Composition of bottom sediments, rocks, and ores from the Tropical Atlantic

Geological features of some areas of the Tropical Atlantic (stratigraphy, tectonic structure, lithology, distribution of ore components in bottom sediments, petrography of bedrocks, etc.) are under consideration in the book. Regularities of concentration of trace elements in iron-manganese nodules, features of these nodules in bottom sediments, distribution of phosphorite nodules and other phosphorites have been studied. Much attention is paid to rocks of the ocean crust. A wide range of mineralization represented by magnetite, chromite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, pentlandite, and other minerals has been found.

Mineralogy, lithology and stable isotope composition of diagenetic siliceous rocks from ODP Leg 129 sites

Ocean Drilling Program Leg 129 recovered chert, porcellanite, and radiolarite from Middle Jurassic to lower Miocene strata from the western Pacific that formed by different processes and within distinct host rocks. These cherts and porcellanites formed by (1) replacement of chalk or limestone, (2) silicification and in-situ silica phase-transformation of bedded clay-bearing biosiliceous deposits, (3) high-temperature silicification adjacent to volcanic flows or sills, and (4) silica phase-transformation of mixed biosiliceous-volcaniclastic sediments. Petrologic and O-isotopic studies highlight the key importance of permeability and time in controlling the formation of dense cherts and porcellanites. The formation of dense, vitreous cherts apparently requires the local addition and concentration of silica. The influence of permeability is shown by two examples, in which: (1) fragments of originally identical radiolarite that were differentially isolated from pore-water circulation by cement-filled fractures were silicified to different degrees, and (2) by the development of secondary porosity during the opal-CT to quartz inversion within conditions of negligible permeability. The importance of time is shown by the presence of quartz chert below, but not above, a Paleogene hiatus at Site 802, indicating that between 30 and 52 m.y. was required for the formation of quartz chert within calcareous-siliceous sediments. The oxygen-isotopic composition for all Leg 129 carbonate- and Fe/Mn-oxide-free whole-rock samples of chert and porcellanite range widely from d18O = 27.8 per mil to 39.8 per mil vs. V-SMOW. Opal-CT samples are consistently richer in 18O (34.1 per mil to 39.3 per mil) than quartz subsamples (27.8 per mil to 35.7 per mil). Using the O-isotopic fractionation expression for quartz-water of Knauth and Epstein (1976) and assuming d18Opore water = -1.0 per mil, model temperatures of formation are 7°-26°C for carbonate-replacement quartz cherts, 22°-25°C for bedded quartz cherts, and 32°-34°C for thermal quartz cherts. Large variations in O-isotopic composition exist at the same burial depth between co-existing silica phases in the same sample and within the same phase in adjacent lithologies. For example, quartz has a wide range of isotopic compositions within a single breccia sample; d18O = 33.4 per mil and 28.0 per mil for early and late stages of fracture-filling cementation, and 31.6 per mil and 30.2 per mil for microcrystalline quartz precipitation within enclosed chert and radiolarite fragments. Similarly, opal-CT d101 spacing varies across lithologic or diagenetic boundaries within single samples. Co-occurring opal-CT and chalcedonic quartz in shallowly buried chert and porcellanite from Sites 800 and 801 have an 8.7 per mil difference in d18O, suggesting that pore waters in the Pigafetta Basin underwent a Tertiary shift to strongly 18O-depleted values due to alteration of underlying Aptian to Albian-Cenomanian volcaniclastic deposits after opal-CT precipitation, but prior to precipitation of microfossil-filling chalcedony.

Magnetic parameters of rocks from the Red Sea rift zone

Results of detailed geomagnetic and geomorphological studies carried out by R/V Akvanavt together with data obtained by a side-scanning sonar and high-frequency profiles from a towed Zvuk-4 vehicle plus results of visual observations of deep-sea manned Pisces submersible have shown that the spreading axis is divided into segments, whose strike (330°) differs from the overall strike (310°) of the axial magnetic anomaly. In the study area segments are about 1 km long and transform displacements are 0.5 km. Calculations on a model have shown that spreading is asymmetric: during the Brunhes epoch accretion rate of the African Plate was 6 mm/yr and that of the Arabian Plate 7 mm/yr. Earlier it had been 9 and 11 mm/yr, respectively.

Ages of rocks and minerals from the Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belt

Current geochronological data on the Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belt (OCVB) and relevant problems are discussed. The belt evolution is suggested to be modeled based on 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb dates more useful in several aspects than common K-Ar or Rb-Sr dates and methods of paleobotanical correlation. Based on new40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb dates obtained for volcanic rocks in the OCVB northern part, the younger (Coniacian) age is established for lower stratigraphic units in the Central Chukotka segment of the belt, and eastward migration of volcanic activity is shown for terminal stages of this structure evolution.