Periodical mixing of MORB magmas near East Pacific Rise 13°N: Evidence from modeling and zoned plagioclase phenocrysts

Thirty-six basalt samples from near East Pacific Rise 13°N are analyzed for major and trace elements. Different types of zoned plagioclase phenocrysts in basalts are also backscatter imaged, and major element profiles scanned and analyzed for microprobe. Basalts dredged from a restricted area have evolved to different extents (MgO=9.38wt%—6.76wt%). High MgO basalts are modeled for crystalliza-tion to MgO of about 7wt%, and resulted in the Ni contents (≈28 ppm) that are generally lower than that in observed basalts (>60 ppm). It suggests that low MgO basalts may have experienced more intensive magma mixing. High MgO (9.38wt%) basalt is modeled for self-"mixing-crystallization", and the high Ni contents in low MgO basalts can be generated in small scale and periodical self-mixing of new magma (high MgO). "Mixing-crystallization" processes that low MgO magmas experienced accord with recent 226Ra/230Th disequilibria studies for magma residence time, in which low MgO magmas have experi-enced more circles of "mixing-crystallization" in relatively longer residence time. Magma mixing is not homogeneous in magma chamber, however, low MgO magmas are closer to stable composition pro-duced by periodical "mixing-crystallization", which is also an important reason for magma diversity in East Pacific Rise. Zoned plagioclase phenocrysts can be divided into two types: with and without high An# cores, both of which have multiple reversed An# zones, suggesting periodical mixing of their host magmas. Cores of zoned plagioclase in low MgO (7.45wt%) basalt differ significantly with their mantle in An#, but are similar in An# with microlite cores (products of equilibrium crystallization) in high MgO (9.38wt%) basalt, which further shows that plagioclase phenocryst cores in low MgO basalts may have formed in their parental magmas before entering into the magma chamber.     

构造沉降是控制近代洞庭湖演变的关键因素吗?——评《洞庭湖地质环境系统分析》

本文对以研究近代洞庭湖演变趋势为主要内容的《洞庭湖地质环境系统分析》的系列研究成果进行评论 ,认为采用“假设 -演绎法”研究洞庭湖演变得出的结论 ,依然建立在假设的基础上 ,并不可靠。文中还对该系列成果提出的“构造沉降是控制洞庭湖演变的关键因素”的论点和一些所谓的“构造沉降”表现及其计算数据提出质疑 ,认为近代洞庭湖的演变不是由内动力“构造沉降”控制 ,而是主要受入湖水沙条件变化、人工围垦湖滩和湖面———基面上升等外动力的作用和影响。     

缝洞型碳酸盐岩油气分布规律及成藏条件：以塔中北斜坡东部鹰山组为例

缝洞型碳酸盐岩储集层具有强烈的非均质性,其油气成藏及富集规律极其复杂,充分认识此类油气藏的形成条件及分布特点对油气藏进一步勘探及有效开发至关重要。通过对东部井区的统计分析,目的层油气性质与I号断裂带及走滑断裂密切相关,平面上塔中北斜坡东部鹰山组油气具有“西油东气,内油外气”的分布特征,纵向上油气集中在不整合面以下200 m内,沿风化壳不整合面呈“准层状”分布。从源、储、盖、运等成藏要素角度对油气成藏控制因素进行了综合研究,结果表明：该研究区发育两套烃源岩,且经历了多期充注,为油气聚集提供了充足的物质基础;后期构造抬升及断裂活动促进岩溶作用的进行,改善了储层的储集性能,为油气富集提供了有利的场所;良三段到良五段致密灰岩分布广、厚度大,可以有效封闭油气,为油气聚集提供了较好的保存条件;塔中北斜坡东部断裂及不整合面是油气成藏的关键,沟通源岩为油气运移聚集提供了良好的通道。     

Probing the history of the Mathematician paleoplate using surface waves

This paper investigates the shear velocity structure under the northern East Pacific Rise at the latitude range of 9–18°N, using intermediate-period Rayleigh and Love waves. The selected ocean-bottom seismic records provide source–receiver paths that ideally constrain the lithospheric mantle structure beneath the southern Rivera plate and the Mathematician paleoplate. The Rayleigh wave data infer a relatively thin ( 30 km) lithosphere under the eastern side of the present-day East Pacific Rise. The associated shear velocities are consistent with existing models of oceanic mantle beneath this region, and the estimated plate age of 2–3 million years agrees with results from magnetic dating. The west of the rise axis is characterized by a thicker and faster lithosphere than the eastern flank, and such structural differences suggest the presence of a relatively old Mathematician paleoplate. The discontinuous change in mantle structure across the East Pacific Rise spreading center are observed in both isotropic and anisotropic velocities. The young oceanic lithosphere east of the rise axis shows strong polarization anisotropy, where the dominant orientation of crystallographic axes roughly parallels the spreading direction. However, the western flank of the rise axis is approximately isotropic, and the lack of anisotropy suggests complex deformation mechanisms associated with earlier episodes of ridge segmentation, propagation and dual-spreading on and around the Mathematician paleoplate.     

东太平洋北部洋中脊上地壳精细结构地震探测

海洋多道反射地震成像是研究大洋岩石圈结构、岩浆系统和热液活动等信息的重要手段.受限于缆长、水深和采集方式等因素, 水听器拖缆接收到的用于速度建模的壳内折射震相通常仅出现在较远偏移距, 同时仅利用走时信息反演获得的速度模型只含有长波长的结构信息, 严重制约了速度模型分辨率与地震成像效果.本文在传统初至波走时层析成像方法的基础上, 加入地震波场的向下延拓、全波形反演和逆时偏移成像, 发展了一套能显著提高洋中脊浅部结构分辨率的地震数据处理、建模与成像流程, 并成功应用到东太平洋北部洋中脊五条垂直于洋脊轴的代表测线中.速度模型显示上地壳2A和2B层分别表现为高和低速度梯度特征, 上地壳速度结构呈现不连续的低速异常特征, 且与断裂或热液活动信号具有较好的空间对应关系.同时, 地震成像也显示了2A/2B层存在明显的非均质性, 表明上地壳结构受到岩浆-构造-热液作用的共同影响.本研究不仅为建立快速扩张洋中脊三维岩浆-构造-热液地质模型提供了支撑, 同时为这套流程在其他研究区的应用提供了方法基础.

     

Heat flux estimate of warm water flow in a low-temperature diffuse flow site, southern East Pacific Rise 17°25′ S

A low-temperature diffuse flow site associated with abundant vent fauna was found by submersible observations on the southern East Pacific Rise at 17°25′ S in 1997. This site was characterized by thin sediment covered pillow and sheet lavas with collapsed pits up to ∼15 m in diameter. There were three warm water vents (temperature: 6.5 to 10.5 °C) within the site above which the vented fluids rise as plumes. To estimate heat flux of the warm water vents, a temperature logger array was deployed and the vertical temperature distribution in the water column up to 38 m above the seafloor was monitored. A stationary deep seafloor observatory system was also deployed to monitor hydrothermal activity in this site. The temperature logger array measured temperature anomalies, while the plumes from the vents passed through the array. Because the temperature anomalies were measured in only specific current directions, we identified one of the vents as the source. Heat flux from the vent was estimated by applying a plume model in crossflow in a density-stratified environment. The average heat flux from September 13 to October 18, 1997 was 39 MW. This heat flux is as same order as those of high-temperature black smokers, indicating that a large volume flux was discharged from the vent (1.9 m³/s). Previous observations found many similar warm water flow vents along the spreading axis between 17°20′ S–30′ S. The total heat flux was estimated to be at least a few hundred mega-watts. This venting style would contribute to form effluent hydrothermal plumes extended above the spreading axis.     

时间域相邻道地震波衰减成像研究

在时间域中,利用地震记录中的振幅与上升时间信息可以计算出岩石介质的品质因子Q值.由于震源能量难以测量,本文通过共炮点道集相邻道循环对比的方法,消除了震源对计算过程的影响,推导出时间域相邻道振幅与上升时间衰减成像的计算公式,并在振幅衰减成像的计算过程中,去除了非粘滞性衰减成分.为了更全面地综合利用波形信息,并充分利用各种方法的长处,将波速成像、振幅衰减成像、上升时间衰减成像集成到一个处理流程中,通过在岩体结构研究中的实际应用,证明这种综合方法具有灵活、实用、可靠的特点.     

Formation of Fe-oxyhydroxides from the East Pacific Rise near latitude 13°N: Evidence from mineralogical and geochemical data

The mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of Fe-oxyhydroxide samples from one dredge station (long. 103°54.48′W, lat. 12°42.30′N, water depth 2655 m) on the East Pacific Rise near lat 13°N were analyzed by XRD, ICP-AES, and ICP-MS. Most Fe-oxyhydroxides are amorphous, with a few sphalerite microlites. In comparison with Fe-oxyhydroxides from other fields, the variable ranges in the chemical composition of Fe-oxyhydroxide samples are very narrow; their Fe, Si, and Mn contents were 39.90%, 8.92%, and 1.59%, respectively; they have high Cu (0.88%–1.85%) and Co (65×10⁻⁶−704×10⁻⁶) contents, and contain Co+Cu+Zn+Ni> 1.01%. The trace-element (As, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ba, Sr) and major-element (Fe, Ca, Al, Mg) contents of these samples are in the range of hydrothermal sulfide from the East Pacific Rise near 13°N, reflecting that this type of Fe-oxyhydroxide constitutes a secondary oxidation product of hydrothermal sulfide. The Fe-oxyhydroxide samples from one dredge station on the East Pacific Rise near 13°N are lower in ΣREE (5.44×10⁻⁶–17.01×10⁻⁶), with a distinct negative Ce anomaly (0.12–0.28). The Fe-oxyhydroxide samples have similar chondrite-normalized rare-earth-element (REE) patterns to that of seawater, and they are very different from the REE composition characteristics of hydrothermal plume particles and hydrothermal fluids, showing that the REEs of Fe-oxyhydroxide are a major constituent of seawater and that the Fe-oxyhydroxides can become a sink of REE from seawater. The quick settling of hydrothermal plume particles resulted in the lower REE content and higher Mn content of these Fe-oxyhydroxides, which are captured in part of the V and P from seawater by adsorption. The Fe-oxyhydroxides from one dredge station on the East Pacific Rise near 13°N were formed by secondary oxidation in a low temperature, oxygenated environment. In comparison with the elemental (Zn, Cd, Pb, Fe, Co, Cu) average content of hydrothermal sulfide samples from the East Pacific Rise near 13°N, the Zn, Cd, and Pb contents of the Fe-oxyhydroxides are lower, and their Fe, Co, and Cu contents are higher. Supported in part by the Pilot Project of Knowledge Innovation Project, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KZCX3-SW-223), and the Special Foundation for the Tenth Five Plan of COMRA (Grant No. DY105-01-03-1)     

Variations in the distribution of magma in the lower crust and at the Moho beneath the East Pacific Rise at 9°-10°N

Measurements of the seafloor deformation under ocean waves (compliance) reveal an asymmetric lower crustal partial melt zone (shear velocity less than 1.8 km/s) beneath the East Pacific Rise axis between 9° and 10°N. At 9°48′N, the zone is less than 8 km wide and is centered beneath the rise axis. The zone shifts west of the rise axis as the rise approaches the westward-stepping 9°N overlapping spreading center discontinuity and is anomalously wide at the northern tip of the discontinuity. The ratio of the compliance determined shear velocity to the compressional velocities (estimated by seismic tomography) suggests that the melt is well-connected in high-aspect ratio cracks rather than in isolated sills. The shear and compressional velocities indicate less than 18% melt in the lower crust on average. The compliance measurements also reveal a separate lower crustal partial melt zone 10 km east of the rise axis at 9°48′N and isolated melt bodies near the Moho beneath four of the 39 measurement sites (three on-axis and one off-axis). The offset of the central melt zone from the rise axis correlates strongly with the offset of the overlying axial melt lens and the inferred center of mantle melting, but its shape appears to be controlled by crustal processes.