ALBERT

Description: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution December 1996

Description: Two-thirds of the surface of the Earth is created at mid-ocean ridges where magmas rise from the mantle and cool to form the oceanic crust. The objective of this Thesis is to examine the influence of magma supply and eruptive processes on axial morphology, crustal construction, and the properties of crustal magma chambers at intermediate and fast spreading ridges. Variations in magma supply on time scales of ~100 Kyr generate along-axis changes in crustal thickness and temperature. Magma sill properties and hydrothermal activity are closely linked to spreading events which occur on much shorter time scales (ca. 10-100 yr) than the longer-term variations in magma supply reflected in along-axis changes in ridge morphology. The seismically constrained depths of ridge crest magma sills (〉1-2 km) are considerably deeper than the level of neutral buoyancy (100-400 m). The apparent inverse relationship between magma sill depth and spreading rate suggests that a thermally controlled permeability boundary, such as the solidus horizon, controls the depth at which magma ponds beneath mid-ocean ridges. Recent thermo-mechanical models predict that, at intermediate spreading rates, rift valley and magma sill formation are sensitive to small changes in crustal thickness and mantle temperature. Analysis of gravity at an intermediate spreading ridge shows that small differences in crustal thickness (300-700 m) and mantle temperature (10-15°C) are indeed sufficient to produce major changes in lithospheric strength and axial morphology. A stochastic model for the emplacement of dikes and lava flows with a bimodal distribution of lava flows is required to satisfy geological and geophysical constraints on the construction of the extrusive section. Most dikes are intruded within a narrow zone at the ridge axis. Short flows build up approximately half the extrusive volume. Occasional flows that pond at a considerable distance off-axis build up the remainder of the extrusive section. This Thesis underlines the importance of eruption dynamics in the emplacement of the uppermost volcanic layer of the crust and of the crustal thermal structure in controlling local variations in magma sill depth and ridge morphology.

Description: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution May 1997

Description: Many of the most important processes that create and modify continental crust occur at continental margins, but recently has the scientific community acquired the necessary intrumentation to image crustal structure across margins in detail. In this thesis we investigate the crustal structure across the U.S. East Coast rifted margin and the convergent margin of southwestern Alaska using modern, deep-penetrating marine seismic reflection/refraction data. We consider U.S. East Coast margin transects along the shelf offshore Georgia and across the mid-Atlantic margin near Chesapeak bay. Results by other workers, based on data from these transects, have shown that voluminous volcanism accompanied formation of the rifted margin during continental breakup. Results presented in this thesis constrain the landward extent of rift-related magmatic emplacement. We find that magmatic intrusion and underplating of pre-existing continental crust occurs primarily in extended crust and that crustal extension is focused in a 75-km-wide region beneath the shelf and slope. The crust thinned by 50 to 80% within this interval and then seafloor spreading began with an unusually large volume of igneous crust production. The initial volcanic extrusives were emplaced subaerially and are now present beneath the sediments in a thick seaward-dipping wedge. We use post-stack depth migration to image this wedge and use the resulting image to consider the early subsidence of the margin. The geometry of the subaerially extruded rift volcanics suggest that the margin subsided rapidly once volncanism began. We infer from the subsidence, the along-margin distribution of magmatic material, and the across-margin localization of magmatic emplacement and deformation that the U.S. East Coast rift volcanics had an anomalously-hot mantle source whose distribution beneath the lithosphere prior to rifting was long (the length of the margin) but not deep. We speculate that the distribution of this material was controlled by topography at the base of the lithosphere inherited from the Paleozoic collision of North America and Africa. Our analysis of the southwestern Alaska convergent margin is based on data from the 1994 Aleutian seismic experiment. The crust of most of Alaska has been built through terrane accretion and arc magmatism, and this experiment was conducted to study the evolution of continental crust through these processes. We consider transects across the westernmost Alaska Peninsula margin, where subduction is occurring beneath protocontinental crust composed of oceanic-arc terranes accreted in the Cretaceous, and across Bristol Bay in the back arc region where the crust has undergone a number of geologic events since accretion. Across the Peninsula, we find that the velocity structure of the accreted terranes differs little from that of the Cenozoic Aleutian oceanic-arc crust west of the Peninsula determined along another transect of this experiment. The accreted oceanicarc terranes are considerably more mafic than continental crust and the process of accretion has apparently not modified the bulk composition of these terranes toward that of average continental crust. It is possible that Cenozoic arc magmatism has been more felsic in composition than that which formed the accreted terranes and the Aleutian oceanic arc to the west, and that these magmas have been emplaced primarily within the crust inboard of the accreted terranes which lie south of the currently active arc. The geology of the Bristol Bay region suggests that the crustal components here had an origin similar to that of the Alaska Peninsula margin- that is, accreted terranes. We find, however, that the crust beneath Bristol Bay has a typically continental velocity structure. If this crust originally had a structure similar to the Alaska Peninsula margin, then at least two processes must have occured to affect the transformation to its current structure: crustal thickening and removal of the mafic lower crust. The geologic events that have affected this region since accretion are consistent with such and evolution.

Description: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution September 1996

Description: We analyze bathymetric and gravity anomalies at five plume-ridge systems to constrain crustal and mantle density structure at these prominent oceanic features. Numerical models are then used to explore the physical mechanisms controlling plume-ridge interaction and to place theoretical constraints on the temperature anomalies, dimensions, and fluxes of the Icelandic and Galapagos plumes. In Chapter 1 we analyze bathymetric and gravity anomalies along the hotspot-influenced Galapagos Spreading Center. We find that the Galapagos plume generates along-axis bathymetric and mantle-Bouguer gravity anomalies (MBA) that extend 〉500 km east and west of the Galapagos Islands. The along-axis MBA becomes increasingly negative towards the plume center, reaching a minimum of ~-90 mGal near 91°W, and axial topography shallows by ~1.1 km toward the plume. These variations in MBA and bathymetry are attributed to the combined effects of crustal thickening and anomalously low mantle densities, both of which are due to a mantle temperature anomaly imposed beneath the ridge by the Galapagos plume. Passive mantle flow models predict a temperature anomaly of 50±25°C is sufficient to produce the 2-4 km excess crust required to explain the along-axis anomalies. 70-75% of the along-axis bathymetric and MBA variations are estimated to arise from the crust with the remaining 25-30% generated by the anomalously hot, thus low-density mantle. Along Cocos-plate isochrons, bathymetric and MBA variations increase with increasing isochron age, suggesting the subaxial mantle temperature anomaly was greater in the past when the plume was closer, to the ridge axis. In addition to the Galapagos plume-ridge system, in Chapter 2 we examine alongisochron bathymetric and MBA variations at four other plume-ridge systems associated with the Iceland, Azores, Easter and Tristan hotspots. We show that residual bathymetry (up to 4.7 km) and mantle-Bouguer gravity anomalies (up to -340 mGal) are greatest at on-axis plumes and decreases with increasing ridge-hotspot separation distance, until becoming insignificant at a plume-ridge separation of ~500 km. Along-isochron widths of bathymetric anomalies (up to 2700 km) decrease with increasing paleo-spreading rate, reflecting the extent to which plume material flows along-axis before being swept away by the spreading lithosphere. Scaling arguments suggest an average ridgeward plume flux of -2.2x106 km/my. Assuming that the amplitudes of the MBA and bathymetric anomalies reflect crustal thickness and mantle density variations, passive mantle flow models predict maximum subaxial mantle temperature anomalies to be 150-225°C for ridge-center plumes, which decrease as the ridges migrate away from the plumes. The dynamics of mantle flow and melting at ridge-centered plumes are investigated in Chapters 3 using three-dimensional, variable-viscosity, numerical models. Three buoyancy sources are examined: temperature, melt depletion, and melt retention. The width W to which a plume spreads along a ridge axis depends on plume volume flux Q, full spreading rate U, buoyancy number B = (QΔρg)/(48η0U2), and ambient/plume viscosity contrast ϒ according to W=2.37(Q/U)l/2(Bϒ)0.04. Thermal buoyancy is first order in controlling along-axis plume spreading while latent heat loss due to melting, and depletion and retention buoyancy forces contribute second order effects. Two end-member models of the Iceland-Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) system are examined. The first endmember model has a broad plume source of radius 300 km, temperature anomaly of 75°C, and volume flux of 1.2xl07 km3/my. The second model has a narrower plume source of radius 60 km, temperature anomaly of l70°C, and flux of 2.1 x106 km3/my. The first model predicts successfully the observed crustal thickness, topographic, and MBA variations along the MAR, but the second model requires substantial along-axis melt transport in order to explain the observed along-axis variations in crustal thickness, bathymetry, and gravity. We favor this second model because it predicts a mantle P-wave velocity reduction in the plume of ~2% as consistent with recent seismic observations beneath Iceland. Finally in Chapter 4 we use three-dimensional numerical models to investigate the interaction of plumes and migrating midocean ridges. Scaling laws of axial plume spreading width Ware derived first for stationary ridges and off-axis plumes, which yield results consistent with those obtained from independent studies of Ribe [1996]. Wand the maximum plume-ridge interaction distance Xmax again scale with (Q/U)l/2 as in the case of ridge-centered plumes and increase with ϒ and buoyancy number. In the case of a migrating ridge, Xmax is reduced when a ridge migrates toward the plume due to excess drag of the faster-moving leading plate, and enhanced when a ridge migrates away from the plume due to reduced drag of the slower-moving trailing plate. Thermal erosion of the lithospheric boundary layer by the previously ridge-centered plume further enhances Wand Xmax but to a degree that is secondary to the differential migration rates of the two plates. Model predictions are compared with observed along-isochron bathymetric and MBA variations at the Galapagos plume-ridge system. The anomaly amplitudes and widths, as well as the increase in anomaly amplitude with age are predicted with a plume source temperature anomaly of 80-120°C, radius of 80-100 km, and volume flux of 4.5x106 km3/m.y. Our numerical models also predict crustal production rates of the Galapagos Islands consistent with those estimated independently using the observed island topography. Predictions of the geochemical signature of the plume along the present-day ridge suggest that mixing between the plume and ambient mantle sources is unlikely to occur in the asthenosphere or shallow crust, but most likely deeper in the mantle possibly by entrainment of ambient mantle as the plume ascends through the depleted portion of the mantle from its deep source reservoir.

Description: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution March 1997

Description: The formation of new oceanic crust is the result of a complex geodynamic system in which mantle rises beneath spreading centers and undergoes decompression melting. The melt segregates from the matrix and is focused to the rise axis, where it is eventually intruded and/or erupted to form the oceanic crust. This thesis combines surface observations with laboratory studies and geodynamic modeling to study this crustal-production system. Quantitative modeling of the crustal and mantle contributions to the axial gravity and topography observed at the East Pacific Rise shows that the retained melt fraction in the mantle is small (〈3%) and is focused into a narrow column extending up to 70 km beneath the ridge axis. Consistent with geochemical constraints, the extraction of melt from the mantle therefore appears to be efficiently focus melt toward the ridge axis. A combination of laboratory and numerical studies are used to constrain the pattern of mantle flow beneath highly-segmented ridges. Even when the buoyant component of mantle flow is constrained to be two-dimensional, laboratory studies show that a segmented ridge will drive three-dimensional mantle upwelling. However, using reasonable mantle parameters in numerical models, it is difficult to induce large-amplitude three-dimensional mantle upwelling at the relatively short wavelengths of individual segments (~50 km). Instead, a simple model of three-dimensional melt migration shows that the observed segment-scale variations in crustal thickness can be explained by focusing of melt as it upwells through a more two-dimensional mantle flow field. At the Reykjanes Ridge, the melt appears to accumulate in small crustal magma chambers, before erupting in small batches to form numerous overlapping hummocky lava flows and small volcanoes. This suggests that crustal accretion, particularly at slow-spreading centers, may be a highly discontinuous process. Long-wavelength variations in crustal accretion may be dominated by variations in mantle upwelling while short-wavelength, segment-scale variations are more likely controlled by a complex three-dimensional processes of melt extraction and magma eruption.

Description: During my first three years in the Joint Program, I was supported by an National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship. Other support has been derived from National Science Foundation grants OCE-9296017, OCE-9224738, OCE-9215544, and EAR grant 93-07400.

Description: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution May 1998

Description: Planktonic protozoan grazers have the potential to significantly affect the chemistry of particle-associated trace metals. This is due both to the importance of protists as consumers of bacterial-sized particles, and to the unique low-pH, enzyme-rich microenvironment of the grazer food vacuole. This thesis examines the role of protozoan grazers in the marine geochemistry of strongly hydrolyzed, particle-reactive trace metals, in particular Th and Fe. A series of tracer experiments was carried out in model systems in order to determine the effect of grazer-mediated transformations on the chemical speciation and partitioning of radioisotopes C9Fe, 234Th, 51Cr) associated with prey cells. Results indicate that protozoan grazers are equally able to mobilize intracellular and extracellular trace metals. In some cases, protozoan regeneration of trace metals appears to lead to the formation of metal-organic complexes. Protozoan grazing may generate colloidal material that can scavenge trace metals and, via aggregation, lead to an increase in the metal/organic carbon ratio of aggregated particles. Model system experiments were also conducted in order to determine the effect of grazers on mineral phases, specifically colloidal iron oxide (ferrihydrite). Several independent techniques were employed, including size fractionation ors9Fe-labeled colloids, competitive ligand exchange, and iron-limited diatoms as "probes" for bioavailable Fe. Experimental evidence strongly suggests that protozoan grazing can affect the surface chemistry and increase the dissolution rate of iron oxide phases through phagotrophic ingestion. In further work on protozoan-mediated dissolution of colloidal Fe oxides, a novel tracer technique was developed based on the synthesis of colloidal ferrihydrite impregnated with 133Ba as an inert tracer. This technique was shown to be a sensitive, quantitative indicator for the extent of ferrihydrite dissolution/alteration by a variety of mechanisms, including photochemical reduction and ligand-mediated dissolution. In field experiments using this technique, grazing by naturally occuring protistan assemblages was shown to significantly enhance the dissolution rate of colloidal ferrihydrite over that in non-grazing controls. Laboratory and field results indicate that, when integrated temporally over the entire euphotic zone, protozoan grazing may equal or exceed photoreduction as a pathway for the dissolution of iron oxides.

Description: This work was financially supported by a Department of Defense ONR-NDSEG Graduate Fellowship, Office ofNaval Research AASERT Award (N00014-94-1-0711), and the National Science Foundation EGB Program (OCE-9523910).

Description: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 1993

Description: This dissertation studies several aspects of the formation of the Earth's oceanic mantle and crust, using a variety of geologic techniques, principally major elements, radiogenic isotopes and trace elements, but including petrography, mineral chemistry, x-ray diffraction, seafloor geomorphology, and analysis of the tectonics of fracture zones. The first chapter is an introduction to the problems to be addressed in this work. The second chapter examines the composition of basalts erupted near the Atlantis II Fracture Zone on the Southwest Indian Ridge. Trends in major element compositions of those basalts can be related directly to the nearby presence of the fracture zone. The effects of mantle composition and crustal level lateral transport of magma in the rift system can be ruled out by the analysis of isotopes and the geomorphology of the fracture zone floor. This is the best demonstration to date of a transform fault effect on basalt compositions. In trying to quantify putative transform fault effects documented at other fracture zones, no systematic correlation of transform offset age with mantle temperature change can be found, suggesting that mantle composition and lateral transport phenomena play a larger than expected role in the evolution of those areas. The third chapter relates to oceanic mantle rocks as they are altered at or near the Earth's surface. The major elements which make up abyssal peridotites are extensively redistributed by the alteration they have undergone. Mg is shown to be extracted from the peridotites, and a variety of trace elements added. This elemental redistribution is taken as evidence for extensive Mg transport by circulating waters. Since the solubility of Mg-bearing minerals in hydrothermal solutions is quite limited, much lower temperatures and much higher water /rock ratios are required to explain the major element compositions of the peridotites than had previously been assumed. The behavior of the Nd, Sr and Os isotopic systems during seafloor alteration was also studied. The isotope systematics of these rocks strongly support the hypothesis of high water /rock ratios in the formation of serpentinized abyssal peridotites. Nonetheless, Nd and Sr reside in a phase which is resistant to alteration (clinopyroxene) and the concentration of Os is high relative to that of seawater, so that it too appears resistant to alteration. Primary mantle isotopic signatures may be obtained from abyssal peridotites by careful analysis, even of extremely weathered rocks. Radiogenic strontium in excess of what could be introduced by seawater contamination or in situ radiogenic growth in a reasonable period of time was also found. These observations confirm earlier work which had been discredited for many years. The only plausible mechanism for the formation of this "orphan" S7Sr is that it is introduced as part of a sedimentary component which infiltrates the rock during metamorphism and/ or weathering. The 87Sr may be contained by or sorbed onto extremely fine clay particulates, or colloidal suspensions, as opposed to the dissolved ionic Sr which is normally thought of as characterizing the Sr isotopic composition of seawater. The high water/rock ratios required by the bulk isotopic analysis, as well as the pervasive elemental redistribution arguing for extensive near-surface weathering at high water /rock ra.tios strongly support this hypothesis. Given pervasive percolation of water throughout the samples, sufficient radiogenic, sediment-derived strontium may be drawn deep into the crust in the course of its weathering to cause such high B7SrfB6Sr ratios. The fourth chapter deals exclusively with primary mantle isotopic information from abyssal peridotites. This is the first study which has attempted to relate the Os isotopic system in the oceanic mantle to other isotopic systems and to trace elements. It is possible, with some extreme assumptions, to model the range of Os isotopes in the oceanic mantle alone in a standard model of formation of the depleted mantle by extraction of the crust. The additional constraints provided by the study of Nd isotopes in depleted mantle rocks from the oceans show that partial melt extraction and the formation of a depleted reservoir alone are not sufficient to account for the range of both N d and Os isotopes in the Earth's mantle. Possible mechanisms for the decoupling of the Os and Nd isotopic systems include elemental fractionation via the porous flow of basalt through the mantle, mantle metasomatism, recycling of a subducted component in the mantle and core formation. The core extraction model is pursued in some detail. Such core extraction models can account for the distributions and isotopic compositions of compatible and incompatible trace elements in the Earth's mantle, but they are highly non-unique, and thus difficult to test.

Description: This thesis was supported by an NSF Graduate Fellowship, and by a grant from the WHOI Ocean Ventures Fund.

Description: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution February 1998

Description: Stable sulfur isotopes (δ34S) and trace Co are analyzed in sulfide and sulfate minerals from six sample types collected from the TAG active mound, 26°N Mid-Atlantic Ridge. δ34S values range from 2.7 to 2O.9%, with sulfate minerals isotopically indistinguishable from seawater (21%), and sulfide minerals reflecting input of 1/3 seawater and 2/3 basaltic sulfur (~0%). Co concentrations in pyrite analyzed by ion microprobe primarily reflect depositional temperatures. The δ34S and Co data are combined to provide information regarding the sources and temperatures of parent fluids, the genetic relationships among sample types, and the circulation of hydrothermal fluids and seawater in the mound. δ34S values and Co concentrations vary by sample type. Chalcopyrite from black smoker samples exhibits invariant δ34S values, indicating direct precipitation from black smoker fluids. Crust samples contain chalcopyrite with a mean δ34S indistinguishable from that of black smoker samples, and pyrite with some light δ34S and moderately high Co values, consistent with crust samples precipitating from cooled black smoker fluids. Massive anhydrite samples are a mixture of anhydrite with high δ34S, and pyrite with variable δ34S and Co values, indicative of deposition from disequilibrium mixing between black smoker fluids and seawater. White smoker samples contain chalcopyrite and sphalerite with high δ34S, and pyrite with low Co values, reflecting deposition from cooler fluids formed from mixtures of seawater and black smoker fluid, with some reduction of sulfate. Mound samples contain chalcopyrite with a mean δ34S indistinguishable from that of black smoker and crust samples, and pyrite with low Co values, suggesting deposition from a fluid isotopically similar to black smoker fluid at temperatures similar to those of white smoker fluid. Massive sulfide samples exhibit pyrite with high δ34S values and very high Co, indicating deposition from and recrystallization with very hot fluids contaminated with seawater-derived sulfate. The data demonstrate that direct precipitation from black smoker fluids, conductive cooling, disequilibrium mixing with entrained seawater, sulfate reduction, and recrystallization all contribute to the formation of the TAG mound deposit. The successful preliminary Co analyses demonstrate that ion microprobe analyses are a viable technique for measuring trace elements in sulfides.

Description: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2010

Description: This thesis presents the results of four discrete investigations into processes governing the organic and inorganic chemical composition of seafloor hydrothermal fluids in a variety of geologic settings. Though Chapters 2 through 5 of this thesis are disparate in focus, each represents a novel investigation aimed at furthering our understanding of subsurface geochemical processes affecting hydrothermal fluid compositions. Chapters 2 and 3 concern the abiotic (nonbiological) formation of organic compounds in high temperature vent fluids, a process which has direct implications for the emergence of life in early Earth settings and sustainment of present day microbial populations in hydrothermal environments. Chapter 2 represents an experimental investigation of methane (CH4) formation under hydrothermal conditions. The overall reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to CH4, previously assumed to be kinetically inhibited in the absence of mineral catalysts, is shown to proceed on timescales pertinent to crustal residence times of hydrothermal fluids. In Chapter 3, the abundance of methanethiol (CH3SH), considered to be a crucial precursor for the emergence of primitive chemoautotrophic life, is characterized in vent fluids from ultramafic-, basalt- and sediment-hosted hydrothermal systems. Previous assumptions that CH3SH forms by reduction of CO2 are not supported by the observed distribution in natural systems. Chapter 4 investigates factors regulating the hydrogen isotope composition of hydrocarbons under hydrothermal conditions. Isotopic exchange between low molecular weight n-alkanes and water is shown to be facilitated by metastable equilibrium reactions between alkanes and their corresponding alkenes, which are feasible in natural systems. In Chapter 5, the controls on vent fluid composition in a backarc hydrothermal system are investigated. A comprehensive survey of the inorganic geochemistry of fluids from sites of hydrothermal activity in the eastern Manus Basin indicates that fluids there are influenced by input of acidic magmatic solutions at depth, and subsequently modified by variable extents of seawater entrainment and mixing-related secondary acidity production.

Description: The thesis research presented here was funded by the National Science Foundation through grants OCE-0327448, OCE-0136954, MCB-0702677, OCE-0549829, and by the Department of Energy grant DE-FG02-97ER14746.

Description: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2010

Description: Volcanic accretion at the fast-spreading East Pacific Rise (EPR) occurs over a ~2-4 km wide neo-volcanic zone on either side of the axial summit trough (AST). Eruption ages are critical for understanding the distribution and timing of volcanic and magmatic activity. Uranium series nuclides are susceptible to fractionation by magmatic processes that occur beneath mid-ocean ridges, and the half-lives of 226Ra (1.6 kyrs) and 230Th (75 kyrs) make them ideally suited for determining eruption ages and placing constraints on eruption frequency and temporal changes in magma chemistry. Accordingly, major and trace element, and long-lived radiogenic and 238U-230Th-226Ra isotope compositions were measured in basalts from 9º-10ºN EPR to determine eruption ages and to place temporal constraints on volcanic and magmatic processes. At 9º30’N EPR, 238U-230Th-226Ra compositions indicate that trace elementally and isotopically enriched mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) collected off-axis erupted 〉8 ka and that E-MORB magmatism is interspersed with normal, depleted MORB magmatism. Lava ages are consistent with eruption from the AST and flow down the ridge flanks, which is in contrast to previous studies that suggested E-MORB erupted from off-axis vents. At 9º50’N EPR, discrete eruptive units are distinguished by high precision 238U, 232Th, and 226Ra sample concentrations, but because the resolution of the 230Th-226Ra model age dating technique is ~±1 kyrs, the surprisingly young ages of these lavas prohibit the construction of an explicit, time-constrained lava stratigraphy. Nonetheless, seven different flows identified within 0.8-2.0 km west of the AST imply greater frequency of flows to these distances than previously recognized. Model age dating of ferrobasalts, basaltic andesites, andesites, and dacites sampled from the east limb of the overlapping spreading center at 9º03’N EPR is difficult due to uncertainties in magma residence times. However, (226Ra/230Th) disequilibria indicate recent basaltic volcanism (〈〈8 ka) up to ~4 km off-axis. The axial graben at the rise crest sources the most recent volcanic activity and is the dominant location for eruption of high-silica magmas. Major element, trace element, 87Sr/86Sr, and (234U/238U) isotope compositions are consistent with the formation of dacite magmas by extensive crystallization, and 238U-230Th-226Ra systematics imply crustal residence times of ~8 kyrs.

Description: This research was made possible by funding from the Academic Programs Office, from the WHOI travel assistance funds, a Goldschmidt student travel grant, and National Science Foundation grants OCE-0623838, OCE-0527053, and OCE-0137325 to K.W.W.S.