Sr isotope systematics during melt generation by intrusion of basalt into continental crust

We have studied the Sr isotopic composition of partial melts of biotite granite generated experimentally and by intrusion of basalt into the Sierra Nevada Batholith. The experiments employed large, 3-cm cubes of granite to duplicate natural grain-boundary textures and were performed in air over the temperature interval 1000–1250 °C, to simulate basalt-induced wall rock and xenolith melting in the shallow crust. In both the experimental and natural analogs, fusion of plagioclase + alkali-feldspar ± quartz and biotite + plagioclase ± quartz results in the formation of colorless and brown melt (quenched to glass) respectively. Accordant with this melting behavior, brown glasses are enriched in radiogenic Sr and MgO, FeO, CaO, and TiO₂ relative to colorless glasses. These results support recent studies indicating that the isotopic compositions of crustal melts can reflect the relative contributions of mineral phases entering the melt, rather than the isotopic composition of the bulk source rock. In addition, we show that at shallow-crustal conditions preferential breakdown of biotite leads to initial high-⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, low-Sr concentration melts. However, as the degree of melting increases, melts become less radiogenic yet are more enriched in elemental Sr due to loss of biotite from the restite and increased consumption of feldspars. Our results therefore suggest, if partial melts of granitic crust segregate rapidly during episodic magmatic underplating, successive melt batches can evolve from high-⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr to low-⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr liquids as melting progresses. Received: 25 August 1998 / Accepted: 10 March 1999     

Relative sea-level change inferred from intertidal sediments beneath marshes on Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Relative sea-level change at the time of, and since, the most recent great earthquake at the Cascadia subduction zone is estimated from intertidal sediments at three marshes on western Vancouver Island, British Columbia. We compare the elevation of the pre-earthquake surface, which is marked by a tsunami sand sheet, with the modern depositional elevation range of the sediment type upon which the sand was deposited. At a site south of the Nootka fault zone, which is the northern boundary of the subducting Juan de Fuca plate, tidal mud overlies the pre-earthquake marsh surface. The stratigraphy at this site indicates 0.2–1.6 m of coseismic submergence and 1.1 m of subsequent emergence. In contrast, two sites to the north lack obvious stratigraphic evidence for coseismic land-level change and record between 0.1 and 1.7 m of post-earthquake submergence. These results indicate a difference in tectonic environment across the Nootka fault zone and suggest that plate-boundary rupture during the last great Cascadia earthquake probably did not extend north of central Vancouver Island.     

Comparison of two different approaches for computing the gravitational effect of a tesseroid

Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica - Forward modelling in the space domain is a very important task in geodesy and other geosciences. From topographical or isostatic information in the form of digital...     

First distribution record of the invasive copepod Oithona davisae Ferrari and Orsi, 1984, in the coastal waters of the Aegean Sea

The occurrence of the invasive nonindigenous copepod Oithona davisae Ferrari and Orsi, 1984, is reported for the first time in the Aegean Sea. The data we collected in August 2017 from 14 stations along the Turkish coast of the Aegean Sea reveal the spatial distribution of O. davisae between the openning of the Dardanelles Strait in the north and the Izmir Bay in the south. The O. davisae individuals, in seven mesozooplankton samples collected from a single station, were consistently found in the inner part of the Izmir Bay from April 2015‐October 2016. The abundance of female O. davisae ranged from 4 ind./m³ in April 2015 to 31,524 ind./m³ in July 2016 and contributed to the total oithonid female population by 10.8% in April 2015 and 92.8% in September 2016. Our results show that this species is well established in the inner part of Izmir Bay and that it has become a permanent component of the copepod community in the area.     

An abyssal recipe

Fine- and microstructure observations indicate bottom-intensified turbulent dissipation above rough bathymetry associated with internal wave breaking. Simple analytic representations for the depth profile of turbulent dissipation are proposed here under the assumption that the near bottom wavefield is dominated by a baroclinic tide. This scheme is intended for use in numerical models and thus captures only the gross features of detailed solutions to the energy balance of the internal wavefield. The possible sensitivity of the magnitude and vertical variability of the dissipation rate profile to various environmental parameters is discussed. An expression for the diapycnal buoyancy flux is presented that explicitly treats the difference between the height of an isopycnal above the mean bottom and the actual bottom. This returns a diapycnal velocity estimate that is consistent with both tracer observations of downwelling and a basin scale mass budget that requires upwelling.     

A strike‐slip core complex from the Najd fault system,Arabian shield

Metamorphic core complexes are usually thought to be associated with regional crustal extension and crustal thinning, where deep crustal material is exhumed along gently dipping normal shear zones oblique to the regional extension direction. We present a new mechanism whereby metamorphic core complexes can be exhumed along crustal‐scale strike‐slip fault systems that accommodated crustal shortening. The Qazaz metamorphic dome in Saudi Arabia was exhumed along a gently dipping jog in a crustal‐scale vertical strike‐slip fault zone that caused more than 25 km of exhumation of lower crustal rocks by 30 km of lateral motion. Subsequently, the complex was transected by a branch of the strike‐slip fault zone, and the segments were separated by another 30 km of lateral motion. Strike‐slip core complexes like the Qazaz Dome may be common and may have an important local effect on crustal strength.     

Mass transfer and porosity evolution during low temperature water–rock interaction in gneisses of the simano nappe: Arvigo,Val Calanca,Swiss Alps

Late Alpine fissures and fractures in amphibolite-facies basement gneisses at Arvigo (Val Calanca, Swiss Alps) show distinct cm-sized reaction selvages parallel to the fracture walls that composed of subgreenschist facies assemblages produced by the interaction of water present in the fracture porosity with the old high-grade gneiss assemblages. The process of selvage or reaction-vein formation occurred in the brittle deformation regime and at temperatures characteristic of, first the prehnite-pumpellyite facies and then later of the zeolite facies. The vein formation occurred during uplift and cooling at very late stages of the Alpine orogeny. The reaction veins are composed of a selvage of altered gneiss on both sides of the central fracture and a central zone with fissure minerals that have been growing in the open fracture pore space. The central zone of the Arvigo veins contains an early assemblage with epidote, prehnite and chlorite and a late succession sequence of various species of zeolite. The veins of the Arvigo quarry are convincing evidence that fracture fluids in gneiss and granite have the potential to precipitate Ca–zeolite. This is an important find because many fluids recovered from deep continental drill holes and from geothermal energy exploration are found to be oversaturated in respect to a number of Ca–zeolite species. Vein formation during late uplift and cooling of the Alps occurred at continuously decreasing T and at hydrostatic pressure: (1) coexisting prehnite/epidote records temperatures of 330–380°C, (2) chlorite formation at temperature of 333 ± 32°C and (3) formation of zeolites <250°C. In the selvages the prime reaction is the replacement of plagioclase by albite along a sharp reaction front that separates the selvage from unaltered gneiss. In addition to albitisation, chloritisation of biotite is the second important reaction in the alteration process. The reactions release components for the formation of Ca–Al silicates. The water–rock interaction is associated with a depletion of Al, Si, Ca, Fe and K in the altered wall rock. The overall reaction is associated with an increase in porosity of up to 14.2 ± 2.2% in the selvage zone (altered wall rock), caused by the volume decrease during albitisation and the removal of biotite. The propagation of the sharp reaction front through the gneiss matrix occurred via a dissolution-reprecipitation mechanism. Zeolite formation is tied to the plagioclase alteration reaction in the rock matrix, which releases components for zeolite formation to a CO₂-poor aqueous liquid.     

A fluid inclusion and isotopic study of an intrusion-related gold deposit (IRGD) setting in the 380 Ma South Mountain Batholith,Nova Scotia,Canada: evidence for multiple fluid reservoirs

A set of sheeted quartz veins cutting 380 Ma monzogranite at Sandwich Point, Nova Scotia, Canada, provide an opportunity to address issues regarding fluid reservoirs and genesis of intrusion-related gold deposits. The quartz veins, locally with arsenopyrite (≤5%) and elevated Au–(Bi–Sb–Cu–Zn), occur within the reduced South Mountain Batholith, which also has other zones of anomalous gold enrichment. The host granite intruded (P = 3.5 kbars) Lower Paleozoic metaturbiditic rocks of the Meguma Supergroup, well known for orogenic vein gold mineralization. Relevant field observations include the following: (1) the granite contains pegmatite segregations and is cut by aplitic dykes and zones (≤1–2 m) of spaced fracture cleavage; (2) sheeted veins containing coarse, comb-textured quartz extend into a pegmatite zone; (3) arsenopyrite-bearing greisens dominated by F-rich muscovite occur adjacent the quartz veins; and (4) vein and greisen formation is consistent with Riedel shear geometry. Although these features suggest a magmatic origin for the vein-forming fluids, geochemical studies indicate a more complex origin. Vein quartz contains two types of aqueous fluid inclusion assemblages (FIA). Type 1 is a low-salinity (≤3 wt.% equivalent NaCl) with minor CO₂ (≤2 mol%) and has T _h = 280–340°C. In contrast, type 2 is a high-salinity (20–25 wt.% equivalent NaCl), Ca-rich fluid with T _h = 160–200°C. Pressure-corrected fluid inclusion data reflect expulsion of a magmatic fluid near the granite solidus (650°C) that cooled and mixed with a lower temperature (400°C), wall rock equilibrated, Ca-rich fluid. Evidence for fluid unmixing, an important process in some intrusion-related gold deposit settings, is lacking. Stable isotopic (O, D, S) analyses for quartz, muscovite and arsenopyrite samples from vein and greisens indicate the following: (1) δ¹⁸O_qtz = +11.7‰ to 17.8‰ and δ¹⁸O_musc = +10.7‰ to +11.2‰; (2) δD_musc = −44‰ to−54‰; and (3) δ³⁴S_aspy = +7.8‰ to +10.3‰. These data are interpreted, in conjunction with fluid inclusion data, to reflect contamination of a magmatic-derived fluid (d¹⁸O_H2O {\delta^{{{18}}}}{{\hbox{O}}_{{{{\rm{H}}_{{2}}}{\rm{O}}}}}  ≤ +10‰) by an external fluid (d¹⁸O_H2O {\delta^{{{18}}}}{{\hbox{O}}_{{{{\rm{H}}_{{2}}}{\rm{O}}}}}  ≥ +15‰), the latter having equilibrated with the surrounding metasedimentary rocks. The δ³⁴S data are inconsistent with a direct igneous source based on other studies for the host intrusion (d¹⁸O_H2O {\delta^{{{18}}}}{{\hbox{O}}_{{{{\rm{H}}_{{2}}}{\rm{O}}}}}  = +5‰) and are, instead, consistent with an external reservoir for sulphur based on δ³⁴S_H2S data for the surrounding metasedimentary rocks. Divergent fluid reservoirs are also supported by analyses of Pb isotopes for pegmatitic K-feldspar and vein arsenopyrite. Collectively the data indicate that the vein- and greisen-forming fluids had a complex origin and reflect both magmatic and non-magmatic reservoirs. Thus, although the geological setting suggests a magmatic origin, the geochemical data indicate involvement of multiple reservoirs. These results suggest multiple reservoirs for this intrusion-related gold deposit setting and caution against interpreting the genesis of intrusion-related gold deposit mineralization in somewhat analogous settings based on a limited geochemical data set.