ALBERT

Description: Alteration patterns in the lavas and dykes of the Troodos Ophiolite, Cyprus, record a complex history of axial hydrothermal alteration, crustal aging, and subsequent uplift and emplacement of the ophiolite. Field mapping shows that distribution of five alteration zones, each with distinct mineralogical, geochemical, and hydrologie characteristics, is influenced by igneous stratigraphy, structure, and the nature and thickness of the overlying sediments. Paragenetic sequences of secondary minerals indicate that alteration conditions changed progressively as the crust cooled and moved off-axis. Along spreading axes, low temperatures (≤50°C) were maintained by the rapid flow of seawater in and out of the lavas, and only minimal alteration took place. In contrast, lower water/rock ratios and higher temperatures (〉200°C) in the dykes promoted extensive seawater-rock interaction. Although the sharp rise in temperature between the two regimes generally coincides with the lava-dyke transition, late-stage intrusions or hydrothermal upwelling zones locally cause high-temperature alteration to extend upward into the lavas. As a segment of crust moved off-axis, temperatures remained low in the lavas and progressively decreased, from 〉250° to 〈80°C, in the dykes. High permeability in the uppermost lavas led to the downward migration of an oxidative alteration front whose thickness and spatial distribution was dependent upon the rate and nature of sedimentation and, thus, the original seafloor morphology. Although field relations show that alteration has a consistent vertical pattern in Troodos, the alteration zones are not laterally continuous, and the stratigraphie depth of their boundaries varies considerably.

Description: In the western equatorial Pacific, the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon is characterized by precipitation variability associated with the migration of the Indonesian low pressure cell to the region of the date line and the equator. During ENSO events, Tarawa Atoll (1°N, 172°E) experiences heavy rainfall which has an estimated δ18O of about −8 to −10‰ δ18OSMOW. At Tarawa, sufficient precipitation of this composition falls during ENSO events to alter the δ18O and the salinity of the surface waters. Oxygen isotope records from two corals collected off the reef crest of Tarawa reflect rainfall variations associated with both weak and strong ENSO conditions, with approximately monthly resolution. Coral skeletal δ18O variations due to small sea surface temperature (SST) changes are secondary. These records demonstrate the remarkable ability of this technique to reconstruct variations in the position of the Indonesian Low from coral δ18O records in the western equatorial Pacific, a region which has few paleoclimatic records. The coral isotopic data correctly resolve the relative magnitudes of recent variations in the Southern Oscillation Index. Combining the Tarawa record with an oxygen isotopic history from a Galápagos Islands coral demonstrates the ability to distinguish the meteorologic (precipitation) and oceanographic (SST) anomalies that characterize ENSO events across the Pacific Basin over the period of common record (1960–1979). Comparison of the intensity of climatic anomalies at these two sites yields insight into the spatial variability of ENSO events. Isotope records from older corals can provide high-resolution, Pacific-wide reconstructions of ENSO behavior during periods of different climate boundary conditions.

Description: As shown by the work of Dansgaard and his colleagues, climate oscillations of one or so millennia duration punctuate much of glacial section of the Greenland ice cores. These oscillations are characterized by 5°C air temperature changes, severalfold dust content changes and 50 ppm CO2 changes. Both the temperature and CO2 change are best explained by changes in the mode of operation of the ocean. In this paper we provide evidence which suggests that oscillations in surface water conditions of similar duration are present in the record from a deep sea core at 50°N. Based on this finding, we suggest that the Greenland climate changes are driven by oscillations in the salinity of the Atlantic Ocean which modulate the strength of the Atlantic's conveyor circulation.

Description: In accretionary wedges, often morphologically similar sedimentary intrusions, when observed by remote geophysical means, may have one of two quite different driving mechanisms and a highly variable significance for the regional hydrogeologic picture. For example, mud diapirs are driven by buoyancy forces that arise from bulk density contrasts. In them, mud and pore fluid upwell en masse and fluid migration is a related (sometimes important) but generally subsidiary process. In contrast, diatremes contain sediments fluidized during rapid fluid advection and are forcibly and directly driven by the hydrogeologic system. The nature of fluid input from local and exotic source regions can, therefore, strongly affect sedimentary intrusive processes and vice versa. This complicates the process of defining the main features of the hydrogeological systems operating in accretionary wedges. Focused vertical advection through steep sided (piercement) mud diapirs requires conduit systems, otherwise flow will be diffuse and directed more horizontally out of the low-permeability mud mass. However, where the permeability of the overburden is less than that of the diapir, the whole diapir may act as a conduit. Apart from this special case, conduits will be associated with highly anisotropic scaly fabrics that can sometimes develop in the marginal shear zone of diapirs. Scaly fabrics form during deformation and compaction of a mud matrix under conditions of constant or increasing effective stress. However, the effective stress path can be complex as it is both controlled by the relative rates of upward intrusion and burial (by sedimentation and/or structural thickening) and the hydrogeologic system. Due to this, it appears likely that even in a geographically related group of diapirs, effective stress histories will vary widely between intrusions so that some can form advective pathways for fluids and some cannot. Mixed systems of behavior may also be present with local diatremes developing within diapirs above the terminations of conduit systems and rapidly expanding methane gas pockets. The potentially heterogeneous near-surface behavior may be why the surface manifestations of sedimentary intrusions are so variable when observed in the field. Diatremes can also form separately as large primary features above any structural or stratigraphic conduit that rapidly expels water or gas into the base of an unlithified sediment column. When active, large diatremes require enormous quantities of fluid (water or gas) to drive them, particularly if they are long lived features and hence are a direct indication of at least an episodically vigorous hydrogeologic system.

Description: The isotopic composition of dissolved O2 in seawater, expressed as the δ18O of O2, is unique among the bioactive tracers of the aphotic zone in that it is not linearly related to oxygen utilization via the stoichiometry of organic matter decomposition. In fact, δ18O of O2 depends on the history of water mixing and O2 consumption in the sample studied (Craig and Kroopnick, 1970; Kroopnick and Craig, 1976). For this reason, the variation of δ18O of O2 with O2 concentration depends on regional circulation patterns and oxygen utilization rates. The δ18O of O2 can be used to chartacterize these processes by decoupling their effects. As an example of this assertion, we interpret the covariation between the concentration of O2 and its isotopic composition in the Pacific Ocean as reported by Kroopnick (1987), using four simple representations of seawater mixing and respiration. Kroopnick's data are in general accord with an elementary model of isopycnal mixing represented by diffusive exchange and oxygen utilization in the ocean's interior, coupled with atmospheric equilibrium at the point where the isopycnals outcrop at the sea surface. This specific result illustrates the general point that δ18O of O2 in seawater can serve as an important constraint on more extensive and sophisticated physical models used to estimate rates of oxygen utilization in the deep sea.

Description: Statistical heterogeneity of abyssal hill properties is often evident in seafloor topography, even under periods of relatively constant spreading direction and rate. In this paper we relate the statistics of topographic slopes computed on finite spatial scales to the autocovariance function and investigate the practicality of using these functions in describing such heterogeneous abyssal hill terrains. For a two-dimensional homogeneous surface, a direct relation exists between the sample autocovariance and the slope distributions at different spatial scales. However, for a heterogeneous field characterized by large transient signals, the computed autocovariance estimate no longer has a clear statistical interpretation and becomes dominated by the transients. In contrast, the family of slope distributions can still be used to derive stable descriptors of the field. Slope statistics are thus useful in deriving a more robust estimate of the autocovariance than the usual sample autocovariance. Moreover, slope statistics may also be used to derive stable estimates of quantities not measurable with the autocovariance function or power spectra, such as the statistical asymmetry of features. Examples of the use of slope statistics and a comparison with autocovariance methods are presented. We document and quantify evidence of statistical asymmetry in a region of abyssal hills in the northeast Pacific and, in a second example, the presence of multiple lineations in a region where a fracture zone cuts through abyssal hill terrain.

Description: Some basic characteristics of ridge axis topography are related to spreading rate and distance from neighboring transform faults. For example, the presence of an axial depression coincides in most cases with slow spreading rates, and the overall depth of the ridge axis increases toward ridge-transform intersections (RTIs). On the other hand, it is also well known that the relief and width of the axial valley on, say, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) vary along strike in an unpredictable manner. The purpose of the present study is to quantify how much of the observed variation in the first-order topography at the axis is related to changes in other parameters, such as spreading rate and distance from RTIs. To carry out this test, the zero-age depth and the relief and width of the axial valley have been estimated on 46 profiles that cross the axis of the MAR between the equator and 50°N (full spreading rates 22–36 km/Ma). Zero-age depth is here defined to be the depth at age zero of the best fit thermal subsidence trend. Axial valley relief and width have been measured with respect to the ridge flanks by the least squares fit of a Gaussian bell. The measured axial valley relief varies between 600 and 2100 m (average ∼1300 m), while the valley width varies between 16 and 62 km (average ∼35 km). The correlation between zero-age depth, axial valley relief and width, latitude of axial crossing, spreading rate, distance from nearest RTT, and offset on the nearby transforms has been investigated using linear regression techniques. The main results of the present study are that (1) zero-age depth significantly correlates with latitude of crossing, distance from nearest RTI, and offset on the nearby transforms; and (2) the variation in axial valley relief and width is essentially uncorrelated with spreading rate, zero-age depth, distance from nearest RTT, and offset on nearby transforms. The preferred explanation for the observed spatial variation in axial valley geometry is that it reflects a temporal variation. In fact, if the rough abyssal hill topography typical of the MAR flanks is created within the axial valley, the shape of the axial valley cannot be steady state (although the existence of an axial valley may be a steady state phenomenon). This hypothesis is supported by the observation that the variability in axial valley relief is similar to the overall amplitude of abyssal hill topography, measured as the residual on the thermal subsidence trend.

Description: Early diagenesis of the coupled dissolved silica-opal system in bioturbated sediments may be explained by one of three possible models of increasing mathematical complexity, i.e. the simple, but unused constant-opal model (abbreviated C.O.), the Schink et al. (1975) model (abbreviated SG&F) for which Wong and Grosch (1978) have supplied an analytical solution (designated as W&G), and the improved but much more sophisticated model proposed by Schink and Guinasso (1980) that must be solved numerically (S&G). Scaling analysis and computational comparisons show that the C.O. model and the SG&F model, as calculated via the W&G solution, are asymptotically valid forms of more complete S&G model for the limits of “large” and “small” opal concentrations, respectively. Specifically, the C.O. model is found to provide an excellent approximation to the vastly more complicated S&G model if the amount of opal preserved at depth in the sediment, b(∞), satisfies the inequality, b(∞) ≥ {[0.1(1 - φ)DB][φγDS(CS - CW)]−1 + ρb−1}−1, where φ is the porosity, DB is the mixing coefficient, DS is the tortuosity-corrected molecular diffusivity of silica, CS is the solubility of opal, CW is the silica concentration in the overlying waters, ρb is the intrinsic density of opal and γ is a unit conversion constant if b and C are in different units. Schink and Guinasso (1980) have criticized Wong and Grosch (1978) for utilizing their solution of the earlier SG&F model to describe opal accumulation, a situation for which they believed the SG&F model was invalid. This study has found, however, that for conditions characteristic of the deep sea, the SG&F model and so the W&G solution remain reasonably accurate even if small amounts of opal escape dissolution and collect, but that radical divergence from the S&G model can be expected if the flux of silica is sufficient to create a siliceous ooze. This reflects the minor role played by the divergence of the advective flux in the balance of terms in the diagenetic conservation equations when little opal is preserved. These findings should resolve any uncertainty and controversy over the use of the W&G solution. Opal diagenesis in bioturbated shelf-like sediments appears to be adequately described by the C.O. model alone. The C.O. model, coupled where necessary to the W&G solution, constitutes an attractive alternative to the S&G model because relatively simple analytical methods of solution may be employed rather than advanced numerical techniques.

Description: The present work deals with the petrography and geochemistry of lavas dredged from five active submarine volcanoes (named Mehetia, Moua Pihaa, Rocard, Teahitia, and Cyana) from the southeast end of the Society Islands hotspot trace. Most samples are basic and alkaline, ranging from 16 to 5 wt % MgO, with about 5% normative nepheline. Fractionation modelling based on major and minor compatible element variations suggests that olivine and minor clinopyroxene were the major fractionating phases and implies a maximum range of fractionation of 30–35%. Rocard and Cyana have yielded more evolved, trachy-phonolitic, glassy samples. These evolved samples are thought to be derived by removal of 70% cumulate from the basalts. Both basaltic and phonolitic samples are incompatible-element enriched, with La/YbN ≈ 15 in most of the basalts. The trachy-phonolite patterns show middle rare earth element (REE) depletion and negative Eu anomalies. The Moua Pihaa basalts have flatter patterns than the other basalts (La/YbN = 7.5–12.4). All samples, with the exception of a sample from Moua Pihaa which has elevated 206Pb/204Pb, fall on linear Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic arrays, suggesting two end-member mixing. The most depleted end-member is shown to be a pristine ocean island basalt magma with no detectable contribution from a depleted, mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) upper mantle. The flatter REE patterns and higher 206Pb/204Pb of the Moua Pihaa sample are taken to indicate a more depleted, U-enriched (high μ) component in its source. This component may be altered oceanic crust. The Sr isotopic variations in the samples excluding Moua Pihaa correlate positively with Rb/Nb, Pb/Ce, and SiO2 variations, indicating a component of mantle enriched by injection of material from a subducted oceanic slab. Correlation of 207Pb/204Pb with 87Sr/86Sr suggests that the subducted material is geochemically old. Mapping the geochemical variations shows that the contribution to the lavas from the subduction component is greater over the north of the hotspot than in the south. The absence of a MORB component in the Society magmatism, the small volumes of the Polynesian hotspot volcanoes, and the lack of more intense volcanic activity near the center of the Pacific Supers well, all lead us to conclude that the latter is unlikely to be caused by a large convective plume. The Superswell is more probably located above a region in the asthenospheric mantle which, due to its higher content of recycled continental debris, is anomalously hot.

Description: The Lau Basin, a back arc spreading center, is one of the most active hydrothermal areas in the ocean. A scientific team from France, Germany, and Tonga investigated the southern Lau Basin near Tonga in 1989 to study the processes of seafloor ore-mineral formation associated with hydrothermal circulation along the volcanic Valu Fa ridge (Ride de Valu Fa in Figure 1), which lies in back of the Tonga-Kermadec trench. Between April 17 and May 10 scientists on the R/V Nadir used the submersible Nautile to make 22 dives in the southern Lau Basin. The cruise was called NAUTILAU, for Nautile in Lau Basin. In addition to the standard equipment of the submersible (video and photo cameras, and temperature probe), a CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) instrument was integrated with a “mini rosette” water sampling device used for the first time on the Nautile to obtain correlations between the geological observations and the physical and chemical anomalies measured in the seawater.

Description: Hole 504B of the Ocean Drilling Program is dedicated to the study of crustal structure and hydrothermal processes in 5.9-m.y.-old oceanic basement. Continuing the work of previous legs, hole 504B was extended 212.3 m to a total depth of 1562.3 m below seafloor (bsf) during leg 111 in 1986. Quartz-sulfide veins occur at a depth of 1369–1388 m bsf in basalts of the sheeted dike complex. The ore minerals are predominantly pyrite, less chalcopyrite, rare Corich Cu-Fe-S phases, and a thiospinel (linnaeite/carrollite). Microprobe analyses yield a high Co content in zoned vein pyrites (〉8 wt %) as well as in the Cu-Fe-S phases (〉5 wt %). Up to 35.8 wt % Co was detected in the thiospinel. A Co/Ni ratio of 〉100 distinguishes the vein pyrite from pyrite in the basaltic wall rock and from pyrite formed as an alteration product of olivine (Co/Ni 〈5). The Co/Ni ratios correlate positively with Cu and negatively with As. Co-rich, nonstoichiometric Cu-Fe-S sulfides in chalcopyrite are interpreted as metastable phases which have been quenched at a high temperature and prohibited from exsolution of the stable products chalcopyrite and pyrite. Fluid inclusions in quartz from the quartz-sulfide veins are two-phase and vary from liquid- to vapor-dominated. Their salinities range from 4.2 to 7.2 wt % equivalent NaCl and average 5.5 wt %. Pressure (360 bars) corrected average filling temperatures vary from 271° to 408°C with a maximum of 486°C. This is consistent with calculated quartz formation temperatures for a single quartz separate (+4.2‰ δ18O) using oxygen isotope thermometry. The δ18O value of the hydrothermal fluid was determined to be +1.7‰. The temperature data indicate fluid alteration of the sheeted dikes at about 350° to 500°C. The maximum homogenization temperatures intersect the liquid/vapor two-phase boundary above the critical point of seawater. Thus phase separation could have occurred before or during the formation of the mineralized veins and the alteration of the sheeted dike sequence.

Description: Profiles of the 230Th concentration in Mn crusts from the central Pacific Ocean measured at extremely high depth resolution reveal that the growth rates of Mn crusts are influenced by climate. Based on a “constant flux model” the sections of maximum 230Th concentration correspond to periods of slow growth during glacial stages. Fast growth occurred during interglacial stages 1, 5, and 7, probably due to a larger supply of Mn oxides from the water column. High-resolution profiles of 230Th and 10Be in sediment cores from high biological productivity areas display radioisotope maxima in the interglacial stages and minima during glacial periods, the ratio of the fluxes of 10Be/230Th being ≥4. The only exceptions are observed at 135 and 270 kyr B.P., where the ratio of the fluxes is as low as 0.1 to 0.3. We presume that this “230Th anomaly” reflects short periods of time at the end of glacials when precipitation of MnO2 occurred. This hypothesis is confirmed by peaks of Mn observed in sediment cores mainly at the transitions from glacial to interglacial stages. The standing crops of Mn in these layers suggest release of Mn2+ from the sediments during glacial stages and buildup of Mn in the water column to concentrations of up to 10 µmol/L.

Description: Variations in nutricline depth during the last deglaciation are recorded by the phytoplankton species Florisphaera profunda. A stacked record of six deep-sea cores shows that across the entire equatorial Atlantic there was a brief shallowing of the nutricline, centered on 11 ka, coincident with the Younger Dryas. This shallowing is linked with high-latitude North Atlantic deglacial events. We invoke high albedo and cool sea surface temperatures in the northern latitudes during 11 ka which steepened an already higher-than-expected winter insolation (and hence temperature) gradient for a time of June perihelion. We postulate that the resultant increased pressure gradient caused an intensification of the northern hemisphere winter tropical easterlies which in turn caused equatorial divergence to occur in boreal winter.

Description: The SiO2-undersaturated lavas from Lihir island, Papua New Guinea, like most arc lavas are highly enriched in Sr, Ba, K, Rb, and Cs and depleted in Hf, Ta, Nb, and Ti relative to ocean floor basalts and oceanic island basalts. These alkali-rich lavas have arc trace element signatures and Nd, Sr, and Pb isotopic systematics. However, they are not a product of present-day subduction, as this volcanism has tapped mantle which was enriched by prior subduction episodes. The narrow range of Pb (206pb/204pb, 18.74–18.76) and Nd (143Nd/144Nd, 0.51297–0.51304) isotopic compositions suggest a cogenetic origin for these lavas. During the fractionation of the primitive Lihir lavas, elements normally considered incompatible (i.e., the light rare earth elements (LREE), Rb, Th, and P) have high bulk solid/melt partition coefficients (0.15–1.5). Relatively higher partition coefficients during forma-tion of the evolved lavas produced crossing rare earth element (REE) patterns, and primitive lavas have higher incompatible elements abundances than evolved lavas. This results from (1) changes in the amount of apatite in the fractionating assemblage and (2) the abnormal partitioning of trace elements into apatite microphenocrysts which nucleate at the crystal-liquid interface of rapidly growing clinopyroxene phenocrysts. The Lihir lavas have lower alkali, Sr, Ba, K, Rb, Cs, and LREE abundances than other Tabar-Feni lavas. They are derived from a less enriched mantle source rather than by a higher degree of melting of a source similar to that of the other islands. The similarity of Sm/Nd ratios of these undersaturated arc lavas to those of tholeiitic and calc-alkaline arc lavas and the moderate chondrite-normalized La/Yb (La/Ybcn = 3–7) indicates that there has been limited enrichment of the LREE relative to the heavy REE during generation of the arc-modified source mantle. The alkaline nature of these lavas reflects their generation, in a tensional tectonic environment, from a “fossil” arc mantle region that has undergone extreme arc enrichment of alkali and alkaline earth elements during two earlier subduction episodes.

Description: Generalized models of thorium and particle cycling, data from Station P, and an inversion technique are used to obtain rate estimates of important biological and chemical transformations occurring in the water column. We first verify the inversion technique using an idealized data set generated by a finite difference model, and then apply the inversion technique to data from Station P. With the Station P data, predicted rate constants for adsorption and release of thorium between the dissolved and small particle phases are consistent with the results from other workers. The predicted rate constants for the interaction between small and large particles are smaller than previous estimates. The predicted concentration of large rapidly sinking particles is greater than the concentration of suspended non-sinking particles, whereas the reverse is usually assumed to be the case. The calculated sinking rate for the large particles is 20 m d−1. This sinking rate is an order of magnitude smaller than the large particle sinking rate inferred from sediment trap mass fluxes at two levels in the water column. The reason we predict a high large particle concentration and slow settling velocity has not been uniquely determined. Possible modifications of the current model that could help to reconcile the differences between observations and model predictions include: 1) two classes of rapidly sinking particles or rate constants that change with depth, 2) direct interactions between the large particle and dissolved phases, and 3) incorporation of a continuous distribution of particle size and settling velocity.

Description: Crystallization ages of volcanic rocks, dredged or drilled from the Walvis Ridge (ten sites) and the Rio Grande Rise (one site), have been determined by the 40Ar/39Ar incremental heating technique. The fundamentally age-progressive distribution of these basement ages suggests a common hot spot source for volcanism on the island of Tristan da Cunha, along the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise, and for the formation of the continental flood basalts located in Namibia (Africa) and Brazil (South America). The Walvis Ridge-Rio Grande Rise volcanic system evolved along a section of the South Atlantic spreading-axis, as the African and South American plates migrated apart, astride, or in close proximity to, an upwelling plume. Reconstructions of the spatial relationship between the spreading-axis, the Tristan hot spot, and the evolving Walvis Ridge-Rio Grande Rise volcanic feature show that, at about 70 Ma, the spreading-axis began to migrate westward, away from the hot spot. The resulting transition to intraplate hot spot volcanism along the Walvis Ridge (and associated termination of Rio Grande Rise formation) also involved a northward migration of previously formed African seafloor over the hot spot. Rotation parameters for African motion over fixed hot spots (i.e., absolute motion) have been recalculated such that the predicted trail of the Tristan hot spot agrees with the distribution of radiometric and fossil basement ages along the Walvis Ridge. African absolute motion has been extended to the South and North American plates, by the addition of relative motion reconstruction poles.

Description: The electrical resistivity, porosity, and cation exchange capacity (CEC) of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) samples from Deep Sea Drilling Project hole 504B have been measured in the laboratory. The presence of chlorites, zeolites and particularly smectites as alteration products of MORB is reflected by high values of CEC, with high and uniform CEC values in the massive units of layers 2A and 2B, and even higher values in the pillows. The porosity and the “intrinsic” formation factor are related, in the massive units, by an inverse power law similar to Archie's formula, with m = 1.0 and a = 10.0. Such a low m value equates to current conduction in cracks and microcracks present at mineral scale throughout the rock. During leg 111 of the Ocean Drilling Program, the Joides Resolution D.V. returned in the equatorial Pacific to deepen hole 504B and to perform a series of downhole experiments. A continuous electrical resistivity profile permitted to discriminate the large-scale seismic layers of the upper oceanic crust and to isolate individual lithologic units. In the extrusive part of the crust, the massive flows (10-m-thick or more) are found to constitute permeability barriers and, subsequently, to constrain fluid circulation. Within layer 2A, the massive flows of unit 2D are associated with the underpressured aquifer located underneath, within Unit 3. In layer 2B, unit 27 is the boundary between low-temperature, seawater alteration facies of basalt, and higher-temperature alteration phases. This relationship between morphology, hydrological regime, and therefore alteration of the basaltic basement is proposed to be related to the accretion process of the upper oceanic crust. The porosity estimate derived from in situ measurements of electrical resistivity is reduced when accounting for surface conduction, with high values computed in layer 2A only. A permeability profile computed on the basis of in situ resistivity measurements reproduces those obtained in situ from packer experiments, and therefore provides a key to the low-permeability high-“apparent”-porosity paradox obtained in the past.

Description: High concentrations of gold and visible gold-bearing phases have been found in sulfides from the Central Valu Fa Ridge, a spreading center in the Lau back-arc basin west of the Tonga Trench, southwest Pacific. This is believed to be the first known occurrence of visible gold in sulfides from active vents on the seafloor, according to Peter Herzig of the Aachen University of Technology, Federal Republic of Germany, and Mark D. Hannington of the Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa. Samples were collected during the NAUTILAU Cruise April 17–May 10, 1989 (see Eos, May 1, 1990, p. 678), which consisted of a scientific team from France, Germany, and Tonga that studied the processes of seafloor ore-mineral formation associated with hydrothermal circulation along the volcanic Valu Fa Ridge. The cruise recorded the first observation of an active black smoker hydrothermal field in a back-arc environment.

Description: Variations in carbonate flux and dissolution, which occurred in the equatorial Atlantic during the last 24,000 years, have been estimated by a new approach that allows the point‐by‐point determination of paleofluxes to the seafloor. An unprecedented time resolution can thus be obtained which allows sequencing of the relatively rapid events occurring during deglaciation. The method is based on observations that the flux of unsupported 230Th into deep‐sea sediments is nearly independent of the total mass flux and is close to the production rate. Thus excess 230Th activity in sediments can be used as a reference against which fluxes of other sedimentary components can be estimated. The study was conducted at two sites (Ceará Rise; western equatorial Atlantic, and Sierra Leone Rise; eastern equatorial Atlantic) in cores raised from three different depths at each site. From measurements of 230Th and CaCO3, changes in carbonate flux with time and depth were obtained. A rapid increase in carbonate production, starting at the onset of deglaciation, was found in both areas. This event may have important implications for the postglacial increase in atmospheric CO2 by increasing the global carbonate carbon to organic carbon rain ratio and decreasing the alkalinity of surface waters (and possibly the North Atlantic Deep Water). Increased carbonate dissolution occurred in the two regions during deglaciation, followed by a minimum during mid‐Holocene and renewed intensification of dissolution in late Holocene. During the last 16,000 years, carbonate dissolution was consistently more pronounced in the western than in the eastern basin, reflecting the influence of Antarctic Bottom Water in the west. This trend was reversed during stage 2, possibly due to the accumulation of metabolic CO2 below the level of the Romanche Fracture Zone in the eastern basin.

Description: The simple theoretical model of Alpers and Hennings describing the radar imaging of submarine bottom topography in coastal waters with strong unidirectional tidal currents is analytically extended to show the influence of advection. The theory applies for L band radar, where second‐order terms in the hydrodynamic interaction can be neglected as a first approximation. If future imaging radars from satellites and space platforms as the ERS‐I (First European Remote Sensing Satellite), the JERS‐I (First Japanese Earth Remote Sensing Satellite), and the EOS (Earth Observing System) are to be used for cartographic applications, it is necessary to include the effect of advection to improve accuracy. This extension of the model simulates the position of the radar cross‐section modulation relative to coastal geomorphological bedforms. By application of that theory it is possible to map features such as the crests of sandbanks and sand waves.

Description: A systematic study of rare earth and other trace elements in discrete diopsides from residual abyssal peridotites sampled from 5000 km of ocean ridge demonstrates that they are the residues of variable degrees of melting in the garnet and spinel peridotite fields. Further, the data clearly demonstrate that the peridotites are the residues of near‐fractional melting, not batch melting, and that typical abyssal basalt can evolve from aggregated fractional melts. Ion microprobe analyses of diopsides in abyssal peridotites from fracture zones along the America‐Antarctica and Southwest Indian ridges reveal ubiquitous extreme fractionation of rare earth elements (REE) ([Ce/Yb]n = 0.002–0.05); depletion of Ti (300–1600 ppm), Zr (0.1–10 ppm), and Sr (0.1–10 ppm); and fractionation of Zr relative to Ti (Ti/Zr = 250–4000). Ti and Zr in diopsides decrease with decreasing modal cpx in the peridotites, and samples dredged near hotspots are more depleted in incompatible elements than those dredged away from hotspots, consistent with higher degrees upper mantle melting in the former. All studied samples exhibit marked negative anomalies in Ti and Zr relative to REE. Incompatible element concentrations in peridotite clinopyroxenes are well modeled by repeated melting and segregation in ≤0.1% increments to a total of 5–25% melting, a process very close to Rayleigh (fractional) melting; batch melting of a LREE‐depleted source cannot account for the observed trace element concentrations in abyssal peridotites. The shapes of some REE patterns are consistent with variable degrees of melting initiated within the garnet stability field. Trace element concentrations in calculated integrated fractional liquids approximate the composition of primitive ocean floor basalts, consistent with postsegregation aggregation of small increment melts produced over a depth and melting interval.

Description: To study the resolving power of teleseismic P waveforms for receiver structure, we model synthetic waveforms using a time domain waveform inversion scheme beginning with a range of initial models to estimate the range of acceptable velocity structures. To speed up the waveform inversions, we implement Randall's (1989) efficient algorithms for calculating differential seismograms and include a smoothness constraint on all the resulting velocity models utilizing the “jumping” inversion technique of Shaw and Orcutt (1985). We present the results of more than 235 waveform inversions for one‐dimensional velocity structures that indicate that the primary sensitivity of a receiver function is to high wavenumber velocity changes, and a depth‐velocity product, not simply velocity. The range of slownesses in a typical receiver function study does not appear to be broad enough to remove the depth‐velocity ambiguity; the inclusion of a priori information is necessary. We also present inversion results for station RSCP, located in the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee. Our results are similar to those from a previous study by Owens et al. (1984) and demonstrate the uncertainties in the resulting velocity estimate more clearly.

Description: A 30 km2 diapiric field has been identified near 13°50′N up to 12 km seaward of the deformation front of the Barbados accretionary complex. Using a deep‐towed side scan sonar with a 3.5‐kHz profiler, we identified 31 different diapiric structures. Based on seismic stratigraphy, we show that this field has been active for 200,000 years and that it is a transient feature triggered by the seaward propagation of the high pore fluid pressure associated with the décollement beneath the accretionary complex. Both basement and décollement in this area are anomalously shallow due to the presence of a N110° basement ridge. The height of the diapirs above seafloor does not exceed 40–50 m and can be related to the pressure head of the mud below the décollement. Two types of structures are identified: mud volcanoes and massively emplaced diapirs and ridges on the one hand, enigmatic circular very flat mud pies and conical mounds on the other hand. The second type of structures has steeper slopes and appears to be associated with very active venting, as confirmed by a submersible exploration reported in a companion paper (Le Pichon et al., this issue (b)). The venting results in the formation of a stiff carbonate crust and of large subsiding basins around the mud pies. Continuous active fluid expulsion through these structures indicates that an efficient piping system still connects them to the zone of anomalously high pore pressure below the protodécollement.

Description: We describe a 0.55 km2 semicircular mud pie and three adjacent diapiric mounds explored using the submersible Nautile near 13°50′N, 12 km seaward of the Barbados accretionary complex deformation front. This diapiric field had been previously explored with an acoustically navigated deep‐towed side scan sonar, thus providing an accurate base map. The mud pie is situated at a depth of 4938 m. In addition to visual observations, water, rock, sediment, and biological sampling, we measured temperature gradients and made geochemical analyses of the samples. Fluid venting associated with chemosynthetic animal communities is widespread on all four structures but is maximal in the central third of the mud pie. The chemosynthetic life distribution on the mud pie displays a concentric zonation which we relate to an increase in venting activity toward the center, as evidenced by thermal gradients. Recent mud flows are present in the centralmost part of the mud pie. The simplest interpretation of the structure is that it is a mud lake covered by a mechanically resistant carbonate crust. We determine that approximately 106 m3 of fluid are advected upward through the crust of the mud lake every year. This large amount of fluid implies large‐scale lateral transport.

Description: Active fluid venting and its surface manifestations (unique animals and carbonates) occur over the accretionary prism in the Cascadia subduction zone located off central Oregon. A large variety of authigenic carbonate deposits and unique carbonate structures have been observed from submersibles and remotely operated vehicles and recovered with aid of submersibles and bottom trawls from the outermost continental shelf and lower continental slope. The carbonate deposits range from relatively thin crusts and slabs to irregular edifices and well-formed circular chimneys that rise from 1 to 2 m above the seafloor. Mineralogically, the carbonate cement consists of aragonite, calcite, Mg-calcite, or dolomite with varying amounts of detrital constituents. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope data identify four distinct subgroups of methane-derived carbonates from several different vent sites and different fluid source zones. Subgroup I represents one vent site on the lower slope and is characterized by oxygen isotope values ranging from +6.8‰ to +4.7‰ PDB. Subgroup II represents another vent site about 1 km away and exhibits oxygen values of +3.4‰ to +4.9‰ PDB. Carbon isotopic values range from −40.96 to −30.23‰ versus −44.26 to −53.44‰ PDB, respectively, for the two vents. An irregular edifice from the outer shelf has the same isotopic composition as subgroup II. A companion study shows that the expelled fluids contain largely biogenic methane and methane-derived dissolved carbonate; a shallow fluid source zone (〈1 km) is indicated. The isotopic carbon values of the subgroup I and II carbonates are consistent with the carbon composition of the expelled fluids and apparently represent a historical record of the composition of these fluids. In subgroup III, strong 18O enrichment and heavier carbon values characterize the dolomitic chimneys from the outer continental shelf. Cemented sandstones from a “window” in the accretionary complex of the lower slope (subgroup IV) are characterized by extreme δ18O (−5.9 to −5.98 ‰) and moderate δ13C (−18.7 to −12.67‰)-depleted carbonates. This “light” oxygen isotope composition most likely originated from the upward migration of warm hydrothermal fluids along the main décollement, which tapped the warm subducting basaltic slab, during the early stages of formation of the accreted complex. Well-defined plumbing tubes within some carbonate chimneys on the shelf infer a single well-defined subsurface conduit with a fairly energetic fluid flow. The majority of the chimneys probably formed above the seafloor as long as the rate of carbonate precipitation exceeded the rate of detrital input during their formation. We calculate a minimum of one conduit for each 35 m2 at one vent site on the shelf. A less energetic flow is suggested by the chaotic plumbing network of an irregular edifice and by the widespread occurrence of the carbonate slabs and crusts at numerous vent sites.

Description: Fluid venting from the toe of the accretionary prism off Oregon was measured in situ during a series of dives with DSRV Alvin in 1987 and 1988. A benthic chamber was placed over active vent sites to sequentially collect samples of venting fluids and to make direct measurements of discharge rates. Calibrated flow meter measurements and flow rates determined from dissolved methane transfer indicate that discharge from two vent sites, Alvin 1428 and Alvin 1900, ranges roughly between 100 and 500 L m−2 d−1. with the most reliable estimates falling in the range of 125–150 L m−2d−1. These rates imply subsurface advective flow on the order of 100 m yr−1. Comparison of observed discharge rates with rates calculated for steady state expulsion supported by accretion-related compaction indicates that the observed flow is greater than predicted flow by several orders of magnitude. The disparity dictates that fluids are not derived locally, but are transported laterally within the prism, or that flow is not steady state and that individual vents are short-lived features in the ongoing accretion process.

Description: Characteristics of water masses were analyzed to study the Kuroshio intrusion into the sea southwest of Taiwan. Hydrographic data were obtained from CTD (conductivity, temperature, and depth) casts during two cruises in May and August 1986. In May, remnants of water intruding from the Kuroshio were found on the continental slope south of the Penghu Channel. By August, these were replaced by water from the South China Sea. During this period, water from the Kuroshio also appeared near the southern tip of Taiwan. The intrusion current reached a depth of at least 500 m and was probably part of a cyclonic circulation in the northern South China Sea. The results support the hypothesis of a seasonal pattern of the intrusion process: intrusion of water from the Kuroshio begins in late summer, intensifies in winter, and ceases by late spring when South China Sea waters again enter this region.

Description: A seismic refraction profile recorded along the geologic strike of the Chugach Mountains in southern Alaska shows three upper crustal high-velocity layers (6.9, 7.2, and 7.6 km/s) and a unique pattern of strongly focussed echelon arrivals to a distance of 225 km. The group velocity of the ensemble of echelon arrivals is 6.4 km/s. Modeling of this profile with the reflectivity method reveals that the echelon pattern is due to peg-leg multiples generated from with a low-velocity zone between the second and third upper crustal high-velocity layers. The third high-velocity layer (7.6 km/s) is underlain at 18 km depth by a pronounced low-velocity zone that produces a seismic shadow wherein zone peg-leg multiples are seen as echelon arrivals. The interpretation of these echelon arrivals as multiples supersedes an earlier interpretation which attributed them to successive primary reflections arising from alternating high- and low-velocity layers. Synthetic seismogram modeling indicates that a low-velocity zone with transitional upper and lower boundaries generates peg-leg multiples as effectively as one with sharp boundaries. No PmP or Pn arrivals from the subducting oceanic Moho at 30 km depth beneath the western part of the line are observed on the long-offset (90-225 km) data. This may be due to a lower crustal waveguide whose top is the high-velocity (7.6 km/s) layer and whose base is the Moho. A deep (~54 km) reflector is not affected by the waveguide and has been identified in the data. Although peg-leg multiples have been interpreted on some long-range refraction profiles that sound to upper mantle depths, the Chugach Mountains profile is one of the few crustal refraction profiles where peg-leg multiples are clearly observed. This study indicates that multiple and converted phases may be more important in seismic refraction/wide-angle reflection profiles than previously recognized.

Description: During a seismic reflection survey conducted by the California Consortium for Crustal Studies in the Basin and Range Province west of the Whipple Mountains, SE California, a piggyback experiment was carried out to collect intermediate offset data (12–31 km). These data were obtained by recording the Vibroseis energy with a second, passive recording array, deployed twice at fixed positions at opposite ends of the reflection lines. The reflection midpoints fall into a 3-km-wide and 15-km-long region in Vidal Valley, roughly parallel to a segment of one of the near-vertical reflection profiles. This data set makes three unique contributions to the geophysical study of this region. (1) From forward modeling of the observed travel times using ray-tracing techniques, a shallow layer with velocities ranging from 6.0 to 6.5 km/s was found. This layer dips to the south from 2-km depth near the Whipple Mountains to a depth of 5-km in Rice Valley. These depths correspond closely to the westward projection of the Whipple detachment fault, which is exposed 1 km east of the near-vertical profiles in the Whipple Mountains. (2) On the near-vertical profile, the reflections from the mylonitically deformed lower plate at upper crustal and mid crustal depths are seen to cease underneath a sedimentary basin in Vidal Valley. However, the piggyback data, which undershoot this basin, show that these reflections are continuous beneath the basin. Thus near-surface energy transmission problems were responsible for the apparent lateral termination of the reflections on the near-vertical reflection profile. (3) The areal distribution of the midpoints allows us to construct a quasi-three-dimensional image on perpendicular profiles; at the cross points we determined the true strike and dip of reflecting horizons. This analysis shows that the reflections from the mylonitically deformed lower plate dip to the southwest westward of the Whipple Mountains and dip to the south southward of the Turtle Mountains. The results of this study support the interpretation of crustal reflectivity in the near-vertical reflection profiles to be related to the mid-Tertiary episode of extension which produced the Whipple metamorphic core complex. This association geometrically suggests a more regionally distributed mechanism for crustal thinning as compared with single detachment fault models.

Description: The regions containing the two zonal currents of the subtropical gyre in the eastern North Atlantic, the Azores Current and the North Equatorial Current (NEC), have quite different physical characteristics. Associated with the Azores Current are strong horizontal thermohaline gradients that can be located easily both at the surface and at depth with temperature data alone, thus making satellite IR imagery and expendable bathythermograph profiles suitable for observing it. During winter, the surface expression of the Azores Current is often found to the north of the strongest subsurface gradients. In contrast to the Azores Current and to the central water mass boundary just to the south, the NEC has relatively weak horizontal temperature and salinity gradients, requiring density information in order to identify it. There is no clear surface manifestation found with the NEC. Common to both currents, though, is that each transports O(8 Sv) in the upper 800 m of the ocean near 27°W, with the largest velocities being in the upper 400 m.

Description: Li/Ca ratios in modern brachiopod shells generally correlate inversely with growth temperature, ranging from ∼20 µmol/mol at 30°C to ∼50 µmol/mol at 0°C with no apparent interspecific offsets. Causes of the temperature effect on Li/Ca ratios are not yet understood. Cenozoic brachiopod Li/Ca ratios average ∼30 µmol/mol, similar to the average observed in modern brachiopods. Relatively constant Li/Ca ratios for Eocene to Pleistocene nonluminescent brachiopod shells, consistent with previous observations of Cenozoic planktonic foraminifera, support the conclusion of little variation in Cenozoic seawater Li/Ca. Nonluminescent portions of Permian and Carboniferous brachiopods have Li/Ca ratios substantially lower (generally 〈10 µmol/mol) than modern, Cenozoic, or Devonian samples. Mass balance considerations, constrained by δ18O of brachiopods, suggest that low Li concentrations in Permo-Carboniferous seawater could be the result of a lower flux of dissolved Li from the continents and/or a higher flux of Li from seawater to clastic marine sediments. Nonluminescent Devonian brachiopods from a single hand specimen have Li/Ca ratios around 70% of the modern average. These Li/Ca ratios can be explained by either somewhat higher temperature with constant seawater Li/Ca, somewhat lower seawater Li/Ca at constant temperature, or a combination of slightly elevated temperature and slightly lower seawater Li/Ca.

Description: Turrialba volcano, the southeasternmost volcano in the Central American arc, is constructed of medium to high-K calcalkaline basalts, andesites, and dacites, plus rare basalts with unusually high Nb concentrations. The compositions of these high-Nb basalts are more similar to those of intraplate basalts than they are to typical calcalkaline or arc-tholeiitic basalts. The association of calcalkaline and high-Nb basalts is rare in arc front volcanoes, seemingly being restricted to volcanoes that overlie Oligocene or younger subducting crust or that overlie the edges of subducting plates. The calcalkaline and high-Nb basalts at Turrialba have generally similar major element, trace element, and isotopic compositions but differ significantly in their Ba/La and La/Nb ratios. The geochemical similarities imply that they were derived from similar ocean island basalt sources. Their geochemical differences suggest that residual rutile stabilized by a large ion lithophile element bearing slab-derived fluid was present during calcalkaline basalt genesis but not during high-Nb basalt genesis. To explain the stability of rutile in a calcalkaline melt with a relatively low TiO2 concentration, we use a model that involves two stages of melting for both basalt types. Silica saturated high degree melts with mid-ocean ridge basalt like incompatible element concentrations generated by upwelling mantle are used as mixing end-members for both the calcalkaline and the high-Nb basalts. The calcalkaline basalts represent mixtures of the high-degree melts and oxidized small-degree melts generated by amphibole breakdown in mantle overlying the subducting slab. This small-degree melt has high incompatible element concentrations and is saturated in rutile. Arc-related lamprophyric rocks have compositions that are appropriate for these small-degree melts. High-Nb basalts are mixtures of the high-degree melts and more reduced small-degree melts that are undersaturated in rutile. These reduced melts may migrate around or through the subducting slab into the wedge to become involved in arc magma genesis.

Description: Die 160. Reise von FS "Poseidon" vom 6. Juli bis 4. August 1989 bildet den Auftakt einer Serie fischereibiologischer Fahrten zur Untersuchungen der Rekrutierungs- und Interaktionsmechanismen bei grönländischen Seefischbeständen. Das Programm unter der Leitung von Prof. D. Schnack wird in enger Zusammenarbeit mit dem Grönländischen Fischereiforschungsinstitut und dem Institut für Seefischerei der BFA für Fischerei durchgeführt. Es soll wissenschaftliche Grundlagen für ein ökosystem-orientiertes Fischereimanagement im Seegebiet vor Grönland liefern.

Description: Hole 504B is by far the deepest hole yet drilled into the oceanic crust in situ, and it therefore provides the most complete “ground truth” now available to test our models of the structure and evolution of the upper oceanic crust. Cored in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean in 5.9-m.y.-old crust that formed at the Costa Rica Rift, hole 504B now extends to a total depth of 1562.3 m below seafloor, penetrating 274.5 m of sediments and 1287.8 m of basalts. The site was located where the rapidly accumulating sediments impede active hydrothermal circulation in the crust. As a result, the conductive heat flow approaches the value of about 200 mW/m² predicted by plate tectonic theory, and the in situ temperature at the total depth of the hole is about 165°C. The igneous section was continuously cored, but recovery was poor, averaging about 20%. The recovered core indicates that this section includes about 575 m of extrusive lavas, underlain by about 200 m of transition into over 500 m of intrusive sheeted dikes; the latter have been sampled in situ only in hole 504B. The igneous section is composed predominantly of magnesium-rich olivine tholeiites with marked depletions in incompatible trace elements. Nearly all of the basalts have been altered to some degree, but the geochemistry of the freshest basalts is remarkably uniform throughout the hole. Successive stages of on-axis and off-axis alteration have produced three depth zones characterized by different assemblages of secondary minerals: (1) the upper 310 m of extrusives, characterized by oxidative “seafloor weathering“; (2) the lower extrusive section, characterized by smectite and pyrite; and (3) the combined transition zone and sheeted dikes, characterized by greenschist-facies minerals. A comprehensive suite of logs and downhole measurements generally indicate that the basalt section can be divided on the basis of lithology, alteration, and porosity into three zones that are analogous to layers 2A, 2B, and 2C described by marine seismologists on the basis of characteristic seismic velocities. Many of the logs and experiments suggest the presence of a 100- to 200-m-thick layer 2A comprising the uppermost, rubbly pillow lavas, which is the only significantly permeable interval in the entire cored section. Layer 2B apparently corresponds to the lower section of extrusive lavas, in which original porosity is partially sealed as a result of alteration. Nearly all of the logs and experiments showed significant changes in in situ physical properties at about 900–1000 m below seafloor, within the transition between extrusives and sheeted dikes, indicating that this lithostratigraphic transition corresponds closely to that between seismic layers 2B and 2C and confirming that layer 2C consists of intrusive sheeted dikes. A vertical seismic profile conducted during leg 111 indicates that the next major transition deeper than the hole now extends—that between the sheeted dikes of seismic layer 2C and the gabbros of seismic layer 3, which has never been sampled in situ—may be within reach of the next drilling expedition to hole 504B. Therefore despite recent drilling problems deep in the hole, current plans now include revisiting hole 504B for further drilling and experiments when the Ocean Drilling Program returns to the eastern Pacific in 1991.

Description: In an attempt to create a scenario for the cause of the glacial to interglacial CO2 change recorded in air trapped in polar ice, we call on an increase in the alkalinity of polar surface waters. In this way we circumvent a major deficiency of the polar nutrient scenarios of Sarmiento and Toggweiler (1984), Siegenthaler and Wenk (1984) and Knox and McElroy (1984). Namely, our scenario does not require a drop in the nutrient content of polar surface waters in conformity with the demonstration by Boyle (1988a, b) that the cadmium content of planktonic foraminifera from polar regions did not decrease from late glacial to Holocene time. The rise in alkalinity required by our model is a natural consequence of the demise, during glacial time, of North Atlantic Deep Water as a major force in ocean circulation and of the nutrient maximum deepening of Boyle (1988b). Rather than being original, our hypothesis builds on the concept basic to the polar nutrient hypotheses, namely that the CO2 partial pressure in polar waters controls that for both the atmosphere and warm surface ocean. It also requires the alkalinity increase in surface waters produced by Boyle's nutrient deepening.

Description: A 4-year expendable bathythermograph data set (1984–1987) from the area between southern Brazil and the Antarctic Peninsula provides information on the interannual variability of front locations. Two boundaries of subtropical water at different depths are identified north and south of the Brazil Current-Falkland (Malvinas) Current confluence zone. The northern Subtropical Front is displaced over a large part of the Argentine Basin from one observational period to the other. The shallow southern Subtropical Front appears fixed to the Falkland Escarpment. The Polar Front and Subantarctic Front locations do not vary much, except for one case where a cold core eddy in the Polar Frontal Zone causes a large northward displacement of the Subantarctic Front.

Description: The Azores Current, south of the Azores Archipelago, is part of the subtropical North Atlantic gyre. Using an international hydrographic data set, we analyze mean and seasonal geostrophic transport fields in the upper 800 m of the ocean in order to determine the origin of the Azores Current in the western basin and seasonal changes in the related flow. Geostrophic currents are obtained by using the method applied by Stramma (1984) in the eastern basin. The Azores Current is found to originate in the area of the Southwest Newfoundland Rise (Figure 10). In winter an almost uniform current connects this region of origin with the Azores Current, while a branching into two current bands is observed in summer, with the southern band forming a marked cyclonic loop. Within the upper 800 m, all of the transport in the northern band and about 70% of the transport in the southern band recirculates in the eastern basin. Additionally, expendable bathythermograph data from the Azores Current region indicate an increase of eddy potential energy from winter to summer.

Description: Two buoy types have been tested with respect to their drift performance under drogued and undrogued conditions. Additionally, forces acting on the buoys were measured directly. Quadratic drag laws have been confirmed for the drag in water and the combined drag of wind and waves. Stokes drift contributes about one half to the wind factor of 0.023, which is obtained for undrogued buoys in the Atlantic. The forces on a windowshade drogue are given by a linear relation between force and water velocity for speeds exceeding 10 cm/s. They have been extrapolated to speeds of less than 10 cm/s by both a linear and a quadratic relationship. Correlations between drift and wind speed in the Atlantic suggest that the linear law is a better approximation under realistic conditions. According to these measurements in the Atlantic the described buoy-drogue system with a windowshade drogue in 100-m depth is a good current-measuring device. Slippage is negligible for wind speeds of less than 15 m/s and is less than 2 cm/s under gale conditions. Undrogued buoys are strongly affected by wind and cannot be used for the analysis of currents without correction, even under light winds.

Description: Along the continental margin of northern Peru, Sea Beam bathymetry and seismic reflection records reveal features from mass wasting in the middle and lower slope areas. A curved scarp cuts the middle slope and marks a slip surface seaward of which a 20 by 33 km block was displaced 800 m and back rotated 5° as it moved downslope. The front of that block is itself marked by a 1‐km‐high curved scar where the block failed and created a ∼30‐km debris flow avalanche. The avalanche morphology of closed highs and lows without directional fabric covers the lower slope and trench axis seaward of the detached block. If the slip was catastrophic, a local ∼50‐m‐high tsunami was generated. This example documents the type of slope failure commonly inferred as a source of destructive tsunamis. Since the block was detached along faults that displace beds 3–5 km deep, it represents more than a superficial slide where sediment was locally oversteepened. The detached block includes rocks that were part of the continental margin since at least Eocene time in front of which a 15‐km‐wide accretionary complex subsequently developed. Apparently, only low levels of horizontal compression could be transmitted into the upper plate because of weak coupling across the Benioff zone. This may have permitted detachment and mass movement of the block despite the long history of plate convergence here. Tsunamogenic slides and mass wasting at trench depths are difficult to detect without modern high‐resolution techniques.

Description: The constitutive relations describing the fluid pressure response of a porous medium to changes in stress and temperature must reflect the microscopic processes that are operative over the time scale allowed for the deformation. Short‐duration deformations are readily described by undrained moduli, and intermediate duration deformations by drained moduli, both of which are formulated through linear elastic theory. Long‐term deformations that operate over geologic time are normally dominated by irreversible processes and result in considerably larger deformations, for the same applied stress conditions, than would be expected from their elastic counterparts. Model constitutive equations are developed for both elastic and irreversible processes and the magnitude and interpretation of the relevant material properties examined. Although the theory is presented in general terms, a sample calculation shows that for sandstone the inelastic deformation is one and one half orders of magnitude greater than the elastic deformation at the same applied stress. This difference in magnitude has a significant effect on the effective hydraulic diffusivity, various pore pressure coefficients, and the prospective fluid pressure development of the sediment.

Description: Near-surface sediments from the equatorial east Atlantic and the Norwegian Sea exhibit pronounced shear strength maxima in profiles from the peak Holocene and Pleistocene. These semi-indurated layers start to occur at 8–102 cm below the sediment surface and can be explained neither by the modal composition nor by the effective overburden pressure of the sediments. However, scanning electron microscope and microprobe data exhibit micritic crusts and crystal carpets, which are clearly restricted to (undisturbed) samples from indurated layers and form a manifest explanation for their origin. The minerals precipitated comprise calcite, aragonite, and in samples more proximal to the African continent SiO2 needles, and needles of as yet unidentified K-Mg-Fe-Al silicates, crusts of which dominate the indurated layers in the Norwegian Sea. By their stratigraphic position in deep-sea sediments the carbonate-based shear strength maxima are tentatively ascribed to dissolved adjacent pteropod layers from the early Holocene and hence to short-lived no-analogue events of early diagenesis. Possibly, they have been controlled by a reduced organic carbon flux, leading to increased aragonite preservation in the deep sea.

Description: What is the relationship between volcanic eruptions and climate change? More than 200 years after the connection was first proposed, it remains a thorny question. This article provides a brief historical overview of the problem and a review of the various data bases used in evaluating volcanic events and associated climatic change. We use the term “climate” to describe changes in the atmosphere over wide regions for periods of several months and longer. We use “weather” to describe shorter-term, variable atmospheric fluctuations experienced over more restricted areas. We appraise the present state of knowledge and highlight some pitfalls involved in using available information. Cautiously, we suggest future avenues for study, including the possibility of “volcanic winters,” or severe eruption-induced coolings.

Description: Magnetic lineation mapping in the western central Pacific has revealed a pair of opposite-sensed, fanned lineation patterns that define the accretionary boundaries of the fossil Magellan microplate. This tectonic synthesis results from extensive magnetic mapping of two new lineation patterns over a large area and extended mapping of previously identified lineations. The entire evolutionary history of the Magellan microplate is well constrained to a 9-m.y. period in the Early Cretaceous by synchronous spreading patterns and associated geologic data. During this period the microplate grew and evolved as a generally rectangular structure to a final size of 700 km×600 km with spreading centers on two opposing sides and transform faults on the other two sides. The lifetime and size of the Magellan microplate are somewhat longer and larger, respectively, than presently active microplates on the East Pacific Rise. However, these modern structures are still evolving and growing, and the tectonic behavior of the modern and Cretaceous systems appears to be similar. Study of both active and fossilized microplates should provide additional insights on their common tectonic histories. In particular, we show that the Magellan Trough spreading center behaved as an asymmetric accretionary plate boundary that can be described with two separate poles of motion very close to this spreading center during much of its history. The Magellan Trough spreading center then failed as a result of a larger ridge reorganization at the triple junction of the Pacific, Farallon, and Phoenix plates at Ml0N time. Microplate activity ceased when the microplate became welded to the Pacific plate at M9 time.

Description: The Pacific seafloor is littered with small fragments of lithosphere captured from adjacent plates by past plate boundary reorganizations. One of the clearest examples of such a reorganization is documented in the Mathematician Seamounts region, where a distinctive geomorphology and well-developed magnetic anomalies are present. This reorganization involved a short-lived microplate between the failing Mathematician Ridge and a new propagating spreading center: the East Pacific Rise. It produced a transfer of a fragment of lithosphere from the Farallon to the Pacific plate, and also created a number of landforms and magnetic patterns, within and on the margins of the captured fragment; these make up the Mathematician paleoplate. In many cases, two sides of a microplate are active spreading ridges. A microplate evolves into a paleoplate when dual spreading ceases and full spreading resumes at the prevailing spreading ridge. We define a paleoplate as the area of the seafloor, from the axis of a failed rift to the boundary of resumed, full spreading. It includes a fragment of captured lithosphere and the lithosphere slowly accreted to it during the period of dual spreading, prior to complete abandonment of the failed rift. The Mathematician paleoplate has the following boundaries and components from west to east: the axis of the Mathematician failed rift, the fragment of captured Farallon plate, a complex rift initiation site at the Moctezuma Trough, a zone of slow spreading, and an as yet ill-defined eastern boundary where dual spreading stopped and full spreading resumed. The northern boundary of the paleoplate is the Rivera fracture zone; its southeastern boundary a now-inactive transform fault, the West O'Gorman fracture zone. In this case, as well as in other more poorly documented ones, relict landforms and magnetic patterns are carried on the aging lithosphere, away from the spreading ridge, recording a former geometry.

Description: Methane carbon isotopic composition ranged from −76.9 to −62.6‰ in a tidal freshwater estuary (the White Oak River, North Carolina, United States) with site specific seasonal variations ranging from 6 to 10‰. During warmer months, tidally induced bubble ebullition actively transported this methane to the atmosphere. At two sites, these seasonally varying fluxes ranged from 1.2 ± 0.3 to 1.3 ± 0.3 mol CH4 m−2yr−1 (19.2 to 20.8 g CH4m−2yr−1), with flux-weighted average isotopic compositions at two sites of −66.3 ± 0.4 and −69.5 ± 0.6‰. The carbon isotopic composition of naturally released bubbles was shown to be indistinguishable from the sedimentary methane bubble reservoir at three sites, leading to the conclusion that isotopic fractionation did not occur during the ebullition of methane. The hypothesis was developed that ebullitive methane fluxes are depleted in 13CH4 relative to fluxes transported via molecular diffusion or through plants, as zones of 13C enriching microbial methane oxidation are bypassed.

Description: Replacement dolomitization by seawater has been modeled in order to quantify the Sr-isotope signature in Cenozoic dolomites as a function of precursor mineralogy and 87Sr/86Sr ratio, reaction stoichiometry and 87Sr/86Sr ratio of the dolomitizing fluids. High Sr carbonates, such as aragonite, may introduce a significant precursor memory into an otherwise seawater dominated Sr-isotope signature if small quantities of seawater per unit volume of precursor carbonate are involved. Dolomitization of low Sr carbonates (i.e. low-Mg calcite) are shown to create an isotopic signature indistinguishable from that of the seawater involved in the reaction. Therefore, by comparison with the Sr-isotope evolution curve of seawater, the- 87Sr/86Sr ratios of the dolomites can be used to record the oldest possible age of dolomitization and the youngest age of deposition. The implications for this approach have been applied to data obtained from a dolomitized core from Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas. Two periods of dolomitization are recognized, one in the early Late Miocene involving Middle Miocene or older rocks, and a second one around 2.4 Ma ago affecting early Pliocene carbonates.

Description: A radiocarbon-calibrated box model for today's ocean suggests that a lag of about 1750 years should exist between the arrival of the midpoint of the deglaciation 18O signal in the deep Atlantic Ocean and its arrival in the deep Pacific Ocean. In order to assess the actual lag, we have carried out accelerator radiocarbon measurements on two cores from the Atlantic Ocean and one core from the Pacific Ocean. Although the results are not definitive, there is a suggestion that the actual time lag was about 1000 years.

Description: Based on detailed reconstructions of global distribution patterns, both paleoproductivity and the benthic δ13C record of CO2, which is dissolved in the deep ocean, strongly differed between the Last Glacial Maximum and the Holocene. With the onset of Termination I about 15,000 years ago, the new (export) production of low- and mid-latitude upwelling cells started to decline by more than 2-4 Gt carbon/year. This reduction is regarded as a main factor leading to both the simultaneous rise in atmospheric CO2 as recorded in ice cores and, with a slight delay of more than 1000 years, to a large-scale gradual CO2 depletion of the deep ocean by about 650 Gt C. This estimate is based on an average increase in benthic δ13C by 0.4–0.5‰. The decrease in new production also matches a clear 13C depletion of organic matter, possibly recording an end of extreme nutrient utilization in upwelling cells. As shown by Sarnthein et al., [1987], the productivity reversal appears to be triggered by a rapid reduction in the strength of meridional trades, which in turn was linked via a shrinking extent of sea ice to a massive increase in high-latitude insolation, i.e., to orbital forcing as primary cause.

Description: The eastern part of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre is found in the region between the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands. A study of the gyre structure in the area east of 35°W between 8°N and 41°N is presented. The geostrophic flow field determined from historical temperature-salinity data sets by objective analysis indicates seasonal variations in shape but no significant changes in the magnitude of volume transports. The eastern part of the gyre has a larger east-west and smaller north-south extension in summer compared with the winter season. The center shifts by about 2° latitude to the south from winter to summer. Long-term temperature time series (6.5 years) from a mooring near the Azores are consistent with these results, showing always a consistent temperature increase at the beginning of the year which is apparently due to the displacement of the northeastern part of the gyre. A comparison between the mean flow fields and fields obtained from individual zonal sections indicates large deviations north and south of the gyre but small deviations within the gyre.

Description: 2. Auflage

Description: It has long been recognized that the transition from the last glacial to the present interglacial was punctuated by a brief and intense return to cold conditions. This extraordinary event, referred to by European palynologists as the Younger Dryas, was centered in the northern Atlantic basin. Evidence is accumulating that it may have been initiated and terminated by changes in the mode of operation of the northern Atlantic Ocean. Further, it appears that these mode changes may have been triggered by diversions of glacial meltwater between the Mississippi River and the St. Lawrence River drainage systems. We report here Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon results on two strategically located deep-sea cores. One provides a chronology for surface water temperatures in the northern Atlantic and the other for the meltwater discharge from the Mississippi River. Our objective in obtaining these results was to strengthen our ability to correlate the air temperature history for the northern Atlantic basin with the meltwater history for the Laurentian ice sheet.

Description: Radiocarbon ages for benthic and planktonic foraminifera from the late glacial sections of two Atlantic and two Pacific cores are reported. The differences for benthic-planktonic pairs suggest that the radiocarbon age for deep Atlantic water was somewhat larger than today's (i.e., 600±250, as opposed to 400 years) and that the radiocarbon age for deep Pacific water was also slightly larger than today's (2100±400, as opposed to 1600, years). Our results suggest that during glacial time, the deep Pacific was, as it is today, significantly depleted in radiocarbon relative to the deep Atlantic. As many questions remain unanswered regarding the reliability of this approach, these conclusions must be considered to be preliminary.

Description: As a test of the reliability of paleocean ventilation rates reconstructed from radiocarbon age differences between planktonic and benthic foraminifera, measurements have been made on coexisting species of planktonic foraminifera. While ideally no differences should exist, we do find them. In this paper we discuss the possible causes for these differences and attempt to evaluate their impact on the interpretation of benthic-planktonic age differences.

Description: The total mass of sediments on the ocean floor is estimated to be 262 × 1021 g. The overall mass/age distribution is approximated by an exponential decay curve: (11.02 × 1021 g)e−0.0355t Ma. The mass/age distribution is a function of the area/age distribution of ocean crust, the supply of sediment to the deep sea, and submarine erosion and redeposition. About 140 × 1021 g of the sediment on the ocean floor is pelagic sediment, consisting of about 74% CaCO3, with the remainder opaline silica and red clay. Of the sediment on the ocean floor, 122 × 1021 g is detritus, mostly terrigenous, but a small portion (about 6 × 1021 g) is volcanic. Because very little pelagic sediment is obducted, virtually all of the pelagic sediment mass and some fraction of the terrigenous sediment is being subducted at a rate estimated to be about 1 × 1021 g per million years. The composition of sediment on the ocean floor differs significantly from that of average passive margin and continental sediment, so that the loss of ocean floor sediment through subduction may drive the composition of global sediment toward enrichment in silica, alumina, and potash and toward depletion in calcium.

Description: Sedimentological, isotopic and magnetostratigraphic investigations of Ocean Drilling Program and Deep Sea Drilling Project sites 642, 643, 644 and 610 document the oceanographic and climatic evolution of the Norwegian Sea and the northeastern Atlantic over the last 2.8 m.y.. The results show that a major expansion of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet to the coastal areas took place at about 2.56 Ma. Relatively severe glacials appeared until about 2 Ma. The period 2.6 ‐ 1.2 Ma experienced in general cold surface water conditions with only a weak influx of temperate Atlantic water as compared with late Quaternary interglacials. The Norwegian Sea was a sink of deep water through this period but deepwater ventilation was reduced and calcite dissolution was high compared with the Holocene. Deep water formed by other mechanisms than it does today. Between 2 and 1.2 Ma the glaciations in Scandinavia were small. A transition toward larger glacials took place during the period 1.2 to 0.6 Ma, corresponding to warmer interglacials and reduced calcite dissolution. Only during the last 0.6 m.y. has the oceanographic and climatic system of the Norwegian Sea varied in the manner described in previous studies of the late Quaternary. A strong thermal gradient was present between the Norwegian Sea and the northeastern Atlantic during the Matuyama (2.5–0.7 Ma). This is interpreted as a sign of a more zonal and less meridional climatic system over the region compared with the present situation.

Description: A worldwide investigation of continental erosion is carried out by the study of large drainage basins, on the basis of hydrological data, environmental factors, and basin relief distribution. Inside each basin, mean geochemical and mechanical denudation rates are defined. A multicorrelation analysis shows that the mechanical denudation rates Ds are uncorrelated with environmental factors and correlated with mean basin elevation H, while chemical denudation rates Dd are insensitive to relief but correlated with mean annual precipitation. Furthermore, two linear relationships between H and Ds are detected: (1) Ds (m/10³ yr) = 419×10−6 H (m) ‐ 0.245, with V (explained variance) = 95.1%; this law concerns basins related to orogenies younger than 250 Ma. The negative intercept is interpreted as a continental sedimentation rate of 245 m/m.y. An alternative model in which one invokes a critical elevation, separating erosion from sedimentation, is equally successful and leads to lower sedimentation rates (60–110 m/m.y.). For both models, one derives from the slope of the adjustments, erosion time constants on the order of 2.5 m.y. (2) Ds (m/10³ yr) = 61×10−6 H (m), with V = 86.5%; this law concerns basins related to older orogenies. The null intercept suggests the lack of continental storage. Because of the more important dispersion of the data, the erosion time constant is calculated separately for each basin; it ranges from 15 to 360 m.y. The tectonic implications of these results are discussed. In particular, the short time constant 2.5 m.y. agrees with orogenic uplift rates on the order of 1 mm/yr, observed in active mountain chains.

Description: We have determined the centroid depths and source mechanisms of 12 large earthquakes on transform faults of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge from an inversion of long-period body waveforms. The earthquakes occurred on the Gibbs, Oceanographer, Hayes, Kane, 15°20′, and Vema transforms. We have also estimated the depth extent of faulting during each earthquake from the centroid depth and the fault width. For five of the transforms, earthquake centroid depths lie in the range 7–10 km beneath the seafloor, and the maximum depth of seismic faulting is 14–20 km. On the basis of a comparison with a simple thermal model for transform faults, this maximum depth of seismic behavior corresponds to a nominal temperature of 900° ± 100°C. In contrast, the nominal temperature limiting the maximum depth of faulting during oceanic intraplate earthquakes with strike-slip mechanisms is 700° ± 100°C. The difference in these limiting temperatures may be attributed to the different strain rates characterizing intraplate and transform fault environments. Three large earthquakes on the 15°20′ transform have shallower centroid depths of 4–5 km and a maximum depth of seismic faulting of 10 km, corresponding to a limiting temperature of 600°C. The shallower extent of seismic behavior along the 15°20′ transform may be related to a recent episode of extension across the transform associated with the northward migration of the triple junction among North American, South American, and African plates to its present position near the transform. The source mechanisms for all events in this study display the strike-slip motion expected for transform fault earthquakes; slip vector azimuths agree to within 2°–3° of the local strike of the zone of active faulting. The only anomalies in mechanism were for two earthquakes near the western end of the Vema transform which occurred on significantly nonvertical fault planes. Secondary faulting, occurring either precursory to or near the end of the main episode of strike-slip rupture, was observed for five of the 12 earthquakes. For three events the secondary faulting was characterized by reverse motion on fault planes striking oblique to the trend of the transform. In all three cases the site of secondary reverse faulting is near a compressional jog in the current trace of the active transform fault zone. We find no evidence to support the conclusions of Engeln, Wiens, and Stein that oceanic transform faults in general are either hotter than expected from simple thermal models or weaker than normal oceanic lithosphere.

Description: The Gulf of California is a long, narrow marginal sea lying between the Baja California peninsula and the mainland of Mexico. Air‐sea fluxes of heat and moisture in the gulf are enhanced because of geographical isolation from the Pacific provided by the mountainous Baja California peninsula. In the northern gulf, annual evaporation rates are about 1 m y−1. Unlike most evaporative basins, however, the gulf gains heat from the atmosphere at an annual average rate of 20 to 80 W m−2 (Bray, 1988). Given the unusual air‐sea forcing of the gulf, what form or forms should water mass formation take? The annual moisture loss and heat gain require that high‐salinity surface water be transported downward to an intermediate depth and that cold, fresh inflow be transported upward to an intermediate depth. This is accomplished through several mechanisms. (1) Winter convection: this occurs only in a limited geographical region, the Wagner Basin of the far northern gulf, except in El Niño–Southern Oscillation years, when convection appears to be more widespread. (2) Dispersion of convected water in small eddylike features: this occurs within a large‐scale southward transport possibly driven by the large‐scale density gradient associated with atmospheric fluxes. (3) An anticyclonic circulation in the northern gulf: this is found south of the convection region and transports high‐salinity water off the shallow shelves and to substantial depths, where it may mix with water of central gulf origin. (4) Tidal mixing: most of the energy available for mixing in the northern gulf derives from the tides. In particular, tidal mixing over the sill in the island region is responsible for the substantial reduction in salinity of northern gulf waters as they enter the central gulf.

Description: High-resolution seismic reflection and Sea Beam bathymetric data provide insights into the processes of sediment offscraping and accretion in the Middle America Trench off southern Mexico. Thick terrigenous sediments that are transported down Ometepec Canyon and accumulate along the trench floor are scraped off the oceanic plate and accreted in thrust packets to the lower trench slope. The packets offscraped represent most of the trench strata. Underlying hemipelagic deposits that accumulate on the seafloor seaward of the trench are subducted landward of the toe of the slope. Horizontal displacement on the thrust is less than 1 km. Leading edge folds are the surface expressions of the thrusts and strike subparallel to the base of the trench slope. The folds are continuous for as much as 10 km and have amplitudes as high as 200 m and wavelengths of 0.5 to 2 km. Folds are best developed along sections of the trench with interbedded silty turbidite and mud deposits. Fold are absent where thick coarse-grained fan deposits occur. Thickening of the thrust packets occurs by large-scale thrust duplication, by layer-parallel shortening, and by deposition of material that slumps off the leading edge of older upslope thrust blocks.

Description: The inversion of local earthquake data (LED) for three-dimensional velocity structure requires the simultaneous solution of the coupled hypocenter-model problem. The Aki-Christoffersson-Husebye method (ACH) involves the inversion of large matrices, a task that is often performed by approximative solutions when the matrices become too big, as is the case for most LED, considering the coupled inverse problem. Such an approximate method (herein referred to as approximate geotomographic method) is used to perform tests with LED to obtain the best suited inversion parameters, such as velocity damping and number of iteration steps. The ACH method has been proposed for use of teleseismic data. Several adjustments to the original ACH method, which are necessary for use of LED, have been developed and are discussed. Such adjustments are the separation of the unknown hypocentral from the velocity model parameters for the inversion, the use of geometric weighting and step length weighting, the calculation of a minimum one-dimensional (1D) model as the starting three-dimensional (3D) model for the model inversion, and the display of an approximate resolution matrix (ray density tensors) before the inversion is performed. The ray density tensors allow the block cutting, e.g., the definition of the 3D velocity grid, to better correspond with the resolution capability of the specific data set. The adjustments to the method are tested by inversion of realistic LED of known variance. Synthetic LED are also used to demonstrate the effects of systematic errors, such as mislocations of seismic stations, on the resulting velocity field. Using the data sets from Long Valley, California, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and Borah Peak, Idaho, the effects of improvements to the ACH method and of the data filtering process are shown. The use of the minimum 1D models for routine earthquake location improves this location procedure, as shown with the relocation of shots for the Long Valley and Yellowstone areas. The three-dimensional velocity fields obtained by the ACH method for the Long Valley and Yellowstone areas show local anomalies in the p velocity that can be correlated with tectonic and volcanic features. A pronounced anomaly of low p velocity below the Yellowstone caldera can be interpreted as a large magma chamber. However, the bulk of the paper addresses problems of the inversion method. The LED from the areas mentioned above are used to numerically and theoretically tune the inversion method for the defects that all real data contain. It is shown that one of the most important steps for any inversion of LED is the selection of the data for quality and for geometrical distribution.