ALBERT

Notes: Abstract The Siqueiros transform fault system, which offsets the East Pacific Rise between 8°20′N–8°30′N, has been mapped with the Sea MARC II sonar system and is found to consist of four intra-transform spreading centers and five strike-slip faults. The bathymetric and side-looking sonar data define the total width of the transform domain to be ≈20km. The transform domain includes prominent topographic features that are related to either seafloor spreading processes at the short spreading centers or shearing along the bounding faults. The spreading axes and the seafloor on the flanks of each small spreading center comprise morphological and structural features which suggest that the two western spreading centers are older than the eastern spreading centers. Structural data for the Clipperton, Orozco and Siqueiros transforms, indicate that the relative plate motion geometry of the Pacific-Cocos plate boundary has been stable for the past ≈1.5 Ma. Because the seafloor spreading fabric on the flanks of the western spreading centers is ≈500 000 years old and parallels the present EPR abyssal hill trend (350°) we conclude that a small change in plate motion was not the cause for intra-transform spreading center development in Siqueiros. We suggest that the impetus for the development of intra-transform spreading centers along the Siqueiros transform system was provided by the interaction of small melt anomalies in the mantle (SMAM) with deepseated, throughgoing lithospheric fractures within the shear zone. Initially, eruption sites may have been preferentially located along strike-slip faults and/or along cross-faults that eventually developed into pull-apart basins. Spreading centers C and D in the eastern portion of Siqueiros are in this initial pull-apart stage. Continued intrusion and volcanism along a short ridge within a pull-apart basin may lead to the formation of a stable, small intra-transform spreading center that creates a narrow swath of ridge-parallel structures within the transform domain. The morphology and structure of the axes and flanks of spreading centers A and B in the western and central portion of Siqueiros reflect this type of evolution and suggest that magmatism associated with these intra-transform spreading centers has been active for the past ≈0.5–1.0 Ma.

Notes: Abstract Deep sea photographs were collected for several camera-tow transects along and across the axis at the East Pacific Rise crest between 9°49′ and 9°52′ N, covering terrain out to 2 km from the ridge axis. The objective of the surveys was to utilize fine-scale morphology and imagery of seafloor volcanic terrain to aid in interpreting eruptive history and lava emplacement processes along this fast-spreading mid-ocean ridge. The area surveyed corresponds to the region over which seismic layer 2A, believed to correspond to the extrusive oceanic layer, attains full thickness (Christeson et al., 1994a, b, 1996; Hooft et al., 1996; Carbotte et al., 1997). The photographic data are used to identify the different eruptive styles occurring along the ridge crest, map the distribution of the different morphologies, constrain the relative proportions of the three main morphologies and discuss the implications of these results. Morphologic distributions of lava for the area investigated are 66% lobate lava, 20% sheet lava, 10% pillow lava, and 4% transitional morphologies between the other three main types. There are variations in inferred relative lava ages among the different morphological types that do not conform to a simple increase in age versus distance relationship from the spreading axis, suggesting a model in which off-axis transport and volcanism contribute to the accumulation of the extrusive layer. Analysis of the data suggests this ridge crest has experienced three distinctly different types of volcanic emplacement processes: (1) axial summit eruptions within a ∼1 km wide zone centered on the axial summit collapse trough (ASCT); (2) off-axis transport of lava erupted at or near the ASCT through channelized surface flows; and (3) off-axis eruptions and local constructional volcanism at distances of ∼0.5-1.5 km from the axis. Major element analyses of basaltic glasses from lavas collected by Alvin, rock corer and dredging in this area indicate that the most recent magmatic event associated with the present ASCT erupted relatively homogeneous and mafic (〉8.25 weight percent wt.% MgO) basalts compared to older, off-axis lavas which tend to be more chemically evolved (Perfit and Chadwick, 1998; Perfit and Fornari, unpublished data). The more primitive lavas have a more extensive distribution within and east of the ASCT. More evolved basalts (MgO 〈8.0wt.%) are concentrated in a broad area a few kilometers east of the axis, and in an oval-shaped area south of 9°50′ N, west of the ASCT. Transitional and enriched (T- and E-) mid-ocean ridge basalts exist in relatively small areas (〈1 km2) on the crestal plateau and correlate with scarps or fissures where pillow lavas were erupted. Mafic lavas in this area are primarily related to the youngest magmatic events. Geochemical analysis of samples collected at distances 〉∼500 m from the ASCT suggests that regions of off-axis volcanism may be sourced from older and cooler sections of the axial magma lens. Analysis of these data suggests that this portion of the EPR has not experienced large scale volcanic overprinting in the past ∼30 ka. The predominance of lobate flows (66%) throughout much of the crestal region, and subtle variations in sediment cover and apparent age between flows, suggest that eruptive volumes and effusion rates of individual eruptions have been similar over much of the last 30 ka and that most of the eruptions have been small, probably similar in volume to the 1991 EPR flow which had an estimated volume of ∼1×106 m3 (Gregg et al., 1996).

Notes: Abstract Igneous rocks recovered from three major tectonic features of the sub-antarctic South Atlantic Ocean during ODP Leg 114 have a range of compositions: Northeast Georgia Rise, basalt to andesite; Meteor Rise, basalt to trachyte; spreading center in the West South Atlantic Basin, MORB-like basalt. Major and trace element as well as Sr and Nd isotopic data clearly indicate that all rocks share the enriched elemental and isotopic signatures typical of both hotspot and mid-ocean ridge volcanism in the southern ocean basins. Data for the Northeast Georgia and Meteor Rises also suggest the influence of older, continental lithosphere.

Notes: Abstract Trace elements, including rare earth elements (REE), exhibit systematic variations in plutonic rocks from the Captains Bay pluton which is zoned from a narrow gabbroic rim to a core of quartz monzodiorite and granodiorite. The chemical variations parallel those in the associated Aleutian calcalkaline volcanic suite. Concentrations of Rb, Y, Zr and Ba increase as Sr and Ti decrease with progressive differentiation. Intermediate plutonic rocks are slightly enriched in light REE (La/Yb=3.45–9.22), and show increasing light REE fractionation and negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu*=1.03–0.584). Two border-zone gabbros have similar REE patterns but are relatively depleted in total REE and have positive Eu anomalies; indicative of their cumulate nature. Initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios in 8 samples (0.70299 to 0.70377) are comparable to those of volcanic rocks throughout the arc and suggest a mantle source for the magmas. Oxygen isotopic ratios indicate that many of the intermediate plutonic rocks have undergone oxygen isotopic exchange with large volumes of meteoric water during the late stages of crystallization; however no trace element or Sr isotopic alteration is evident. Major and trace element variations are consistent with a model of inward fractional crystallization of a parental high-alumina basaltic magma at low pressures (〈6 kb). Least-squares approximations and trace element fractionation calculations suggest that differentiation in the plutonic suite was initially controlled by the removal of calcic plagioclase, lesser pyroxene, olivine and Fe-Ti oxides but that with increasing differentiation and water fugacity the removal of sub-equal amounts of sodic plagioclase and hornblende with lesser Fe-Ti oxides effectively drove residual liquids toward dacitic compositions. Major and trace element compositions of aplites which intrude the pluton are not adequately explained by fractional crystallization. They may represent partial melts derived from the island arc crust. Similarities in Sr isotopes, chemical compositions and differentiation trends between the plutonic series and some Aleutian volcanic suites indicates that shallow-level fractional crystallization is a viable mechanism for generating the Aleutian calcalkaline rock series.

Notes: Abstract Lavas from Akutan Island, located in the eastern Aleutian arc at the transition between continental and oceanic crust, show a gradual change in their petrologic and chemical characteristics over the last 4 million years. The oldest lavas exposed on the island, the Hot Springs Bay Volcanics (HSBV), range from magnesian basalt to dacite (45%–62% SiO2). The most mafic basalts contain salitic clinopyroxene, Cr- and Al-rich spinel, and pargasitic amphibole suggesting that they were derived from relatively hydrous magmas at greater pressures than lavas from the younger Akutan Volcanics (AKV) and the modern volcano (MOD). AKV lavas also range between basalt and dacite (46%–63% SiO2), but contain no hydrous phenocrysts and seem to have fractionated within a shallow level magma chamber. Lavas from the modern volcano are andesitic (52%–57% SiO2) and have a mineral assemblage similar to that of AKV lavas of similar composition. With the exception of clinopyroxene and spinel in the most mafic lavas, the compositions of plagioclase (An92−45), olivine (Fo88−51), orthopyroxene (En69−56), and titanomagnetite (15%–21% TiO2) phenocrysts found in these lavas are within the range observed in lavas from other Aleutian volcanoes. Variations in the major element chemistry of the older lavas can be reproduced by fractional crystallization of the observed mineral assemblages, however closed system crystal fractionation models are inadequate to explain the trace element variations. During the last 4 million years, La/Yb ratios have decreased (6.5–3.3 for HSBV lavas and 2.9–1.9 for MOD lavas) whereas Ba/La ratios appear to have increased slightly (37–43 for HSBV and AKV, and 41–45 of MOD). The lower La/Yb ratios of MOD lavas correspond with lower total abundances of the REE and slightly higher Sr and Pb isotopic ratios. The increased87Sr/86Sr ratios and Pb isotopic ratios in the MOD lavas, the less enriched LREE, and the higher Ba/La ratios may result from partial melting of an arc source which has experienced previous melting events but has continued to be contaminated by a component from the subducting slab. It may also indicate a change in the degree of partial melting of the underlying mantle, which corresponds to a different percentage of a slab derived component being incorporated into the overlying mantle.