Bibliothek

Notizen: Abstract New investigations are carried out on the mineralogy and mineral chemistry of sulfide assemblages obtained in samples from one core in the hydrothermally active, southwest basin of the Atlantis II deep, Red Sea. The most abundant sulfide phases are the exsolved intermediate solid solution (ISS) and chalcopyrite. Sphalerite, pyrrhotite, marcasite, mackinawite, and presumably wurtzite are also observed. Two distinct groups of paragenesis were encountered: (a) Intermediate solid solution with sphalerite incrustations and intergrowths, and (b) intermediate solid solution barren of sphalerite intergrowths. The first group is confined to the upper part of the Co zone and the SOAN zone (Bäcker and Richter 1973), and the second is present in the entire core 100-3-7. An optically isotropic chalcopyrite is found for the first time as a natural mineral in Atlantis II, Red Sea. Yet its existence as a novel phase needs x-ray confirmation. It exhibits a lower reflectivity than normal chalcopyrite and is isotropic. Chalcopyrite occurs either as a single phase or in association with tetragonal chalcopyrite. Our investigations indicate that the formation of Atlantis II deposits is a result of complex processes. These processes are characterized by compositional changes in the ore-bearing fluids and the change in sulfur fugacity (especially with depth). The presence of exsolved chalcopyrite lamellae in ISS indicates slow cooling below 450°C. However, it is difficult to understand why the cubic chalcopyrite is not converted to the tetragonal form even though the temperature of transformation lies above 450°C (470° – 500°C, Cabri 1973). The Cu/Fe ratio changes in the exsolved chalcopyrite lamellae from core to rim of the composite grains. The ratio is higher in the rims. This suggests that primary inhomogenous ISS grains formed from solutions with a continuous increase in the Cu/Fe ratio. Slow cooling is also required to account for the exsolution of chalcopyrite lamellae in ISS. The low sulfur content in isotropic chalcopyrite is also suggestive of low fs2. The low S content in the chalcopyrite may be the controlling factor for the sluggish conversion from cubic to tetragonal chalcopyrite. Mackinawite lamellae show the same orientation in ISS and exsolved isotropic chalcopyrite indicating that mackinawite exsolved before the breakdown of ISS. This strongly suggests that mackinawite is stable above 300°C (contrary to experimental results by Zoka et al. 1973). Pyrrhotite was probably formed by the sulfurization of ilvaite. The pyrrhotite grains with several complex successive zones show the sequence of the sulfurization episodes. Metalliferous sediments related to hot brines were discovered in the Red Sea in 1964 (Miller et al. 1966). Since then, several papers have been published on this subject (Degens and Ross 1969, Bäcker and Schoell 1972, Bäcker and Richter 1973, Bignell et al. 1976, Shanks and Bishoff 1977, Weber-Diefenbach 1977, Nöltner 1979, Pottorf 1980, Pottorf and Barnes 1983, Oudin et al. 1984). Complex sulfide phases including intermediate solid solution (ISS), chalcopyrite, and a chalcopyritelike mineral (which exhibits a lower reflectivity than normal chalcopyrite and appears to be isotropic occur in the metalliferous sediments. These phases were found in association with several minerals in different parageneses. In an attempt to understand the origin of the formation of the sulfide-bearing sediments in the Atlantis II deep of the Red Sea, a detailed study of the phase relations of the Cu-Fe sulfide ores of this locality was carried out.

Notizen: Abstract A new type of animal community has been found near hot vents in the subpolar Atlantic at 100 to 106 m depth off Kolbeinsey on the Jan-Mayen ridge. Incubation of high temperature fluids yielded cultures of undescribed hyperthermophilic eu- and archaebacteria, growing in a temperature range between 70° and 110°C depending on the isolates. Bacteria are closely related to species occurring within deep sea hydrothermal areas. In contrast to deep-sea vent sites of the Mid-Atlantic and other oceans, the Kolbeinsey macro- and meiofauna consists of species reported from non-vent areas in the boreal Atlantic and adjacent polar seas. The most abundant forms are a solitary hydroid polyp and two sponges. Kolbeinsey is an isolated and young area of hydrothermal activity at relatively low depth and in highly productive waters; these findings could indicate a model for an early evolutionary step towards the formation of a genuine specialized vent community.

Notizen: Abstract. The explosive activity of Réunion volcanoes since approximately 260 ka is investigated through detailed sedimentologic, isotopic, and geochemical analyses of three deep-sea marine cores. Twenty-four eruptions from Piton des Neiges and one from Piton de la Fournaise are identified. The marine stratigraphic record of ash layers is undisturbed, whereas corresponding tephra deposits on land may have disappeared or have been disturbed through erosion and volcano-tectonic processes. Consequently, the new data presented herein may be regarded as a reference sequence of the main explosive events of Réunion. In addition, the chronology based on δ18O stratigraphy offers continuous time constraints with respect to other isotopic methods used for dating lavas. Explosive events were more frequent during the period 180–150 ka. The comparison of major element composition and chronologic data between known explosive deposits on land and marine ash layers allows us to propose correlations between marine and land data. However, most of the marine ash layers do not yet have a recognized subaerial counterpart. For the main explosive events known on land, we propose the following succession: Sainte Suzanne formations, ≥257–240 ka; Dalle Soudée Formation, 218 ka; Salazie formations, two groups at 165–168 ka and 80–102 ka; Saint Gilles formations, 175 ka; Saint Louis formations, 158–161 ka; and Saint Pierre formations, 165–166 ka.

Notizen: [Auszug] The North Atlantic volcanic province has been attributed to continental rifting about 60 Myr ago over an Iceland plume head with a diameter of 1,000–2,000 km (refs 1, 2). But evidence from a few igneous centres has been used to infer that earlier ...

Notizen: Abstract Two submarine volcanoes (named Friday and Domingo) have been mapped and sampled to the west of the youngest island (Alexander Selkirk) in the Juan Fernandez chain, SE Pacific. Samples from the seamounts are fresh, highly vesicular olivine and plagioclase-phyric basanites. Their MgO contents lie between 7 and 4 wt.%. Major element variation trends, especially decreasing SiO2 with increasing MgO, cannot be explained by crystal fractionation, and suggest the influence of CO2 during partial melting. Highly incompatible element ratios in both Friday and Domingo magmas are identical, with the exception of ratios involving Th and Nb for which Domingo shows depletions. These depletions are coupled with depletions in Zr, Hf and Ca and enrichments in the heavy rare-earth elements and Al2O3. All these geochemical features can be explained if the Domingo magmas reacted with harzburgitic mantle materials during transit to the surface in a manner shown experimentally to occur during CO2-dominated kimberlite magmatism. The metasomatism results in the stabilisation of clinopyroxene, rutile and zircon which withhold the elements depleted at Domingo, and the breakdown of garnet which releases HREE and Al into the magmas. Magmas erupting from the large, more mature Friday edifice have traversed a mantle region already metasomatised during earlier stages of volcanism and so are not significantly modified during passage. The Juan Fernandez trace element patterns are similar to the low 87Sr/86Sr, high 143Nd/144Nd components in many Pacific hotspots and to the pattern suggested for recycled, altered, dehydrated oceanic crust, implying that such recycled crust is a common component in many hotspots. Isotopically, the Juan Fernandez magmas lie between the composition of prevalent mantle (PREMA) and HIMU.