zoning for the reservoir. Relative to overlying ignimbrite, the plinian deposit contains a reversal in trace-element zoning. Moreover, the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr is significantly higher than that in overlying ignimbrite (about 0.7084 vs 0.7064), and melt inclusions trapped in quartz phenocrysts exhibit notable variability of trace-element concentrations, even within a single host crystal (e.g., U: 10.77 to 8.91 ppm).These data have been previously interpreted as due to processes of chemical fractionation and evolution operating within a magma system closed to chemical interactions with its roof rocks. For example, the reversal in trace-element zoning has been explained by the first-erupted magma being erupted from somewhat below the top of a monotonically zoned reservoir. However, we submit that the reversed zoning and other above-noted features can be explained equally well as consequences of minor assimilation of roof rocks into a magma reservoir that was erupted from the top down.The basal part of the Bishop Tuff exhibits extreme concentrations and depletions of trace elements, relative to the average composition of crustal rocks. For example, the upward decrease of Sr in the Bishop magma reservoir (downward decrease in the ignimbrite) results in concentrations as low as 2–4 ppm. Because of the attendant ‘chemical leverage’, assimilation of < 1 wt.% of Sierra Nevada batholith rocks typical of the area could readily reverse an ‘uncontaminated’ Sr (and other trace elements) trend of zoning and could also substantially raise ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr. Small-scale trace-element variability in the uppermost part of the Bishop magma reservoir, as recorded by the above-mentioned melt inclusions, may simply reflect melt heterogeneity produced by the process of assimilation.     

Uranium-lead isotope systematics of Mars inferred from the basaltic shergottite QUE 94201

Uranium-lead ratios (commonly represented as ²³⁸U/²⁰⁴Pb = μ) calculated for the sources of martian basalts preserve a record of petrogenetic processes that were active during early planetary differentiation and formation of martian geochemical reservoirs. To better define the range of μ values represented by the source regions of martian basalts, we completed U-Pb elemental and isotopic analyses on whole rock, mineral and leachate fractions from the martian meteorite Queen Alexandra Range 94201 (QUE 94201). The whole rock and silicate mineral fractions have unradiogenic Pb isotopic compositions that define a narrow range (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 11.16-11.61). In contrast, the Pb isotopic compositions of weak HCl leachates are more variable and radiogenic. The intersection of the QUE 94201 data array with terrestrial Pb in ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb-²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb-²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb compositional space is consistent with varying amounts of terrestrial contamination in these fractions. We calculate that only 1-7% contamination is present in the purified silicate mineral and whole rock fractions, whereas the HCl leachates contain up to 86% terrestrial Pb. This terrestrial Pb contamination generated a ²⁰⁶Pb-²⁰⁷Pb array in the QUE fractions that appears to represent an ancient age, which contrasts with a much younger crystallization age of 327 ± 10 Ma derived from Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd isochrons (Borg L. E., Nyquist L. E., Taylor L. A., Wiesmann H. and Shih C. -Y. (1997) Constraints on Martian differentiation processes from Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd isotopic analyses of the basaltic shergottite QUE 94201. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta61, 4915-4931). Despite the contamination, and accepting 327 ± 10 Ma as the crystallization age, we use the U-Pb data to determine the initial ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb of QUE 94201 to be 11.086 ± 0.008 and to calculate the μ value of its mantle source to be 1.82 ± 0.01. The μ value calculated for the QUE 94201 source is the lowest determined for any martian basalt source, and, when compared to the highest values determined for martian basalt sources, indicates that μ values in martian source reservoirs vary by at least a factor of two. Additionally, the range of source μ values indicates that the μ value of bulk silicate Mars is approximately three. The amount of variation in the μ values of the mantle sources (μ ∼ 2-4) is greater than can be explained by igneous processes involving silicate phases alone. We suggest the possibility that a small amount of sulfide crystallization may generate greater extents of U-Pb fractionation during formation of the mantle sources of martian basalts.     

Sedimentary development of the Louisiana continental shelf related to sea level cycles: Part II—seismic response

Cyclic sequences occur worldwide in nearly every stratigraphic sequence; they are particularly well-developed in fluvial and deltaic sediments that have been influenced by high-frequency eustatic sea-level fluctuations. The large data base for this study (including 471 deep foundation borings, thousands of line kilometers of high-resolution seismic, and sedimentological and dating analyses) represents the most complete information on high-resolution chronostratigraphy and lithostratigraphy that is available on any modern continental shelf/upper slope. These data are used to document sedimentological characteristics and high-resolution seismic responses during three complete sea-level cycles over the entire continental shelf/upper slope of offshore Louisiana. Examination of high-resolution seismic records indicates that well-defined, high-amplitude, laterally continuous reflectors correlate with rising and high stand condensed sedimentary sequences and that the deposits laid down during falling and low-stand periods (expanded sections) are characterized by a wide range of acoustic responses. Discontinuous reflectors with high-amplitude variability, continuous parallel reflectors, and chaotic and amorphous zones are common acoustic responses. The association between a particular lithofacies and a specific acoustic response on 3.5-kHz records was found to be very poor.     

A comparative study of the modelling of cement hydration and cement-rock laboratory experiments

The use of cement and concrete as fracture grouting or as tunnel seals in a geological disposal facility for radioactive wastes creates potential issues concerning chemical reactivity. From a long-term safety perspective, it is desirable to be able model these interactions and changes quantitatively. The ‘Long-term Cement Studies’ (LCS) project was formulated with an emphasis on in situ field experiments with more realistic boundary conditions and longer time scales compared with former experiments. As part of the project programme, a modelling inter-comparison has been conducted, involving the modelling of two experiments describing cement hydration on one hand and cement-rock reaction on the other, with teams representing the NDA (UK), Posiva (Finland), and JAEA (Japan).This modelling exercise showed that the dominant reaction pathways in the two experiments are fairly well understood and are consistent between the different modelling teams, although significant differences existed amongst the precise parameterisation (e.g. reactive surface areas, dependences of rate upon pH, types of secondary minerals), and in some instances, processes (e.g. partition of alkali elements between solids and liquid during cement hydration; kinetic models of cement hydration). It was not conclusive if certain processes such as surface complexation (preferred by some modellers, but not by others) played a role in the cement-rock experiment or not. These processes appear to be more relevant at early times in the experiment and the evolution at longer timescales was not affected. The observed permeability profile with time could not be matched. The fact that no secondary minerals could be observed and that the precipitated mass calculated during the simulations is minor might suggest that the permeability reduction does not have a chemical origin, although a small amount of precipitates at pore throats could have a large impact on permeability.The modelling exercises showed that there is an interest in keeping the numerical models as simple as possible and trying to obtain a reasonable fit with a minimum of processes, minerals and parameters. However, up-scaling processes and model parameterisation to the timescales appropriate to repository safety assessment are of considerable concern. Future modelling exercises of this type should focus on a suitable natural or industrial analogue that might aid assessing mineral-fluid reactions at these longer timescales.     

Copper Isotopic Analysis in Geological and Biological Reference Materials by MC‐ICP‐MS

The characterisation of relative copper isotope amount ratios (δ⁶⁵Cu) helps constrain a variety of geochemical processes occurring in the geosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere. The accurate and precise determination of δ⁶⁵Cu in matrix reference materials is crucial in the effort to validate measurement methods. With the goal of expanding the number and variety of available geological and biological materials, we have characterised the δ⁶⁵Cu values of ten reference materials by MC‐ICP‐MS using C‐SSBIN model for mass bias correction. SGR‐1b (Green River shale), DOLT‐5 (dogfish liver), DORM‐4 (fish protein), TORT‐3 (lobster hepatopancreas), MESS‐4 (marine sediment) and PACS‐3 (marine sediment) have for the first time been characterised for δ⁶⁵Cu. Additionally, four reference materials (with published δ⁶⁵Cu values) have been characterised: BHVO‐1 (Hawaiian basalt), BIR‐1 (Icelandic basalt), W‐2a (diabase) and Seronorm? Trace Elements Serum L‐1 (human serum). The reference materials measured in this study possess complex and varied matrices with copper mass fractions ranging from 1.2 µg g^?1 to 497 µg g^?1 and δ⁶⁵Cu values ranging from ?0.20‰ to 0.52‰ with a mean expanded uncertainty of ± 0.07‰ (U, k = 2), covering much of the natural copper isotope variability observed in the environment.     

Geology and petrology of Mahukona Volcano,Hawaii

The submarine Mahukona Volcano, west of the island of Hawaii, is located on the Loa loci line between Kahoolawe and Hualalai Volcanoes. The west rift zone ridge of the volcano extends across a drowned coral reef at about-1150 m and a major slope break at about-1340 m, both of which represent former shoreines. The summit of the volcano apparently reached to about 250 m above sea level (now at-1100 m depth) did was surmounted by a roughly circular caldera. A econd rift zone probably extended toward the east or sutheast, but is completely covered by younger lavas from the adjacent subaerial volcanoes. Samples were vecovered from nine dredges and four submersible lives. Using subsidence rates and the compositions of flows which drape the dated shoreline terraces, we infer that the voluminous phase of tholeiitic shield growth ended about 470 ka, but tholeiitic eruptions continued until at least 435 ka. Basalt, transitional between tholeiitic and alkalic basalt, erupted at the end of tholeiitic volcanism, but no postshield-alkalic stage volcanism occurred. The summit of the volcano apparently subcided below sea level between 435 and 365 ka. The tholeiitic lavas recovered are compositionally diverse.     

Application of a vanishing, quasi-sigma, vertical coordinate for simulation of high-speed, deep currents over the Sigsbee Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico

Recent observations over the Sigsbee Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico have revealed extremely energetic deep currents (near 1 m s⁻¹), which are trapped along the escarpment. Both scientific interest and engineering needs demand dynamical understanding of these extreme events, and can benefit from a numerical model designed to complement observational and theoretical investigations in this region of complicated topography. The primary objective of this study is to develop a modeling methodology capable of simulating these physical processes and apply the model to the Sigsbee Escarpment region. The very steep slope of the Sigsbee Escarpment (0.05–0.1) limits the application of ocean models with traditional terrain-following (sigma) vertical coordinates, which may represent the very complicated topography in the region adequately, can result in large truncation errors during calculation of the horizontal pressure gradient. A new vertical coordinate system, termed a vanishing quasi-sigma coordinate, is implemented in the Navy Coastal Ocean Model for application to the Sigsbee Escarpment region. Vertical coordinate surfaces for this grid have noticeably gentler slopes than a traditional sigma grid, while still following the terrain near the ocean bottom. The new vertical grid is tested with a suite of numerical experiments and compared to a classical sigma-layer model. The numerical error is substantially reduced in the model with the new vertical grid. A one-year, realistic, numerical simulation is performed to simulate strong, deep currents over the Escarpment using a very-high-resolution nested modeling approach. The model results are analyzed to demonstrate that the deep-ocean currents in the simulation replicate the prominent dynamical features of the observed intense currents in the region.     

Tidally incised valleys on tropical carbonate shelves: An example from the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The formation of incised valleys on continental shelves is generally attributed to fluvial erosion under low sea level conditions. However, there are exceptions. A multibeam sonar survey at the northern end of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, adjacent to the southern edge of the Gulf of Papua, mapped a shelf valley system up to 220 m deep that extends for more than 90 km across the continental shelf. This is the deepest shelf valley yet found in the Great Barrier Reef and is well below the maximum depth of fluvial incision that could have occurred under a − 120 m, eustatic sea level low-stand, as what occurred on this margin during the last ice age. These valleys appear to have formed by a combination of reef growth and tidal current scour, probably in relation to a sea level at around 30–50 m below its present position.

Tidally incised depressions in the valley floor exhibit closed bathymetric contours at both ends. Valley floor sediments are mainly calcareous muddy, gravelly sand on the middle shelf, giving way to well-sorted, gravely sand containing a large relict fraction on the outer shelf. The valley extends between broad platform reefs and framework coral growth, which accumulated through the late Quaternary, coincides with tidal current scour to produce steep-sided (locally vertical) valley walls. The deepest segments of the valley were probably the sites of lakes during the last ice age, when Torres Strait formed an emergent land-bridge between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Numerical modeling predicts that the strongest tidal currents occur over the deepest, outer-shelf segment of the valley when sea level is about 40–50 m below its present position. These results are consistent with a Pleistocene age and relict origin of the valley.

Based on these observations, we propose a new conceptual model for the formation of tidally incised shelf valleys. Tidal erosion on meso- to macro-tidal, rimmed carbonate shelves is enhanced during sea level rise and fall when a tidal, hydraulic pressure gradient is established between the shelf-lagoon and the adjacent ocean basin. Tidal flows attain a maximum, and channel incision is greatest, when a large hydraulic pressure gradient coincides with small channel cross sections. Our tidal-incision model may explain the observation of other workers, that sediment is exported from the Great Barrier Reef shelf to the adjacent ocean basins during intermediate (rather than last glacial maximum) low-stand, sea level positions. The model may apply to other rimmed shelves, both modern and ancient.