The Cocos and Carnegie Aseismic Ridges: a Trace Element Record of Long-term Plume-Spreading Center Interaction

The aseismic Cocos and Carnegie Ridges, two prominent bathymetricfeatures in the eastern Pacific, record 20 Myr of interactionbetween the Galápagos hotspot and the adjacent GalápagosSpreading Center. Trace element data determined by inductivelycoupled plasma-mass spectrometry in >90 dredged seamountlavas are used to estimate melt generation conditions and mantlesource compositions along the ridges. Lavas from seamount provinceson the Cocos Ridge are alkalic and more enriched in incompatibletrace elements than any in the Galápagos archipelagotoday. The seamount lavas are effectively modeled as small degreemelts of a Galápagos plume source. Their eruption immediatelyfollows the failure of a rift zone at each seamount province'slocation. Thus the anomalously young alkalic lavas of the CocosRidge, including Cocos Island, are probably caused by post-abandonmentvolcanism following either a ridge jump or rift failure, andnot the direct activity of the Galápagos plume. The seamountshave plume-like signatures because they tap underlying mantlepreviously infused with Galápagos plume material. Whereasplume heterogeneities appear to be long-lived, tectonic rearrangementsof the ridge plate boundary may be the dominant factor in controllingregional eruptive behavior and compositional variations. KEY WORDS: mantle plume; mid-ocean ridge; Galápagos; abandoned rift; partial melting of the mantle     

Melt Enrichment of Shallow Depleted Mantle: a Detailed Petrological, Trace Element and Isotopic Study of Mantle-Derived Xenoliths and Megacrysts from the Cameroon Line

Major element, trace element and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopiccompositions of ultramafic xenoliths and megacrysts from thecontinental Cameroon line provide evidence for metasomatismof the upper most lithospheric mantle by enriched melts duringthe Mesozoic The megacrysts probably crystallized within thelower continental crust from melts similar to the host magmas.All the xenoliths originated as depleted residues after theextraction of basaltic melts, but some indicate evidence ofinteraction with enriched partial melts before entrainment.The U–Pb isotopic data on garnet are consistent with coolingthrough >900C at >300 Ma. The Sm–Nd isotope systematicsin constituent phases appear to have been in equilibrium ona xenolith scale at the time of entrainment, indicating derivationfrom mantle that remained at temperatures >600C until eruption.Spinel therzolies that show simple light rare earth element(LREE) depletions are characterized by isotopic compositionsthat are comparable with, but slightly more depleted than AtlanticN-MORB, suggesting that the unmetasomatized sub-continentallithosphere of the Cameroon line may be isotopically similarto that of sub-oceanic lithosphere. The Nd-depleted mantle modelages of these xenoliths are consistent with late Proterozoicdepletion, similar in age to much of the overlying continentalcrust. In contrast, samples that have LREE-enriched clinopyr-oxenes(La/Yb =4.7–9.4) contain trace amounts of amphibole, areenriched in U and have more radiogenic Pb and Sr. These xenolithsyield U–Pb and Sm–Nd model ages consistent withMesozoic enrichment, in agreement with the age of enrichmentof the source regions of the basalts, as deduced from Pb isotopiccompositions. Clinopyroxenes record three orders of magnitudeenrichment in U and LREE accompanied by progressive K depletionassociated with the growth of trace amphibole, with K/U ratiosthat range from 12000 to 1. The ratios of the trace elementsthought to have similar bulk D in mantle melting, Ce/Pb, Ba/Rband Nd/Sr ratios, display regional variations related to thetime integrated history of enrichments indicated by Nd isotopiccompositions. Mass balance calculations suggest that the meltsresponsible for the most recent enrichment of the lithospherehad higher La/Yb and U/Pb than Cameroon line host magmas, andwere probably the product of small degrees of partial meltingassociated with the earliest stages of the breakup of Pangea. KEY WORDS: Cameroon line; mantle xenoliths; megacrysts; REE; isotopic composition; trace element     

幔源角闪石巨晶中硫化物熔融包裹体研究

硫化物熔融包裹体研究是认识硫化物矿床成矿元素来源和演化的重要手段,由于硫化物熔融包裹体的体积较小(粒径仅为10～20μm),其详细化学元素组分的难以获得一直是制约进一步研究的瓶颈。笔者在前人研究的基础上,借助于扫描电镜、电镜能谱和二次飞行时间离子探针(Tof-SIMS)对产于铜陵地区角闪石巨晶中的硫化物熔融包裹体进行了详细的研究,首次获得了一套精确的矿物化学资料和元素分布图。矿物学研究表明,角闪石巨晶在上地幔和下地壳均有结晶,温压区间分别为T:850～900℃(温度),P:0.70×109～0.82×109Pa(压力),对应深度D:23.10～27.06km;和T:900～950℃,P:1.09×109～1.17×109Pa,D:35.97～38.61km。元素分布图显示,硫化物熔融包裹体主要有两种元素组成体系:S-Fe-Mn-Ni-Rb-Sr-Ba和S-Fe-Cu-Sr,幔源硫化物体系中Mn、Ni、Rb、Ba等元素具有相似的性质特征可共溶,与Cu则表现出不混溶。在铜陵地区,上地幔的部分熔融形成了一套碱性玄武岩浆,后受岩浆底侵作用和壳幔相互作用影响,底侵进入下地壳深位岩浆房,发生结晶分异和同化混染作用,形成一套轻度演化的玄武岩浆,可能为辉长质。上地幔和下地壳的角闪石巨晶分别是由上地幔碱性玄武岩浆和下地壳轻度演化的玄武岩浆(辉长质)高压下结晶的产物。当上地幔碱性玄武岩浆上侵到下地壳深位岩浆房以后,发生结晶分异作用,又由于地壳硅镁层的混染作用,使得玄武岩浆中硫溶解度降低,促其熔离,从而释放大量的硫(S,以及Ni、Cu、Cr)。角闪石巨晶中的硫化物熔融包裹体正是在下地壳深位岩浆房中,由正在结晶的角闪石巨晶在结晶分异和轻度演化的玄武质岩浆中捕获的不混溶硫化物熔融液滴形成的。铜陵地区在中生代经历了一个长期的大规模的岩浆底侵作用和壳幔相互作用过程,由于下地壳硅镁层混染作用使得轻度演化的玄武岩浆释放大量硫,必然会在莫霍面附近形成大规模高浓度的硫富集区,这些组分在岩浆上侵作用、地壳减薄作用或者裂谷作用的影响下很容易再活化,进入区域岩浆-热液流体系统,最终参与形成区域大规模的硫化物矿床。     

FACTOR ANALYSIS OF A SIMULATED DATA MATRIX INVOLVING AQUEOUS COMPLEX EQUILIBRIA

Abstract factor analyses were performed on databases consisting of simulated samples from aqueousequilbria.The program COMPLEX was used to generate equilibrium species in a system of three reactantmetals and five reactant bases.Reactant concentrations and pH were drawn from random-normaldistributions so that sample data vectors comprised a multivariate log-normal distribution of equilibriumconcentrations.In addition,sample groups were created containing different distributions for pH andreactant concentrations.Equilibrium species were shown to contain variance contributed by change in pH among samples aswell as change in reactant concentrations.Factor modelling revealed the qualitative relationships amongthe species and how the relationships change with pH.Factors also revealed those reactants containingvariance in the data matrix.In some cases,reactant variance obscured relationships between pH and theequilibrium species.Since factor modelling of a simulated data matrix revealed the expected chemical equilibriuminteractions,a potentially powerful tool exists for investigating the effects of outliers and error.     

RANK-ORDER ANALYSIS FOR ROBUST MULTIRESPONSE,MULTIBLOCK COMPARISONS:EVALUATION OF HERBICIDE INTERACTIONS

Studies of interactions among bioactive compounds are often difficult to interpret unambiguously.A priori assumptions about the nature of such interactions can seriously distort analysis of the data.Byapplying a rank order analysis appropriate to the naturally ordinal scale of response to xenobiotic insult,several co-herbicides were successfully identified from among numerous candidates in an experimentinvolving multiple blocks,rates and species.Moreover,underlying herbicide interactions weresubstantiated and identified which were not apparent by more traditional parametric analysis.     

Evidence for plant-arthropod interactions in the fossil record

From a study of extant arthropods (particularly insects) and plants it is clear that there are many close interactions between the two groups, which must have co-evolved over a considerable period of time. Surprisingly, the fossil record of such interactions has hardly been studied and has therefore often been assumed to be non-existent. Interactions include feeding (e.g. leaf and spore/pollen feeding, leaf mining and wood boring), shelter (e.g. the formation of galls), transport, and reproduction (flower pollination). There is fossil evidence for all of these interactions from the time that arthropods and plants first colonized the land. The shortage of data results from lack of study rather than a real absence of interactions.     

Acanthodian scales and worm tubes from the Kapp Kjeldsen Division of the Lower Devonian Wood Bay Formation, Spitsbergen

Results of a thin section study of bonebeds from the Kapp Kjeldsen Division are presented and discussed. The material for this study was collected in the talus on the south-eastern side of Bockfjorden, northern Spitsbergen. The stratigraphical position of the Kapp Kjeldsen Division within the Devonian strata of Spitsbergen is shown in Table 1.
The thin sections for this study were not made to standard thickness, but are slightly thicker for better resolution of the vertebrate material. Each thin section was individually polished. The photos are made with crossed nichols.     

Insect traces from nonmarine ephemeral puddles

Metz, Robert 1987 06 01: Insect traces from nonmarine ephemeral puddles. Boreas , Vol. 16, pp. 189–195. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
Field observations of nonmarine clay-lined ephemeral puddles have revealed numerous exogenic traces formed by a variety of insects. Most of these traces are described here for the first time. A number of different insects produced similar appearing traces. Relatively rapid drying of the shallow puddles often traps the insect, so that the trace and its maker are initially well preserved. This dessication process, in contrast to many lakes, streams and ponds having deeper water conditions, offers high potential for the exogenic trace to be preserved as a trace fossil. Trace fossil forms similar to those documented for ephemeral puddles include Gordia, Cochlichnus, Lithographus, Helminthopis and Isopodichnus . Ephemeral puddles should be considered a prime candidate for the origin of many of the trace fossils found in ancient nonmarine sedimentary rocks.     

Isotopic and Chemical Evidence Concerning the Genesis and Contamination of Basaltic and Rhyolitic Magma Beneath the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field

Since 2.2 Ma, the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field has produced6000 km³ of rhyolite tuffs and lavas in >60 separate eruptions,as well as 100 km³ of tholeiitic basalt from >50 vents peripheralto the silicic focus. Intermediate eruptive products are absent.Large calderas collapsed at 2?0, 1?3, and 0?6 Ma on eruptionof ash-flow sheets representing at least 2500, 280, and 1000km³ of zoned magma. Early postcollapse rhyolites show largeshifts in Nd, Sr, Pb, and O isotopic compositions caused byassimilation of roof rocks and hydrothermal brines during collapseand resurgence. Younger intracaldera rhyolite lavas record partialisotopic recovery toward precaldera ration. Thirteen extracalderarhyolites show none of these effects and have sources independentof the subcaldera magma system. Contributions from the Archaeancrust have extreme values and wide ranges of Nd-, Sr-, and Pb-isotoperatios, but Yellowstone rhyolites have moderate values and limitedranges. This requires their deep-crustal sources to have beenpervasively hybridized (and the Archaean components diluted)by distributed intrusion of Cenozoic basalt, most of which wasprobably contemporaneous with the Pliocene and Qualernary volcanism.In hybrid sources yielding magmas parental to the subcalderarhyolites, half or more of the Nd and Sr may have been contributedby such young basalt. Parents for the extracaldera rhyolites,generated beyond the leading edge of the northeast-propagatingfocus of basaltic intrusion and deep-crustal mobilization, containedsmaller fractions of mantle-derived components. Most Yellowstone basalts had undergone cryptic clinopyroxenefractionation in the lower crust or crust-mantle transitionzone and, having also ascended through or adjacent to crustalzones of silicic-magma generation, most underwent some crustalcontamination. A high fraction of the Pb in most basalts isof crustal derivation. Anomalously low seismic velocities toa depth of 250 km and a high flux of ³He at Yellowstone suggestsublithospheric magma contributions. Elevated baseline Nd- andSr-isotopc ratios suggest additional contributions from oldlithospheric mantle, but this is hard to quantify because ofthe crustal overprint. Foundering of crustally contaminatedmain-stage cumulates into the low-viscosity upper mantle beneaththe principal focus of basaltic intrusion may influence theisotopic compositions of low-K tholeiites and Snake River olivinetholeiites subsequently generated along the Snake River Plainaxis in the wake of the main migrating melting anomaly.