Geochemistry of basalts from ODP Leg 49, North Atlantic Ocean

The geochemistry of basalts recovered from seven sites in the North Atlantic is described with particular reference to minor elements. Three sites (407, 408, and 409) along the same mantle flow line, transverse to the Reykjanes Ridge at about 63°N, provide information on the composition of basalts erupted over a 34-m.y. interval between 2.3 and 36 m.y. ago. At Site 410, at 45°N, penetration into 10 m.y.-old crust west of the ridge axis permits comparisons with young basalts dredged from the median valley at 45°N. Three sites in the FAMOUS area at about 36°N provided material from very young (1 m.y.) basaltic crust (Site 411), and material to test the geochemical coherence of basalts of different ages (1.5 and 3.5 m.y.) on either side of a fracture zone (Sites 412 and 413). These sites complement earlier data from dredged and drilled sites (Leg 37) in the FAMOUS area. At Site 407, four geochemically distinct basalt units occur, with different normative and rare-earth element (REE) characteristics, and there is a clear correlation with magnetic stratigraphy. Yet there is a remarkable consistency in incompatible element ratios between these units, indicating derivation from an essentially similar mantle source. The basalts from the younger sites, 408 and 409, show a similar range of normative and REE variation, but incompatible element ratios are identical to those at Site 407, indicating that basalts at all three sites were produced from a mantle source which was geochemically relatively uniform. Rare-earth differences between the basalts can be interpreted in terms of variations in the degree and depth of partial melting causing HREE (+Y) retention in the source, although there may be some inter-site differences with respect to REE. A similar picture is presented at 45°N. Apparently a range of tholeiitic, transitional, and alkalic basalts were being erupted 10 m.y. ago, which have almost identical geochemical characteristics to those recently erupted in the median valley at 45°N. Incompatible element ratios are markedly different from those recorded at the Reykjanes Ridge. Basalts recovered from the FAMOUS sites are geochemically similar to previous samples recovered from the FAMOUS area, and their incompatible element ratios are similar, but not identical, to those at 45°N. However, total trace element levels are consistently lower than in 45°N basalts, which might imply smaller degrees of partial melting and/or greater depths of magma generation at 45°N, or higher trace element levels in the mantle source at 45°N. Few of the basalts recovered on Leg 49 have the geochemical characteristics of typical "MORB" (e.g., Nazca Plate, Leg 34). The data strongly support models invoking geochemical inhomogeneity in the source regions of basalts produced at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. However, the data also introduce an additional time factor into such models and demonstrate the uniformity of the mantle source at a particular ridge sector (over periods in excess of 30 m.y.), while emphasizing the marked differences along the ridge. Mixing models invoking "depleted" and "enriched" mantle sources would seem to be inadequate to account for the observed variations.

Major and rare earth element concentrations of basalts beneath ODP Hole 118-735B (Table 3)

A wide-angle seismic experiment at the Atlantis II Fracture Zone, Southwest Indian Ridge, together with geochemical analyses of dredged basalt glass samples from a site conjugate to Ocean Drilling Program hole 735B has allowed determination of the thickness and the most likely lithological composition of the crust beneath hole 735B. The measured Na, composition of 3.3 +/- 0.1 corresponds to a melt thickness of 3 +/- 1 km, a result consistent with rare earth element inversions which indicate a melt thickness of between 1.5 and 4.5 km. The seismic crustal thickness to the north and south of the Atlantis Platform (on which hole 735B is located) is 4 +/- 1 km, and probably consists largely of magmatic material since the seismic and inferred melt thicknesses agree within experimental uncertainty. Beneath hole 735B itself. the Moho is at a depth of 5 +/- 1 km beneath the seafloor. The seismic model suggests that, on average. about 1 km of upper crust has been unroofed on the Atlantis Platform. However, allowing for the inferred local unroofing of 2 km of upper crust at 735B, the base of the magmatic crust beneath this location is probably about 2 km beneath the seafloor, and is underlain by a 2-3 km thick layer of serpentinised mantle peridotite. The P-wave velocity of 6.9 km/s for the serpentinised peridotite layer corresponds to a 35 +/- 10 vol% serpentine content. The Moho beneath hole 735B probably represents a serpentinisation front.

In situ measurements of hydrogen sulfide, oxygen, and temperature in diffuse fluids of the ultramafic-hosted Logatchev hydrothermal vent field (Mid-Atlantic Ridge)

The Logatchev hydrothermal vent field (14°45'N, Mid-Atlantic Ridge) is located in a ridge segment characterized by mantle-derived ultramafic outcrops. Compared to basalt-hosted vents, Logatchev high temperature fluids are relatively low in sulfide indicating that the diffuse, low temperature fluids of this vent field may not contain sufficient sulfide concentrations to support a chemosymbiotic invertebrate community. However, the high abundances of bathymodiolin mussels with bacterial symbionts related to free-living sulfur oxidizing bacteria suggested that bioavailable sulfide is present at Logatchev. To clarify if diffuse fluids above mussel beds of Bathymodiolus puteoserpentis provide the reductants and oxidants needed by their symbionts for aerobic sulfide oxidation, in situ microsensor measurements of dissolved hydrogen sulfide and oxygen were combined with simultaneous temperature measurements. High temporal fluctuations of all three parameters were measured above the mussel beds. H2S and O2 co-existed with mean concentrations between 9-31 µM (H2S) and 216-228 µM (O2). Temperature maxima (<= 7.4°C) were generally concurrent with H2S maxima (<= 156 µM) and O2 minima (>= 142 µM). Long-term measurements for 250 days using temperature as a proxy for oxygen and sulfide concentrations indicated that the mussels were neither oxygen- nor sulfide-limited. Our in situ measurements at Logatchev indicate that sulfide may also be bioavailable in diffuse fluids from other ultramafic-hosted vents along slow- and ultraslow-spreading ridges.

Geochemistry of ODP Hole 111-504B basalts (Table 2)

Fifty samples of basalt recovered during ODP Leg 111 from the dikes (Layer 2C) of Hole 504B (1350.0-1562.3 m below seafloor) were analyzed by X-ray-fluorescence techniques. All of the samples are highly depleted in magmaphile elements relative to other mid-ocean ridge basalts, with TiO2 = 0.75-1.24 wt%, Na2O = 1.59-2.22 wt%, Zr = 38-64 ppm, Nb = 0.3-1.5 ppm, and Y = 20-30 ppm (for samples containing 0%-2% phenocrysts), but have ratios of highly incompatible elements similar to normal Type I mid-ocean ridge basalts (e.g., Zr/Nb > 30). Abundances of compatible elements are similar to those of typical mid-ocean ridge basalts, with MgO = 7.2-9.2 wt%, Fe2O3* = 9.3-12.5 wt%, Ni = 55-164 ppm, and Cr = 26-388 ppm. Approximately 2% of the samples recovered from the top part of Hole 504B are similar to normal Type I or Type II ocean floor basalts. However, all of the analyzed Leg 111 samples from Hole 504B are depleted basalts. Aphyric dike rocks from Leg 111 are virtually identical to the depleted aphyric samples recovered from the pillow lavas and dikes in the upper 1075 m of Hole 504B during DSDP Legs 69, 70, and 83, with the exception of elements readily altered by seawater (Sr, Rb, and K). These elements reach a maximum in both abundance and variability in the pillow lavas of the upper 571.5 m of Hole 504B and decline to more constant values in the dike system sampled on Legs 83 and 111, apparently as a result of a decrease in porosity and increase in alteration temperatures relative to the pillow lavas. Based on compositional similarities to the vast majority of the pillows and flows, the dikes sampled on Leg 111 appear to be the feeder system for the pillow lavas in the upper part of Hole 504B. The incompatible-element-depleted compositions of the Costa Rica Rift Zone basalts are consistent with multistage melting of a normal mid-ocean ridge source.

Geochemistry of basalts at DSDP Site 89-462

At Site 462 in the Nauru Basin, western Pacific Ocean, 56 lithologic units have been recovered from an extensive flood basalt province. Fossil evidence suggests that the lavas were emplaced during the interval 100-115 Ma, some 30 m.y. after formation of the underlying Jurassic ocean crust. The lithologic units can be broadly divided into three chemical units, the lowermost two of which are chemically monotonous, suggesting rapid eruption of basalt from a compositionally homogeneous magma chamber. All the basalts are hypersthene- (hy-) rich tholeiites, with approximately chondritic La/Sm, La/Yb, Zr/Nb, La/Ta, and Th/Hf ratios. Chemically they resemble, in part, "transitional" mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) from areas such as the Reykjanes Ridge, although Rb, Ba, and K contents are very low and similar to those of "normal" MORB. Their 87Sr/86Sr ratios are higher than in N-type MORB (Fujii et al., 1981). The chemistry of the Nauru basalts differs from that of continental flood basalts, which tend to be strongly enriched in large-ion lithophile (LIL) elements, although the extent to which the differences result from sialic contamination or source variability is not clear.

(Table 2) Geochemistry at DSDP Holes 62-464 and 62-465A

Igneous rocks were recovered from three sites on Hess Rise during Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 62: altered basalt at Site 464, at the northern end of Hess Rise; and altered trachyte from Site 465, and rounded basalt pebbles in upper Albian to middle Miocene sediments from Site 466, both at the southern end of Hess Rise. Major-, minor-, and trace-element data for basalt from Hole 464 are consistent with these rocks being transitional tholeiites that have undergone low-temperature alteration by reaction with sea water. Trachyte from Hole 465A exhibits as many as three generations of plagioclase along with potash feldspar that are flow aligned in groundmasses alterted to smectites and random mixed-layer clays. Textural evidence indicates that these rocks were eruped subaerially. Chemical data show a range of values when plotted on two- and three-component variation diagrams. The observed variations may result in part from differentiation, but they also reflect the high degree of alteration. Several oxides and elements show strong correlation with H2O+: K2O, SiO2, Rb and Lu decrease and MgO increases with increasing H2O+. These trends, except for that of Lu, are consistent with experimentally determined changes in chemistry that accompany alteration. The trend for Lu has not been previously reported; it may result from a more-intense alteration of the HREE-rich mafic minerals than of the LREE-rich feldspars. Despite their alteration, the trachytes compare favorably with alkalic differentiates from oceanic islands. We interpret Hess Rise as a volcanic platform formed by eruption of off-ridge volcanic rocks onto MORB oceanic crust during the Aptian and Albian stages, after the basement had migrated away from the spreading center. By analogy with present oceanic islands, we propose that early tholeiitic basalts were followed by alkalic basalts and their differentiation products (trachytes), producing a volcanic archipelago of islands and seamounts. Subsequent tectonism and subsidence led to the present state of Hess Rise.

Mineral and chemical composition of hydrothermally altered rocks and sediments from the Middle Valley, ODP Leg 139 data

The Middle Valley segment at the northern end of the Juan de Fuca Ridge is a deep extensional rift blanketed with 200-500 m of Pleistocene turbiditic sediment. Sites 857 and 858 were drilled during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 139 to determine whether these two sites were hydrologically linked end members of an active hydrothermal circulation system. Site 858 was placed in an area of active hydrothermal discharge with fluids up to 270°C venting through anhydrite-bearing mounds on top of altered sediment. The shallow basement of fine-grained basalt that underlies the vents at Site 858 is interpreted as a seamount that was subsequently buried by turbidites. Site 857 was placed 1.6 km south of the Site 858 vents in a zone of high heat flow and numerous seismically imaged ridge-parallel faults. Drilling at Site 857 encountered sediments that are increasingly altered with depth and that overlie a series of mafic sills at depths of 460-940 m below sea floor. Sill margins and adjacent baked sediment are highly altered to magnesian chlorite and crosscut with veins filled with quartz, chlorite, sulfides, epidote, and wairakite. The sill interiors vary from slightly altered, with unaltered plagioclase and clinopyroxene in a mesostasis replaced by chlorite, to local zones of intense alteration and brecciation. In these latter zones, the sill interiors are pervasively replaced by chlorite, epidote, quartz, pyrite, titanite, and rare actinolite. The most complete replacement is associated with brecciated horizons with low recovery and slickensides on fracture surfaces, which we interpret as intersections between faults and the sills. Geochemically, the alteration of the sill complex is reflected in significant whole-rock depletions in Ca, Sr, and Na with corresponding enrichments in Mg, Al, and most metals. The latter results from the formation of conspicuous sulfide poikiloblasts. In contrast, metamorphism of the Site 858 seamount includes incomplete albitization of plagioclase phenocrysts and replacement of sparse mafic phenocrysts. Much of the basement alteration at Site 858 is confined to crosscutting veins except for a highly altered and veined horizon at the contact between basaltic basement and the overlying sediment. The sill complex at Site 857 is more highly depleted in 18O (d18O = 2.4 per mil - 4.7 per mil) and more pervasively replaced by secondary minerals relative to the extrusives at Site 858 (d18O = 4.5 per mil - 5.5 per mil). There is no evidence of significant albitization of the plagioclase at Site 857, suggesting high Ca/Na in the pore fluids. Fluid-inclusion data from hydrothermal minerals in altered mafic rocks and veins at Sites 857 and 858 show a consistency of homogenization temperatures, varying from 245 to 270°C, which is within the range of temperatures observed for the fluids venting at Site 858. The consistency of the fluid inclusion temperatures, the lack of albitization within the Site 857 sills, and the apparently low water/rock ratio collectively suggest that the sill complex at Site 857 is in thermal equilibrium and being altered by a highly evolved Ca-rich fluid similar to the fluids now venting at Site 858. The alteration evident in these two deep crustal drillsites is a result of the ongoing hydrothermal circulation and is consistent with downhole logging results, instrumented borehole results, and hydrothermal fluid chemistry. The pervasive alteration of the laterally extensive sill-sediment complex at Site 857 determines the chemistry of the fluids that are venting at Site 858. The limited alteration of the Site 858 lavas suggests that this basement edifice acts as a penetrator or ventilator for the regional hydrothermal reservoir with much of the flow focussed at the highly altered and veined sediment-basalt contact.

Whole rock analytical techniques and glas analytical techniques of silicic magmas from the South East Rift, Manus Basin

There has been much recent interest in the origin of silicic magmas at spreading centres away from any possible influence of continental crust. Here we present major and trace element data for 29 glasses (and 55 whole-rocks) sampled from a 40 km segment of the South East Rift in the Manus Basin that span the full compositional continuum from basalt to rhyolite (50-75 wt % SiO2). The glass data are accompanied by Sr-Nd-Pb, O and U-Th-Ra isotope data for selected samples. These overlap the ranges for published data from this part of the Manus Basin. Limited increases in Cl/K ratios with increasing SiO2, La-SiO2 and Yb-SiO2 relationships, and the oxygen isotope data rule out models in which the more silicic lavas result from partial melting of altered oceanic crust or altered oceanic gabbros. Rather, the data form a coherent array that is suggestive of closed-system fractional crystallization and this is well simulated by MELTS models run at 0.2 GPa and QFM (quartz-fayalite-magnetite buffer) with 1 wt % H2O, using a parental magma chosen from the basaltic glasses. Although some assimilation of altered oceanic crust or gabbro cannot be completely ruled out, there is no evidence that this plays an important role in the origin of the silicic lavas. The U-series disequilibria are dominated by 238U and 226Ra excesses that limit the timescale of differentiation to less than a few millennia. Overall, the data point to rapid evolution in relatively small magma lenses located near the base of thick oceanic crust; we speculate that this was coupled with relatively low rates of basaltic recharge. A similar model may be applicable to the generation of silicic magmas elsewhere in the ocean basins.

(Table 1) Ooze/chalk cycles: frequency of occurrence at DSDP Leg 74 Sites

Shallow- to deep-water environments are represented by the sediments and rocks recovered from the Walvis Ridge- Angola Basin transect. These calcareous oozes, chalks, limestones, and volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks are used to define and correlate four lithostratigraphic units. The sediments were deposited in cycles which represent recurring tectonic or Oceanographic events and may be related to climatic fluctuations and orbital perturbations. Turbidites are the most common and easily identified sedimentary cycle. They are Late Cretaceous to Paleocene in age and are repeated in intervals ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of years. They are also found interbedded between basalt layers. Turbidites are easily distinguished from the other cycles present by their sedimentary structures, mineral composition, alteration products, and physical properties (GRAPE) data. Large-scale turbidites, debris, or slump breccias are found at or just above the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary and indicate an event of considerable energy possibly related to intense tectonic activity. Diagenetic cycles, interpreted as small-scale dissolution cycles or sequences produced by biogenic activity, occur in early Paleocene chalks. The recurrence intervals average -20,000 y. but have a wide range of values. Variations in CaCO3 content, color, gradational boundaries, and trace fossil content characterize these sediments. These cycles reflect bottom-water conditions. Ooze-chalk cycles occur in upper Oligocene to upper Paleocene sediments and represent conditions that once existed at the sediment/water interface where they obtained their diagenetic potential. These oscillations are repeated over tens of thousands of years and may have no modern analogs. Color variations in sediments at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary indicate local fluctuations in oxygen content within the sediments or the water column. This situation lasted for several hundred thousand years and is not repeated elsewhere in the sequence. Large dissolution cycles are recorded in the sediments at Site 527 that are of middle Miocene and early Oligocene to middle Eocene age. During this time the seafloor at this site appears to have been located at or subsided to a depth occupied by a fluctuating CCD and lysocline.