(Table 1) Mineralogy of DSDP Leg 65 sediments

During Leg 65, four sites were drilled near the mouth of the Gulf of California where high sedimentation rates made it possible to sample young oceanic crust near the ridge crest. The oldest sediments cored were upper Pliocene siltstones (Site 483); the samples at the other sites (482, 484, and 485) were all Quaternary in age. A series of 80 sediment samples, most of them hemipelagic clays, were examined by semiquantitative X-ray diffraction and Carbonate Bomb techniques to determine their mineralogy and carbonate contents. The results of this study may be used to determine their provenance and diagenesis.

(Table 1) Magnetic properties and Curie temperatures of basalts from DSDP Leg 65 holes

During DSDP Leg 65, we achieved significant basement penetration at three sites (482, 483, and 485) in the mouth of the Gulf of California (Lewis and Robinson, 1983, doi:10.2973/dsdp.proc.65.1983). Since these holes were all drilled into extremely young crust near the crest of the East Pacific Rise, the rocks we recovered present an unusual opportunity to study the magnetic properties of submarine basalts before alteration has become pervasive. To take advantage of this opportunity and to complement the paleomagnetic studies conducted on these basalts by Day (1983, doi:10.2973/dsdp.proc.65.138.1983), we have studied, in the same samples, the following properties: saturation magnetization (Js); intensity and stability of isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM); hysteresis parameters, such as the coercive force (Hc), the remanent coercive force (HRC), and the ratio of saturation remanence (JRS) to saturation magnetization; susceptibility (x); and Curie temperature (Tc). In this chapter we will discuss the results of these studies in conjunction with the opaque mineralogy of the samples.

Mineral and chemical compositions of clay sediments from the Pacific Ocean, DSDP data

Mineral and chemical compositions, as well as conditions of formation of clay sediments in major structural elements of the Pacific Ocean floor with different ages are under consideration in the monograph. Depending on evolution of the region two ways of clay sediment formation are identified: terrigenous and authigenic. It is shown that terrigenous clay sediments predominate in marginal parts of the Pacific Ocean. Authigenic mineral formation occurring in the basal part of the sedimentary cover primarily results from removal of material from underlying basalts. This material is released during secondary alteration of the basalts due to their interaction with sea water, as well as with deep solutions.