seismicity of the galapagos 95 5 w propagating rift an array of ocean bottom seismometers was deployed for 21 days about the 95 5 w galapagos propagating rift tip to obtain seismic evidence for the propagating rift hypothesis and to investigate the dynamic effects of rift propagation seismicity was fairly constant 10 17 events per day with no indication of swarm activity hypocenters were determined for 304 earthquakes the largest of which is estimated to be mb 2 3 with a seismic moment of 2 9 1020 dyn cm the cumulative seismic moment released by all local earthquakes is estimated to be 6 6 1020 dyn cm a b value of 0 77 0 08 was estimated for the region implying a stress regime dominated by a broad tectonic stress field the distribution of earthquakes is consistent with the propagating rift hypothesis most earthquakes occurred south of the propagating rift within the de steiguer deep seismicity within the transform zone is clustered in such a way as to suggest that two or three discrete fault segments may be active at the same time the seismicity observed along the propagating rift is diffuse earthquakes were observed at the propagating rift tip but not in front of it almost all earthquakes occur south of the northern pseudofault and its extension west of the rift tip that is earthquakes occur almost exclusively in lithosphere that has been or is being overtaken by the propagating rift six composite focal mechanisms are consistent with the propagating rift hypothesis first motions from earthquakes located on the propagating rift indicate extension whereas motions associated with the failing rift area indicate compression a compressional regime is also indicated west of the transform zone twelve earthquakes from the transform zone produce a poorly constrained focal mechanism consistent with right lateral strike slip motion along a fault plane that is roughly parallel to the isochrons of the transferred lithosphere

palaeoenvironments and faunal recovery after the end permian mass extinction abstract strata of the lower triassic werfen formation dolomites northern italy record deposition in a wide range of palaeoenvironments from peritidal to outer ramp settings this enables accurate assessment of faunal recovery following the end permian mass extinction by eliminating facies related effects extinction of the shelly taxa appears to be rapid and occurs in the latest permian tesero oolite horizon disappearance of the various trace fossil taxa appears to be more gradual following the extinction the lower and middle griesbachian are characterised by laminated sediments containing low diversity bedding plane assemblages ichnological geochemical and sedimentological data show evidence of widespread low oxygen conditions normally oxygenated waters return in the late griesbachian and there is a moderate increase in tiering above and below the surface macrofaunal and ichnofossil diversity decrease markedly during the smithian with the appearance of more terrigenous strata possibly reflecting an increased run off and more brackish conditions complete recovery begins in the basal spathian with an increase in tiering above and below the substrate crinoids and ammonoids appear for the first time in the werfen formation and the ichnogenus rhizocorallium re appears global correlation is hindered by poor biostratigraphy in the dolomites region however on a broad scale it appears as though many of the palaeoenvironmental changes are repeated worldwide current available data suggest that the re appearance of some trace fossil taxa e g diplocraterion rhizocorallium may be globally synchronous

multi scale morphologic variability of the north fiji basin ridge southwest pacific abstract two cruises of the french japanese starmer joint project carried out with the submersibles nautile 1989 and shinkai 6500 1991 have been devoted to the in situ exploration of the north fiji basin ridge four areas located near 16 20 17 18 50 and 19 s have been explored during 42 dives at 16 20 s the axial zone trending n160 corresponds to a prominent graben with walls 1000 m high tectonic features and recent screes are present and the hydrothermal activity is characterized by sporadic fluid discharge at 17 s present accretion is confined to a high dome less than 1900 m deep and cut in its axial part by a wide graben trending n15 at this site hydrothermal features of two types are observed fossil chimneys of sulfides and active vents made of anhydrite and expelling water at 285 c the site at 18 50 s is located on top of an axial dome very similar to those of the east pacific rise small fissures and very fresh volcanic flows argue for a present day activity with weak evidence of tectonics hydrothermal emanations with animal colonies are found scattered over the whole area the fourth site at 19 s shows old and viscous lavas and a very mature tectonic activity compared to the preceding station which is located only 20 km northward large scale variations have been detected between three segments different thermal regimes can explain the distinct morphologies observed decakilometric scale variations do occur between stations 14 with volcanic predominance and 19 s where tectonic activity is dominating finally small scale variations are observed on sites 4 and 14 where volcanic features gradually give way to tectonic structures the north fiji basin ridge with an intermediate average spreading rate shows tectonic volcanic and hydrothermal variability ranging from 1 km to tens of kilometres and related to a temporary fine scale organisation of the accretionary processes

early triassic seawater sulfate drawdown abstract the marine sulfur cycle is intimately linked to global carbon fluxes atmospheric composition and climate yet relatively little is known about how it responded to the end permian biocrisis the largest mass extinction of the phanerozoic here we analyze carbonate associated sulfate cas from three permo triassic sections in south china in order to document the behavior of the c s cycle and its relationship to marine environmental changes during the mass extinction and its aftermath we find that 34 s cas varied from 9 to 44 at rates up to 100 myr 1 during the griesbachian smithian substages of the early triassic we model the marine sulfur cycle to demonstrate that such rapid variation required drawdown of seawater sulfate concentrations to 4 mm and a reduction in its residence time to 200 kyr this shorter residence time resulted in positive covariation with 13 c carb due to strong coupling of the organic carbon and pyrite burial fluxes carbon and sulfur isotopic shifts were associated with contemporaneous changes in climate marine productivity and microbial sulfate reduction rates with negative shifts in 13 c carb and 34 s cas linked to warming decreased productivity and reduced sulfate reduction sustained cooling during the spathian re invigorated oceanic overturning circulation reduced marine anoxia and limited pyrite burial as seawater sulfate built to higher concentrations during the spathian the coupling of the marine c and s cycles came to an end and a general amelioration of marine environmental conditions set the stage for a recovery of invertebrate faunas variation in seawater sulfate during the early triassic was probably controlled by climate change possibly linked to major eruptive phases of the siberian traps

sea beam deep tow investigation of an active oceanic propagating rift system galapagos 95 5 w we have tested and corroborated the propagating rift hypothesis with high resolution sea beam and deep tow data collected over the galapagos 95 5 w propagating rift system the propagating rift is continuously breaking through the cocos plate at a velocity of about 50 km m y with an azimuth of about 273 away from the galapagos hotspot this process transfers cocos lithosphere to the nazca plate including the preexisting spreading center which fails as it is gradually preempted by the propagating rift the spreading center azimuth is being changed by about 8 clockwise by this rift propagation the active propagating and failing rift axes overlap by about 15 km and are joined by a broad and anomalously deep zone of nonrigid plate deformation rather than by a transform fault although rift propagation is continuous on a scale of a few kilometers 50 000 years and lithospheric transferral from one plate to the other occurs mostly continuously as the preexisting rift fails it breaks into discrete segments the geometry of seafloor fabric and tectonic elements such as active and failed rifts the v shaped pattern of pseudofaults and the oblique tectonic fabric in the sheared zone of transferred lithosphere are observed as predicted this quantitative verification provides strong support for the propagating rift hypothesis

seafloor spreading in the north fiji basin southwest pacific abstract the seapso leg 3 cruise december 1985 was carried out in the north fiji basin aboard the ifremer r v jean charcot the main purpose of the cruise was to carry out a geophysical and geological study of the central part of the basin between 16 s and 22 s to this end bathymetric profiles with the help of the seabeam multichannel echosounder single channel seismic reflection profiles and magnetic and gravimetric profiles were made moreover geological samples were taken by dredging and piston coring as well as water samples with the help of a multiprobe one of the aims of the cruise was to explore the present day spreading axis of the north fiji basin we were able to show that accretion the rate of which is about 7 cm yr in the north fiji basin has been constrained in a n s direction for 3 ma very recently between 0 6 and 0 7 ma ago the accretion process changed resulting in the creation of a ridge ridge trench triple junction centered at 173 30 e and 16 40 s water samples taken in the vicinity of this triple junction show significant anomalies of methane and manganese which are probably linked to hydrothermal events in its morphological characteristics transversal as well as longitudinal the ridge of the north fiji basin shows striking similarities to the east pacific rise it presents the same differences in level the same sizes of structures and the same particular features overlapping spreading centers offsets etc another aim of the seapso cruise was to study the complex deformation area located immediately to the west of the fiji islands which we interpret as a distensive type deformation in a strike slip system

quantitative experiments on phreatomagmatic explosions abstract an experimental set up for controlled generation of thermal explosions fuel coolant interactions has been built by an interdisciplinary research group of volcanologists physicists and engineering scientists the tee haus thermal explosion experiment during the last 3 years more than 500 experimental runs were performed aim of the project was not to build a mini volcano but to produce igniteable mixtures of water and hot melt on a small scale in order to investigate basic physical aspects such small scale mixtures however most probably also occur during phreatomagmatic events in nature mixtures of water and magma on a large scale may be modelled by combination of small elements earlier experimental studies of thermal explosions were carried out with the use of metal melts nearly exclusively therefore a carbonate melt approx 0 3 kg of 1 1 mass ratio na2co3 k2co3 was used for initial experimental series because of easy handling and more magma similarity by injection of water into this melt explosive mixtures were produced and ignited self triggering explosive interactions occurred in a wide melt temperature range 720 to 1040 c at melt temperatures exceeding 1000 c co2 increasingly degassed presence of non condensible gas bubbles in the melt strongly reduced the explosivity the intensity of explosions only slightly increased with higher melt temperatures but strongly increased with higher water injection velocities because of more intensive mixing a minimum injection velocity was found to be approx 0 7 m s 1 experiments with silicate melts derived from diverse remelted volcanic rocks were carried out with a slightly modified set up explosions were ignited by an additional trigger a shock wave of approx 8 j in volcanic systems shock waves of this magnitude are abundant volcanic tremor etc strong explosions with silicate melts were produced at melt temperatures between 1350 and 1750 c the produced explosions exerted repulsion forces of up to 24 000 n with a typical pulse duration of 1 ms carbonate melt resp 1 5 ms silicate melts the ejection velocity was found to be in a range between 200 and 400 m s 1 explosion energy values up to 500 j were calculated the maximum explosion pressure was calculated to be in the range between 10 and 100 mpa only part of the melt so called interactive melt reacts explosively with injected water most of the melt is passively ejected by and after the thermal explosion different fragmentation processes result in specific grain size and grain shape populations that can be distinguished from each other particles resulting from the fine fragmentation process that precedes and causes the thermal explosion are characterized by angular to subrounded shapes and grain sizes ranging from 20 m to 180 m the amount of interactive melt is proportional to the intensity of the explosion the maximum amount of water vapourized at the explosive interaction so called interactive water was estimated thus the water melt mass ratio for explosive interactions could be calculated the values range between 1 25 and 1 35 carbonate melt resp between 1 6 and 1 25 silicate melts

detailed tectonics near the tip of the galapagos 95 5 w propagator how the lithosphere tears and a spreading axis develops a model for propagation of an active spreading axis into preexisting lithosphere has been developed based on intensive detailed studies using seamarc ii sea beam deep tow and alvin near the tip of the propagator growing westward at 52 km m y along the east west trending galapagos spreading axis near 95 5 w initial lithospheric rifting appears to be accommodated along reactivated roughly east west abyssal hill faults at the tectonic tip extension leads to downdropping of a keystone block which is pervasively cut by normal faults and fissures the initial volcanism initial volcanic tip occurs about 6 5 km behind the tectonic tip as basalt erupts through these fissures covering most of the keystone block the neovolcanic axial tip occurs another 4 5 km back at the western termination of a well defined axial pillow ridge along which volcanism is localized spreading along the propagator axis accelerates to the full rate 29 mm yr half rate at the full rate tip interpreted to be 10 km behind the neovolcanic axial tip or 21 km behind the tectonic tip a complex pattern of strain in the tip area results from the interaction of plate spreading transform shear stress crack propagation dynamic depression of the western end of the axial valley and the transform zone and variations in the strength thickness heterogeneity and anisotropy of the lithosphere southwesterly curvature of the neovolcanic axis near its tip is inferred to result primarily from the response of young thin weak relatively homogeneous lithosphere to counterclockwise rotation of the maximum tensional stress direction relative to the spreading direction due to the influence of shear stress from the transform zone similar stress interactions likely occur at the tectonic tip but are inferred to be accommodated in this older thick strong heterogeneous and anisotropic lithosphere by oblique slip along a set of left stepping reactivated preexisting east west abyssal hill structures although on a time scale of 106 years the overall process of propagation is mostly continuous rifting at the tectonic tip appears discontinuous at a scale of 1500 m or 30 000 years based on the east west spacing of grabens formed as rifting begins the scale of discontinuity of propagation of the neovolcanic axis is 3 5 km or 50 000 100 000 years based on the distribution of northeast trending features interpreted as beheaded western terminations of paleoneovolcanic axes the extension involved in rifting is 10 20 based on summing the horizontal normal separation of all normal faults and fissures integrated and averaged over the zone of rifting these values are approximately doubled if simple shear listric faulting is dominant rather than pure shear normal faulting

mean mixed depth of sediments the wherefore and the why the activities and consequently the bioturbational effects of deposit feeding organisms are largely restricted to a narrow surficial zone of marine sediments with a worldwide environmentally invariant mean of 9 8 cm with a standard deviation of 4 5 cm currently available theories of infaunal behavior cannot predict quantitatively this observation a new simple model that accounts for the feedback between resource food abundance its reactivity and the intensity of bioturbation leads to a quantitative estimate of 9 7 cm this model constitutes a fundamental advance in our understanding bioturbation

shallow seismicity and tectonics of the central and northern lau basin abstract the lau basin is an active backarc comprising several spreading centers and microplates rapidly evolving in time as such crustal earthquakes within the lau basin derive from intrabasin tectonic volcanic and hydrothermal sources because of high mantle attenuation small earthquakes from the basin are seldom recorded on land seismographs and it has been difficult to study the pattern of crustal seismicity however the 1994 labatts ocean bottom seismograph experiment in the lau basin recorded more than 100 000 local t and body phases allowing for a detailed examination of basin seismotectonics nearly 1000 events are located within the basin proper with another 2000 associated with the forearc and the aseismic front we identify two previously undocumented tectonic features a triple junction in the northwestern basin and a nanoplate in the central lau basin the single most seismically active feature within the lau basin is the lau extensional transform zone letz just north of the central lau spreading center significant seismicity also occurs near the northern extension of the eastern lau spreading center and along a southeast extension of the letz delineating the boundary of a previously unknown nanoplate swarm activity is common in the backarc basin and dominates regions associated with actively reorganizing tectonics we see no evidence of deformation along the southern boundary of the niuafo ou microplate where 4 5 cm yr of strain is predicted it is possible that the plate boundary extends eastward from the fonualei rift fr tip towards the trench creating a niuatoputapu tonga plate division rather than westward implied by the currently accepted niuafo ou tonga plate system but more data are necessary from the fr to test that hypothesis instead we suggest that the niuafo ou tonga pole is 1 5 further north than previously proposed reducing the predicted strain in this region to

double saloon door tectonics in the north fiji basin abstract fiji platform rotated counter clockwise from at least 10 2 ma until 1 56 ma while vanuatu arc rotated clockwise from 12 10 ma until the present a revised model incorporating these opposite rotations explains the distribution of magnetic anomalies in the north fiji basin nfb the conjugate margin of southwest fiji platform is southeast vanuatu arc previous models which associate nw oriented anomalies off southwest fiji with similarly oriented anomalies northeast of vanuatu arc are therefore wrong secondly these models propose a nw oriented spreading ridge extending to 19 s 177 5 e almost 500 km southeast of the mapped extension of rifted island arc crust on vanuatu arc this creates an unacceptable overlap with fiji platform in pre rift reconstructions thirdly anomalies off sw fiji which are nw oriented in their present day position were oriented nne during initial breakup rather than aligning with nw oriented anomalies in the western nfb they are matched by nne oriented anomalies off se vanuatu arc with further rotation these conjugate anomaly sets form a fan shape in the southern nfb fourthly previous models which recognise a triple junction only from 3 ma do not explain early wnw ese separation of vanuatu arc and fiji platform required by well documented opposite rotations nfb characteristics which match the double saloon door tectonic model include opposite rotations of island arc terranes backarc seafloor spreading which is both arc parallel and arc perpendicular and rifts propagating north south northeast and northwest features which do not match the double saloon door model include the north fiji fracture zone and the west fiji spreading centre both initiated post 1 5 ma when fiji platform stopped rotating and only one terrane vanuatu arc continued to rotate the nfb developed via double saloon door tectonics from 12 10 ma until 1 5 ma whereas post 1 5 ma opening constitutes single saloon door rotation

the permo triassic extinction the end permian mass extinction brought the palaeozoic great experiment in marine life to a close during an interval of intense climatic tectonic and geochemical change improved knowledge of latest permian faunas coupled with recent advances in isotopic studies and biostratigraphy have greatly enhanced our understanding of the events of 250 million years ago and have begun to provide answers to many questions about the causes of extinction

a three dimensional gravity study of the 95 5 w propagating rift in the galapagos spreading center abstract seafloor at the galapagos 95 5 w propagating rift pr has a varied morphological expression that can be spatially correlated with the predicted kinematic history of the pr a median valley like depression occurs near the tip of the growing ridge axis to test if this bathymetry is a dynamic feature supported by mantle or lithosphere strength or if it is due to isostatically compensated crustal thickness variations we use three dimensional gravity modelling to constrain the crustal structure in this region from data collected by hey in 1979 and 1982 the gravity anomaly at the pr tip depression suggests that the tip depression is not caused by crustal thinning the data are consistent with a stress supported pr tip depression caused by asthenospheric along axis flow into the growing ridge axis phipps morgan and parmentier 1 in contrast to the tip depression seafloor in the sheared zone of material transferred through transform migration from the cocos to nazca plate is anomalously shallow and has a pronounced regional 300 400 m tilt towards the growing ridge axis over the 20 km width of the sheared zone the gravity data also suggest that the sheared zone is not compensated by crustal thickening

volcanic development of small oceanic central volcanoes on the flanks of the east pacific rise inferred from narrow beam echo sounder surveys abstract narrow beam bathymetric surveys of about 30 volcanoes on young crust of the cocos plate were collected in order to help determine the origin and evolution of oceanic central volcanoes the volcanoes are located on ocean crust 1 5 7 5 m y in age and range in size from to 600 km 3 these volcanoes differ greatly in shape development of linear features small scale morphologic characteristics and crater development we conclude that these large differences in morphologic characteristics are due to the complex interaction of many factors in their development such as conduit geometry magma ascent rates eruption rate history tectonic activity crater formation and filling and others elongation directions of individual volcanoes and clear linear bathymetric features near these volcanoes are among the lines of evidence that strongly suggest these volcanoes originate and evolve on and near oceanic fracture zones their origin and morphologic evolution is thus closely tied to the tectonic processes and thermal regimes at fractures we speculate that these volcanoes on fast spreading lithosphere are generated by episodic pulses of melt production beneath ridge crests in the vicinity of fracture zones petrologic evidence shows that these volcanoes cannot be fed from sub axial magma chambers beneath the east pacific rise instead they tap the same mantle source as the ridge crest at mantle depth

recent geodynamic evolution of the north fiji basin southwest pacific a cruise of the r v jean charcot seapso iii december 1985 in the north fiji basin between 16 and 22 s obtained new structural and magnetic data concerning the central part of the basin these have been used for the reinterpretation of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration and u s naval research project aeromagnetic survey 1979 the structural surface ship magnetic and aeromagnetic data allow us to present a sketch of the evolution in four stages of the north fiji basin for the past 10 m y

on the last explosions of carbonatite pipe g3b gross brukkaros namibia pipe g3b is part of the upper cretaceous carbonatitic gross brukkaros volcanic field in southern namibia the pipe represents the root zone of a diatreme and is located 2800 m west of the rim of gross brukkaros a downsag caldera the pipe is exposed approximately 550 m below the original upper cretaceous land surface it cuts down into its own feeder dyke 0 3 m thick the pipe coalesced from two small pipes and in plan view is 19 m long and 12 m wide it consists of fragmented cambrian nama quartzites and shales of the fish river subgroup despite intensive brecciation the stratigraphic sequence of the country rocks is almost preserved in the pipe in addition the feeder dyke became fragmented too and can be traced in a 2 to 3 m wide zone full of carbonatite blocks along the southern margin of the pipe the void space of the breccia is 30 50 in volume finally after the disruption of country rocks and feeder dyke a little carbonatite magma intruded some of the void space the breccia of pipe g3b is considered to represent a root zone at the transition from the feeder dyke into a diatreme above formation of the breccia required a shock wave thought to have been associated with a last explosion of the diatreme immediately above the present level of exposure the explosion can be shown to have been phreatomagmatic in origin

multiple active spreading centres in the hot north fiji basin southwest pacific a possible model for archaean seafloor dynamics abstract the north fiji basin nfb in the southwest pacific is one of the most evolved back arc basins within the basin active spreading is taking place along several ridges some of which display the characteristics of spreading ridges observed in mature large oceans characterized by a range of spreading rates segmented accretion centres organized magnetic lineations and propagators for example however the great cumulate length of the spreading centres of the nfb relative to the basin s surface makes it an unique example among the world s oceanic basins we have reviewed a comprehensive body of geological geophysical and geochemical evidence multiple spreading centres of various trends high heat flow high geoid and slow upper mantle seismic velocities which collectively demonstrate that a hot upper mantle underlies the north fiji basin active upper mantle convection is the key process controlling the large crustal and lithospheric production in the nfb which would be thus largely independent from the evolution of even the largest structural features such as the vitiaz and new hebrides subduction zones petrological studies of the archaean greenstone belts have led to a similar picture for the entire earth during the archaean numerous short active ridges connected by unstable triple junctions would have at this time provided an efficient convective mechanism allowing for a large heat dissipation we propose that the presently active processes in the north fiji basin are modern analogues to archaean seafloor dynamics

evolution of the iceland hotspot mantle geochemical enrichment beneath the iceland faeroes hotspot has been episodic suggesting that blobs rather than a continuous plume may be rising in the region recurring rift propagation southward from central iceland causing progressive melting of the lower crust followed by the upper mantle best explains the geochemical variations found along the south west and south east neovolcanic zones and their degree of thermal maturity

kinematics of active spreading in the central north fiji basin southwest pacific abstract based on a synthesis of magnetic and bathymetric data we re evaluate the kinematics of the recent opening of the central part of the north fiji basin nfb the westward motion of the pacific plate along the left lateral north fiji fracture zone nffz results in the opening of two n s trending spreading ridges located at 173 30 e and 176 e both ridges show complex features such as propagating rifts ridge jumps and overlapping spreading centres their spreading rates are similar 7 6 to 4 cm yr 1 across the western ridge 5 5 cm yr 1 across the eastern one while the nffz is purely strike slip to the east of the eastern ridge it becomes more complex to the west it changes from transpressional to transtensional then to purely transform and finally joins the western n s ridge in a rrr type triple junction our kinematic analysis shows that most of the left lateral motion along the nffz is transferred to the eastern ridge at the rtf type 176 e triple junction it suggests that the western n s ridge is probably connected to the north with another left lateral transform possibly the south pandora ridge

the lau havre taupo back arc basin a southward propagating multi stage evolution from rifting to spreading abstract the lau havre taupo lht system is an active 2000 km long back arc basin associated with pacific australian plate convergence in the sw pacific data from the lht back arc system include odp drillhole swath bathymetric and side scan imagery seismic reflection rock geochemistry magnetic anomaly heat flow shallow seismicity gravity and seismic refraction data the lht forms a longitudinal transect from southward propagating true oceanic spreading in the lau basin near tonga similarly southward propagating arc rifting in the havre trough and southward propagating continental rifting in the taupo volcanic zone tvz in northern new zealand four transitional tectonic settings are identified along the lht north to south between the continuum of spreading to rifting and comprise 1 oceanic spreading of the central lau spreading centre clsc propagating into oceanic crust formed by the eastern lau spreading centre elsc 2 oceanic spreading of the elsc propagating into rifted lau havre arc crust 3 rifting within havre arc crust propagating into rifting new zealand continental crust and 4 rifting of continental crust propagating into as yet non rifted but flexurally subsiding continental crust the enhanced spatial and temporal resolution of observed tectonic and magmatic processes along the strike of the lht is used to constrain a model for the evolution of back arc rifting to back arc spreading a sequence of five stages is identified and comprise 1 a combination of incipient simple and pure shear 2 early distributed and spatially heterogeneous half graben rifting with low angle synthetic and antithetic structures associated with rapid graben sediment infilling ephemeral early morb like rift magmatism and the initial trenchward migration of the arc front 3 a latter phase of half graben rifting mostly confined to a contiguous axial zone with continued ephemeral morb like rift magmatism and further trenchward migration of the arc front 4 initial oceanic spreading with evolving steady state morb magmatism along the axial rift graben system and 5 the reconfiguration of ridge geometry in response to changes in opening orientation leading to the development of ridge propagation into newly created oceanic crust rifting stages 2 and 3 can produce at least 120 km wide back arc crust by a balance of crustal extension with an estimated factor of 3 with rift and constructional arc magmatism in the lht system depending on latitude rates of widening during stages 2 and 3 vary between 15 and 45 mm yr 1 whilst stages 4 and 5 have full spreading rates of 90 mm yr 1

gloria observations of the propagating rift at 95 50w on the cocos nazca spreading center in this paper we describe a gloria long range sidescan sonar survey of the area around 95 5 w on the cocos nazca rise where a propagating rift has been predicted to occur the sonar images clearly show a wedge of new crust that has been emplaced by propagation into 1 ma old crust the new crust is up to 800 m deeper than the surrounding seafloor although the elevation difference appears to decay with time the pseudofaults which bound this new crust have been observed from the rift tip back to crustal isochron 0 65 ma near the rift tip they consist of scarps several hundred meters high with narrow shallow valleys at their feet the sheared zone between the southern pseudofault and the trace of the failed rift to the south is characterized by abnormally shallow seafloor and nnw sse trending lineaments these may have been produced by the rotation of tectonic fabric formed at the dying rift perhaps accompanied by other deformation the youngest tectonic and volcanic lineaments on both spreading segments strike 273 but on the dying rift short spreading segments are offset en echelon so that the regional trend of the rise axis is 265 older lineaments throughout the area strike 265 the propagating rift is thus replacing an oblique rise axis by one which is orthogonal to the spreading direction and it is suggested that this is occurring in response to a recent change in spreading direction from 355 to 003 variations in the strikes of the pseudofaults indicate that the propagation direction has varied but that the rift has propagated most rapidly when following the 273 direction which we take to be normal to the new spreading direction

overlapping rift zones at the 5 5 s offset of the east pacific rise a seabeam and magnetometer survey of the pacific nazca plate boundary around 5 5 s mapped a nontransform offset whose geology and kinematics seem typical of a whole class of structures formed where fast spreading rises are laterally offset for distances less than the width of a subaxial magma chamber though the spreading center is abruptly displaced by 15 km right laterally there is no trace of strike slip faulting instead the ends of two 100 km long axial volcanic ridges veer 15 toward each other and overlap for more than 20 km in this overlapping region between 5 22 s and 5 32 s accretion of the upper oceanic crust by dike injection and eruption is partitioned between two adjacent and parallel rift zones with oblique and one sided spreading a continuous but dog legged magma chamber is inferred to underlie both rift zones and an intervening 9 km wide volcano studded basin a strong magnetic signature from the crust which accreted around this oblique chamber identifies the trace of the offset on the adjacent rise flank in the past 0 5 106 years the southern axial ridge has propagated north at 40 mm yr 55 of the spreading half rate

changes in direction of seafloor spreading revisited rotation and propagation have both been proposed as mechanisms by which spreading centers can reorient following changes in direction of seafloor spreading the rotation hypothesis predicts a smooth asymmetric fanning of magnetic anomaly and abyssal hill orientations whereas the propagation hypothesis predicts that the orientation changes will occur at abrupt discontinuities which are either failed rifts or pseudofaults to test between these hypotheses we conducted a detailed sea beam magnetics seismic reflection survey of the area where the direction of pacific farallon spreading changed between anomalies 24 and 22 just north of the major bend in the surveyor fracture zone the change in trend of seafloor fabric is abrupt supporting the rift propagation hypothesis for spreading center reorientation

an assessment of bottom current controlled sedimentation in pacific ocean abyssal environments the effect of the circulation of polar sourced dense waters on the deep seafloor is still largely unknown this paper presents multibeam bathymetric evidence for the existence of present day contourite drifts on the central pacific ocean at depths ranging between 4000 and 5000 m based on the identification of their diagnostic erosive moats linear moats furrows and abyssal sinuous channels and depositional plastered elongated separated and abyssal contourite fan drifts contourite morphological features these contourite drifts display a patchy distribution sculpted by the secondary flows of the lower circumpolar water lcpw and the north pacific deep waters npdw as well as local dynamics of the flow in the form of internal waves and bottom currents modulated by tides which are capable of accelerating the typically sluggish bottom currents and contribute to the erosion transport and deposition of sediments the formation of contourites is also predominantly controlled by the presence of large scale tectonic and volcanic features ridges seamounts and deep elongated valleys which affect the morphology and distribution of the basins and induce the acceleration of bottom currents overall this study allows to re assess the effects distribution and significance of bottom current controlled sedimentation in abyssal environments where examples of contourite features are still rather scarce in part because of the technical challenges and their remote location but also because the effect of bottom currents is not well known in the central oceanic basins and only capable of marginally affecting their sedimentological record

felsic fire fountaining beneath archean seas pyroclastic deposits of the 2730 ma hunter mine group quebec canada abstract the lapilli tuff breccias ltb 1 and ltb 2 of the archean hunter mine group in the south central part of the abitibi greenstone belt are inferred to be the product of subaqueous lava fountaining intercalated sub wave base iron formations interstratified turbiditic tuffs the absence of wave induced sedimentary structures and the stratigraphic position of lapilli tuff breccias beneath basaltic komatiites support this contention a complete eruptive sequence shows a tripartite division into a massive breccia b stratified lapilli tuff and c turbiditic tuff lapilli tuff division the massive breccia division is characterized by clusters of isolated and compressed irregular shaped clasts inferred to be deposited directly from the hot magmatic lava fountain abundant vesicular pyroclasts with a vesicle content of up to 60 exhibit locally coalescing vesicles indicating bubble nucleation prior to eruption the prevalence of irregular to amoeboid clast shapes suggests transport from the vent in a steamy rich high density current to the site under a self generated steam cupola ubiquitous subequant lapilli size pyroclasts of the stratified lapilli tuff division suggest that significant ingress of water into the fountain changed the prevalent fragmentation process from magmatic to hydrovolcanic the turbiditic tuff lapilli tuff division composed of pumice lithic fragments and vitric ash is envisaged to have formed by gravitational collapse of a subaqueous turbulent eruptive plume this type of eruptive mechanism constituted a minor but important process of volcanic construction on the ocean floor during the archean and possibly during incipient arc and backarc formation in modern day settings

controls on back arc crustal accretion insights from the lau manus and mariana basins abstract together the lau manus and mariana basins encompass a broad range of conditions of back arc basin development marine surveys have determined the tectonic setting and reconnaissance scale geophysical and geochemical properties of the extension axes in these basins we review these data to examine crustal accretion characteristics in the back arc setting in each basin magmatism is enhanced in spreading centres near the arc volcanic front but decreases becoming deficient in axes further from the arc in the lau and manus basins the axes extend far behind the arc and develop typical mid ocean ridge mor like characteristics we propose that these variations are controlled by the subducting slab which shapes composition and flow within the mantle wedge water released from the slab lowers the mantle solidus and increases in concentration toward the volcanic arc spreading centres near the arc advect the hydrated mantle material enhancing melt production slab induced flow carries melt depleted mantle material back beneath the basin where it mixes with ambient mantle spreading centres further from the arc advect this mantle mixture and produce thinner than normal crust far from the arc spreading centres advect essentially mid ocean ridge basalt morb source mantle and their characteristics are mor like thus in addition to spreading rate effects on mantle melting that predominate at mors in back arc basins the subducting slab introduces additional systematic effects

phreatomagmatism and its relevance abstract phreatomagmatic explosive volcanism results from the interaction of magma with external water groundwater or surface water close to or at the earth s surface magma of any composition acid to ultrabasic may be involved in this type of explosive activity at present the relevance of phreatomagmatism is realized increasingly because it takes place in many diverse environments and affects not only small monogenetic volcanoes but also large volcanoes at some volcanoes as for example at lake taupo new zealand a volume of several tens of km 3 of magma may have been mixed with several km 3 of external water phreatomagmatism has thus become an important aspect in volcanic hazard assessments other fields involving the interaction of water with a melt are the study of nuclear and other industrial safety hazards of magma mixing of diamond carrying volcanism and of hydrothermal ore deposits as well as geothermal and groundwater reservoirs experiments on the dynamics of magma water interactions provide increasing insight into the principles and hazards of phreatomagmatic explosions this type of research will become a new field in experimental petrology

the end permian mass extinction and its aftermath on an equatorial carbonate platform insights from ichnology terra nova 22 195 202 2010 abstract a semi quantitative analysis of the endobenthic activity across the permo triassic boundary ptb was carried out on a 445 m thick well core interval from the persian gulf by logging the degree of bioturbation trace fossil distribution and ichnodiversity id this analysis enables for the first time the evaluation of recovery of endobenthic organisms after the end permian mass extinction by direct comparison of post extinction lower triassic with pre extinction upper permian units the results indicate that the studied shallow marine carbonate platform within an equatorial setting acted as oxygenated refugee for the biotic recovery traces of suspension and deposit feeders reappear simultaneously shortly after the extinction event but are reduced in size macroborings so far unknown from the lower triassic occur where suitable firm or hard substrate was available recovery took place in two phases early induan 50 pre extinction id and 20 30 bioturbation and late induan 75 id and almost 90 bioturbation re established

causes and rate limiting mechanisms of ridge propagation a fracture mechanics model all known propagating rifts pr s are growing away from shallow ridge axis seafloor we examine a model for rift propagation in which the ridge axis conduit like a crack in the lithosphere propagates in response to a stress concentration at its tip the stress concentration near the tip which causes progressive failure of the lithosphere is primarily due to excess gravity spreading stresses associated with anomalously shallow ridge axis along the growing ridge this stress concentration near the tip is characterized by a stress intensity factor k which must exceed a threshold value to cause failure of the plate a remotely applied tensile stress would make a positive contribution to k but would act equally on both ridge segments and not favor the propagation of either the pressure in the crack may depending on its distribution make either a positive or negative contribution to k for a high enough propagation rate viscous flow induced suction due to the growth of the ridge axis as well as the reduced vertical flow near the pr tip would make k 0 this simple model thus includes a mechanism to control the speed of propagation and is consistent with the axial morphology of the spreading segment associated with the well studied 95 5 w pr of the galapagos spreading center analytical solutions for the contribution to the stress intensity factor of viscous forces resisting ridge axis growth and causing the pr axial topography are consistent with the observed propagation rate for asthenosphere viscosities of about 1019 pa s 1020 p we also examine a more general model of a ridge transform ridge system on the basis of energy conservation in terms of energetics this more general model reduces to that of a single propagating ridge axis crack when both the work done by forces driving propagation and the viscous dissipation due to forces resisting propagation are generated along the growing ridge axis however the more general model also includes mechanisms that may stop ridge propagation propagation will stop either when the energy needed for transform migration is larger than that available for ridge axis growth or when the strain energy absorbed at the dying ridge axis is comparable to that released at the growing ridge axis i e if the stress intensity factors for both ridge axes are similar both of these possibilities may occur when the propagating rift completely propagates through a ridge segment as at 85 w in the galapagos finally in this model the slight systematic differences in ridge axis orientation of the growing and dying ridges are a consequence rather than a cause of ridge propagation

crustal structure variation along the central rift ridge axis in the north fiji basin implications from seismic reflection and refraction data abstract seismic reflection and refraction surveys carried out in the accretionary region of the north fiji basin nfb have revealed several features of the crustal structure along the axial domain some of which can be interpreted as the results similar to the phenomena of the active rifting and spreading in the mid ocean ridges system although the multi channel seismic mcs reflection profiles recorded along the central axial graben and ridge where the most active hydrothermal activities were observed and medium to fast crustal spreading rate was implied do not show clear structural evidence of the axial magma chamber amc reflector very shallow moho approximately 3 km below the sea floor unusually thin crustal thickness is deduced from the refraction data obtained from the site around station 14 where the most dominant spreading is occurring to date in the nfb the seafloor in this region is sediment free this is interpreted to be simply because the crust is young and the volcanic material is directly exposed at the seafloor as a result of the recent volcanism this is also confirmed from the velocity profiles obtained by refraction experiments although the station distribution of the refraction experiments is not dense enough to cover all along the axial region the along axis lateral variation of the velocity depth profile of the crust is implied in general the feature of the crustal velocity structure in the axial domain deduced from seismic reflection and refraction experiments indicates that the central spreading rifting system of the nfb is very similar to that of mid ocean ridge crust rather than those of island or back arc type or the typical mature oceanic crust which are observed in the nfb outside of the central domain

propagating rift and overlapping spreading center in the north fiji basin abstract the present day geometry of the north fiji marginal basin at the pacific and indo australian plate boundary results from a polyphased tectonic evolution since the beginning of the opening spreading occurred along several ridge axes that are characterized by highly variable trends from 15 s to 21 40 s the present day trends of the axis are mainly n20 w n20 e and n n5 e the structural analysis of multi beam echo sounder and seismic data combined with submersible observations 18 dives in this area allow a precise study of relationships between the n n5 e and n20 e axes near 18 30 s two main oceanic features occur in this area the most striking one consists in a broad northward propagating rift of the n n5 e spreading ridge the northern tip of the propagator is located at 18 10 s on 173 30 e and is characterized by a northern v shaped end and a slight camber the diving observations corroborate the present day magmatic and tectonic activities along the n n5 e spreading axis located between 18 10 s and 20 30 s and its northward propagation to the detriment of the n20 e axis which is less active at its southern end moreover the youngest axis trends inside the n20 e axial domain confirms this northward propagation of the n n5 e structural trends the n n5 e spreading axis shows very close similarities with those of an intermediate to fast spreading ridge either in its morphology or in its spreading rate on the other hand the n20 e axis displays a large tectonically active overlapping arm that is counterposed to the northern end of the n n5 e propagating system the transform zone between the two overlapping arms is characterized by typical oblique and curved structural patterns in the sea floor the whole tectonic system constitutes thus a typical large overlapping spreading center the average propagating rate is calculated at 5 7 cm yr that is compatible with backward migration of the n20 e overlapping arm this study confirms the high instability of the north fiji basin spreading system through time and space due to the regional tectonic stress produced by the plate convergence and the double sphenochasmic opening of the basin

on the formation of deep seated subterranean peperite like magma sediment mixtures abstract in addition to large amounts of fragmented country rocks maar diatreme volcanoes commonly eject juvenile lapilli and cauliflower bombs containing many dispersed xenoliths and or xenocrysts derived from the country rocks surrounding the diatremes formation of these lapilli and bombs is attributed to thermohydraulic explosions in the root zones of the diatremes and their consequences the thermohydraulic explosions release shock waves which are capable of intensely fragmenting the surrounding country rocks vaporisation of water superheated during thermohydraulic explosions and its expansion to lower pressure causes ejection of major parts of the fragmented country rocks surviving sections of fragmented country rocks may collapse or slide into the partially evacuated root zone and thus form a mass flow deposit subsequent to each explosion when prior to a new explosion magma rises from the underlying feeder dyke into the root zone it intrudes this clastic debris inflates it and may mingle with the debris to form a peperite subsequent explosions can fragment and eject fragments of this peperite in the form of juvenile ash grains juvenile lapilli and bombs containing xenoliths or xenocrysts from the country rock debris lack of further explosions but continued rise and intrusion of magma will cause emplacement of such inflated peperite masses as plugs

interaction experiments between water and hot melts in entrapment and stratification configurations abstract if water and hot melt come into contact either a vapor film is generated or and an explosive interaction takes place which of the two possibilities or both take place depends on several conditions the temperatures of the melt and water have important influences on the interaction behavior explosive interactions steam explosion occur only if the melt temperature is well above the boiling point of water but when the melt temperature is very high steam explosions are difficult to trigger by changing melt temperature and fixing the other conditions an optimal temperature range was often found for explosive interactions called temperature window the width and absolute values of the temperature window depend on the material properties of the melt the temperature of the water the ambient pressure the relative penetration velocity of the liquids the violence of disturbances and the configuration of the experiment in entrapment configuration experiments water is pressed into a crucible filled with hot melt in order to entrap the water by the melt the advantage of the entrapment configuration for volcanic simulation experiments is the easy handling of a variation of the water to melt mass ratio and furthermore the large variety of penetration possibilities of water into the melt therefore it is very likely to get a steam explosion with the entrapment configuration if a melt water combination is explosive at all a stratification configuration is formed when liquid magma is located on the sea bottom in experiments with the stratification configuration water is flooded cautiously over a crucible filled with hot melt so that after flooding a water layer separated by a vapor film is overlying the hot melt in stratification configurations a sequence of steam explosions can occur which may lead to an escalation and under appropriate circumstances to a thermal detonation

three dimensional magnetic modeling of a propagating rift galapagos 95 30 w a combined deep tow and seabeam investigation at 95 30 w on the cocos nazca spreading center has revealed the crustal contact between the propagating rift and the dying rift systems the observed 27 km offset between the axes creates an ideal situation for the application of magnetic methods the normally magnetized crust of the propagating rift tip penetrates into older crust which was created when the earth s main field was reversed as the v shaped structure of the rift clearly violates the conventional two dimensional assumptions a full three dimensional analysis is required in addition the distorting influence of over 1000 m bathymetric relief must be removed from the observed field inversions have been performed on the gridded representations of the observed magnetic field and bathymetry working in the fourier domain the result is a gridded rock magnetization distribution the inversion of the surface data covers a large area 6000 km2 and demonstrates close agreement with magnetization amplitudes of rock samples at existing dredge sites in general the propagating rift process appears to be much more orderly than the dying rift process the magnetic polarity transition widths are narrower and the boundaries have fewer undulations than the dying rift which appears to be quite episodic in behavior the average propagation rate is 52 mm yr compared to the average spreading half rate of 29 mm yr the locations of the boundaries suggest that the acceleration to the normal spreading rate on the propagating rift requires about 250 000 years the inversion of the deep tow data near the seafloor provides a high resolution definition of the location of the tip of the propagating rift at 2 38 1 n 95 30 0 w

loss of the sedimentary mixed layer as a result of the end permian extinction abstract the end permian mass extinction resulted in the most dramatic degradation of marine bottom communities during the phanerozoic one result of this extinction was the long recognized extreme reduction in bioturbation of the early triassic seafloor several lines of evidence i e preferential preservation of epifaunal and very shallow tier infaunal trace fossils paucity of mid and deep tier trace fossils absence of mottled bioturbation textures dominance of cohesive substrates widespread occurrence of microbially induced sedimentary structures in open marine environments ecological composition of early triassic communities show that the reduction in bioturbation was so extreme that the sedimentary mixed layer was eradicated at an interregional scale for the only time since it was established in the early palaeozoic the consequences of this for ecosystem function and geochemical cycling must have been profound and yet they have received little consideration biogenic mixing of sediments is fundamental to geochemical cycling in extant marine ecosystems and it also governs ecologically limiting factors such as nutrient fluxes benthic primary production and availability of ecospace the collapse of biogenic sediment mixing during the early triassic must have affected geochemical properties of sediments and the seawater as reflected in the geologic record of the sulphur cycle additionally many of the proxies traditionally used to infer early triassic seawater anoxia may rather reflect poor sediment oxygenation arising from the extinction of bioturbators because of its impact on seawater and sediment chemistry the loss of the mixed layer may have been an important but hitherto little considered constraint on the recovery from the end permian mass extinction

propagating rifts in the north fiji basin southwest pacific the accretion system in the north fiji marginal basin currently consists of four major differently oriented axes multibeam bathymetry recently acquired over the central north south axis between 18 and 21 s reveals a peculiar tectonic framework fanned patterns of the sea floor topography at the northern and southern tips of this segment are the general shape of a rugby ball these data and the interpretation of magnetic anomalies indicate that this central sector of the ridge has lengthened northward at the expense of the axis aligned n15 e both spreading and propagation rates are about 70 80 mm yr a southward propagation is also envisaged on the basis of the similar morphotectonic framework observed at the southern tip of the north south ridge