Calc-alkaline differentiation trend in the plutonic sequence of the Wadi Haymiliyah section, Haylayn massif, Semail ophiolite, Oman

The Wadi Haymiliyah section, in the Haylayn block (Semail ophiolite, Oman) displays an unusual plutonic sequence closely similar to those of supra-subduction zone harzburgitic ophiolites (“Troodos sub-type”). It comprizes a bottom, 1000 m-thick, coarse-grained layered gabbro unit (MLGU) overlain by a 1000 m-thick, fine-grained, laminated noritic gabbro unit (MLNGU). Taken as a whole, the mineralogical and bulk-rock trends of the Haymiliah plutonic sequence are those of arc-related calc-alkaline plutons. The MLGU layered gabbros are olivine gabbros and gabbros which differ from low-P cumulates of MORB (oceanic gabbros) by Fe³⁺-rich cumulus chrome spinel [Fe³⁺/(Fe³⁺ + Al + Cr) = 0.2-0.3], diopside (Mg# = 85–91) co-crystallized with highly calcic plagioclase (An_96-80) and intercumulus magnesian orthopyroxene (Mg# = 87-80). Plagioclase remains highly calcic at decreasing Fo content, indicating crystallization under high water pressure (> 500 bar). Despite an abrupt decrease in grain size, there exists modal and chemical gradations between MLGU and MLNGU. In the uppermost part of the MLGU, coarse-grained, gabbroic cyclic units culminate with two-pyroxene gabbros containing up to 20 wt.% cumulus Opx. These latter are interbedded over a thickness of ca. 300 m with fine-grained two-pyroxene gabbros and noritic gabbros layers which differ only by slightly higher modal opx and plagioclase contents. The bottom of the MLNGU is marked by norite layers containg up to 80 wt.% plagioclase, cumulus Ti-magnetite and abundant intercumulus Ti-pargasite. Unlike low-pressure differentiates of MORBs, the MLNGU lacks pigeonite and Fe-Ti oxide layers. Cumulus titanomagnetite appears immediately after the orthopyroxene (Mg# = 72–76) in the crystallization order of the norites. The abundance of interstitial Ti-poor pargasite increases at the top of the MLNGU which is brecciated by dioritic differentiates. Both features indicate increasing water pressure and oxygen fugacity (NNO + 2 log units) symptomatic of closed-system magmatic differentiation. Mg#'s of both pyroxenes (70–80) decrease moderately relative to the MLGU coarse-grained gabbros. This and the increase of plagioclase and orthopyroxene modal proportions produce increasing SiO₂-Al₂O₃-Na₂O and Sr contents at nearly constant FeO/MgO in bulk-rock chemistry. This feature similar to the calc-alkaline differentiation trend, is due primarily to a parental tholeiitic magma more hydrated and oxidized than MORBs (ƒ_O2 = NNO instead of NNO-2 to NNO-3 log unit); this trend is fully developed in the Wadi Haymiliah section because closure of the magma reservoir in this region allowed larger extent of magmatic differentiation than in other blocks of the Semail ophiolite. The water-rich and oxidized nature of the parental magmas argues for the evolution of the Semail ophiolite in a marginal basin above a subduction zone rather than at a mature oceanic spreading center.     

Unprecedented risk of spring frost damage in Switzerland and Germany in 2017

Spring frosts are feared by farmers, fruit growers, and wine growers as they can cause significant damage to crops when they occur during the development of the plants. In the second half of April 2017, following a very warm period that had caused premature vegetation growth, a cold air mass from the Arctic penetrated central and western Europe, causing severe damage to natural and cultivated vegetation over broad areas. Here, we analyze how exceptional this event was in Switzerland and Germany in relation to the accumulated growing degree days (GDD), used as a proxy for plant phenology advancement. Although this damaging frost was not the latest on record in terms of calendar days, our results show that it was, in some regions, unprecedented in relation to the accumulated warmth during the preceding period, at least since the beginning of instrumental temperature records (1864). Our results also highlight how global warming has considerably increased the number of days with mean temperature above 5 °C in late winter and early spring, especially since 1970 (+?16.8?±?4.7 °C days decade^?1). However, in spite of earlier spring phenology due to climate warming, our results suggest that the risk of damaging frost events to vegetation has remained unchanged over the last 150 years in lowlands of Switzerland and Germany, due to the concurring earlier occurrence of the last potentially damaging frosts (about ??20 days since 1864). Our analyses reveal therefore that the April 2017 damaging frost was a true outlier in terms of risk of frost damage to plants.     

The Western Boundary of the Equatorial Pacific Upwelling: Some Consequences of Climatic Variability on Hydrological and Planktonic Properties

The longitude of the western limit of the equatorial Pacific upwelling is a key parameter for studies of carbon budget and pelagic fisheries variability. Although it is well defined at the surface on the equator by a salinity front and a sharp variation of the partial pressure of CO₂, data from two equatorial cruises make it clear that this hydrological limit does not necessarily coincide with the boundary of the nitrate and chlorophyll enriched area. In January-February 1991 during a non-El Niño period, when trade winds and the South Equatorial current (SEC) were favorable to upwelling, the two limits were at the same longitude. Conversely, in September-October 1994 during El Niño conditions, when the equatorial upwelling had stopped, the nitrate and chlorophyll enriched zone was found a few degrees of longitude east of the hydrological boundary (5.5° at the surface and 2.5° for the 50 m upper layer), whereas no such offset was observed for zooplankton biomass. A simple model, based on the HNLC (High Nutrient - Low Chlorophyll) ecosystem functioning, was initialized with nitrate uptake measurements and estimates of upwelling break duration. The model results support the hypothesis that zonal separation of the limits arises from biological processes (i.e. nitrate uptake and phytoplankton grazing) achieved during that upwelling break.     

The high temperature reaction zone of the Oman ophiolite: new field data,microthermometry of fluid inclusions,PIXE analyses and oxygen isotopic ratios

Marine Geophysical Research - The present study is focused on the so-called High Temprature Reaction Zone of the Oman ophiolite, a thin zone located between the roots of the sheeted dyke complex...     

Export flux of particles at the equator in the western and central Pacific ocean

Export of particles was studied at the equator during an El Nin˜o warm event (October 1994) as part of the French ORSTOM/FLUPAC program. Particulate mass, carbon (organic and inorganic) (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) export fluxes were measured at the equator in the western and central Pacific during two 6–7 day-long time-series stations located in the warm pool (TS-I at 0°, 167°E) and in the equatorial HNLC situation (TS-II at 0°, 150°W), using drifting sediment traps deployed for 48 h at four depths (between, approximately, 100 and 300 m).The particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes at the base of the euphotic zone (0.1 % light level), were approximately four times lower at TS-I than at TS-11 (4.1 vs. 17.0 mmol C m^-2 day^-1). Conversely, fluxes measured at 300 m were similar at both sites (3.6vs. 3.7 mmol C m⁻² day⁻¹ at TS-I and TS-11, respectively). This change in export fluxes was in good agreement with food-web dynamics in the euphotic zone characterized by an increase in plankton biomasses and metabolic rates and a shift towards larger size from TS-1 to TS-II. The POC flux profiles indicated high remineralization (up to 78%) of the exported particles at TS-II, between 100 and 200 m in the Equatorial Undercurrent. According to zooplankton ingestion estimates from 100 – 300 m, 60% of this POC loss could be accounted for by zooplankton grazing. At TS-I, no marked increase of flux with depth was observed, and we assume that loss of particles was compensated by in-situ particle production by zooplankton. Fluxes of particulate nitrogen and phosphorus followed the same general patterns as the POC fluxes. The elemental and pigment composition of the exported particles was not very different between the two stations. In particular, the POCYN flux molar ratio at the base of the euphotic zone was low, 6.9 and 6.2 at TS-1 and TS-II, respectively.For particulate inorganic carbon (mainly carbonate) flux, values at the base of the euphotic zone averaged 0.9 mmol C m-2 day-1 at TS-I and 2.3 mmol C m-2 day-1 at TS-11 (corresponding to a 2.6-fold increase) and showed low depth changes at both stations.POC export flux (including active flux associated with the interzonal migrants) at the 0.1 % light level depth represented only 8% of primary production (1°C uptake) measured at TS-1 and 19% at TS-II. For the time and space scales considered in the present study, new primary production, as measured by the 15N method, was in good agreement with the total export flux in the HNLC situation, thus leading to negligible dissolved organic carbon (DOC) or nitrogen (DON) losses from the photic zone. Conversely, export flux was found to be only 50% (C units) and 60% (N) of new production in the oligotrophic system, either because of an overestimation by the 15N method or of a significant export of DOC and DON.Comparison with other oceanic regions shows that export flux in the warm pool was within the same range as in the central gyres. On the other hand, comparison with EgPac data in the central Pacific suggests that there is no straightforward relation between the magnitude of the export and surface nitrate concentrations.     

A submersible study in the western Blanco fracture Zone,N.E. Pacific: Structure and evolution during the last 1.6 Ma

During July and August 1991, the French-American Blanconaute dive program used the French submersibleNautile to investigate the West Blanco Depression (WBD), a deep, elongate trough located at the intersection of the Blanco Transform Fault Zone with the southern Juan de Fuca Ridge (JdFR). Twenty dives were carried out along the north wall of the WBD, which exposes the upper oceanic crust over a 65 km distance, from the JdFR axis (to the west) to the oblique trace of an ancient propagator (to the east, crustal age around 2 Ma). Thirteen of these dives were precisely located within a 13 × 7 km zone of the north wall, covered by a high-resolution sonar mapping operation during the Blancotrough cruise in 1987. This series of geological traverses, plus 4 dives across the south wall of the WBD (one dive) and the adjacent Parks Plateau (3 dives), collected 242 rock samples. We report here the main results of the dive program and preliminary laboratory studies:

1. Transform-related tectonic activity has recently abandoned the southern margin of Parks Plateau, and is presently located inside the WBD area, mainly along its northern wall. The tectonic features observed are compatible with a right-lateral strike-slip system, with a NE-SW extensional component.
2. Three main lithological units are exposed along the north wall of the WBD. From top to bottom, they are: (1) a Volcanic Unit, forming a steep upper cliff, made of massive and pillow flows and basaltic dikes, with an estimated average thickness of 800 m; (2) a less steep Transition Zone, about 150 to 400 m thick, largely masked by rubble but exposing both diabase outcrops and pillow flows; and (3) a massive Diabase Unit, exposed over 700–800 m, with a dike complex structure visible from place to place, and cut by a net of hydrothermal veins. Deep crustal rocks such as gabbros were not observed.
3. Spectacular mass-wasting features are visible all along the north wall of the WBD. About 60% of the face of the wall is masked by talus cones, rubble, rock avalanche deposits and slide blocks. Three main landslides, of approximately one km³ in volume each, were tentatively identified. One of them was mapped in detail and consists of an approximately 300 m thick (0.85 km³), coherent slide block detached from a zone where intense hydrothermal alteration and faulting have obviously weakened the bedrock, that is in places entirely altered to blue clays.
4. The basaltic lavas of the WBD north wall show a remarkable evolution with time, from east to west. Around the tip of the ancient propagator, they are restricted to primitive, olivine-rich picritic basalts. Proceeding westward, they exhibit a wide range of differentiation, including highly fractionated, FeTi-rich ferrobasalts at about 35–45 km from the JdFR axis. When approaching the JdFR axis, the FeTi enrichment decreases gradually, and the ferrobasalts evolve towards slightly differentiated MORB-type basalts, typical of the southern JdFR. This magmatic evolution marks the transition from the end of a propagating rift regime to a steady-state accretion regime.
5. The WBD north wall also permits the study of weathering and hydrothermal alteration processes and their evolution in space and time. Vertically, the alteration products evolve from oceanic weathering and zeolite facies (Volcanic Unit) to the greenschist facies (Transition Zone and Diabase Unit). Horizontally, the evolution with time is mainly a general hydration of the crust that is, however, very irregularly distributed.
6. Several vertical magnetic traverses along the north wall of the WBD, using a bottom magnetometer attached to the basket of the submersible, have shown a sharp 5000 to 7000 nT positive anomaly at about 3500 m depth. This anomaly corresponds exactly to the first appearance of extrusive pillow-lava outcrops, and confirms the dramatic decrease in magnetic anomaly amplitude below that depth, detected during the Blancotrough cruise in 1987. The vertical magnetic profiles thus appear to have imaged the base of the magnetic source layer.

     

Impact of gamma densitometry on the luminescence signal of quartz grains

Most of the marine sediment cores collected in the past 10 years by the ODP and IMAGES programs have been processed using a multi-sensor core logger (MSCL, Geotek). This system estimates the density of sediment using the γ-ray attenuation of a ¹³⁷Cs source. To date, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating has not been applied to sediments from cores treated in this way, because of the possible impact of this exposure on the existing luminescence signal. We have investigated the effect of such γ-ray irradiation by test exposure, measurement and estimation, and conclude that the usual ¹³⁷Cs exposure from γ-ray attenuation densitometry has no impact on the luminescence signal of quartz grains in sediment cores. For longer exposure to the ¹³⁷Cs source, a formula is provided to calculate the received dose. This result will permit the OSL dating technique to be applied to the voluminous body of marine cores already collected and processed by MSCL.     

Biogenic hydroxysulfate green rust, a potential electron acceptor for SRB activity

Microbiological reduction of a biogenic sulfated green rust , was examined using a sulfate reducing bacterium (Desulfovibrio alaskensis). Experiments investigated whether could serve as a sulfate source for D. alaskensis anaerobic respiration by analyzing mineral transformation. Batch experiments were conducted using lactate as the electron donor and biogenic as the electron acceptor, at circumneutral pH in unbuffered medium. transformation was monitored with time by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission Mössbauer Spectroscopy (TMS), Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The reduction of sulfate anions and the formation of iron sulfur mineral were clearly identified by XPS analyses. TMS showed the formation of additional mineral as green rust (GR) and vivianite. XRD analyses discriminated the type of the newly formed GR as GR1. The formed GR1 was as indicated by DRIFTS analysis. Thus, the results presented in this study indicate that D. alaskensis cells were able to use as an electron acceptor. , vivianite and an iron sulfur compound were formed as a result of reduction by D. alaskensis. Hence, in environments where geochemical conditions promote biogenic formation, this mineral could stimulate the anaerobic respiration of sulfate reducing bacteria.     

Links between bacterial communities in marine sediments and trace metal geochemistry as measured by in situ DET/DGT approaches

Our current view about the relationship between metals and bacteria in marine sediments might be biased because most studies only use ex situ approaches to quantify metals. The aim of the present research was to compare ex situ and in situ methods of metal measurement (DET and DGT--diffusive equilibration or diffusive gradients in thin-films) and relate the results with two commonly used microbiological variables (bacterial biomass and bacterial diversity as revealed by DGGE). No previous studies have used such in situ approaches in microbial ecology. For biomass and most of the investigated trace metals (Ag, Cd, Sn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, and Al) no significant correlations were found. The exceptions were Fe, Mn, Co, and As which behave like micronutrients. For bacterial diversity, no relevant relationships were found. We conclude that in situ methods are more adapted tools for microbial ecologists but that ex situ approaches are still necessary.