Strontium isotope and rare earth element geochemistry of basalts from DSDP Leg 37

87Sr/S6Sr ratios have been determined on eleven whole rock basalt samples from DSDP Leg 37. The 87Sr/S6Sr ratios range from 0.70305 +/- 4 to 0.70451 +/- 4 due to alteration and contamination with seawater Sr. Leaching with 5% HF has only a small effect on the 87Sr/86Sr of the samples. However, treatment with 6M HCl in acid digestion bombs at 130°C removes the contaminant more effectively. Altered plagioclase and olivine are dissolved during this process. The mean 87Sr/86Sr of four HCl-treated samples from hole 332A is 0.70299 and that for five samples from hole 332B is 0.70297. The 87Sr/86Sr ratios of treated samples from holes 333A and 335 are 0.70304 +/- 4 and 0.70316 +/- 4, respectively. These 87Sr/86Sr ratios are within the range observed for other basalts elsewhere along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the North Atlantic. REE distribution patterns have been determined for four samples, three from hole 332B and one from hole 335. CeN/YbN ratios range from 0.58 to 1.30 and do not correlate with 87Sr/86Sr ratios. The source regions of these basalts appear to have been variable in REE abundances.

Major element compositions, minerals and trace elements at DSDP Leg 67 Holes

Mineralogical (microprobe) and geochemical (X-ray fluorescence, neutron activation analyses) data are given for 18 samples of volcanic rocks from the Guatemala Trench area (Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 67). Typical fresh oceanic tholeiites occur in the trench itself (Hole 500) and in its immediate vicinity on the Cocos Plate (Site 495). Several samples (often reworked) of "spilitic" oceanic tholeiites are also described from the Trench: their mineralogy (greenschist facies association - actinolite + plagioclase + chlorite) and geochemistry (alteration, sometimes linked to manganese and zinc mineralization) are shown to result from high-temperature (300°-475°C) hydrothermal sea water-basalt interactions. The samples studied are depleted in light rare-earth elements (LREE), with the exception of the slightly LREE-enriched basalts from Hole 500. The occurrence of such different oceanic tholeiites in the same area is problematic. Volcanic rocks from the Guatemala continental slope (Hole 494A) are described as greenschist facies metabasites (actinolite + epidote + chlorite + plagioclase + calcite + quartz), mineralogically different from the spilites exposed on the Costa Rica coastal range (Nicoya Peninsula). Their primary magmatic affinity is uncertain: clinopyroxene and plagioclase compositions, together with titanium and other hygromagmaphile element contents, support an "active margin" affinity. The LREE-depleted patterns encountered in the present case, however, are not frequently found in orogenic samples but are typical of many oceanic tholeiites.