Carbonates in fractures of Martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001: Petrologic evidence for impact origin

Abstract— Carbonates in Martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001 occur as grains on pyroxene grain boundaries, in crushed zones, and as disks, veins, and irregularly shaped grains in healed pyroxene fractures. Some carbonate disks have tapered Mg-rich edges and are accompanied by smaller, thinner and relatively homogeneous, magnesite microdisks. Except for the microdisks, all types of carbonate grains show the same unique chemical zoning pattern on MgCO₃-FeCO₃-CaCO₃ plots. This chemical characteristic and the close spatial association of diverse carbonate types show that all carbonates formed by a similar process. The heterogeneous distribution of carbonates in fractures, tapered shapes of some disks, and the localized occurrence of Mg-rich microdisks appear to be incompatible with growth from an externally derived CO₂-rich fluid that changed in composition over time. These features suggest instead that the fractures were closed as carbonates grew from an internally derived fluid and that the microdisks formed from a residual Mg-rich fluid that was squeezed along fractures. Carbonate in pyroxene fractures is most abundant near grains of plagioclase glass that are located on pyroxene grain boundaries and commonly contain major or minor amounts of carbonate. We infer that carbonates in fractures formed from grain boundary carbonates associated with plagioclase that were melted by impact and dispersed into the surrounding fractured pyroxene. Carbonates in fractures, which include those studied by McKay et al. (1996), could not have formed at low temperatures and preserved mineralogical evidence for Martian organisms.     

Volcanoes of the southwestern extension of the active Mariana island arc: New swath-mapping and geochemical studies

Until recently it was thought that the volcanoes of the Mariana island arc of the western Pacific terminated at Tracey Seamount at ∼ 14°N immediately west of Guam. Sea floor mapping in 1995 shows a series of large volcanic seamounts stretching westward for nearly 300 km beyond that point. The morphology, spacing, and composition of those sampled are consistent with their having formed as a consequence of eruption of suprasubduction zone arc magmas. The relationships of the volcanoes to the tectonic processes of subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the southern portion of the Mariana convergent plate margin are becoming increasingly clear as new bathymetry and geochemical data are amassed. The volcanoes along this trend that lie closest to Guam are forming where the center of active extension in the back-arc basin intersects the line of arc volcanoes. They develop well-defined rifts that are parallel to rift structures along the extension center, whereas volcanoes of the spreading axis to the north are smaller than the frontal arc volcanoes and tend to form along lineaments. Compositions of lavas from these intersection volcanoes bear some similarities to back-arc basin basalt, but are on the whole well within the range of compositions for Mariana island arc lavas. The Pacific plate subducts nearly orthogonal to the strike of the trench along the southern part of the Mariana system and the distance to the arc line from the trench axis is only ∼ 150 km. Several deep fault-controlled canyons on the inner slope of the southern Mariana trench indicate an enhanced tectonic extension of this plate margin. The presence of these active arc volcanoes and the existence of the orthogonal normal faulting along the southern Mariana forearc supports a model of radial extension for formation of the Mariana Trough, a model previously dismissed because of the lack of evidence of these two major geological features.     

Geological and microbial anomalies in the extinct submarine volcano, Shiribeshi Seamount, in the eastern margin of the Japan Sea

Abstract   The manned submersible Shinkai 2000 investigated yellow patches on the near-summit slope of Shiribeshi Seamount in the Japan Sea. Yellowish patches are often associated with seepage, and the possibility of seepage at Shiribeshi Seamount was tested by the following four lines of observation: (i) high subsurface temperature was measured at a ring-like patch, although no increase in subsurface temperature was observed at other patches; (ii) high gamma ray (γ-ray) intensity from the thorium series was recorded in the patch zone; (iii) the yellowish deposit was composed of calcite, quartz and amorphous iron compound, as seen at the yellowish patches in other seeps and volcanoes; (iv) lipid phosphate, a measure of microbial abundance, in sediments of the ring-like patch was determined, and the recorded microbial abundance was higher inside the patch than outside it. The four lines of observation are explained consistently by postulating that the seepage of warm fluid contained Fe and γ-ray sources. A hydrothermal origin of the yellow patches is not ruled out for the extinct but young (0.9 Ma) arc volcano.     

Layered Lithospheric Mantle Beneath the Ontong Java Plateau: Implications from Xenoliths in Alnoite, Malaita, Solomon Islands

A varied suite of mantle xenoliths from Malaita, Solomon Islands,was investigated to constrain the evolution of the mantle beneaththe Ontong Java Plateau. Comprehensive petrological and thermobarometricstudies make it possible to identify the dominant processesthat produced the compositional diversity and to reconstructthe lithospheric stratigraphy in the context of a paleogeotherm.P–T estimates show that both peridotites and pyroxenitescan be assigned to a shallower or deeper origin, separated bya garnet-poor zone of 10 km between 90 and 100 km. This zoneis dominated by refractory spinel harzburgites (Fo_91–92),indicating the occurrence of an intra-lithospheric depletedzone. Shallower mantle (     

Pressure-Temperature Path Recorded in the Yangkou Garnet Peridotite, in Su-Lu Ultrahigh-pressure Metamorphic Belt, Eastern China

Chemical variations along with changes in microstructure ofthe principal constituent minerals make it possible to identifyat least four equilibrium stages in the evolution of the Yangkougarnet peridotite in the Su-Lu ultrahigh-pressure metamorphicbelt, eastern China: Stage I—a primary garnet lherzolitestage represented by coarse-grained (a few millimeters size)porphyroclastic aluminous pyroxenes + chromian spinel ±garnet; Stage II—an ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) stage definedby fine-grained matrix phases (0·1–0·3 mmsize) of garnet + extremely low-Al orthopyroxene + high-Na clinopyroxene+ chromite; Stage III—a medium-pressure stage definedby fine-grained mineral aggregates (<0·1–0·2mm size) mainly composed of aluminous spinel + high-Al orthopyroxenein the matrix; Stage IV—an amphibolite- to greenschist-faciesstage defined by poikiloblastic amphibole. Orthopyroxene–clinopyroxenethermometry and an empirical spinel barometer give temperaturesof around 800–830°C and pressures of 1·2–2·9GPa for porphyroclasts of Stage I. Garnet–orthopyroxene,garnet–clinopyroxene and empirical spinel geothermobarometersgive relatively uniform P–T conditions for the matrixgarnet–orthopyroxene–clinopyroxene–chromiteassemblage of Stage II (     

Prograde and Retrograde Eclogites in the Sambagawa Metamorphic Belt, Besshi District, Japan

In the Besshi district of the Sambagawa metamorphic belt, thereare two types of eclogites: one occurring in the Sebadani metagabbromass and retrograded from high-temperature anhydrous ecologite,and the other in the basic schists and produced by prograde,dehydration of epidote amphibolite. The Sebadani metagabbro mass was originally layered gabbro,which was once equilibrated in the ecologite facies before emplacementinto the Sambagawa terrain as a hot eclogite mass. Basic schistssurrounding the Sebadani mass, which had suffered the Sambagawametamorphism of albite epidote amphibolite facies, were contact-metamorphosedat high pressure by the emplacement of the Sebadani mass. Asa result, the basic schists were dehydrated to form eclogiticbasic schists, i.e. garnet and omphacite porphyroblast-bearingbasic schists. Thus, two types of ecologite, retrograde andprograde, converged into the same metamorphic condition, 610–650?C, 7–17 kb, in a part of the ecologite facies duringthe Sambagawa metamorphism. Correspondingly, the values of distributioncoefficients of Fe and Mg between garnet and omphacite increasefrom core pairs to rim pairs in the retrograde eclogites anddecrease from core pairs to rim pairs in the prograde ecologites.After this stage, both the prograde and retrograde eclogitesshared a common metamorphic history; they were retrograded viathe epidote amphibolite facies to the greenschist facies. The Sebadani metagabbro mass, as a large tectonic block, hadbeen emplaced into a m?lange zone in the Sambagawa metamorphicbelt after the peak of the Sambagawa metamorphism, probablyfollowing initiation of uplift of the metamorphic rocks fromtheir deep-seated environment.