(Table 1) Heavy-mineral analyses for DSDP Leg 67 Holes from electron microprobe

Heavy and light minerals were examined in 29 samples from Sites 494, 498, 499, 500, and 495 on the Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 67 Middle America Trench transect; these sites represent lower slope, trench, and oceanic crust environments off Guatemala. All samples are Quaternary except those from Hole 494A (Pliocene) and Hole 498A (Miocene). Heavy-mineral assemblages of the Quaternary sediments are characterized by an immature pyroxene-amphibole suite with small quantities of olivine and epidote. The Miocene sediments yielded an assemblage dominated by epidote and pyroxene but lacking olivine; the absence of olivine is attributed to selective removal of the most unstable components by intrastratal solution. Light-mineral assemblages of all samples are predominantly characterized by volcanic glass and plagioclase feldspar. The feldspar compositions are compatible with andesitic source rocks and frequently exhibit oscillatory zoning. The heavy- and light-mineral associations of these sediments suggest a proximal volcanic source, most probably the Neogene highland volcanic province of Guatemala. Sand-sized components from Site 495 are mainly biogenic skeletons and volcanic glass and, in one instance (Section 495-5-3), euhedral crystals of gypsum.

(Table 1) Paleomagnetic of ODP Site 136-842

Paleomagnetic studies on sediments recovered during Leg 136 have yielded a polarity reversal sequence that can be compared with the global magnetic reversal time scale to establish a sedimentation rate for Hole 842B. This sedimentation rate is substantially higher than that normally observed in the central Pacific basin probably as a result of the contribution of volcanic ash to the normal pelagic sources of sediment. The basalt samples from the oceanic crust at Site 843 have been used to determine a paleolatitude of 10.2°S for the 110±2 m.y.-old crust from this site. Detailed studies of the polarity transitions yielded few intermediate directions, but these few records provide support for the "Americas" transitional path observed at other continental and marine sites in Europe and North America.

(Table 1) Isotopes, calcite, aragonite and sample descriptions at DSDP Hole 55-433C

Calcite in the cavities and veins of igneous rocks has long been recognized as an alteration by-product (Dana, 1892). Elementary mineralogy textbooks report that the most common occurrence of aragonite is in the cavities of basalts and andesites (e.g., Kerr, 1977). Therefore, it is not surprising to find both carbonate minerals in association with the moderately to extensively altered basalt flows recovered during deep sea drilling on Suiko Seamount in the Emperor Seamount chain (DSDP Leg 55, Hole 433C). The thickness and vesicularity of the flows, along with the presence of oxidized flow tops, indicate that the basalt erupted subaerially (Site 433 Report, 1980). The stable isotopic contents of the carbonate phases filling and lining the veins and vesicles denote the environment of alteration. An isotopic study was undertaken to secure supportive evidence for a subaerial period in the development of the seamount. Also, the subsequent alteration history after submergence may be interpreted from this isotopic record.