Lithology and geochemistry of ODP Leg 198 sites, Shatsky Rise

Samples of chert, porcellanite, and chalk/limestone from Cretaceous chert-bearing sections recovered during Leg 198 were studied to elucidate the nature and origin of chert color zonations with depth/age. Sedimentary structures, trace fossils, compactional features, sediment composition, texture, geochemistry, and diagenetic history were compared among lithologies. Trends in major and minor element composition were determined. Whereas geochemical analyses demonstrate systematic elemental differences among the different lithologies, there are less distinct patterns in composition for the colored cherts. The color of the chert appears to be related primarily to the amount of silica and secondarily to the proportion of other components. Red cherts are almost pure silica with only minor impurities. This may allow pigmentation from fine Fe oxides to dominate the color. These red cherts are from places where geophysical logs indicate that chert is the dominant rock type of the section. These red chert intervals cannot be unequivocally distinguished from surrounding chert-bearing lithologies in terms of sedimentary structures.

Hydrate, ice and quartz content of eight holes of Leg 204

The state of preservation of natural gas hydrate samples, recovered from 6 sites drilled during ODP Leg 204 at southern summit of Hydrate Ridge, Oregon Margin, has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and cryo-scanning-electron-microscopy (cryo-SEM) techniques. A detailed characterization of the state of decomposition of gas hydrates is necessary since no pressurized autoclave tools were used for sampling and partial dissociation must have occurred during recovery prior to the quench and storage in liquid nitrogen. Samples from 16 distinct horizons have been investigated by synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements at HASYLAB/ Hamburg. A full profile fitting analysis ("Rietveld method") of synchrotron XRD data provides quantitative phase determinations of the major sample constituents such as gas hydrate structure I (sI), hexagonal ice (Ih) and quartz. The ice content (Ih) in each sample is related to frozen water composed of both original existing pore water and the water from decomposed hydrates. Hydrate contents as measured by diffraction vary between 0 and 68 wt.% in the samples we measured. Samples with low hydrate content usually show micro-structural features in cryo-SEM ascribed to extensive decomposition. Comparing the appearance of hydrates at different scales, the grade of preservation seems to be primarily correlated with the contiguous volume of the original existing hydrate; the dissociation front appears to be indicated by micrometer-sized pores in a dense ice matrix.

Geochemical composition of surface snow, ice and debris from glaciers in Norway, Nepal and New Zealand

Alpine glacier samples were collected in four contrasting regions to measure supraglacial dust and debris geochemical composition. A total of 70 surface glacier ice, snow and debris samples were collected in 2009 and 2010 in Svalbard, Norway, Nepal and New Zealand. Trace elemental abundances in snow and ice samples were measured via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Supraglacial debris mineral, bulk oxide and trace element composition were determined via X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). A total of 45 elements and 10 oxide compound abundances are reported. The uniform data collection procedure, analytical measurement methods and geochemical comparison techniques are used to evaluate supraglacial dust and debris composition variability in the contrasting glacier study regions. Elemental abundances revealed sea salt aerosol and metal enrichment in Svalbard, low levels of crustal dust and marine influences to southern Norway, high crustal dust and anthropogenic enrichment in the Khumbu Himalayas, and sulfur and metals attributed to quiescent degassing and volcanic activity in northern New Zealand. Rare earth element and Al/Ti elemental ratios demonstrated distinct provenance of particulates in each study region. Ca/S elemental ratio data showed seasonal denudation in Svalbard and Norway. Ablation season atmospheric particulate transport trajectories were mapped in each of the study regions and suggest provenance pathways. The in situ data presented provides first order glacier surface geochemical variability as measured from four diverse alpine glacier regions. This geochemical surface glacier data is relevant to glaciologic ablation rate understanding as well as satellite atmospheric and land-surface mapping techniques currently in development.

Late Cretaceous volcaniclastic rocks at DSDP Holes 74-525A and 74-528

Volcaniclastic rocks of Late Cretaceous age occur in four out of five sites (525, 527, 528, 529) drilled on the crest and the northwest flank of the Walvis Ridge during Leg 74. They are mostly interlayered with and overlie basement in the lowermost 10-100 m of the sedimentary section. Rocks from Holes 525A and 528 were studied megascopically and microscopically, by XRD, and XRF chemical analyses of whole-rock major and trace elements were undertaken. The dominant rock of Hole 528 volcaniclastics is a fine-grained (silt to fine sand), mostly matrix-bearing (partly matrix-rich) vitric "tuff," occurring as 5-110 cm thick, partly graded layers, some of which are distinctly bedded. Volcaniclastics of Hole 525A are generally richer in sanidine crystals. Most rocks contain some nonvolcanic clasts, chiefly foraminifers and lesser amounts of shallow-water fossil debris. Scoria shards, clasts of tachylite, and fine-grained basalts as well as chemical analyses suggest a basaltic to intermediate composition for most rocks of Hole 528, whereas volcaniclastics of Hole 525A are more silicic. The occurrence of tachylite and epiclastic, coarse-grained, basaltic clasts throughout the volcaniclastic sequence at Site 528 indicates shallow-water eruptions and perhaps even ocean island volcanism. The minor occurrence in Hole 528 of trachytic? pumice shards with phenocrysts of K-feldspar and the abundance of such shards in rocks from Hole 525A indicate Plinian eruptions characteristic of more mature stages of ocean island evolution. The sedimentary structures of volcaniclastic layers and their occurrence within deep sea calcareous oozes indicate a mass flow origin. Diagenetic alteration of the volcaniclastic rocks is pronounced, and four major stages of glass shard alteration are distinguished. Despite the effects of alteration and small-scale redistribution of elements and the admixture of nonvolcanic components, there were no drastic changes in the chemical composition of the rocks, except for pronounced increases in K and Rb and decreases in Ca and Fe. The basaltic volcaniclastic rocks very much resemble basement basalts in that they are moderately evolved tholeiites derived from an LIL-enriched mantle source with Zr/Nb ratios (Hole 528) of 5 to 6. This, in conjunction with the interbedding of volcaniclastic rocks and basement lavas, indicates contemporaneous seamount or island and basement volcanic activity involving magmas derived from similar sources.

Peak areas and heights for minerals of ODP Leg 113-696B (Table 1)

Seismic data acquired over the eastern shelf and margin of the South Orkney microcontinent, Antarctica, have shown a high-amplitude reflection lying at a sub-bottom two-way traveltime (TWT) of 0.5-0.8 s. There appear to be two causes for the reflection which apply in different parts of the shelf. The more widespread cause of the reflection is a break-up unconformity associated with the opening of Jane Basin to the east. This is clearly seen where reflections in the underlying sequence are discordant. In contrast, in Eotvos Basin and the southeastern part of Bouguer Basin, the high-amplitude reflection in places cuts across bedding and is interpreted to be caused by silica diagenesis. A post-cruise analysis of core samples from Site 696 in Eotvos Basin by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the presence of a silica diagenetic front at 520-530 mbsf. The position of the unconformity at this site is uncertain, but probably coincides with a change of detrital input near 548 mbsf. Fluctuations of physical properties related to the depth of the diagenetic front are difficult to separate from those related to the variation of detrital composition over the same depth interval. Correlation of the drilling record with the seismic record is difficult but with a synthetic seismogram it is demonstrated that diagenesis is the probable cause of the high-amplitude reflection. In Bouguer Basin at Site 695 the depth of the high-amplitude reflection was not reached by drilling; however, the reflection is probably also caused by silica diagenesis because of the biogenic silica-rich composition of the sediments cored. The estimated temperatures and ages of the sediments at the depths of the high-amplitude reflections at Sites 695 and 696 compare favorably with similar data from other diagenetic fronts of the world. The high-amplitude reflection in Bouguer Basin is commonly of inverse polarity, possibly caused either by interference between reflections from several closely-spaced reflecting layers, such as chert horizons, or by free gas trapped near the diagenetic front.

Sedimentary history and chemical characteristics of clay minerals from the Bengal Fan

The purpose of this study is to clarify the sedimentary history and chemical characteristics of clay minerals found in sediments deposited in the distal part of the Bengal Fan since the Himalayas were uplifted 17 m.y. ago. A total of seventy-eight samples were collected from three drilled cores which were to be used for the clay mineral analyses by means of XRD and ATEM. The results obtained from the analyses show that individual clay mineral species in the sediment samples at each site have similar features when the samples are of the same age, whereas these species have different features in samples of differing geological ages. Detrital clay minerals such as illite and chlorite were deposited in greater amounts than kaolinite and smectite during the Early to Middle Miocene. This means that the Himalayan uplift was vigorous at least until the Middle Miocene. In the Pliocene chemical weathering was more prevalent so that instead, in the distal part of the Bengal Fan, kaolinite shows the highest concentrations. This would accord with weaker uplift in the Himalayas. In the Pleistocene period, vigorous Himalayan uplift is characterized by illite-rich sediment in place of kaolinite. In the Holocene, smectite shows the highest concentration in place of the illite and kaolinite which were the predominant clay minerals of the earlier periods. Increasing smectite concentration suggests the Himalayan uplift to have been stable after the Pleistocene period. The smectite analyzed here is found to be dioctahedral Fe-beidellite, and it originated largely from the augite-basalt on the Indian Deccan Traps. The tri-octahedral chlorite is subdivided into three sub-species, an Fe-type, a Mg-type and an intermediate type. The mica clay mineral can be identified as di-octahedral illite which is rich in potassium. The chemical composition and morphology of each clay mineral appears to exhibit no change with burial depth in the sedimentary columns. This implies that there was no systematic transformation of clay minerals with time.

(Table 1) Trace element and age analysis from the Porites coral from IODP Exp 310

Climate responses and changes in marine environments during the last deglaciation have been controversial and few paleoceanographic data are available from the tropical South Pacific, though this region is crucial in the investigations of ocean-atmosphere interactions. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 310 was conducted to establish the time course of the postglacial sea-level rise at Tahiti in the South Pacific. A principal objective of this expedition was to examine the variation of marine environments during the last deglaciation. As fossil Porites coral is ideal for assessing past marine environments, we selected only Porites specimens from the many coral specimens retrieved, examined them by XRD, and dated them by the 14C method. In all, we obtained 17 pristine Porites specimens composed of only aragonite with ages from 15 to 9 ka. Then, we measured Mg/Ca, Ba/Ca, and U/Ca ratios and Cd contents as proxies for upwelling and sea surface temperature. Higher Ba/Ca ratios and Cd content together with lower reconstructed SSTs using U/Ca ratios in the coral specimens between 12.6 and 9.8 cal ka compared to around 15 cal ka suggest that upwelling and/or entrainment of subsurface water into mixed layer was enhanced around Tahiti during this period. This finding is consistent with previous reports and supports the idea that the South Pacific was characterized by La Niña-like conditions at least from 12.6 to 9.8 cal ka.

Whole rock and elements concentrations from IODP Hole 343-C0019E

The microstructures, mineralogy and chemistry of four representative samples collected from cores extracted from the Japan Trench during Integrated Ocean Drilling Project Expedition 343, the Japan Trench Fast Drilling Project (JFAST) have been studied using optical microscopy, TEM, SEM, XRF, XRD and microprobe analyses. The samples provide a transect from relatively undeformed marine sediments in the hanging wall, to the undeformed footwall material, crossing the thrust interface between the Pacific and North American plate, where the fault slipped during the March 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. Our preliminary results suggest that the low strength of JFAST fault gouge material is caused by the high amount of clay minerals (~ 60% smectite, ~ 14 illite). Clay minerals in the décollement (gouge) sample are partly replaced by newly formed manganese oxide, which precipitated from hydrothermal fluids. Dauphine twins were found in quartz grains of the décollement sample suggesting local high stress possible during seismic loading. Other microstructures cannot be assigned unambiguously to co-seismic or a-seismic faulting processes. The observed scaly clay fabric is consistent with observations in many other plate-boundary fault zones. Significant grain size reduction was found in the fault (decollement) zone sample. But a change in lithology of the fault material cannot be ruled out. Microstructures typical for a-seismic deformation like dissolution-precipitation features (e.g. dissolved grain boundaries, mineral alteration) occur in all JFAST core samples, but more frequently in the décollement sample.

Chemical composition of clay minerals from ODP Leg 168 sites

The exchangeable cation compositions of organic-poor terrigenous sediments containing smectite as primary ion exchanger from a series of holes along ODP Leg 168 transect on the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge have been examined as a function of distance from the ridge axis and burial depth. The total cation exchange capacity (CEC) values of the sediments ranged from 2 to 59 meq/100 g, increasing with increases in the wt.% smectite. At the seafloor, the exchangeable cation compositions involving Na, K, Mg, and Ca, expressed in terms of equivalent fraction, are nearly constant regardless of the different transect sites: XNa = 0.21 ± 0.04, XK = 0.08 ± 0.01, XMg = 0.33 ± 0.09, and XCa = 0.38 ± 0.09. The calculated selectivity coefficients of the corresponding quaternary exchange reactions, calculated using porewater data, are in log units -5.45 ± 0.39 for Na, 1.97 ± 0.49 for K, 0.42 ± 0.41 for Mg, and 3.06 ± 0.69 for Ca. The exchangeable cation compositions below the seafloor change systematically with distance from the ridge crest and burial depth, conforming to the trends of the same cations in the porewaters. The selectivities for Na and Mg are roughly constant at temperatures from 2 to 66°C, indicating that the equivalent fractions of these two cations are independent of sediment alteration taking place on the ridge flank. Unlike Na and Mg, the temperature influence is significant for K and Ca, with Ca-selectivity decreases being coupled with increases in K-selectivity. Although potentially related to diagenetic and/or hydrothermal mineral precipitation or recrystallization, no evidence of such alteration was detected by XRD and TEM. In sites where upwelling of hydrothermal fluids from basement is occurring, the K-selectivity of the sediment is appreciably higher than at the other sites and corresponds to the formation of (Fe, Mg) rich smectite and zeolites. Our study indicates that local increases in K-selectivity at hydrothermal sites are caused by the formation of these authigenic minerals.

Component NRM directions for sediment core HLY0503-06JPC

The Arctic oceans have been fertile ground for the recording of apparent excursions of the geomagnetic field, implying that the high latitude field had unusual characteristics at least over the last 1-2 Myrs. Alternating field demagnetization of the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of Core HLY0503-6JPC from the Mendeleev Ridge (Arctic Ocean) implies the presence of primary magnetizations with negative inclination apparently recording excursions in sediments deposited during the Brunhes Chron. Thermal demagnetization, on the other hand, indicates the presence of multiple (often anti-parallel) magnetization components with negative inclination components having blocking temperatures predominantly, but not entirely, below ~ 350 °C. Thermo-magnetic tests, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicate that the negative inclination components are carried by titanomaghemite, presumably formed by seafloor oxidation of titanomagnetite. The titanomaghemite apparently carries a chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) that is partially self-reversed relative to the detrital remanent magnetization (DRM) carried by the host titanomagnetite. The partial self-reversal could have been accomplished by ionic ordering during oxidation, thereby changing the balance of the magnetic moments in the ferrimagnetic sublattices.

Miocene to Pleistocene gluconite-rich layers of the US Mid-Atlantic margin

Glauconite is generally agreed to be a reliable indicator of low sedimentation rate, but little systematic work has been done to specify the role of glauconite in a sequence-stratigraphic framework. Ocean Drilling Program Leg 174A recovered a good record of late Tertiary sediments along the shelf edge of the New Jersey US Atlantic margin, and glauconite was present in many intervals of the cores, sometimes in vertical proximity to sequence boundaries. Leg 174A glauconite was analyzed with binocular microscope, XRD and SEM to determine the percent of potassium and degree of maturity in order to relate occurrence to depositional environment. Seismic data were used to locate sequence boundaries, and percent glauconite was visually estimated. Glauconite samples from Site 1073 were found to have formed within a lowstand systems tract (LST), and as part of a distal condensed section (CS) within a transgressive systems tract (TST). These results are comparable to those from nearby Site 903 of Leg 150, which indicate a similar depositional setting for glauconite. Glauconites at shelf Sites 1071 and 1072 likely formed in the TST as well. Onshore, glauconite occurs mainly in transgressive systems tracts. The Miocene appears to be the upper limit of glauconite formation onshore. As the magnitude of sea-level change decreased, present onshore locations became too nearshore to maintain sediment-free environments, and the zone of glauconite deposition moved seaward. The same process did not occur offshore until the Plio-Pleistocene. Low subsidence-rate margins such as the US Atlantic are subject more to the variations of sea-level than to changes in sediment supply, tectonics, or other factors influencing their depositional patterns. Although glauconite occurrence is widespread in the stratigraphic record, this study demonstrates that for low subsidence-rate margins, primary deposition of glauconite is largely restricted to the TST.

Profiles of diatoms, pollen, XRD, XRF and organic composition of two sediment cores (PG2022 and PG2023) from Lake Kyutyunda in Yakutia, NE Siberia, Russia

Although the climate development over the Holocene in the Northern Hemisphere is well known, palaeolimnological climate reconstructions reveal spatiotemporal variability in northern Eurasia. Here we present a multi-proxy study from north-eastern Siberia combining sediment geochemistry, and diatom and pollen data from lake-sediment cores covering the last 38,000 cal. years. Our results show major changes in pyrite content and fragilarioid diatom species distributions, indicating prolonged seasonal lake-ice cover between ~13,500 and ~8,900 cal. years BP and possibly during the 8,200 cal. years BP cold event. A pollen-based climate reconstruction generated a mean July temperature of 17.8°C during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) between ~8,900 and ~4,500 cal. years BP. Naviculoid diatoms appear in the late Holocene indicating a shortening of the seasonal ice cover that continues today. Our results reveal a strong correlation between the applied terrestrial and aquatic indicators and natural seasonal climate dynamics in the Holocene. Planktonic diatoms show a strong response to changes in the lake ecosystem due to recent climate warming in the Anthropocene. We assess other palaeolimnological studies to infer the spatiotemporal pattern of the HTM and affirm that the timing of its onset, a difference of up to 3,000 years from north to south, can be well explained by climatic teleconnections. The westerlies brought cold air to this part of Siberia until the Laurentide ice-sheet vanished 7,000 years ago. The apparent delayed ending of the HTM in the central Siberian record can be ascribed to the exceedance of ecological thresholds trailing behind increases in winter temperatures and decreases in contrast in insolation between seasons during the mid to late Holocene as well as lacking differentiation between summer and winter trends in paleolimnological reconstructions.