The Generation of Oceanic Rhyolites by Crystal Fractionation: the Basalt-Rhyolite Association at Volcn Alcedo, Galpagos Archipelago

Alcedo volcano is one of six shield volcanoes on Isabela Islandin the western Galpagos Islands. Although Alcedo is dominantiybasaltic, it is unusual in that it also has erupted 1 km³ ofrhyolite. The rhyolitic phase marked a 10-fold decrease in themass-eruption rate of the volcano, and the volcano has returnedto erupting basalt. The basalts are tholeiitic and range fromstrongly to sparsely porphyritic. Olivine and plagiodase arethe liquidus phases in the most primitive basalts. The MgO andNi concentrations in the most primitive basalts indicate thatthey have undergone substantial differentiation since extractionfrom the mantle. The rhyolites contain the assemblage oligoclase-augite-titanomagnetite-fayalite-apatiteand sparse xenoliths of quenched basalt and cumulate gabbros.Intermediate rocks are very rare, but some are apparently basaltrhyolitehybrids, and others resulted from differentiation of tholeiiticmagma. Several modeling approaches and Sr-, Nd-, and O-isotopicdata indicate that the rhyolites resulted from 90% fractionation(by weight) of plagiodase, augite, titanomagnetite, olivine,and apatite from the most primitive olivine tholeiite. The dataare inconsistent with the rhyolites originating by crustal anatexis.The extreme Daly gap may be caused by the large increase inviscosity as the basaltic magma differentiates to intermediateand siliceous compositions; highly evolved magmas are eruptibleonly after they become saturated with volatiles by second boiling.The close association of the hybrid intermediate magmas andmagmatic inclusions with the climactic plinian eruption indicatesmixing between mafic and silicic magmas immediately before eruption.Rhyolite production was favored by the decrease in supply ofbasaltic magma as Alcedo was carried away from the focus ofthe Galpagos hotspot. A three-stage model for the magmaticevolution of a Galpagos volcano is proposed. In the first stage,the supply of basaltic magma is large. Basaltic magma continuallyintrudes the subcaldera magma chamber, buffering the magmas'compositional and thermal evolution. As the volcano is carriedaway from the basaltic source, the magma chamber is allowedto cool and differentiate, as exemplified by Alcedo's rhyoliticphase. Finally, the volcano receives even smaller influx ofbasalt, so a large magma chamber cannot be sustained, and thevolcano shifts to isolated basaltic eruptions. KEY WORDS: Galpagos; oceanic rhyolites; fractional crystallization; Isabela Island ^*Corresponding author, e-mail: Geist{at}IDUI1.csrv.uidaho.edu. Telephone: 208-885-6491. Fax: 208-885-5724     

Evolution of the Kap Edvard Holm Complex: a Mafic Intrusion at a Rifted Continental Margin

The Kap Edvard Holm Layered Series forms part of the East GreenlandTertiary Province, and was emplaced at shallow crustal level(at depths corresponding to a pressure of 1–2 kbar) duringcontinental break-up. It consists of two suites: a gabbro suitecomprising olivine and oxide gabbros, leucocratic olivine gabbrosand anorthosites, and a suite of wehrlites that formed fromthe intrusion of the gabbros during their solidification bya hydrous, high-MgO magma. Ion microprobe analyses of clinopyroxenereveal chemical contrasts between the parental melt of the wehrlitesuite and that of the gabbro suite. Thin sills (1–2 mthick) of the wehrlite suite, however, have clinopyroxene compositionssimilar to the gabbro suite, and were formed by interactionwith interstitial melts from the host layered gabbros. All evolvedmembers of the gabbro suite have elevated Nd, Zr and Sr concentrationsand Nd/Yb ratios, relative to the melt parental to the gabbrosuite. These characteristics are attributed to establishmentof a magma chamber at depths corresponding to a pressure of10 kbar, where melts evolved before injection into the low-pressuremagma chamber. Anorthosites of the gabbro suite are believedto have crystallized from such injections. The melts becamesupersaturated in plagioclase by the pressure release that followedtransportation to the low-pressure magma chamber after initialfractionation at 10 kbar. The most evolved gabbros formed bysubsequent fractionation within the low-pressure magma chamber.Our results indicate that high-pressure fractionation may beimportant in generating some of the lithological variationsin layered intrusions. KEY WORDS: fractionation; ion microprobe; layered intrusions; rift processes; trace elements ^*Corresponding author.     

The Ethics of Place and Environmental Change: Some Examples from the South Pacific

This paper concerns place and ‘placelessness’, and suggests links between those two and types of environmental ethic. An historical analysis of place based ethics and environmental degradation draws on examples from the Pacific basin. Finally, relationships between environmental ethics and traditional patterns of resource exploitation are proposed for several island societies.     

One-dimensional models of groundwater flow, sediment thermal history and petroleum generation within continental rift basins

We investigate the effects of convective heat transfer on the thermal history of sediments and petroleum formation within continental rift basins using one-dimensional mathematical modelling. The transport equations used in this study to describe vertical groundwater flow and conductive/convective heat transfer are solved by the finite element method. Sediment thermal history is quantitatively represented using first-order rate kinetic expressions for kerogen degradation and an empirical fanning Arrhenius model for apatite fission track annealing. Petroleum generation is also represented in the model by a suite of first-order rate kinetic expressions. The analysis provides insights into how pore fluid circulation patterns are preserved in the rock record as anomalies in palaeogeothermometric data within continental rifts. Parameters varied in the numerical experiments include the ratio of conductive to convective heat transfer (thermal Peclet number; Pe) and the composition of the disseminated organic matter in the sediment (type II and III kerogen). Quantitative results indicate that vertical groundwater flow rates on the order of a mm/yr cause a change in computed vitrinite reflectance of the rocks and a shift in the depth to oil generation by as much as 3000 m. Differences in thermal gradients between recharge and discharge areas (Pe= 0.6) also change the width of the zone of oil generation by a factor of two. Even more dramatic, however, are the large changes in predicted apatite fission track length distributions and model ages between recharge and discharge areas. For example, a sediment package buried to a depth of 2400 m over 200 Myr within the groundwater recharge column had a fission track length distribution with a computed mean and standard deviation of 12.83 μm and 0.77 μm, respectively. The fission track model age for this sediment package was 209 Ma. The same sediment package in the discharge area has a distribution with a mean track length of 5.68 μm, a standard deviation of 3.37 μm, and a fission track model age of 2.6 Ma. Transient groundwater flow simulations, in which fluid circulation ceases after a period of time within the rift basin, are also presented to illustrate how disturbances in palaeogeothermometric parameters are preserved on geological time-scales. Vitrinite reflectance profiles require about 10 Myr to return to conductive conditions within groundwater recharge areas while the convective disturbances are preserved indefinitely along the discharge column, as long as further subsidence does not occur. Ancient groundwater flow systems are preserved as anomalies in computed apatite fission track model ages and distributions much longer after groundwater flow stops, relative to organic-based geothermometers. Significant differences exist in model ages between recharge (145 Ma) and discharge (90 Ma) areas 200 Myr after flow has ceased. However, calculated fission track histogram distributions are virtually identical in recharge and discharge areas after about 50 Myr. Our study suggests that ancient groundwater flow systems can be detected by comparing thermochronometric data between suspected recharge and discharge areas within continental rifts. Vitrinite reflectance profiles, observed offsets in the depth to the onset of petroleum generation, and apatite fission track annealing studies are all well suited for detecting groundwater flow systems which have been relatively long lived (10⁷ years). Apatite fission track age data are probably best suited for identifying ancient groundwater flow systems within rifts long (>200 Myr) after flow ceases.     

Optical dating of relict sand wedges and composite-wedge pseudomorphs in Flanders, Belgium

We report on quartz Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of the infill of 14 relict sand wedges and composite-wedge pseudomorphs at 5 different sites in Flanders, Belgium. A laboratory dose recovery test indicates that the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) procedure is suitable for our samples (measured to a given dose ratio 0.980 ± 0.005; n =139). Completeness of resetting of the wedge infill of two samples was confirmed by single-grain analyses. The suite of optical ages indicates that repeated thermal contraction cracking, degradation and infilling with wind-blown sediment appear to have been commonplace in Flanders during the Late Pleniglacial (Oxygen Isotope Stage 2; OIS2); more specifically, around the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼21 kyr ago) and the transition period between the LGM and the start of the Lateglacial (∼15 kyr ago). Optical dating at one site has revealed two significantly older wedge levels, the younger inset into the older; the younger wedge has an age of 36 ± 4 kyr (Middle Pleniglacial; OIS3), the older wedge 129 ± 11 kyr, which points to formation during the Late Saalian (OIS6). Our OSL ages of the wedges and host sediments bracket formation of the BGB (Beuningen Gravel Bed: a widespread deflation horizon in northwestern Europe) at between ∼15 and 18 kyr; this is in good agreement with previous OSL dating studies. We conclude that optical dating using quartz SAR OSL establishes an absolute chronology for these periglacial phenomena and allows secure palaeoenvironmental reconstructions to be made.     

The pattern of Neoglacial glacier variations in the Okstindan region of northern Norway during the last three millennia

BOREAS Griffey, N. J. & Worsley, P. 1978 03 01: The pattern of Neoglacial glacier variations in the Okstindan region of northern Norway during the last three millennia (Okstindan Research Project Report 26). Boreas, Vol. 7, pp. 1–17. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
Historical, lichenometrical and stratigraphical evidence is combined to establish a provisional history of Neoglacial glacier variation in a mountainous environment approx. 66^oN. Attention is focussed on end moraine chronology. At five sites, derived organic materials have been located within end moraines and at two others in situ palaeosols occur buried beneath distal slopes. Organic rich samples from all the sites have been radiocarbon dated and the results permit the recognition of three major glacier expansion episodes, each of which contributes to the diachronous nature of the Okstindan outer Neoglacial limit. A widespread 'Little Ice Age' event with a maximum extent of probable eighteenth century age is confirmed. Limited areas of older moraine ridges peripheral to the 'Little Ice Age' maximal limit appear to date from about 3000-2500 ¹⁴C years B.P. and a younger period tentatively dated as about 1250-1000 ¹⁴C years B. P. which agrees with recent data from Engabreen in northwest Svartisen. No evidence for any extensive glacial activity after the inlandice wastage approx. 9000 ¹⁴C years B. P. and prior to 3000 ¹⁴C years B.P. was forthcoming.     

Assessment of dispersive pressure as a beach placer mechanism

The concept of sediment sorting extending from the Bagnold constitutive relationship for sediment under shear is examined in the context of beach placer formation. The traditional interpretation of shear sorting is found to be inconsistent with data from new granular flow experiments. A binary mixture satisfying the shear equivalence relationship displayed pronounced segregation during shear. This observation is contrary to shear sorting as applied in the literature where no such segregation for this pairing of mineral species is expected. Further experiments minimizing the potential of grain percolation of smaller grains or kinetic sieving also demonstrated sorting patterns inconsistent with the existing shear sorting interpretation. Consequently, the shear sorting process, as currently formulated, may not be an appropriate means to describe beach placer formation. Kinetic sieving appears to be a more likely mechanism in this context, enhanced by the shearing and dilation of the granular‐fluid flow.     

Pleistocene Underplating and Metasomatism of the Lower Continental Crust: a Xenolith Study

Xenoliths from Engeln–Kempenich in the East Eifel volcanicfield (Germany) comprise gabbroic to ultramafic cumulates, andmeta-igneous and meta-sedimentary granulite- to amphibolite-facieslithologies. They provide evidence for Pleistocene heating andmetasomatism of the lower continental crust by mafic magmas.The metamorphic xenoliths were divided into three types: (1)primitive type P, which are little affected by metasomatic replacementstructures; (2) enriched type E1 defined by metasomatic replacementof primary pyroxene and garnet by pargasitic amphibole and biotite;(3) enriched type E2 defined by breakdown of hydrous phases.Type E rocks are geochemically related to type P and cumulatexenoliths by compositional trends. During modal metasomatism,type E rocks were oxidized. Type E1 rocks were typically enrichedin Rb, Th, U, Nb, K, light rare earth elements (LREE) and Zr,and E2 enriched in Rb, Th, U, Nb, K, REE, Zr, Ti and Y, relativeto type P rocks. Formation of the hydrous, chlorine-bearingphases amphibole and scapolite containing glass and fluid inclusionsin the E1 rocks provides evidence for a water and Cl-bearingfluid phase coexisting with silicate melt. Accordingly, we calculated10 mol % H₂O back into the CO₂-dominated fluid inclusions, inagreement with experimental data on the composition of a fluidphase coexisting with mafic alkaline melts at elevated pressure.Primary CO₂-dominated fluid inclusions coexisting with glassinclusions in metamorphic corona phases and neoblasts, and incumulate xenoliths, have overlapping densities. Fluid inclusionbarometry using the corrected densities indicates that bothcumulates and metamorphic xenoliths originated from the samedepth at 22–25 km (650 ± 50 MPa). This is interpretedas being a main magma reservoir level within the upper partof the lower crust close to the Conrad discontinuity, wherethe xenoliths represent wall-rocks. The Conrad discontinuityseparates an upper-crustal layer, consisting of preferentiallyductile granodioritic and tonalitic gneisses, and more brittlelower-crustal mafic granulites. The brittle–ductile transitionappears to be a preferred level of magma stagnation. KEY WORDS: continental lower crust; fluids; magma chamber; metasomatism; xenoliths     

Cotectic Proportions of Olivine and Spinel in Olivine-Tholeiitic Basalt and Evaluation of Pre-Eruptive Processes

The volume %, distribution, texture and composition of coexistingolivine, Cr-spinel and glass has been determined in quenchedlava samples from Hawaii, Iceland and mid-oceanic ridges. Thevolume ratio of olivine to spinel varies from 60 to 2800 andsamples with >0·02% spinel have a volume ratio ofolivine to spinel of approximately 100. A plot of wt % MgO vsppm Cr for natural and experimental basaltic glasses suggeststhat the general trend of the glasses can be explained by thecrystallization of a cotectic ratio of olivine to spinel ofabout 100. One group of samples has an olivine to spinel ratioof approximately 100, with skeletal olivine phenocrysts andsmall (<50 µm) spinel crystals that tend to be spatiallyassociated with the olivine phenocrysts. The large number ofspinel crystals included within olivine phenocrysts is thoughtto be due to skeletal olivine phenocrysts coming into physicalcontact with spinel by synneusis during the chaotic conditionsof ascent and extrusion. A second group of samples tend to havelarge olivine phenocrysts relatively free of included spinel,a few large (>100 µm) spinel crystals that show evidenceof two stages of growth, and a volume ratio of olivine to spinelof 100 to well over 1000. The olivine and spinel in this grouphave crystallized more slowly with little physical interaction,and show evidence that they have accumulated in a magma chamber. KEY WORDS: olivine; spinel; basalt glass; volume %; cotectic     

HOBBY RANCHING AND CHILE'S LAND‐REFORM LEGACY*

ABSTRACT. Twentieth‐century land reform in Chile reflects familiar themes. The state subdivided large land monopolies, ostensibly for social justice reasons: to provide opportunities for campesinos to earn a living from agriculture. In southern Chile's Tierra del Fuego a combination of social justice, nationalism, and geopolitical concerns stimulated land reform between 1924 and 1978. The effort succeeded in creating a new material landscape oriented around smaller ranches but failed to meet its socioeconomic goals. In a scenario that resonates with reforms elsewhere in Latin America, an elitist cultural landscape dominated by large‐holding corporations was replaced with another elitist landscape, though in a different form. Politically well‐connected and essentially absentee landholders acquired subdivided land and began to practice “hobby ranching.” The history of land reform in Tierra del Fuego demonstrates how new socioeconomic conditions created over the course of many decades have left their imprint on land use and the biophysical landscape. It also contributes to larger regional debates about the role of land degradation in stocking‐rate decline.