Analysis of rocks from Shackleton Range

Studies were made of the glacial geology and provenance of erratic in the Shackleton Range during the German geological expedition GEISHA in 1987/88, especially in the southern and northwestern parts of the range. Evidence that the entire Shackleton Range was once overrun by ice from a southerly to southeasterly direction was provided by subglacial erosional forms (e.g. striations, crescentic gouges, roches moutonnées) and erratics which probably orriginated in the region of the Whichaway Nunataks and the Pensacola Mountains in the southern part of the range. This probably happened during the last major expansion of the Anarctic polar ice sheet, which, on the basis of evidence from other parts of the continent, occurred towards the end of the Miocene. Till and an area of scattered erratics were mapped in the northwestern part of the range. These were deposited during a period of expansion of the Slessor Glacier in the Weichselian (Wisconsian) glacial stage earlier. This expansion was caused by blockage of the glacier by an expanded Filchner ice shelf which resulted from the sinking of the sea level during the Pleistocene, as demonstrated by geological studies in the Weddell Sea and along the coast of the Ross Sea. Studies of the erratics at the edges of glaciers provided information about rock concealed by the glacier.

Composition and structural formulas of ODP Site 200-1224 Eocene ferrobasalt minerals

The ~46-m.y.-old igneous basement cored during Leg 200 in the North Pacific represents one of the few cross sections of Pacific oceanic crust with a total penetration into basalt of >100 m. The rocks, emplaced during the Eocene at a fast-spreading rate (~14 cm/yr; full rate) are strongly differentiated tholeiitic basalts (ferrobasalts) with 7-4.5 wt% MgO, relatively high TiO2 (2-3.5 wt%), and total iron as Fe2O3 (9.1-16.8 wt%). The differentiated character of these lavas is related to unusually large amounts of crystallization differentiation of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and olivine. The lithostratigraphy of the basement (cored to ~170 meters below seafloor) is divided into three units. The deepest unit (lithologic Unit 3), is a succession of lava flows of no more that a few meters thickness each. The intermediate unit (lithologic Unit 2) is represented by intermixed thin flows and pillows, whereas the shallowest unit (lithologic Unit 1), comprises two massive flows. The rocks range from aphyric to sparsely clinopyroxene-plagioclase-phyric (phenocryst content = <3 vol%) and from holocrystalline to hypohyaline. Chilled margins of pillow fragments show holohyaline to sparsely vitrophyric textures. Site 1224 oxide minerals present a type of alteration not previously seen, where titanomagnetite is only partially destroyed and the pure magnetite component is partially removed from the mineral, leaving, in the most extreme case, a nearly pure ulvöspinel residuum. As a result of this dissolution, iron, mainly in the oxidized state, is added to the circulating solvent fluids. This means that a considerable metal source can result from low-temperature reactions throughout the upper ocean crust. The coarsest-grained lithologic Unit 1 rocks have interstitial myrmekitic intergrowths of quartz and sodic plagioclase (~An12), roughly similar in mineralogy and bulk composition to tonalite/trondhjemite veinlets in abyssal gabbros from the southwest Indian Ocean and Hess Deep, eastern equatorial Pacific. Based on idiomorphic relationships and projections into the simplified Q-Ab-Or-H2O granite ternary system, the myrmekitic intergrowths formed at the same time as, or just after, the oxide minerals coprecipitated and at low water vapor pressure (~0.5 kbar). Their compositions correspond to SiO2-oligoclase intergrowths that are considerably less potassic than dacitic glasses that erupt, although rarely, along the East Pacific Rise or that have been produced experimentally by partial melting of gabbro. Based on the crystallization history and comparison to experimental data, the original interstitial siliceous liquids resulted from late-stage immiscible separation of siliceous and iron-rich liquids. The rare andesitic lavas found along the East Pacific Rise may be hybrid rocks formed by mixing of these immiscible siliceous melts with basaltic magma.

Chemical composition of a manganese nodule from the Pacific Ocean

By means of spectrographic analysis 96 samples of marine sediments were analyzed quantitatively for V, Ti, Zr, Co, Ni, Sc, Cr, and La, and semi-quantitatively for Ba and Sr. Ca has been estimated by visual comparison of spectrographic plates, and several Fe values have also been determined in the same way. Geographically 40 of these samples are from the Pacific Ocean basin, one of which is a manganese nodule, 21 from the Gulf of Mexico, 11 from Atchafalaya Bay, 8 from American Devonian to Miocene sedimentary rocks, 4 from the Mississippi Delta, 3 from the San Diego trough, 3 from off Grand Isle, 3 from Lake Pontchartrain, from Bay Rambour, 1 from Laguna Madre off the Texas coast, and 1 from the Guadalupe River, Texas. The afore-mentioned elements were sought using PdCl2 as an internal standard, after the method developed by Ahrens (1950) and his co-workers. Samples were run in duplicate, and standard deviations varied from 5 to 14 percent. Working curves, from which final values were obtained, were constructed with the use of standard granite, G1, and the standard diabase, W1, as standards. See Fairbairn and others (1951). An experiment was carried out to determine the effect of matrix change, involving CaCO3, on the spectral line intensities of the quantitatively analyzed elements. The distribution of each of the elements is discussed separately, and particular emphasis is given to oceanic "red clay", in which many elements are enriched. A general discussion is given to mineralogy of the sediments, cation exchange in its bearing on this thesis, and a brief recount of the two hypotheses of origin of oceanic "red clay". An application of the findings of this thesis to aid in the choice of the more likely hypothesis is made.

(Table 1) Types of White Sea surface layer bottom sediments and concentration of heavy minerals in 0.1-0.05 mm grain size fraction

Mineral composition of recent bottom sediments was studied in the White Sea. A single terrigenous-mineralogical province is defined; it is characterized by a mineral association of amphibole, epidote, garnet, and pyroxene. Five regions are assigned in the White Sea in accordance with mineral composition of surface bottom sediments. We argue that granite-metamorphic rock complexes of the Baltic Shield are the main source of recent bottom sediments in the White Sea, while the East European Craton (Russian Platform) plays the secondary role.