Geochemistry of sands and sandstones in ODP Leg 126 sites

During Ocean Drilling Program Leg 126, six sites were cored in a young backarc rift basin and its flanks (rift onset 1.1-3.56 Ma) and in the forearc basin of the Izu-Bonin Arc. In the backarc area, strata are younger than about 4.5 Ma, whereas in the forearc, ages are about 0-31 Ma in sections punctuated by important Miocene unconformities. Bulk chemical analyses of volcaniclastic turbidite sands and sandstones, derived directly from the arc, were obtained from 271 atomic absorption analyses (major elements), 253 XRF analyses (trace elements) and 16 ICP-MS analyses (trace and rare-earth elements). Of the 271 samples, 78 come from the backarc area and the remainder from the forearc. The sands and sandstones reflect the igneous compositions of their sources. Most are formed of materials derived from subalkaline, low-K andesites, and dacites, although compositions range from basalt to rhyolite. Basic and acid andesites are predominant in Oligocene rocks; in contrast, Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments were derived from acid andesitic to rhyolitic sources. The oldest sandstones, estimated to have an age of about 31 Ma, were derived from an arc tholeiitic, not boninitic, source. The 26-31 Ma sandstones furthest to the north, at Sites 787 and 792, have higher relative concentrations of Ti, Zr, and Y than do those at southern Site 793. Data from younger samples indicate that, for more than 30 m.y., the average composition of volcaniclastic sediments and volcanism near Aoga Shima was more basic than to the south, near Sumisu Jima. Using the sandstones as igneous proxies, we conclude that magmas erupted along the arc have become more depleted in light-rare-earth elements (LREE) with time. There was a major change in rare-earth-element (REE) concentrations in the late Oligocene, from essentially flat patterns (normalized La/Yb about 1-1.5) to LREE-depleted patterns (normalized La/Yb about 0.5). At the same time, Zr/Y ratios decreased from about 2-4 to about 1.5-2.5. These changes may reflect a shift in provenance, or changes in the composition of the mantle wedge beneath the arc. In the backarc area, lithic clasts and glass shards of rift-facies basalt are present in sediments as old as 2.35-3.15 Ma. Two samples of mafic sand from the backarc basin have flat REE patterns (normalized La/Yb about 1.0), like some of the <1-Ma rift lavas and unlike pre-rift sand and sandstone samples. These possibly represent the local effects of sedimentary mixing of detritus from arc and backarc eruptions because no evidence from the arc itself exists to suggest a recent change in the REE content of magmas.

High resolution color reflectance and hematite and goethite record of ODP Hole 184-1143A in the South China Sea

Precipitation has a larger variability than temperature in tropical monsoon regions, thus it is an important climate variable. However, reconstructions of long-term rainfall histories are scarce because of the lack of reliable proxies. Here we document that iron oxide minerals, specifically the ratio of hematite to goethite (Hm/Gt), is a reasonable precipitation proxy. Using diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry, we measured samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) 1143 drilling site (9°21.72'N, 113°17.11'E, 2777 m water depth) for hematite and goethite, whose formation processes are favored by opposing climate conditions. In order to determine the content of hematite and goethite we produced a set of calibration samples by removing the iron oxides to generate the natural matrix to which hematite and goethite in known percentages were added. From these calibration samples we developed a transfer function for determining hematite and goethite concentration from a sample's spectral reflectance. Applying this method to ODP 1143 sediments (top 34 m of a 510 m core with sampling interval of 10 cm) we were able to reconstruct a continuous precipitation history for SE Asia of the past 600 kyr using the Hm/Gt ratio as a proxy of the precipitation variability of Asian monsoon. The reliability of this Hm/Gt proxy is corroborated by its consistency with the stalagmite delta18O data from South China. Comparing long-term Hm/Gt records with the surface temperature gradient of equatorial Pacific Ocean, we found that monsoon precipitation and El Niño are correlated for the last 600 kyr. The development of El Niño-like conditions decreased SE Asia precipitation, whereas precipitation increases in response to La Niña intensification

(Table 1) Zoobenthos from the gas-hydrate seep area near the Paramushir Island and its chemical composition

Distributions of Mn, Fe, Cu, Cd, Cr, Co and Ni in sea water are investigated (42 samples, dissolved and particulate forms) in the vicinity of the underwater gas vent field on the northwestern slope of the Paramushir Island. While regular background distributions of the elements occur in the shore zone, there is a column of elevated concentrations of particulate matter, particulate Mn, and dissolved Mn, Fe, Cu, Cd, Cr, Co and Ni that coincides with location of the gas plume. This column can be traced as high as 780 m above the bottom. High metal concentrations in water of the plume are attributable to physico-chemical concentration at the phase interface; the source of elevated mineral concentrations is obviously flux of dissolved minerals from interstitial waters, which extends to considerable distances in vertical direction.