ALBERT

Description: Helium isotopes are used as a tracer for primitive reservoirs that have persisted in the Earth’s mantle. Basalts erupted at several intraplate oceanic islands, including Hawaii, Iceland, Galapagos, and Samoa, have hosted the highest 3 He/ 4 He ratios (〉30 Ra, where Ra is atmospheric 3 He/ 4 He ratio) globally that are far in excess of the 3 He/ 4 He typical of the upper mantle sampled at mid-ocean ridges (8 Ra). These lavas have been suggested to be melts of a primitive, or possibly slightly depleted, mantle reservoir, i.e., either fertile or a depleted peridotite. Here we report evidence for geochemical enrichment in the high- 3 He/ 4 He mantle sampled by lavas with the highest 3 He/ 4 He from Hawaii, Samoa, and possibly Galapagos. The titanium concentrations in high- 3 He/ 4 He lavas from Samoa are too high to be explained by melts of a mantle peridotite, even at infinitesimally small degrees of melting, and the elevated Ti corresponds to elevated Pb-isotopic ratios. The highest 3 He/ 4 He lavas from Loihi, Hawaii, also have Ti concentrations that are too high to be melts of primitive mantle peridotite at the degrees of melt extraction proposed for this ocean island. Thus, Ti-rich material must have been added to the high- 3 He/ 4 He mantle reservoir, and this material is likely to be recycled mafic crust similar to MORB-like eclogite, which is consistent with the elevated Pb-isotopic ratios. We show that fractionation corrected, major element compositions of high- 3 He/ 4 He alkalic lavas can be satisfactorily modeled by melting and melt-rock interaction scenario in a fertile peridotite-MORB-eclogite hybrid system. Primitive peridotitic and recycled eclogitic reservoirs are suggested to be intimately associated in the deepest mantle and high- 3 He/ 4 He lavas from several localities may sample a mantle source that hosts a component of recycled oceanic crust.

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉Organic matter preservation and associated conditions during deposition, important in the context of fossil fuel exploration, are commonly determined by advanced geochemical analyses. However, the relation between organic matter preservation and magnetic mineral composition remains poorly constrained. The aim of the studies was to check the potential of magnetic mineral differentiation between facies containing various amounts of organic matter as a factor to better understand the processes which influence water chemistry at the bottom of sedimentary basins, and thus to better understand factors controlling the preservation of organic matter. To determine the composition and the properties of magnetic minerals, detailed low-temperature measurements of Saturation Isothermal Remanent Magnetization and hysteresis loops were performed on two types of rocks, Silurian shales from the Baltic Basin (northern Poland). The analyzed shale facies are characterized by similar thermal evolution, but different amounts of organic matter: the Pelplin Formation, containing a modest content of organic matter, in which we also examined early diagenetic carbon concretions; and the Jantar Formation, which represents an organic-rich ‘sweet spot’ layer. In both facies, the results indicate the presence of multi- or pseudo-single domain magnetite, which is interpreted as detrital in origin. However, the main observation gained from this study is the relation between magnetic mineral assemblage in the studied shales and the amount of organic matter: in the rocks with modest amounts of organic matter we observed hematite, while in organic-rich layers hematite was absent. Hematite (mostly single-domain grains) preserved in the Pelplin Formation suggests that stable oxygen-rich conditions were present at the bottom of the sedimentary basin continuously during deposition, concretion cementation, and compaction. In turn, its absence in the Jantar Formation suggests that during sedimentation and early diagenesis more anoxic conditions appeared. Generally, findings show that the presence of hematite is related to the significantly lower amount of organic matter in sedimentary rocks. Thus, presence of this mineral may be a useful indicator of organic matter preservation.〈/span〉

Description: Nature Geoscience 10, 222 (2017). doi:10.1038/ngeo2902 Authors: M. A. Kendrick, C. Hémond, V. S. Kamenetsky, L. Danyushevsky, C. W. Devey, T. Rodemann, M. G. Jackson & M. R. Perfit