On the nature of the calcareous substrate of a ferromanganese crust from the Vityaz Fracture Zone, Central Indian Ridge: inferences on paleoceanography

A 15-cm-thick carbonate substrate encrusted with ferromanganese oxides from the Vityaz Fracture Zone, Central Indian Ridge was analyzed to reconstruct the paleoceanography of the region. Based on the calcareous nannoplankton assemblage, an early Pliocene age has been assigned to the calcareous substrate. Among the nannoplankton, discoasters outnumber coccoliths and show signs of dissolution. The presence of certain species of benthic Foraminifera such as Uvigerina, Lenticulina, Bulimina and Bolivina, indicates the infringement of the oxygen minimum zone during the deposition of the carbonates. The occurrence of a Reticulofenestra pseudoumbilica zone of early Pliocene age suggests a change in depositional conditions coinciding with the time of formation of the large depositional hiatuses documented in sediment cores from adjacent basins of the western Indian Ocean. These hiatuses resulted from the prevalence of intermediate subsurface currents such as the Somali Current or the Western Boundary Current.     

TRANSFORMATION OF DIPOLAR,WENNER AND TWO-ELECTRODE CURVES TO SCHLUMBERGER APPARENT RESISTIVITY SOUNDING CURVES*

A simple mathematical technique based on regressional analysis allows the transformation of dipolar, Wenner and two-electrode apparent resistivity sounding curves to Schlumberger ones. The algorithm is suitable for a programmable pocket calculator and the accuracy is very high. This has been demonstrated by comparing Schlumberger master curves with transformations of master curves for the other configurations for the same model.     

Significance of molluscan shell beds in sequence stratigraphy: an example from the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group of Canada1

Detailed study of marine shales (the Ostracod zone) within a Cretaceous, third-order transgressive-regressive sequence in the Alberta Foreland Basin reveals a systematic association between shell beds and parasequence-scale flooding surfaces, including surfaces of maximum flooding. The Ostracod zone (a subsurface lithostratigraphic unit known as the Calcareous Member in outcrop) consists of 10-20 m of black shale and bioturbated sandstones with many thin, fossiliferous limestones. Parasequences (shallowing-up cycles 2–3 m thick) were delineated within this transgressive unit based on lithology, sedimentary structures, degree of bioturbation, dinoflagellate diversity, total organic carbon and carbon/sulphur ratios; many flooding surfaces are firmgrounds or hardgrounds. Shell-rich limestones occur in three different positions relative to these flooding surfaces, and each has a distinctive bioclastic fabric and origin. (i) Base-of-parasequence shell beds (BOPs) lie on or just above flooding surfaces in the deepest water part of a parasequence; they are thin (up to a few centimetres), graded or amalgamated skeletal packstones/wackestones composed of well-sorted granular shell, and are interpreted as hydraulic event concentrations of exotic shell debris. (ii) Top-of-parasequence shell beds (TOPs) are capped by flooding surfaces at the top, shallowest water part of a parasequence; they typically are several decimetres thick, are physically amalgamated packstones/grainstones or bioturbated wackestones, and contain abundant whole as well as comminuted shells; these are composite, multiple-event concentrations of local shells. (iii) Mid-sequence shell beds rest on as well as are capped by firmgrounds or hardgrounds, and are intercalated between parasequences in the deepest water part of the larger sequence; they are laterally extensive lime mudstones a few decimetres thick, with sparse shells in various states of dissolution, recrystallization and replacement; these beds are terrigenous-starved hiatal concentrations and record maximum flooding within the Ostracod zone. Offshore sections of the Ostracod zone typically contain several starved mid-sequence shell beds, underscoring the difficulty of identifying a single‘maximum flooding surface’ within a third-order sequence.     

Distribution pattern and morphochemical relationships of manganese nodules from the Central Indian Basin

In the Central Indian Basin manganese nodule abundance was variable in all sediment types. Mean abundance varied from 1.5 in calcareous ooze to 10.2 kg/m² in terrigenous-siliceous ooze sediments. Nodule grade and growth rates are positively correlated only up to 10 mm/My (million years), and grade shows no distinct relationship with abundance. Relationships between the morphochemical characteristics of the nodules and host sediment types are subtle. Both hydrogenetic and diagenetic nodules (with smooth and rough surfaces respectively) occur on almost all sediments, but in variable proportions. Thus, the overall distribution pattern shows that small nodules (<4-cm diameters) of lower grade (average value Ni+Cu+Co=1.21%) with smooth surfaces are more common on red clay, terrigenous, and terrigenous-siliceous ooze transition-zone sediments. By contrast, large nodules (>4-cm diameters) of higher grade (average value Ni+Cu+Co=1.80%) with rough surfaces are more prevalent on siliceous ooze, siliceous ooze-red clay, and calcareous ooze-red clay transition-zone sediments. This implies an enhanced supply of trace metals from pore waters to rough-surface nodules during early diagenesis.     

HIDDEN LAYER PROBLEM IN SEISMIC REFRACTION WORK*

The hidden layer problem in seismic refraction work has been studied for three velocity configurations – the intermediate layer having (a) lower, (b) intermediate and (c) higher velocity than the underlying and overlying beds. It has been shown that conventional methods fail to locate the presence of the intermediate layer for the cases (a) and (c) and lead to errors in calculating the depth to the bedrock. For the case (b), it is possible to interpret the first arrival travel time analytically as an alternative to Green's graphical approach. It has been suggested that the hidden layer may be detected in all the three cases if converted S waves are also recorded in the seismogram.     

A Petrogenetic Model of Basalts from the Northern Central Indian Ridge:3-11°S

1 Introduction The Northern Central Indian Ridge (NCIR) between 3° and 11°S latitudes is joined to the north with the slow spreading Carlsberg Ridge (CR; ~24–26 mm/a, full spreading rate) and to the south with the intermediate spreading Southern Central Indian Ridge (SCIR; ~50 mm/ a) (Fig. 1). Earlier petrological investigations of the Central Indian Ridge were concentrated either on or along the CR to the north and at the southern end of the CIR up to the Rodriguez Triple Junc…     

Glass and Mineral Chemistry of Northern Central Indian Ridge Basalts:Compositional Diversity and Petrogenetic Significance

Abstract: The glass and mineral chemistry of basalts examined from the northern central Indian ridge (NCIR) provides an insight into magma genesis around the vicinity of two transform faults: Vityaz (VT) and Vema (VM). The studied mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) from the outer ridge flank (VT area) and a near-ridge seamount (VM area) reveal that they are moderately phyric plagioclase basalts composed of plagioclase (phenocryst [An60–90] and groundmass [An35–79]), olivine (Fo81–88), diopside (Wo45–51, En25–37, Fs14–24), and titanomagnetite (FeOt ~63.75 wt% and TiO2 ~22.69 wt%). The whole-rock composition of these basalts has similar Mg# [mole Mg/mole(Mg+Fe2+)] (VT basalt: ~0.56–0.58; VM basalt: ~0.57), but differ in their total alkali content (VT basalt: ~2.65; VM basalt: ~3.24). The bulk composition of the magma was gradually depleted in MgO and enriched in FeOt, TiO2, P2O5, and Na2O with progressive fractionation, the basalts were gradually enriched in Y and Zr and depleted in Ni and Cr. In addition, the SREE of magma also increased with fractionation, without any change in the (La/Yb)N value. Glass from the VM seamount shows more fractionated characters (Mg#: 0.56–0.57) compared to the outer ridge flank lava of the VT area (Mg#: 0.63–0.65). This study concludes that present basalts experienced low-pressure crystallization at a relatively shallow depth. The geochemical changes in the NCIR magmas resulted from fractional crystallization at a shallow depth. As a consequence, spinel was the first mineral to crystallize at a pressure >10 kbar, followed by Fe-rich olivine at <10 kbar pressure.