Mid-ocean ridge popping rocks: implications for degassing at ridge crests

The vesicle size distribution (VSD) and rare gas abundances in popping rocks from 14°N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge provide constraints on the behavior of volatiles during ridge crest volcanism. These popping rocks, which contain 16–18 volume percent vesicles, are rare mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) magmas which appear to have retained much of their volatile inventory. The logarithm of vesicle population density displays the same linear correlation with decreasing size in two of the samples studied. This implies that continuous and simultaneous nucleation and bubble growth have occurred during magma ascent, with no significant perturbations due to accumulation, coalescence or loss of bubbles. In contrast, most MORB magmas display low vesicularities and we suggest that they have suffered some degree of pre-eruptive vesicle loss. We tentatively propose that large vesicles are produced by coalescence when MORB melt is at rest in chambers and conduits, and may be lost during early gas-rich episodes. Most MORB would represent residual liquids which erupt after vesicle loss has occurred, whereas popping rocks would represent a rare case where physical sorting of vesicles from melt did not occur, because storage in a magma chamber did not occur.The rare gas concentrations in the studied popping rocks are the highest yet measured in glassy ridge basalts ([He] > 50 μccSTP/g). The rare gas abundance pattern of these popping rocks probably resembles the pattern for non-vesiculated MORB magma and potentially reflects that of the depleted mantle source. This pattern is similar to the “mean MORB” pattern (computed from MORB glasses with⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar > 10,000) although a higher enrichment in He (and possibly Ne) compared to the heavier rare gases is observed in MORB. The overall similarity in abundance patterns for MORB and popping rocks indicates that vesiculation and vesicle loss do not fractionate the ArKrXe relative abundances from those in non-vesiculated magma, and that the modern flux ratios of these gases at ridges are similar to their elemental ratios in the depleted mantle. The degassing flux of He at ridge crests estimated from the MORB He deficit relative to popping rocks is comparable to the flux derived from the³He budget for the abyssal ocean. This suggests that degassing at ridges may be strongly influenced by the dynamics and style of submarine volcanism.     

Rare gas systematics: formation of the atmosphere, evolution and structure of the Earth's mantle

To explain the rare gas content and isotopic composition measured in modern terrestrial materials we explore in this paper an Earth model based on four reservoirs: atmosphere, continental crust, upper mantle and lower mantle.This exploration employs three tools: mass balance equations, the concept of mean age of outgassing and the systematic use of all of the rare gases involving both absolute amount and isotopic composition.The results obtained are as follows: half of the Earth's mantle is 99% outgassed. Outgassing occurred in an early very intense stage within the first 50 Ma of Earth history and a slow continuous stage which continues to the present day. The mean age of the atmosphere is 4.4 Ga.Our model with four main reservoirs explains quantitatively both isotopic and chemical ratios, assuming that He migrates from the lower to the upper mantle whereas the heavy rare gases did not.Noble gas fluxes for He, Ar and Xe from different reservoirs have been estimated. The results constrain the K content in the earth to 278 ppm. Several geodynamic consequences are discussed.     

Vesiculation and vesicle loss in mid-ocean ridge basalt glasses: He, Ne, Ar elemental fractionation and pressure influence

Sarda and Graham (1990) proposed that in mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs), degassing occurs through equilibrium vesiculation followed by various extents of vesicle loss. This model predicts that in a bulk sample of MORB glass with vesicles, the rare gases represent a binary mixture between a vesicle component and a component dissolved in the melt. As vesiculation is expected to produce very different rare gas concentrations and elemental ratios in gas and melt, binary mixing systematics should be recorded in the MORB rare gas abundance data. Indeed, a large range of ⁴He/⁴⁰Ar∗ ratios was known to exist, but these binary mixing systematics remained elusive because helium was used as a proxy for rare gas abundance because helium is not affected by air addition. Here we show that using Ar instead of He, the ⁴He/⁴⁰Ar∗ ratio is higher where the Ar concentration is lower, as expected from simple binary mixing systematics.Taking advantage of the growing Ne database, we further show that the predicted binary mixing is recorded by the He-Ar and He-Ne couples, provided He concentration is not used to trace vesicle abundance. This is because a significant part of helium remains in the melt due to its higher solubility. In contrast, Ar or Ne concentrations, which can both be corrected for air addition, clearly trace vesicles and yield binary mixing patterns that hold for ridges worldwide. The model of vesiculation and vesicle loss thereby finds geochemical support in the rare gas abundance data.The He-Ne-Ar concentration data is best explained by assuming the ratio of helium to neon or argon solubility is about 5 to 15 times higher than values measured in 1 bar laboratory experiments, due to higher He and lower Ne and Ar solubilities. We propose that this is a pressure effect, and vesiculation mainly occurs during magma ascent in the mantle after melting.     

The effect of compression on noble gas solubility in silicate melts and consequences for degassing at mid-ocean ridges

The effect of compression on noble gas solubility in silicate melts is still badly understood due to a lack of theoretical guidance. In the experimental literature, noble gases dissolving in liquid silicates are found to concentrate almost linearly with increasing pressure up to several tens of kbar, suggesting that Henry’s law could be valid up to very high pressures, although this law stipulates that the gaseous phase in contact with the liquid must be ideal. Recently, new experiments dealing with the dissolution of argon in synthetic and natural silicate melts have pointed out that the evolution of concentration with pressure exhibits a departure from linearity in the 50-100 kbar range, leading either to a levelling off or to a sudden collapse of the argon concentration above 50 kbar. Here, we investigate by means of liquid state physics how volatile species dissolve into silicate melts under pressure. We use a hard sphere model (the reference fluid in liquid state physics) to describe silicate melts and gas at high pressures. One of our main results is that, when pressure increases, the concurrent compaction of gas and melt explains the almost-linear behaviour of the noble gas concentration up to several tens of kbars, before melt compaction dominates and concentration either levels off or decreases gradually in the 50-100 kbar range. In spite of the existence of a quasi-linear regime over a large pressure range, our work disqualifies the use of the Henry law when dealing with high pressures. The implication of these findings to provide an understanding of degassing at mid-ocean ridges is next investigated. Applying our model to the scenario where CO₂ vesicle generation occurs in the magma at mantle depths during its ascent from melting regions, we evaluate magma vesicularity as well as noble gas concentrations in the basalt melt and in vesicles as a function of pressure at depth. It is stressed that the variable and usually strong noble gas elemental fractionation observed in mid-ocean ridge basalts can be explained by assuming a sequence of several vesiculation stages interrupted by vesicle loss during magma ascent.     

Challenges at the early stages of the environmental licensing procedure and potential contributions from geomorphology

Defining impact significance is the main technical task that influences decision-making during the Environmental Licensing Procedure(ELP).The ELP begins with screening to determine potentially signif-icant impacts of the proposed project.Scoping then follows to address any interventions deemed worthy of attention in the production of an Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA).This will include consider-ation of relevant landforms and geomorphological processes.However,preliminary assessments of envi-ronmental impacts often lack the scientific robustness to procure substantive and transactive effectiveness.This review presents an examination of the established practices of screening and scoping while highlighting the foremost challenges to improve the technical grounds of the ELP.The analysis of screening and scoping practices stresses the need for novel methods that ensure the sequential reasoning between their criteria while improving the preliminary evaluation of impact significance.Reducing the inherent subjectivity of discretionary judgment requires scientific methodologies that acknowledge the interaction between the natural system and human interventions,which has been addressed by geomor-phological research.The knowledge consolidated in this review opens the gate to explore the compatibil-ity between the United Nations strategy of Ecosystem Approach(EA)with the ELP through a novel geomorphological interpretation of the EIA.Therefore,this diagnosis demonstrate that screening and scoping practices would benefit from reliable methods that balance the precautionary principle with the efficient character required in the ELP.     

Polychaete Communities Related to Plant Covering in the Médiolittoral and Infralittoral Zones of the Balearic Islands (Western Méditerranean)

Abstract. The polychaete fauna of the subtidal in the médiolittoral and the infralittoral hard bottom zones of the Balearic Islands at depths from 0 to 40m contained 220 species. Five different polychaete communities could be identified by changes in abundance, species richness, species composition, diversity, and trophic structure. In the very clear waters of these islands the infralittoral zone extends to a depth of 40 m and allows us to investigate whether former proposed models of polychaete distribution can be extended to this particular situation.     

Exoplanet status report: Observation, characterization and evolution of exoplanets and their host stars

After the discovery of more than 400 planets beyond our Solar System, the characterization of exoplanets as well as their host stars can be considered as one of the fastest growing fields in space science during the past decade. The characterization of exoplanets can only be carried out in a well coordinated interdisciplinary way which connects planetary science, solar/stellar physics and astrophysics. We present a status report on the characterization of exoplanets and their host stars by reviewing the relevant space- and ground-based projects. One finds that the previous strategy changed from space mission concepts which were designed to search, find and characterize Earth-like rocky exoplanets to: A statistical study of planetary objects in order to get information about their abundance, an identification of potential target and finally its analysis. Spectral analysis of exoplanets is mandatory, particularly to identify bio-signatures on Earth-like planets. Direct characterization of exoplanets should be done by spectroscopy, both in the visible and in the infrared spectral range. The way leading to the direct detection and characterization of exoplanets is then paved by several questions, either concerning the pre-required science or the associated observational strategy.