Nitrogen isotopic composition and chemical composition of altered oceanic crust from ODP Legs 129 and 185

Knowledge of the subduction input flux of nitrogen (N) in altered oceanic crust (AOC) is critical in any attempt to mass-balance N across arc-trench systems on a global or individual-margin basis. We have employed sealed-tube, carrier-gas-based methods to examine the N concentrations and isotopic compositions of AOC. Analyses of 53 AOC samples recovered on DSDP/ODP legs from the North and South Pacific, the North Atlantic, and the Antarctic oceans (with larger numbers of samples from Site 801 outboard of the Mariana trench and Site 1149 outboard of the Izu trench), and 14 composites for the AOC sections at Site 801, give N concentrations of 1.3 to 18.2 ppm and d15N_air of -11.6? to +8.3?, indicating significant N enrichment probably during the early stages of hydrothermal alteration of the oceanic basalts. The N-d15N modeling for samples from Sites 801 and 1149 (n=39) shows that the secondary N may come from (1) the sedimentary N in the intercalated sediments and possibly overlying sediments via fluid-sediment/rock interaction, and (2) degassed mantle N2 in seawater via alteration-related abiotic reduction processes. For all Site 801 samples, weak correlation of N and K2O contents indicates that the siting of N in potassic alteration phases strongly depends on N availability and is possibly influenced by highly heterogeneous temperature and redox conditions during hydrothermal alteration. The upper 470-m AOC recovered by ODP Legs 129 and 185 delivers approximately 800 kg/km N annually into the Mariana margin. If the remaining less-altered oceanic crust (assuming 6.5 km, mostly dikes and gabbros) has MORB-like N of 1.5 ppm, the entire oceanic crust transfers 5100 kg/km N annually into that trench. This N input flux is twice as large as the annual N input of 2500 kg/km in seafloor sediments subducting into the same margin, demonstrating that the N input in oceanic crust, and its isotopic consequences, must be considered in any assessment of convergent margin N flux.

(Appendix) Range chart of calcareous nannofossils in ODP Hole 129-802A

Only Site 802 has recorded appreciable Cenozoic carbonate sediments during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 129 in the central Mariana Basin of the western Pacific Ocean. Calcareous nannofossils provide the best biostratigraphic information for the 360-m Tertiary section, which consists primarily of volcaniclastic turbidites interbedded with calcareous claystone and chalk. Many samples contain significant amounts of nannofossils reworked from older sediments. An unconformity appears to be present between Cores 129-802A-32R and -33R, with upper Oligocene-lower Miocene sediments above and lower Eocene-upper Paleocene sediments below the unconformity. The sediments below the unconformity contain abundant reworked Cretaceous nannofossils. Only one sample from Site 801 yielded nannofossils, and those consist of a mixture of Campanian-Maastrichtian and Paleogene forms.

(Table 1) Distribution of Cretaceous-Tertiary benthic foraminifers in ODP Hole 129-802A

Reworked shallow-water larger and deep-water calcareous benthic foraminifers were recovered from foraminiferal packstones and nannofossil chalks in Hole 802A. The autochthonous zeolitic pelagic claystone is characterized by late Campanian abyssal agglutinated foraminifers that allow correlation with the North Atlantic and the adjacent Pigafetta Basin. Assemblages of DendrophryalRhizammina in graded beds within the zeolitic claystone indicate reworking through entrainment in the flocculent E layer of turbidites, rather than recolonization following a biosiliceous event. Background sedimentation of the claystone took place below the carbonate compensation depth. The nannofossil chalk contains reworked lower bathyal to abyssal calcareous foraminifers of late Paleocene to early Miocene age. The topmost bed of the nannofossil chalk unit commences with an algal foraminiferal packstone containing Lepidocyclina sumatrensis, Heterostegina borneensis, Amphistegina hauerina, Asterigerina marshallana, and A. tentoria, which indicate that the source area was a shallow-water reef and allow the bed to be dated as early Miocene. The absence of obviously younger planktonic microfossils in the graded bed indicates that the resedimentation event was generally contemporaneous with original deposition and took place during an early Miocene global sea-level highstand. An early Miocene shallow-water assemblage is also seen in the graded beds at the base of a volcaniclastic turbidite sequence overlying the nannofossil chalks. Resedimentation of this unit was associated with volcanic activity some distance away.

(Table 1) Physical properties of ODP Site 129-801

Compressional wave velocities and densities were measured for 6 basalt samples from ODP Hole 801B and 16 samples from ODP Hole 801C, a site that represents the first drilling of Jurassic-age crustal rocks in the Pacific basin. Incremental measurements, taken to a total pressure of 200 MPa, show a systematic decrease in velocity with increasing porosity and a related increase with increasing wet-bulk density. A comparison of the plot of porosity vs. compressional wave velocity with the theoretical equation from Wyllie et al. (1958) suggests this equation is inappropriate for oceanic basalts because of mineral alteration in high porosity samples. Also of interest is the dramatic change in velocity across a hydrothermal boundary. Basalts below this hydrothermal layer have a mean velocity of 6.05 km/s at 60 MPa while those above show a mean velocity of 4.55 km/s at 60 MPa. The low velocity values of the basalts above the hydrothermal deposit may be attributed to the higher porosity and composition observed in these rocks; the higher porosity is possibly the result of increased exposure to circulating seawater.

Biochemical investigation of multicorer sediment profile PS74/129-3

To detect and track the impact of large-scale environmental changes in a the transition zone between the northern North Atlantic and the central Arctic Ocean, and to determine experimentally the factors controlling deep-sea biodiversity, the Alfred- Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) established the deep-sea long-term observatory HAUSGARTEN, which constitutes the first, and until now only open-ocean long-term station in a polar region. Virtually undisturbed sediment samples have been taken using a video-guided multiple corer (MUC) at 13 HAUSGARTEN stations along a bathymetric (1,000 - 4,000 m water depth) and a latitudinal transect in 2,500 m water depth as well as two stations at 230 and 1,200 m water depth within the framework of the KONGHAU project. Various biogenic sediment compounds were analyzed to estimate the input of organic matter from phytodetritus sedimentation, benthic activities (e.g. bacterial exoenzymatic activity), and the total biomass of the smallest sediment-inhabiting organisms (size range: bacteria to meiofauna).