Sea-floor fissures, biological communities and sediment fatty acids of the Northern Okushiri Ridge, Japan Sea: Implications for possible methane seepage

A biological community was discovered in the Northern Okushiri Ridge, northeastern Japan Sea. The community was closely associated with sea-floor fissures, and presumed to be supported by methanotrophic and/or thiotrophic bacterial production. Sediments inside of and in the vicinity of the fissures were collected, and the short-chain (C_9–20) sediment fatty acids were analyzed for amounts and compositions. The fatty acid compositions were compared with those from a known methane seep and a submarine volcano in the Sagami Bay, central Japan, and from a whale skeleton at the Torishima Seamount, northwestern Pacific Ocean. As a result, a close relationship between the sediments from the Northern Okushiri Ridge, the known methane-seep, and the whale skeleton was found. This finding represents the first discovery of methane seepage and associated biological communities in the Japan Sea. This also supports the hypothesis that the eastern margin of the northern Japan Sea is at the early stage of new subduction.     

20 Ma以来Mohns洋中脊的非对称扩张速率与地壳结构

超慢速扩张的Mohns洋中脊共轭两侧的地球物理场与地壳结构具有显著的非对称性.利用我国第五次北极科学考察采集的水深、重力与磁力数据,结合历史资料,我们计算了14条垂直Mohns洋中脊剖面的扩张速率、剩余水深、剩余地幔布格重力异常（RMBA）、地壳厚度和非均衡地形.对洋中脊共轭两侧以上计算结果的进一步对比发现,Mohns洋中脊两侧整体（下文均指同一地质时刻各剖面的平均值）的非对称性呈现明显的两段性：20~10.5 Ma,相比Mohns洋中脊东侧,西侧的扩张速率更慢、地壳更厚、非均衡地形更低;10.5~0 Ma,扩张速率、地壳厚度和非均衡地形的非对称的极性与20~10.5 Ma期间完全相反.后一阶段,整体扩张速率在西侧更快、剩余水深更浅,但是对应更薄的地壳和更高的非均衡地形.我们推断前者为冰岛沿Kolbeinsey洋中脊的作用增厚了Mohns洋中脊西侧地壳并使得洋中脊向西侧跳动,而后一阶段反映了岩浆供给减少后西侧集中的构造活动导致的更多的拉伸与隆升.沿各剖面上,10.5~0 Ma期间构造活动集中的洋中脊西侧均具有薄地壳和高非均衡地形,但构造拉伸的增加并不总是对应增快的扩张速率.岩浆在浅部更多地向东侧的分配以及洋中脊向西侧的跳动可能使得东西两侧具有相近的扩张速率.     

科科斯脊玄武岩斜长石矿物化学及地质意义

综合大洋钻探计划(IODP) 334和344航次在U1381站位处的两个钻孔(A孔和C孔)获得了中美洲西海岸外科科斯脊基底拉斑玄武岩,对其岩浆过程开展研究可为理解其岩石成因提供重要依据。本文对科科斯脊玄武岩中斜长石斑晶和微晶进行了详细的原位主微量元素分析,结果表明,斜长石种属为培长石、拉长石及少量中长石。部分斜长石斑晶具有正环带结构;但多数斜长石斑晶不具有明显环带,仅从核部到边部存在微弱的成分变化。斜长石斑晶与微晶的微量元素差别较大:斜长石斑晶富集轻稀土和大离子亲石元素、亏损高场强元素,且具有明显的Eu正异常;斜长石微晶不相容元素含量通常高于斜长石斑晶。根据斜长石温度计计算获得斜长石斑晶结晶温度为1 050～1 253℃,斜长石微晶结晶温度为866～1 033℃。基于以上特征,推测斜长石斑晶核部是相对原始岩浆的产物,而斑晶边部以及微晶是演化岩浆的结晶产物。斜长石斑晶的成分变化及熔蚀麻点结构是由于岩浆补给及岩浆减压上升造成的。最后,本研究推测科科斯脊基底玄武岩来自于开放的岩浆房,且岩浆房内可能存在原始岩浆的不断注入及岩浆对流。     

末次间冰期以来门捷列夫洋脊南部冰盖对细颗粒沉积的控制作用

门捷列夫洋脊南部的粘土矿物沉积具有明确的物源,为追踪该区沉积环境的演变提供了良好的条件。末次间冰期以来,ARC7-E23孔中的粘土矿物记录表现出了非常显著的变化。结合沉积物粒度的端元组份和冰阀碎屑沉积,粘土矿物的变化模式表明,东西伯利亚冰盖(ESIS)的规模可能是控制细颗粒沉积的主要因素。在氧同位素2期(MIS2)和4期(MIS4),门捷列夫洋脊南部可能被ESIS所覆盖,几乎阻挡了所有来自加拿大和拉夫贴夫海陆架的沉积物,但允许大量来自东西伯利亚海陆架的细粒沉积物输入。只有当ESIS消融后,波弗特环流和越极流的相对强度以及搬运作用才成为了控制远源沉积物输入的主要因素。MIS3期的气候条件似乎最适合远源沉积物的输入,不仅提高了表层环流的流通性,也提供了足够多的搬运介质。     

西南印度洋脊龙旂热液区蚀变岩岩石学特征及对热液流体循环的指示

慢速?超慢速扩张洋脊的海底热液活动区多出露类型多样的蚀变岩石,记录了地壳深部的流体与围岩的相互作用,为研究深部热液流体特征以及循环过程提供了样本。本研究选取了中国大洋第30、34和40航次在超慢速扩张西南印度洋脊龙旂热液区(A区、B区和C区)利用电视抓斗采集的蚀变玄武岩、蚀变辉长岩、蚀变辉石岩和蛇纹岩等蚀变岩样品,利用光学显微镜、电子探针开展了岩相学和矿物化学分析。岩相学结果表明,龙旂热液区蚀变岩石样品约95%发生了地壳浅部的脆性变形作用,靠近龙旂1号热液区(A区)约有5%的蚀变岩石混合发育了脆性变形及脆性?塑性变形特征。研究区岩石蚀变属于中?低温变质作用,变质相近似绿片岩相,变质矿物组合为绿泥石?绿帘石?钠长石?阳起石?榍石。其中,A区的蚀变岩中的绿泥石形成温度(201～341℃)以及蛇纹石、阳起石、绿泥石等蚀变矿物的Fe元素含量(17.5%～27.5%)都高于龙旂3号热液区(B区和C区)的绿泥石形成温度(239～303℃)和Fe元素含量(16.8%～26.5%),这也与在该区观测到高温的热液喷口相符合。本研究认为龙旂热液区所在洋脊段发育的拆离断层为热液流体的向上运移提供了通道,洋壳扩张后期轴部的岩浆熔体在轴侧区域的岩浆侵入或喷发活动可能为热液循环提供了热源。     

Short-lived radium isotopes in the Hawaiian margin: Evidence for large fluid fluxes through the Puna Ridge

We measured significant activities of short-lived radium isotopes, ²²³Ra (half-life = 11 days) and ²²⁴Ra (half-life = 3.7 days), around the margins of the Hawaiian Islands to water depths of 3500 m. These measurements suggest fluid inputs from the basalt to the surrounding ocean. In general ²²³Ra activities were considerably greater than ²²⁴Ra in spite of the expected higher production rate of ²²⁴Ra activity in basalt. The ²²³Ra was not supported by dissolved ²²⁷Ac. The highest enrichments of ²²³Ra were measured over the Puna Ridge (2100 m depth) east of Hawaii. Here ²²³Ra activities reached 19 dpm/m³, similar to activities measured near sites of active submarine groundwater discharge in the South Atlantic Bight. To explain the high activities of ²²³Ra unaccompanied by ²²⁴Ra, we postulate that thermally-driven circulation of seawater through the Puna Ridge deposits ²³¹Pa on basalt surfaces. With time the ²³¹Pa produces ²²⁷Ac and ²²³Ra; and ²²³Ra desorbs into the circulating fluids. These fluids then transport ²²³Ra into the overlying ocean. Based on the inventory of ²²³Ra above the Puna Ridge, we estimate the flow of fluids through the ridge to be on the order of 20–60 cm³ cm^− 2 day^− 1. In less than 1000 years the incoming seawater could provide enough ²³¹Pa to basalt surfaces to balance the inventory of ²²³Ra above the ridge if only 8% of the ²²³Ra was transported to the overlying water. These observations on the flanks of a volcanically-active ocean island have significant implications for quantifying fluid fluxes from the flanks of the mid-ocean ridge system. By mapping ²²³Ra inventories in the ocean above ridge flanks and measuring the activity of ²²³Ra in the emerging fluids, the fluid flux can be obtained.     

南大西洋热液沉积物的不同相态提取方法与元素赋存状态

本文对采自南大西洋受不同程度热液活动影响的表层沉积物样品进行了元素和矿物组成分析,并对热液沉积物的碳酸盐相、Fe-Mn氧化物相和残渣态进行了一系列顺序提取实验.选用不同浓度的盐酸羟胺(HH)和醋酸(HAc)混合溶液对样品的Fe-Mn氧化物相进行提取,通过分析不同实验条件下Fe-Mn氧化物相Ti/Nd、Ti/Pb比值和F...     

Pyroxenites from the Southwest Indian Ridge, 9-16{degrees}E: Cumulates from Incremental Melt Fractions Produced at the Top of a Cold Melting Regime

The Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) at 9–16°E and 52–53°Sis characterized by ultra-slow, oblique spreading and containsone of the few documented occurrences of pyroxenite veins associatedwith abyssal peridotites. The origin of these uncommon lithologiesis still debated. We present a detailed study (including electronmicroprobe and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma massspectrometry) of spinel websterites collected during Cruise162, Leg 9, of the R.V. Knorr. Rare earth element patterns inclinopyroxenes (Cpx) lead us to discard a possible origin ofthe pyroxenites as residues from partial melting of garnet pyroxenites(i.e. relics of a layered mantle protolith). Their compositionand cumulate texture (when not obscured by mylonitization relatedto emplacement on the seafloor) are better interpreted in termsof fractional crystallization from a basaltic melt at relativelyhigh pressure. Evidence for a high pressure of crystallizationincludes the lack of plagioclase in the cumulate assemblageand the high Al₂O₃ contents of the pyroxenes: up to 5 wt % inorthopyroxene (Opx) and up to 7 wt % in Cpx. These values areamong the highest reported for pyroxenes in a mid-ocean ridgesetting. Sub-solidus breakdown of spinel to plagioclase (nowaltered) is observed in one sample, providing a rough estimateof the final equilibration pressure of these cumulates, around0· 6–0· 7 GPa (plagioclase–spineltransition for a bulk pyroxenite composition). The inferredpyroxenite parent melts were close to equilibrium with the associatedresidual peridotites; some samples have a slightly evolved compositionin terms of the Mg-number [Mg/(Mg + total Fe)]. These parentalmelts had major and trace element compositions consistent witha mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) affinity, although they werenot rigorously identical to MORB. Among other characteristics,these melts were relatively depleted in highly incompatibleelements. We propose that they correspond to the latest, shallowest,incremental melt fractions produced during fractional decompressionmelting of a normal MORB (N-MORB) mantle source. These meltsexperienced fractional crystallization as soon as they segregatedfrom the peridotite matrix, moved upward, and crossed the lithosphere–asthenosphereboundary (defined here as the base of the conductive lid). Asa consequence, these shallow melt fractions produced beneathmid-ocean ridges did not fully mix with melt fractions producedand extracted at greater depths. Our study provides concreteevidence for the actuality of pyroxene crystallization in meltchannels beneath mid-ocean ridges at relatively high pressures,a process frequently invoked to account for the ‘pyroxeneparadox’ in MORB petrogenesis. KEY WORDS: abyssal pyroxenites; cumulates; lithospheric mantle; melt migration; Southwest Indian Ridge     

Variation of crustal thickness in the Philippine Sea deduced from three-dimensional gravity modeling

Abstract   Crustal thickness of the northern to central Philippine Sea was gravimetrically determined on the simple assumption of four layers: seawater, sediments, crust and lithospheric mantle, with densities of 1030, 2300, 2800 and 3300 kg/m³, respectively. As for the correction of the regional gravity variation, a 15 km difference of the lithospheric thickness with a density difference of 50 kg/m³ against the asthenosphere below between both sides of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge was taken into consideration. Mantle Bouguer anomalies were calculated on the assumption of constant crustal thickness of 6 km, and then the crustal thickness was obtained by three-dimensional gravity inversion method. The results show occurrence of thin crust areas with a thickness of approximately 5 km in the southern part and at the western margin of the Shikoku Basin and also of thick crust areas in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the Parece Vela Basin. We suggest that these are because of the variation of magma supply at the time of sea floor spreading in the Shikoku and Parece Vela Basins, which is possibly related to the variation of spreading rate and enhanced magmatism near the past arc volcanic fronts. The results further show the occurrence of crust thinner than 5 km in the northeastern part of the West Philippine Basin, of crust thicker than 15 km in the Amami Plateau, the Daito and Oki-Daito Ridges, and also in the northern part of Kyushu-Palau Ridge, whereas the southern part of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge the crust is thicker than 10 km. It was also inferred that small basins in the Daito Ridge province have the thinnest oceanic crust of less than 5 km in the Kita-Daito Basin.     

Fault configuration produced by initial arc rifting in the Parece Vela Basin as deduced from seismic reflection data

Abstract   The Parece Vela Basin (PVB), which is a currently inactive back-arc basin of the Philippine Sea Plate, was formed by separation between the Izu-Ogasawara Arc (IOA) and the Kyushu-Palau Ridge (KPR). Elucidating the marks of the past back-arc opening and rifting is important for investigation of its crustal structure. To image its fault configurations and crustal deformation, pre-stack depth migration to multichannel seismic reflection was applied and data obtained by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and Metal Mining Agency of Japan and Japan National Oil Corporation (Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation). Salient results for the pre-stack depth-migrated sections are: (i) deep reflectors exist around the eastern margin of KPR and at the western margin of IOA down to 8 km depth; and (ii) normal fault zones distributed at the eastern margin of the KPR (Fault zone A) and the western margin of the IOA (Fault zone B) have a total displacement of greater than 500 m associated with synrift sediments. Additional normal faults (Fault zone C) exist 20 km east of the Fault zone B. They are covered with sediment, which indicates deposition of recent volcanic products in the IOA. According to those results: (i) the fault displacement of more than 500 m with respect to initial rifting was approximately asymmetric at 25 Ma based on PSDM profiles; and (ii) the faults had reactivated after 23 Ma, based on the age of deformed sediments obtained from past ocean drillings. The age of the base sediments corresponds to those of spreading and rotation after rifting in the PVB. Fault zone C is covered with thick and not deformed volcanogenic sediments from the IOA, which suggests that the fault is inactive.