volcanic processes in ore genesis two major themes pervaded this joint meeting of the volcanic studies group and the institute of mining and metallurgy on the one hand were the academics who using trace element and isotope geochemistry and even naked thermodynamics erected hypotheses and models for the tectonic setting origin and circulation of ore forming fluids at the other extreme were those who provided the critical evidence as to whether these data applied to a particular ore deposit fortunately speakers such as j p hunt t sato and g constantineou with experience in both areas more than adequately bridged the all too common gulf between the two stable isotope studies strongly suggest that the origin of the ore carrying solutions was either sea water in the case of the massive sulphides formed at or near constructive margins or meteoric waters for ore bodies such as porphyry coppers emplaced above subduction zones the role of magmatic waters is minimal in the former and minor in the latter magmatic processes seem to provide the thermal energy and very little else both thermodynamic models of geothermal systems j w elder or modification of stable isotope ratios e t g spooner t h e heaton indicate that the circulation of the solutions that cause mineralization follow immediately after the magmatic thermal event and that they are short lived in terms of thousands rather than millions of years and vigorous there are therefore signs of a semi quantitative breakthrough in the understanding of geothermal processes this has been brought about by the use of

the oceanic crust in 3d paleomagnetic reconstruction in the troodos ophiolite gabbro the troodos complex cyprus provides an opportunity to study the structural configuration along a fossil intersection of a spreading axis and a transform fault we complement studies at troodos that have reconstructed the brittle deformation of the upper crust by new paleomagnetic data from the gabbro suite the gabbro suite is exposed at the extinct spreading axis continuing the solea graben toward the intersection with the fossil arakapas oceanic transform this is a unique exposure of deep crustal rocks formed at both an inside corner and an outside corner of a ridge transform intersection remanence directions from gabbros 23 sites were used as indicators for rigid body rotation the spatial distribution of rotation axes allow recognition of three regions to which deformation is partitioned 1 a western region outside corner that experienced primarily tilt about horizontal axis 2 a central region with minor rotation and 3 an eastern area inside corner where vertical axis rotations are dominant the absence of significant rotation in the 6 km wide central domain together with its location between the inside and the outside corner uncover the root of a fossil axial volcanic zone a zone sufficiently hot so the upper crust can decouple from the substrate clockwise rotation in the gabbro increases from the axial zone eastward similar to that in the overlying dikes indicating coupling of the lower crust with the brittle upper oceanic crust the transition from the decoupled layers of sheeted dikes and gabbro in the axial zone to the dikes gabbro coupling in the inside corner is in keeping with deepening of the brittle ductile transition from the dike gabbro boundary into the lower crust away from the axial zone our conclusions are consistent with one of the previous reconstructions in which the solea spreading axis was orthogonal to the arakapas trunsform fault and with recent studies of the present day lower oceanic crust however the newly inferred surface trace of the solea spreading axis is further to the east probably reflecting the tilt of axial upper crust rotated blocks c 2006 elsevier b v all rights reserved

spreading evolution of the troodos ophiolite cyprus some recent developments particularly the recognition of transform tectonized and nontransform tectonized fabrics close to the southern troodos transform fault provide a framework for a new evolutionary model of the troodos ophiolite this model proposes that most of the ophiolite formed at the solea axis against a dextrally slipping southern troodos transform spreading was largely accommodated by magmatic accretion the ridge then jumped to the east a last phase of amagmatic stretching driving normal faulting above a detachment horizon in the solea graben a ridge jump boundary separates the old crust formed at the solea axis from the new crust generated at the outside corner of the new ridge with a dextrally slipping continuation of the southern troodos transform the final episode involved extension of the crust generated at the new ridge to form the larnaca graben in the eastern part of the ophiolite

the uplift of the troodos massif cyprus we constrain the fault pattern and the kinematics of faulting that facilitated the uplift of the troodos massif in cyprus in the eastern mediterranean the fault pattern consists of e w striking re

constraints on the energy and chemical balances of the modern tag and ancient cyprus seafloor sulfide deposits the size chemical composition energy flux and fluid composition of the tag hydrothermal sulfide deposit at the mid atlantic ridge and the size chemical composition and reaction zone characteristics of the skouriotissa volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit of the troodos ophiolite in cyprus are used to examine the energy requirements and chemical balances associated with the generation of a large volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit we conclude that formation of large sulfide deposits from oceanic hydrothermal systems is a geologically rapid process and occurs on timescales of hundreds of years with episodes of activity as short as a few tens of years separated by thousands of years of inactivity about 2 1019 j of energy supplied at high temperature is required to form a deposit the size of the tag mound metals up to 4 times the mass of any element present in the sulfide deposit are leached out of relatively small reaction zones most likely at the base of the sheeted dikes chemical balance can be struck for all elements except sulfur with a reaction zone 1 2 km3 in volume from which a small proportion of iron and large proportions of copper zinc and manganese are removed a sulfur balance requires that a significant fraction of sulfur be derived from reduction of seawater sulfate as suggested by stable isotope analyses we argue that the principal source of energy that drives hydrothermal circulation is latent heat of crystallization of magma close to the top of the plutonic section furthermore we speculate that activity of the tag hydrothermal system is related to periods of more rapid magma supply from the mantle at magma supply rates similar to those observed in volcanoes in hawaii and iceland

controls on hydrothermal alteration in a section of fast spreading oceanic crust abstract young oceanic crustal sections that formed at the fast spreading east pacific rise epr were mapped by submersible along steep fault scarps that bound the hess deep rift valley excellent exposures allowed the documentation of the spatial distribution of alteration within the lava sequence sheeted dike complex and uppermost plutonic sequence alteration assemblages record the initiation and subsequent cooling of an axial hydrothermal system s that was periodically perturbed by the injection of sheeted dikes mineralogical and geochemical data indicate that temperatures increased across the lava dike transition 50 180 c and that the grade of metamorphism was heterogeneous within the sheeted dike complex in that temperatures varied laterally from 100 300 c to 600 800 c within the upper dikes and were 400 450 c within the lower sheeted dikes during vigorous hydrothermal circulation at the epr the base of the hydrothermal system was located within or at the top of a sequence of gabbros that is interpreted to be the root zone of the sheeted dike complex the base of the hydrothermal cell did not penetrate into the subjacent plutonic sequence until the section of crust had migrated off axis and the magma lens had solidified the vigor of the hydrothermal system would have waned by this time and hydrothermal fluids migrated into the lower crust along broadly distributed microfracture networks at temperatures between 450 and 650 c although locally temperatures may have reached 800 c the highest temperature alteration assemblages within the sheeted dikes formed in response to the injection of a dike or swarm of dikes that initiated a short lived hydrothermal system the sheeted dikes and plutonic rocks experienced very little retrograde alteration and there is no evidence for a discrete off axis hydrothermal event s incipient alteration conditions in crustal sections that formed at mid ocean ridges with slower rates of spreading than the epr are similar to hess deep although there are differences in the distribution and mineralogical expression of incipient alteration in plutonic sequences the evolution of alteration as a section of crust cools and moves off axis reflects its particular magmatic tectonic history and thus may vary significantly in ridges with all spreading rates

spreading structure of the troodos ophiolite cyprus some paleomagnetic constraints it has been suggested that grabens on the northern flank of the troodos ophiolite formed by listric faulting in an oceanic environment and represent axial valleys fossilized by ridge jumping this paleomagnetic survey of the solea graben was carried out to constrain the structural interpretation an analysis was devised which restores both the dikes sampled to vertical and the primary remanent magnetizations to a previously derived structurally corrected remanent magnetization direction typically two solutions for the original dike orientation and the pole and angle of net rotation are obtained for each dike sampled these solutions can be separated if a locally consistent original dike strike is assumed reasons are discussed for the selection of the solution that gives an original northwesterly dike strike results are consistent with a graben rotations are up to 78 at the sites studied rotation vectors are subhorizontal and subparallel to the original dike strike suggestive of an axial process for the development of the structure however on the basis of field observations an alternative mode of origin is proposed invoking ephemeral extreme upper crustal extension by listric faulting on the west flank of an intermediate to fast spreading axis the grabens being formed by antithetic faulting

spreading structure of the troodos ophiolite cyprus orientations of dikes within the sheeted dike complex of the troodos ophiolite reveal primary spreading structure produced at a complex ridge transform intersection three structural grabens are defined by listric and planar normal faults and rotated dikes that dip symmetrically toward graben axes faults flatten at depth into a detachment within the upper parts of the plutonic complex large exhalative massive sulfide deposits occur within the pillow sections of two of the grabens and appear to be associated with underlying altered and mineralized normal fault zones that channeled hydrothermal fluids we suggest that the grabens are fossil axial valleys produced by successive eastward jumps of an approximately north trending present coordinates slow spreading ridge crest a simple model for ridge migration indicates eastward jumps of 8 13 km changes in ridge orientation are suggested by changes in trends of dikes and graben axes comparison of the pattern of dikes near the arakapas fault zone with the structure of active ridge transform intersections suggests that the fault is a right offset sinistral transform in contrast to earlier models in which a ridge to the west of the exposed troodos complex was proposed

distortions rotations and crustal thinning at ridge transform intersections when an oceanic ridge intersects a transform fault the newly formed oceanic crust may be severely distorted frequently exhibiting major rotations of fault blocks1 4 such effects typically extend over a 10 km wide strip parallel to the transform by contrast studies of contemporary oceanic transforms suggest that deformation is restricted to a single fault trace within the transform domain5 9 this apparent inconsistency can be reconciled if the rotations occurred at the ridge transform intersection during accretion of the crust here i develop a kinematic model that considers the effect of an ephemeral period of stretching on a region that broadens as the transform is approached along the ridge the strains calculated from this model indicate extension at the ridge simple shear at the transform and composite strains in the region of distributed deformation the model predicts very rapid rotation rates 100 in 104 105 yr the implications for the topography and structure of ridge transform intersections are considered and the alternating periods of extension by stretching and by intrusion are illustrated by reference to contemporary transforms on the mid atlantic ridge the model may also explain the common occurrence of cross cutting dykes near transform faults in ophiolites

role of melt supply in oceanic detachment faulting and formation of megamullions normal faults are ubiquitous on mid ocean ridges and are expected to develop increasing offset with reduced spreading rate as the proportion of tectonic extension increases numerous long lived detachment faults that form megamullions with large scale corrugations have been identifi ed on magma poor mid ocean ridges but recent studies suggest counterintuitively that they may be associated with elevated magmatism we present numerical models and geological data to show that these detachments occur when 30 50 of total extension is accommodated by magmatic accretion and that there is signifi cant magmatic accretion in the fault footwalls under these low melt conditions magmatism may focus unevenly along the spreading axis to create an irregular brittle plastic transition where detachments root thus explaining the origin of the enigmatic corrugations morphological and compositional characteristics of the oceanic lithosphere suggested by this study provide important new constraints to assess the distribution of magmatic versus tectonic extension along mid ocean ridges

trace element systematics and ore forming processes in mafic vms deposits evidence from the troodos ophiolite cyprus abstract the volcanogenic massive sulfide vms deposits in the troodos ophiolite cyprus are ancient analogues for modern day seafloor massive sulfide mineralisation formed in a supra subduction zone environment in this study we present the first detailed in situ study of trace elements in sulfides from twenty vms deposits hosted in the troodos ophiolite to better understand factors that influence the distribution enrichment and incorporation of trace elements in different sulfide minerals on a mineral scale trace elements exhibit systematic variations between pyrite chalcopyrite and sphalerite pyrite preferentially incorporates as sb au and te whilst chalcopyrite is enriched in co and se sphalerite is trace element poor with the exception of ag and cd selenium averages 278 ppm n 150 in chalcopyrite but only 42 ppm n 1322 in pyrite bismuth and te in pyrite show a weak positive correlation r2 0 35 in some vms deposits possibly linked with the occurrence of bi telluride inclusions trace element concentrations also vary between colloform and euhedral pyrite with an enrichment of au as sb cu and zn in colloform compared to euhedral pyrite time resolved laser ablation profiles reveal that the trace element distribution on a mineral scale is not uniform and varies with crystallographic effects fluctuating physicochemical fluid conditions such as temperature ph fs2 fo2 and ligand availability during sulfide precipitation incorporation mechanisms in sulfides differ between elements in pyrite ag as se and pb are hosted in solid solution or as nanoscale inclusions whilst au sb and te may form micro scale inclusions on a regional scale 20 km the distribution of trace elements exhibits systematic variations between three major structural domains namely the solea mitsero and larnaca grabens the vms deposits of the magmatic tectonic solea graben are enriched in se co te au and cu relative to mitsero which is a purely extensional feature therefore we hypothesise that a variable magmatic volatile influx related to a magma volume b migration of the magmatic hydrothermal crack front and associated brine liberation or c a variation in protolith metal concentration are responsible for regional scale variations in vms geochemistry this is suggested to be intrinsically linked to the spreading architecture of troodos

the influence of microstructure on seismic wave speed anisotropy in the crust computational analysis of quartz muscovite rocks summary we study the influence of microstructural variables on seismic wave speed anisotropy in crustal rocks the bulk elastic properties and corresponding wave velocities are calculated for synthetic rock samples with varying amounts of muscovite and quartz different muscovite and quartzgrainorientationsandvaryingspatialdistributionsofthemuscovitegrainstoinvestigate the sensitivity of seismic wave speed anisotropy on these characteristics the asymptotic expansionhomogenizationmethodcombinedwithfiniteelementmodellingisusedtocalculate bulk stiffness tensors for representative rock volumes and the wave velocities are obtained from these tensors using the christoffel equation the aim of this paper is to 1 demonstrate how wave speeds computed from the rigorous asymptotic expansion homogenization method compare with those generated using stiffness tensors derived from commonly applied analytic estimates and 2 explore how different microstructural variables influence seismic wave speeds our results show that the muscovite grain orientations have a significant influence on the wave speeds increasing the modal fraction and alignment of muscovite grains leads to greater seismic anisotropy of the rock the p wave speed at an incidence angle of 45 between the

study of stable isotopes in the kouris catchment cyprus for the description of the regional groundwater flow the stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen in groundwater and precipitation were integrated for the description of groundwater flow in the kouris catchment cyprus the catchment consists of an ophiolitic complex in the north and sediments in the south it is characterized by strong heterogeneity of the underground media and steep slopes of the topography the regression line constructed from the data of 70 rainfall samples is described by the equation ddz6 6d 18 oc10 9 which shows evaporation during precipitation the altitude gradients in the precipitation were estimated to be k1 7 100 m for dd and 0 27 100 m for d 18 o the stable isotope analysis of 234 groundwater samples reflected fractionation due to evaporation the origin of groundwaters in the catchment was described based on the regression equation between surface elevations and dd contents for 33 selected springs of the ophiolitic complex it was found that the groundwaters in the ophiolitic aquifer and in the consolidated sediments originated from local recharge at high and low altitudes respectively on the contrary the groundwater in the alluvium aquifer originates from the high altitudes in the ophiolitic complex additionally dd data were used for the calibration of the recharge rates for a steady state groundwater flow and transport model the resulting calibrated total steady state recharge rate was 100 130 mm per year

development of a brine dominated hydrothermal system at temperatures of 400 500 c in the upper level plutonic sequence troodos ophiolite cyprus abstract microthermometric analyses of quartz hosted fluid inclusions in fresh and epidotized plagiogranites from the troodos ophiolite cyprus indicate that brine rich fluids 46 56 wt nacl equivalent at temperatures 400 500 c were pervasive throughout many of the plagiogranite bodies high salinity fe bearing inclusions along healed microfractures homogenize by halite dissolution at temperatures of 400 500 c liquid dominated low salinity 2 7 wt nacl secondary fluid inclusions are ubiquitous in all plagiogranite and gabbro samples studied homogenization of the low salinity inclusions occurs at uncorrected temperatures of 200 400 c the quartz hosted high salinity fluids represent either phase separation of hydrothermal seawater or an exsolved magmatic aqueous phase at uncorrected temperatures of 400 500 c migration and segregation of brine and vapor phases into fractures near the margins of the crystallizing plagiogranite bodies resulted in preferential entrapment of the fe rich brines in the deep seated high temperature portions of the hydrothermal system subsequent fracturing of the upper plutonic rocks at temperatures of 200 400 c allowed penetration by seawater which pervasively altered the plagiogranites hydration reactions involving formation of secondary minerals and or mixing with phase separated fluids resulted in fluid salinities two times that of seawater

oceanic inside corner detachments of the limassol forest area troodos ophiolite cyprus abstract flat lying extensional detachment faults have been imaged in the inside corner regions of ridge transform intersections on the mid atlantic ridge exposed detachment surfaces are 10 km or more across and are corrugated in the direction of spreading as are continental detachments beneath the detachments lie core complexes of peridotite and gabbro these are overlain by blocks of crustal material we argue here that similar detachments are an essential component of the limassol forest area of the troodos ophiolite in cyprus which lies south of the arakapas fault zone previously recognized as a palaeo transform fault and here interpreted as a transform fault that evolved into a fracture zone in the limassol forest core complexes of mantle peridotite can be shown to have been exposed at the sea floor or to have been covered by overlapping crustal blocks separated from the peridotite core and from each other by low angle extensional faults the extension can be shown to have occurred shortly after crustal construction and the already extended terrain was then intruded by swarms of dykes and plutons we interpret these relations as arising when crust is constructed in an inside corner area extended by detachment faulting deformed further during slip along the transform and then intruded by new magma as it passes the second spreading centre the structurally deeper parts of the crustal blocks that overlie the detachment lie broadly towards the west indicating that the spreading axis lay in that direction the ophiolite north of the transform is much less extended and we interpret this as a section of outside corner crust in this interpretation the troodos ophiolite formed to the east in its current orientation of a ridge transform ridge intersection in which the transform had a dextral offset and sinistral slip the part of the ophiolite that forms the limassol forest was produced at the western inside corner and spread eastwards until it passed the second spreading axis at which point the ophiolite north of the arakapas fault was created and welded to the limassol forest when the transform became a fracture zone

modelling the anisotropic seismic properties of partially molten rocks found at mid ocean ridges abstract the problem of modelling the seismic properties of mid ocean ridge rocks of the axial magma chamber amc and the low velocity triangle lvt immediately below it has been addressed using two samples from oman ophiolite as examples the specimens are a layered gabbro from the lower oceanic crustal sequence and a harzburgite from the upper most mantle section at the palaeo ridge axis the seismic properties have been simulated at a temperature of 1200 c and pressure of 200 mpa so that the basalt melt is above its solidus various effective medium methods are discussed in the perspective of modelling rocks that have a strong background elastic anisotropy due to crystal preferred orientation cpo and an introduced anisotropy due to oriented melt filled inclusions calculations using various methods show a wide range of predicted melt fractions for a given seismic velocity the self consistent scheme scs and differential effective medium dem are compared in some detail a tensorial model was developed using a poro elastic method of gassman at low seismic frequency and a standard dem with isolated basalt inclusions at high frequency at low frequency the basalt pore fluid is considered to be everywhere connected and the pressure uniform whereas at high frequency basalt inclusions are isolated assuming the medium to be a standard linear solid the low and high frequency velocities were used to calculate the anisotropy of attenuation calculations with spherical basalt inclusions show that the seismic velocities decrease and attenuation increase with increasing melt fraction the symmetry of the background anisotropy due to cpo is preserved but gradually reduced with increasing melt fraction for the seismic velocities observed for the axial magma chamber amc with v p of 3 5 to 4 7 km s the model predicts 50 70 melt for the low velocity triangle lvt below the amc with v p of 4 8 5 6 km s the model predicts 35 50 melt predictions from the observed attenuations q 1 at the amc of 0 05 0 02 and in the lvt of 0 02 0 01 are around 60 and 45 melt respectively seismic anisotropy has been modelled with ellipsoidal basalt pancake shaped inclusions with their circular sections in the xy foliation plane only a 2 3 of ellipsoidal basalt inclusions are required to over print the anisotropy of the background medium there is a rapid decrease in v p and increase of q 1 for propagation normal to the foliation z with increasing axial ratio of the inclusions with increasing axial ratio the model predicts decreasing amounts of melt for given velocity v p in the z direction for the lvt only 15 25 melt is predicted for a 10 1 inclusion instead of the 35 50 of the spherical inclusion

origin of waters responsible for serpentinization of the izu ogasawara mariana forearc seamounts in view of hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios many serpentinite seamounts occur over a region 20 120 km west of the trench axis in the izu ogasawara mariana forearc regions the hydrogen and oxygen isotopic compositions of serpentine from these regions indicate that there are at least two kinds of waters responsible for serpentinization seawater and water derived from dehydration of the descending slab serpentine from two mariana and two torishima samples with microscopically ductile and sheared texture sheared type have lower d 63to 52 and slightly higher 18o values 6 1 to 8 2 than that of other nine ogasawara samples with mesh texture mesh type d 43to 49 and 18o 5 8to 6 7 this suggests that the sheared type serpentine with lower d and slightly higher 18o values was formed within the wedge mantle by interaction with water derived from a descending slab the sheared texture is likely to have been produced during diapiric uplift the unaltered portion of the ultramafic bodies later interacted with seawater after emplacement at or near the seafloor resulting in formation of the mesh type serpentine with higher d values

fossil ridge transform intersection in the troodos ophiolite new perspectives from rock magnetism in the gabbro suite and fracture mechanics analysis 1 the missing link in the comprehensive view of the ridge transform intersection rti frozen in troodos is that portion of the extinct spreading axis between the solea graben and the fossil arakapas transform directional indicators of magma flow verified by paleomagnetic tests along with tectonic indicators permit tracing the extinct spreading axis through the gabbro suite at the continuation of the solea graben axis these indicators of axial deformation include measurements of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams and petrofabric determinations in the gabbro dikes major normal faults and fabric of mantle rocks the inferred axis is curved as it approaches the fossil transform the sense of curvature is in agreement with dextral slip along the fossil transform assuming curvature has resulted from transform induced shear stresses fracture mechanics analysis predicts the control on the axis shape by the ratio between driving stresses of spreading sh and resistance for sliding along the fossil transform t accordingly the curved shape of the spreading axis frozen in troodos indicates t sh 0 1 0 2 whereas for straight axis and orthogonal rti the analysis predicts t sh 0 01 these results suggest that the fossil curvature reflects a strong transform relative to curvature free rtis a strong arakapas transform is also in agreement with previous evidence of diffused deformation north of the transform such as block rotation and sigmoidal structure of dikes and faults

30 000 years of hydrothermal activity at the lost city vent field strontium carbon and oxygen isotope data and radiocarbon ages document at least 30 000 years of hydrothermal activity driven by serpentinization reactions at lost city serpentinization beneath this off axis field is estimated to occur at a minimum rate of 1 2 10 4 cubic kilometers per year the access of seawater to relatively cool fresh peridotite coupled with faulting volumetric expansion and mass wasting processes are crucial to sustain such systems the amount of heat produced by serpentinization of peridotite massifs typical of slow and ultraslow spreading environments has the potential to drive lost city type systems for hundreds of thousands possibly millions of years

from ocean depths to mountain tops uplift of the troodos ophiolite cyprus constrained by low temperature thermochronology and geomorphic analysis the timing and mode of uplift of the troodos ophiolite are constrained by low temperature thermochronology combined with geomorphic analysis zircon u th he and apatite fission track cooling ages in the troodos plutonic sequence are all cretaceous 83 106 ma and within error of published zircon u pb crystallization ages this indicates early cooling of the oceanic crust and termination of spreading axis magmatism at 90 ma apatite u th he ages decrease with reconstructed crustal depths from 40 ma near the top of the sheeted dike complex to 4 ma within the mantle sequence a prominent inflection point in the age versus depth curve defines the bottom of the exhumed helium partial retention zone and records the onset of rapid exhumation of the main troodos massif at 6 2 ma inverse thermal modeling supports this conclusion indicating that the timing of uplift is earlier than previously estimated the boundaries of the mantle sequence exposed in the core of the troodos structure closely overlap the boundaries of a concentric zone delineated by high local relief and higher channel steepness indices indicating differential exhumation and uplift of this area relative to its surroundings this zone also overlaps with a prominent negative bouguer gravity anomaly the timing and pattern of the troodos ophiolite uplift suggest that it is driven by serpentinite diapirism possibly triggered by miocene reactivation of subduction along the cyprean arc the worldwide ubiquity of suprasubduction zone ophiolites may thus reflect the importance of extensive serpentinization at the overthrusting mantle wedge in obduction processes

constraints on deformation conditions and the origin of oceanic detachments the mid atlantic ridge core complex at 15 45 n 1 deformed rocks sampled from a corrugated detachment fault surface near the mid atlantic ridge 15 45 n constrain the conditions of deformation and strain localization samples recovered in situ record deformation restricted to the cold shallow lithosphere greenschist facies with no evidence for significant high temperature deformation either at the fault zone or in the footwall near it high temperature deformation 720 750 c is observed only at two sites and cannot be directly linked to the detachment detachment faulting was coeval with dyke intrusions that cross cut it as demonstrated by the presence of undeformed and highly deformed diabase found in shear zones and by the presence of chill margins in diabase against fault rock basalts are very scarce and restricted to clasts in breccias with no evidence of pillows or extrusive structures gabbros crop out along mass wasted and fault scarps structurally below the detachment footwall rocks show little or no deformation due to strain localization along a narrow shear zone 200 m with fluid flow as required to form talc and amphibole schists after an ultramafic protolith we speculate that the alteration front in a heterogeneous lithosphere may be a rheological boundary that may localize deformation during long periods of time our observations and other geological evidence elsewhere suggest that this detachment model limited to the cold shallow lithosphere is applicable to other corrugated surfaces along slow and intermediate spreading ridges these observations preclude detachment models rooting in melt rich zones i e atlantis bank southwest indian ridge or recording high temperature deformation we infer that oceanic detachment faults 1 localize strain at t 500 300 c 2 persist during active magmatism and 3 root at shallow rheological boundaries such as a melt rich zone or magma chamber hot detachments or an alteration front cold detachments

fault related oceanic serpentinization in the troodos ophiolite cyprus implications for a fossil oceanic core complex article ultramafic rocks are exposed at the core of a domal structure near a fossil ridge transform intersection rti in the troodos ophiolite a sequence of heavily serpentinized rocks occurs adjacent to a major axis parallel fault the amiandos fault af which juxtaposes them against gabbro previously serpentinization and faulting were not considered to be related to the cretaceous ocean spreading history of the troodos ophiolite but instead were interpreted as associated with late emplacement related tectonics and diapirism unusually high 18 o values previously measured in troodos serpentine srp supported this view here petrographic and isotope tracers d 18 o of water rock interaction are examined in three profiles across the af to determine the spatial distribution temperature and the type of water involved in serpentinization in the troodos rti complete serpentinization widespread chrysotile veining and very high

flexural rotation of normal faults a conceptual model is proposed for the generation of low angle normal faults in metamorphic core complexes the model is based on three assumptions 1 the isostatic response to normal fault motion is of regional extent 2 when a fault segment is significantly rotated from the optimum angle of slip relative to the crustal stress field it is replaced by a new planar fault oriented in the optimum direction and 3 the fault cuts the entire upper crust and fault motion always nucleates in the same region at the base of the upper crust the stress field is considered to be uniform through the crust and the regional isostatic response of the crust to loads is computed using the thin plate flexure approximations active low angle normal faults are difficult to reconcile with rock mechanics theories earthquake focal mechanism studies and geochronologic results indicating rapid cooling of core complex rocks the model does not require active fault slip on low angle faults the flexural response to normal faulting is shown to be significantly affected by anelastic behavior of the crust and by loading due to sedimentation the anelastic response to large bending stresses results in significant reduction in the effective elastic rigidity of the upper crust this can explain the observed short wavelength of topographic response to normal fault loads the model results in 1 a nearly flat lying abandoned normal fault or detachment below slices of upper plate rocks and sedimentary infill 2 a strong contrast in metamorphic grade across the abandoned detachment 3 rapid movement of lower plate rocks from midcrustal depths to shallower depths these results are qualitatively in agreement with geologic observations for core complexes

fault rotation and core complex formation significant processes in seafloor formation at slow spreading mid ocean ridges mid atlantic ridge 13 15 n 1 the region of the mid atlantic ridge mar between the fifteen twenty and marathon fracture zones displays the topographic characteristics of prevalent and vigorous tectonic extension normal faults show large amounts of rotation dome shaped corrugated detachment surfaces core complexes intersect the seafloor at the edge of the inner valley floor and extinct core complexes cover the seafloor off axis we have identified 45 potential core complexes in this region whose locations are scattered everywhere along two segments 13 and 15 n segments steep outward facing slopes suggest that the footwalls of many of the normal faults in these two segments have rotated by more than 30 the rotation occurs very close to the ridge axis as much as 20 within 5 km of the volcanic axis and is complete by 1 my producing distinctive linear ridges with roughly symmetrical slopes this morphology is very different from linear abyssal hill faults formed at the 14 n magmatic segment which display a smaller amount of rotation typically 15 we suggest that the severe rotation of faults is diagnostic of a region undergoing large amounts of tectonic extension on single faults if faults are long lived a dome shaped corrugated surface develops in front of the ridges and lower crustal and upper mantle rocks are exposed to form a core complex a single ridge segment can have several active core complexes some less than 25 km apart that are separated by swales we present two models for multiple core complex formation a continuous model in which a single detachment surface extends along axis to include all of the core complexes and swales and a discontinuous model in which local detachment faults form the core complexes and magmatic spreading forms the intervening swales either model can explain the observed morphology

structure of a fossil ridge transform intersection in the troodos ophiolite recent palaeomagnetic studies of sheeted dykes adjacent to the east west trending southern troodos transform fault of cyprus have demonstrated significant clockwise block rotations which are most easily interpreted as being due to drag induced by dextral strike slip faulting along the transform1 6 we show here that such rotations have not occurred along the entire length of the transform instead to the west of the areas previously studied the sheeted dykes have been subjected to simple tilting only indicating normal faulting but no strike slip the changeover between these two domains of differing structural styles near the village of mandria is approximately in line with the centre of the solea graben a north south trending structure within the troodos massif which has previously been interpreted as a fossil ridge axis7 we suggest that the mandria area represents a fossilized ridge transform intersection and present the results of a detailed field investigation of the area together with preliminary palaeomagnetic data to determine the relationship between tectonism and magmatism at such plate boundary zones we use our findings to test a recent theoretical model8 of deformation processes at ridge transform intersections and show that distributed deformation due to block rotation is largely confined to the ridge transform corner itself

along axis variations in seafloor spreading in the mark area recent investigations with the manned submersible alvin and the angus deep towed camera sled greatly extended the known range of variations in the style of seafloor spreading along the axis of the mid atlantic ridge five transects of the spreading centre at intervals of10 20 km south of the kane fracture zone at 24 n latitude demonstrate dramatic changes in the style and magnitude of tectonic extension development of the neovolcanic zone expression of hydrothermal venting types oflithologic exposures and morphology of the median valley

geometry conditions and timing of off axis hydrothermal metamorphism and ore deposition in the solea graben the recent discovery of fossil spreading axes along the northern margin of the troodos ophiolite1 provides a unique opportunity to compare a fossil seawater hydrothermal system with systems of modern oceanic spreading centres2 6 whereas previous accounts of ophiolite hydrothermal systems7 13 including troodos14 16have elucidated many aspects of sea floor hydrothermal metamorphism earlier workers have not placed ophiolite hydrothermal features within any specific spreading centre structural framework most ophiolites exhibit complex histories of post accretion deformation that mask or obliterate early structures related to seafloor spreading the troodos ophiolite is apparently still in the process of being emplaced 17 and most structural elements at troodos appear to have originated beneath a cretaceous sea floor1 we have discovered an extensive area of intense seawater hydrothermal alteration within the sheeted dyke complex of the solea graben fig 1 the metamorphic petrology and oxygen isotope geochemistry of 100 dyke samples from this graben reveal the size and three dimensional geometry of the hydrothermal system and yield estimates of temperature salinity oxygen isotope composition and recharge discharge geometry for fluids that transported the constituents of massive sulfide orebodies geometric discordance between the trends of the hydrothermally altered area and of earlier seafloor spreading structures compels us to consider a post spreading off axis origin for the orebodies of the solea graben

low temperature volatile production at the lost city hydrothermal field evidence from a hydrogen stable isotope geothermometer although commonly utilized in continental geothermal work the water hydrogen and methane hydrogen isotope geothermometers have been neglected in hydrothermal studies here we report d ch4 and d h2 values from high temperature black smoker type hydrothermal vents and low temperature carbonate hosted samples from the recently discovered lost city hydrothermal field methane deuterium content is uniform across the dataset at 120 12 hydrogen d values vary from 420 to 330 at high temperature vents to 700 to 600 at lost city the application of several geothermometer equations to a suite of hydrothermal vent volatile samples reveals that predicted temperatures are similar to measured vent temperatures at high temperature vents and 20 60 c higher than those measured at the lost city vents we conclude that the overestimation of temperature at lost city reflects 1 that methane and hydrogen are produced by serpentinization at n110 c and 2 that isotopic equilibrium at temperatures b70 c is mediated by microbial sulfate reduction the successful application of hydrogen isotope geothermometers to low temperature lost city hydrothermal samples encourages its employment with lowtemperature diffuse hydrothermal fluids 2005 elsevier b v all rights reserved

oxygen isotope fractionation between calcite and tremolite an experimental study oxygen isotope partitioning between calcite and tremolite was experimentally calibrated in the presence of small amounts of a supercritical co2 h2o fluid at temperatures from 520 to 680 c and pressures from 3 to 10 kbar the experiments were carried out within the stability field of the calcite tremolite assemblage based on phase equilibrium relationships in the system cao mgo sio2 co2 h2o so that decomposition of calcite and tremolite was avoided under the experimental conditions appropriate proportions of carbon dioxide to water were used to meet this requirement large weight ratios of mineral to fluid were employed in order to make the isotopic exchange between calcite and tremolite in the presence of a fluid close to that without fluid the data processing method for isotopic exchange in a three phase system has been applied to extrapolate partial equilibrium data to equilibrium values the determined fractionation factors between calcite cc and tremolite tr are expressed as 1031n cc tr 3 80 106 t2 1 67

late paleozoic peperites in west junggar china and how they constrain regional tectonic and palaeoenvironmental setting abstract late paleozoic peperites have been identified for the first time at the bottom of tailegula formation in west junggar china this finding is significant for the reconstruction of late paleozoic evolution in the junggar region the peperites form successions up to 500 m thick interbedded with basaltic lava and sedimentary rocks four types of peperites are described and interpreted as resulting from basaltic lava bulldozed into wet unconsolidated sediments at their basal contacts zircon la icp ms u pb dating of a tuff lens enclosed by lava showed that the peperites formed in the late devonian ca 364 ma the peperite bearing units probably formed at a water depth of less than 3 km and are generally undeformed occurring in continuous stratigraphic sections distributed regionally over a distance of 100 km on either side of the darbut and baijiantan ophiolitic belts in contrast to the highly deformed slices of ophiolite they demonstrate that the darbut and baijiantan ophiolitic belts should not be interpreted as significant plate boundaries and represent the underlying ocean crust uplifted along tectonic lineaments within a continuous shallow remnant ocean basin the peperites formed during the spreading phase of the remnant ocean basin and represent the final stages of creation of oceanic crust

oxygen isotope exchange kinetics of mineral pairs in closed and open systems applications to problems of hydrothermal alteration of igneous rocks and precambrian iron formations the systematics of stable isotope exchange between minerals and fluids are examined in the context of modal mineralogical variations and mass balance considerations both in closed and in open systems on mineral pair 18 o plots samples from terranes that have exchanged with large amounts of fluid typically map out steep positively sloped non equilibrium arrays analytical models are derived to explain these effects these models allow for different exchange rates between the various minerals and the external fluids as well as different fluid fluxes the steep arrays are adequately modelled by calculated isochron lines that involve the whole family of possible exchange trajectories these isochrons have initially steep near vertical positive slopes that rotate toward a 45 equilibrium slope as the exchange process proceeds to completion the actual data point array is thus analogous to the hand of an isotopic clock that measures the duration of the hydrothermal episode the dimensionless ratio of the volumetric fluid flux to the kinetic rate parameter u k determines the shape of each individual exchange trajectory in a fluid buffered system u k 1 the solutions to the equations 1 are independent of the mole fractions of the solid phases 2 correspond to taylor s open system water rock equation and 3 yield straight line isochrons that have slopes that approach 1 f where f is the fraction reacted of the more sluggishly exchanging mineral the isochrons for this simple exchange model are closely congruent with the isochrons calculated for all of the more complex models thereby simplifying the application of theory to actual hydrothermal systems in nature in all of the models an order of magnitude of time in units of kt separates steep non equilibrium arrays e g slope 10 from arrays approaching an equilibrium slope of unity on a diagram because we know the approximate lifetimes of many hydrothermal systems from geologic and heat balance constraints we can utilize the 18 o 16 o data on natural mineral assemblages to calculate the kinetic rate constants k s and the effective diffusion constants d s for mineral h 2o exchange these calculated values k qtz 10 14 k feld 10 13 10 12 agree with experimental determinations of such constants in nature once the driving force or energy source for the external infiltrating fluid phase is removed the disequilibrium mineral pair arrays will either 1 remain frozen in their existing state if the temperatures are low enough or 2 re equilibrate along specific closed system exchange vectors determined solely by the temperature path and the mineral modal proportions thus modal mineralogical information is a particularly important parameter in both the open and closed system scenarios and should in general always be reported in stable isotopic studies of mineral assemblages these concepts are applied to an analysis of 18 o 16 o systematics of gabbros plagioclase clinopyroxene and plagioclase amphibole pairs granitic plutons quartz feldspar pairs and precambrian siliceous iron formations quartz magnetite pairs in all these examples striking regularities are observed on and plots but we point out that plots have many advantages over their equivalent diagrams as the latter are more susceptible to misinterpretation using the equations developed in this study these regularities can be interpreted to give semiquantitative information on the exchange histories of these rocks subsequent to their formation in particular we present a new interpretation indicating that precambrian cherty iron formations have in general undergone a complex fluid exchange history in which the iron oxide magnetite precursor has exchanged much faster with low temperature 400 c fluids than has the relatively inert quartz

kinematics and geometry of active detachment faulting beneath the trans atlantic geotraverse tag hydrothermal field on the mid atlantic ridge newly acquired seismic refraction and microearthquake data from the trans atlantic geotraverse tag segment of the mid atlantic ridge at 26 n reveal for the first time the geometry and seismic character of an active oceanic detachment fault hypocenters from 19 232 microearthquakes observed during an eight month ocean bottom seismometer deployment form an 15 km long dome shaped fault surface that penetrates to depths 7 km below the seafloor on a steeply dipping 70 interface a tomographic model of compressional wave velocities demonstrates that lower crustal rocks are being exhumed in the detachment footwall which appears to roll over to a shallow dip of 20 5 and become aseismic at a depth of 3 km outboard of the detachment the exhumed lithosphere is deformed by ridge parallel antithetical normal faulting our results suggest that hydrothermal fluids at the tag field exploit the detachment fault to extract heat from a region near the crust mantle interface over long periods of time

submersible study of an oceanic megamullion in the central north atlantic recently discovered megamullions on the seafloor have been interpreted to be the exhumed footwalls of long lived detachment faults operating near the ends of spreading segments in slow spreading crust we conducted five submersible dives on one of these features just east of the rift valley in the mid atlantic ridge at 26 35 n and obtained visual rock sample gravity and heat flow data along a transect from the breakaway zone where the fault is interpreted to have first nucleated in 2 0 2 2 ma crust westward to near the termination 0 7 ma our observations are consistent with the detachment fault hypothesis and show the following features in the breakaway zone faulted and steeply backtilted basaltic blocks suggest rotation above a deeper shear zone the youngest normal faults in this sequence are interpreted to have evolved into the long lived detachment fault in younger crust the interpreted detachment surface rises as monotonously flat seafloor in a pair of broad gently sloping domes that formed simultaneously along isochrons and are now thinly covered by sediment the detachment surface is locally littered with basaltic debris that may have been clipped from the hanging wall the domes coincide with a gravity high that continues along isochrons within the spreading segment modeling of on bottom gravity measurements and recovery of serpentinites imply that mantle rises steeply and is exposed within 7 km west of the breakaway but that rocks with intermediate densities prevail farther west within 5 km of the termination small volcanic cones appear on the detachment surface indicating melt input into the footwall we interpret the megamullion to have developed during a phase of limited magmatism in the spreading segment with mantle being exhumed by the detachment fault 0 5 m y after its initiation increasing magmatism may eventually have weakened the lithosphere and facilitated propagation of a rift that terminated slip on the detachment fault progressively between 1 3 m y and 0 7 m y identifiable but low amplitude magnetic anomalies over the megamullion indicate that it incorporates a magmatic component we infer that much of the footwall is composed of variably serpentinized peridotite intruded by plutons and dikes

dynamic control on serpentine crystallization in veins constraints on hydration processes in oceanic peridotites deformation and hydration processes are intimately linked in the oceanic lithosphere but the feedbacks between them are still poorly understood especially in ultramafic rocks where serpentinization results in a decrease of rock density that implies a volume increase and or mass transfer serpentinization is accompanied by abundant veining marked by different generations of vein filling serpentines with a high variety of morphologies and textures that correspond to different mechanisms and conditions of formation we use these veins to constrain the role of deformation and mass transfer processes during hydration of oceanic peridotites at slow spreading ridges we have selected a representative set of veins from ocean floor serpentinites of the mid atlantic ridge near kane transform fault 23 n and characterized these in detail for their microstructures and chemistry by coupling optical and electron microscopy sem tem with electron microprobe analyses four main veining episodes v1 to v4 accompany the serpentinization the first episode identified as vein generation v1 is interpreted as the tectonically controlled penetration of early seawater dominated fluid within peridotites enhancing thermal cracking and mesh texture initiation at 3 4 km up to 8 km depth and at t 300 350 c the two following vein stages v2 and v3 formed in a closed diffusive system and accommodate volume expansion required to reach almost 50 serpentinization of the protolith the cracks exploited by these veins were caused by the progressive unroofing at depths of 4 to 2 km along a detachment fault degree and rate of serpentinization seem to be controlled by the capacity of the system to create space and to drive the mass transfer needed for ongoing serpentinization and this capacity is in turn linked to the exhumation rate and local tectonics during this period water consumed by hydration may prevent the establishment of convective hydrothermal cells the onset of an open hydrothermal system in the shallow lithosphere 2 km where brittle fracturing and advective transfer dominate and enable the completion of serpentinization is marked by the last vein generation v4 these results show a complete history of alteration with the crystallization of different types of serpentine recording different tectonic events chemical conditions and modes of hydrothermal alteration of the lithosphere

emplacement of deep crustal and mantle rocks on the west median valley wall of the mark area mar 23 n abstract exposures of deep crustal and mantle rocks within the axial rift valley characterize accretion processes in the slow spreading mid atlantic ridge nine dives of the submersible nautile explored the western axial valley wall in the northern cell of the mark area mid atlantic ridge kane fracture zone where peridotite and gabbro outcrops had been previously reported in order to constrain the structure and determine emplacement mechanisms the ridge transform intersection massif on the western wall shows a section of gabbros from 6000 to 2500 mbsl locally overlain by metabasalts and metadolerites capped by slightly weathered basalts the morphology is controlled by ridge parallel faults dipping moderately 40 65 to the east transform parallel scarps present in the northernmost dives become rare toward the south brittle deformation along moderately dipping fault scarps produced a dense microcrack network filled with greenschist facies minerals chlorite actinolite epidote quartz locally overprinting high temperature ductile deformation fabrics the small hill located at 23 20 in the western wall shows good exposures of serpentinized peridotite between 3700 and 3100 mbsl above 3100 mbsl the summit of the hill is composed of pillow basalts and sediments the peridotite outerops display a strong schistosity dipping 20 40 to the east parallel to striated normal fault planes some steeper east facing fault scarps truncate the lower dipping fault surfaces the serpentinites deriving from a harzburgitic protolith are cut by rare dikelets of highly differentiated gabbro these new data combined with previous results of alvin dives are used to draw a generalized geological map of the western axial valley wall this map suggests a variation in the thickness of crustal units and composition along strike in the northern cell of the mark area the gabbro body disappears toward the south where basalts appear to directly overlie the mantle peridotites which are cut by isolated gabbroic dikelets low angle stretching affecting this heterogeneous lithosphere is probably responsible for the exposure of gabbros in the intersection massif and of peridotites further south

structural and geophysical expression of the solea graben troodos ophiolite cyprus field studies show that extensional structures in the north central part of the troodos ophiolite including steep normal faults grabens dikes and low angle detachment faults are related to e w present coordinates spreading the solea graben directly north of the mafic ultramafic rock outcrops around mount olympus consists of a 10 to 15 km wide western portion that is underlain by a low angle detachment fault between the sheeted dike complex and the plutonic section structural and paleomagnetic evidence indicates that the sheeted dikes above this detachment have been rotated 40 or more about subhorizontal axes the eastern portion of the graben contains sheeted dike blocks with varying axes of rotation and significantly different style of intrusive activity most structural features in the graben formed simultaneously with or shortly after cessation of spreading at the graben axis based on cross cutting ophiolitic dikes and hydrothermal mineralization timing of the uplift of the central part of the troodos ophiolite is uncertain but is probably related to the tectonic thinning of the upper crust by low angle normal faulting the solea graben spreading center provides a model for the structure of modern mid ocean ridges that are spreading amagmatically

development of oceanic detachment and asymmetric spreading at the australian antarctic discordance 1 the largest known oceanic detachment terrains occur in segment b3 of the australian antarctic discordance aad using newly collected bathymetry magnetic and gravity data we show that segment b3 is divided into two contrasting second order segments the western subsegment b3w is characterized by well ordered ridge parallel abyssal hills and low mantle bouguer gravity anomalies the eastern subsegment b3e displays rough chaotic morphology and includes several megamullions characterized by high mantle bouguer gravity anomaly values the crust is estimated to be thinner by a maximum of 3 km in southern b3e the combination of chaotic morphology with thinner crust supports the idea that the megamullions are exposed footwalls of oceanic detachments megamullion terrains are characterized by higher magnetization than adjacent terrains most likely as a result of serpentinization of peridotite exposed at the detachment surfaces detachment surfaces constitute up to 70 of the total area of both ridge flanks younger than 2 ma in b3e indicating that oceanic detachments have played a major role in its development spreading in b3e has been extremely asymmetric with higher apparent rates associated with the large detachment surfaces where up to 75 of the total extension occurred similar asymmetric spreading on oceanic detachments is also recognized in segment b4 suggesting that this is the dominant mode of extension associated with cold mantle and low magma supply in this deepest part of the aad where it is confined to a mere 100 km long section of the aad spreading axis

hydrothermal mobilisation of au and other metals in supra subduction oceanic crust insights from the troodos ophiolite the troodos ophiolite is an ideal location to investigate the relationships between the mobilisation of metals by hydrothermal fluids from the lower oceanic crust and the formation of volcanogenic massive sulphide vms deposits the ophiolite hosts the classic cyprus type cu rich vms deposits as well as abundant zones of epidosite alteration in the lower sheeted dyke section that are significantly depleted in base metals including cu and zn and are considered to be the source of the metals enriched in the overlying deposits previous research indicates that the troodos vms deposits are irregularly enriched in au and related elements as sb and se but the behaviour of these elements during the hydrothermal alteration of the troodos ophiolite hitherto has been poorly investigated low detection limit whole rock analyses of fresh glass samples reveal that the troodos primitive crust has a similar metal content and distribution to modern day arc related environments such as the manus basin compared to mid oceanic ridge basalt morb the troodos primitive crust is enriched in as sb and pb most likely due to addition from a subducting slab during crustal formation during early stages of magmatic differentiation 9 3 5 wt mgo au as sb se cu zn and pb behave as incompatible elements due to the sulphide undersaturated nature of the melt the onset of magnetite crystallisation however at 3 5 wt mgo leads to sulphide segregation and depletion of strongly chalcophile elements au cu and se during continued differentiation 3 5 wt mgo whereas poorly chalcophile elements as sb zn and pb remain incompatible these differences in metal behaviour can account for the cu rich zn pb poor of the cyprus type vms deposits as the source area rocks show high cu fertility compared to zn and pb mobilisation of metals during hydrothermal alteration of the troodos ophiolite is more extensive than observed in hydrothermally altered morb mass balance calculations show that the epidosite zones are significantly depleted in au 88 16 as 89 23 sb 60 12 se 91 20 cu 84 18 zn 63 9 and pb 60 8 background altered diabase from outside epidosite zones shows similar metal depletions which suggests that the source areas of vms are not restricted to epidosite zones but are extended to the lower sheeted dyke section the masses of metals mobilised from a source area of 10 9 km3 composed of a 5 km3 epidosite zone and 5 9 km3 of background altered diabase in the solea graben are 47 t au 21 kt as 1200 t sb 3100 t se 2 4 mt cu 1 8 mt zn and 27 kt pb comparison of metal quantities mobilised from lower sheeted dike section in the solea graben with those hosted in vms deposits shows trapping efficiencies ranging from 4 to 37 indicating that most of the metals is lost by other processes

o and h stable isotope compositions of oceanic crust and upper mantle rocks exposed in the hess deep near the galapagos triple junction abstract a large variety of rocks consisting of basalts dolerites gabbros and ultramafics are exposed on the intra rift ridge in the hess deep representing a section of the oceanic crust formed at the east pacific ridge 1 we conducted a stable isotope study of o and h to assess the nature of the interaction between seawater and the oceanic crust in this region fresh basalt and dolerite samples have magmatic morb values 18o 6 0 105 d 70 and low h2o content 57 and h2o contents 1 3 most gabbros have 18o 5 6 essentially identical to their initial magmatic values their d values are generally higher than 57 suggesting that they have reacted with some seawater derived fluids as is also suggested by their mineralogy in gabbros displaying little or no visual evidence of alteration of their plagioclases and pyroxenes 18oplagioclase pyroxene is small 0 3 and consistent with magmatic values the calcic an 50 plagioclases have magmatic 18o 5 8 albitized prehnitized plagioclases have variable 18o values 4 8 it also appears that the 18o modified gabbros are those in which plagioclases are transformed into albite and or prehnite which are characteristic of greenschist facies conditions the lack of calcic an 50 plagioclases depleted in 18o and hornblende suggests that most of the gabbros did not react extensively under amphibolite facies conditions with seawater derived fluids t 400 c or that they were subsequently altered to greenschist facies gabbros the serpentinized peridotites were depleted in 18o 3 3 4 9 in one sample the 18oserpentine magnetite 5 7 corresponds to a temperature of about 325 50 c these values are compatible with serpentinization by seawater derived fluids at temperatures between 200 and 350 c another sample has a higher 18o value of 10 corresponding to a serpentinization temperature of less than 50 c the 18o mass balance between seawater and the oceanic crust seems to have attained steady state where enrichment in 18o of metabasalts is balanced by the depletion in 18o of metadolerites the contribution of the gabbros is minor the depletion in 18o of the serpentinized peridotites is not taken into account since we believe that the high temperature serpentinization is characteristic of the hess deep and cannot be extrapolated to the normal oceanic crust

grain scale processes in actively deforming magma mushes new insights from electron backscatter diffraction ebsd analysis of biotite schlieren in the jizera granite bohemian massif abstract in the porphyritic jizera granite bohemian massif three distinct types of lattice preferred orientations of biotite grains were revealed in schlieren delineated magmatic structures using the electron backscatter diffraction ebsd method 1 biotite basal planes 001 reorient from schlieren subparallel near the schlieren base to schlieren perpendicular in the upper part of the schlieren both orientations share subhorizontal n s to nne ssw trending a axes 2 in some domains the a axes are steep and at a high angle to the schlieren plane while the c axes plunge shallowly and rotate around an ill defined a axis 3 in other domains the ebsd coincides with background magnetic fabric of the host granite revealed using the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams method that is the a axes plunge shallowly to the se or nw while the c axes are subhorizontal and cluster around the ne sw trend these multiple biotite orientations in the schlieren are interpreted to reflect 1 velocity gradient in laminar magma flow along channel like conduits localized within the high strength host phenocryst framework 2 grain scale gravity driven constrictional deformation of the magma mush and 3 overprinting background tectonic deformation transmitted across large parts of the magma chamber prior to its final crystallization the grain scale mechanisms of biotite fabric acquisition in the schlieren presumably involved rotation of biotite crystals during flow with the biotite alignment reflecting the flow geometry and kinematics replaced after flow cessation by melt aided grain boundary sliding of those biotite crystals still enclosed in melt pockets within otherwise static highly crystallized magma mush the latter process was sufficient to reorient biotite grains but not to cause destruction of the schlieren using the jizera granite as a case example we argue that the lattice preferred orientation of mineral grains in mafic schlieren is highly sensitive to reorient in response to processes both associated with the schlieren formation e g localized magma flow and those that occur later and are superimposed onto the effectively solid high strength magma mush

direct geological evidence for oceanic detachment faulting the mid atlantic ridge 15 45 n from a detailed survey and sampling study of corrugated massifs north of the fifteen twenty fracture zone on the mid atlantic ridge we demonstrate that their surfaces are low angle detachment fault planes as proposed but not previously verified spreading direction parallel striations on the massifs occur at wavelengths from kilometers to centimeters oriented drill core samples from the striated surfaces are dominated by fault rocks with low angle shear planes and highly deformed greenschist facies assemblages that include talc chlorite tremolite and serpentine deformation was very localized and occurred in the brittle regime no evidence is seen for ductile deformation of the footwall synkinematic emplacement of diabase dikes into the fault zone from an immediately subjacent gabbro pluton implies that the detachment must have been active as a low angle fault surface at very shallow levels directly beneath the ridge axis strain localization occurred in response to the weakening of a range of hydrous secondary minerals at a very early stage and was highly efficient

the influence of crenulation cleavage development on the bulk elastic and seismic properties of phyllosilicate rich rocks abstract the anisotropy of seismic wave propagation is strongly influenced by the mineralogy and microstructure of rocks phyllosilicates are elastically highly anisotropic and are therefore thought to be important contributors to seismic anisotropy in the continental crust crenulation cleavage is one of the most common microstructural fabrics found in multiply deformed phyllosilicate rich crustal rocks we calculated the bulk elastic properties and resulting wave velocities for rock samples that preserved three different stages of crenulation cleavage development an initial planar foliation a moderately developed crenulation cleavage and a well developed crenulation cleavage mineral orientation maps were obtained using electron backscatter diffraction and calculations were made using asymptotic expansion homogenization combined with the finite element method the difficulties involved with sample preparation and data acquisition of phyllosilicate rich rock samples are also discussed we compare our results to more conventional methods for calculating an aggregate stiffness matrix from a mineral orientation map namely voigt and reuss averages these averages do not account for grain scale interactions and therefore deviate from the results calculated using asymptotic expansion homogenization our results show that the rocks characterized by a planar foliation and a moderately developed crenulation cleavage are highly anisotropic with p wave anisotropies up to 30 9 and s wave anisotropies up to 34 2 whereas the rock characterized by a well developed crenulation cleavage is only mildly anisotropic with a p wave anisotropy of 15 5 and s wave anisotropy of 10 7 progressive development of the fabric also causes the orientations of p and s wave velocity maxima and s wave polarization directions to change markedly despite the high anisotropy imparted by a planar schistosity the variety of folds and fabrics typically found in phyllosilicate rich rocks within larger scale crustal volumes will tend to mute the anisotropy possibly to the point of appearing nearly isotropic

oxygen isotope fractionation in quartz albite anorthite and calcite laboratory measurements of equilibrium oxygen isotope fractionation in quartz albite anorthite and calcite have been carried out by anhydrous exchange between silicates and calcite at temperatures of 600 c and above exchange in these systems is as rapid as exchange between silicates and water fractionation factors can be summarized in the following equations qc 0 38 106t 2 abc 0 57 106t 2 anc 1 59 106t 2 from which the silicate pair fractionations are readily obtained these results are compared with published theoretical estimates as well as data derived from hydrothermal experiments some significant differences are found in particular it is difficult to reconcile all of the hydrothermal data either with theoretical calculations or with the present experimental data the new experiments provide an internally consistent set of fractionation factors suitable for isotopic thermometry and for test of disequilibrium in natural systems

a rifted inside corner massif on the mid atlantic ridge at 5 s the structure of the mid atlantic ridge at 5 s was investigated during a recent cruise with the fs meteor a major dextral transform fault hereafter the 5 s fz offsets the ridge left laterally by 80 km just south of the transform and to the west of the median valley the inside corner ic the region bounded by the ridge and the active transform is marked by a major massif characterized by a corrugated upper surface fossil ic massifs can also be identified further to the west unusually a massif almost as high as the ic massif also characterizes the outside corner oc south of the inactive fracture zone and to the east of the median valley this oc massif has axis parallel dimensions identical to the ic massif and both are bounded on their sides closest to the spreading axis by abrupt steep slopes an axial volcanic ridge is well developed in the median valley both south of the ic oc massifs and in an abandoned rift valley to the east of the oc massif but is absent along the new ridge axis segment between the ic and oc massifs wide angle seismic data show that between the massifs the crust of the median valley thins markedly towards the fz these observations are consistent with the formation of the oc massif by the rifting of an ic core complex and the development of a new spreading centre between the ic and oc massifs the split ic massif presents an opportunity to study the internal structure of the footwall of a detachment fault from the corrugated fault surface to deeper beneath the fault without recourse to drilling preliminary dredging recovered gabbros from the scarp slope of the rifted ic massif and serpentinites and gabbros from the intersection of this scarp with the corrugated surface this is compatible with a concentration of serpentinites along the detachment surface even where the massif internally is largely plutonic in nature

oxygen isotope geochemistry of the amphiboles isotope effects of cation substitutions in minerals abstract the occurrence of coexisting amphiboles in rocks and the likelihood of concurrent isotope closure allows equilibrium oxygen isotope fractionations among the amphiboles to be recovered from natural samples oxygen isotope analyses of mineral separates using laser fluorination show that coexisting amphiboles increasingly partition 18o in the order hornblende gedrite 0 9 previously published data for hornblende actinolite glaucophane and garnet show that act hbl 0 2 gln grt 1 and hbl grt 0 thus glaucophane strongly partitions 18o relative to the calcic amphiboles the fractionation between two amphiboles of arbitrary composition can be predicted from the known fractionations for mica endmembers pyroxene endmembers and exchange components such as caal nasi 1 naal camg 1 camg 1 mgfe 1 femn 1 kna 1 kal si 1 and fe3 al 1 applications of the exchange component method reproduce measured amphibole fractionations to within 0 1 to 0 2 whereas other predictive methods cause misfit for typical metamorphic hornblende of 0 5 at 575 c although the isotope effects of cation exchanges may be small at high t they magnify dramatically for minerals formed in surficial diagenetic and low t metamorphic environments different composition clays are predicted to have equilibrium 18o differences of 2 9 if the isotope fractionation can be determined for one mineral endmember then calibrated exchanges allow accurate prediction of the isotope fractionations for intermediate compositions of most ortho ring chain and sheet silicates

early establishment of seafloor hydrothermal systems during structural extension paleomagnetic evidence from the troodos ophiolite cyprus abstract paleomagnetic data from the troodos ophiolite are used to help constrain models for the relationship between extensional normal faulting and hydrothermal alteration related to production of large tonnage sulfide deposits at oceanic ridges we have sampled dikes from the troodos sheeted complex that have been subjected to variable hydrothermal alteration from greenschist alteration typical of the low water rock mass ratio interactions outside of hydrothermal upflow zones as well as from severely recrystallized rocks epidosites altered within high water rock mass ratio hydrothermal upflow zones in the root zones beneath large sulfide ore deposits these dikes are moderately to highly tilted from their initial near vertical orientations due to rotations in the hangingwalls of approximately dike parallel oceanic normal faults comparison of characteristic remanence directions from these dikes with the late cretaceous troodos reference direction therefore allows a tilt test to determine whether remanent magnetizations were acquired prior to or subsequent to tilting remanence directions for both greenschist and epidosite dikes show similar magnitudes of tilting due to rotational normal faulting and restore to the late cretaceous troodos reference direction upon restoration of dikes to near vertical positions about a nnw trending horizontal axis these data along with field observations of focused alteration along normal faults suggest that epidosite alteration occurred during the early stages of extensional tilting and prior to significant rotation this sequence of events is similar to that observed for creation of large tonnage sulfide bodies at intermediate to slow spreading centers which form soon after cessation of magmatism and during the early stages of structural extension we suggest that the dike parallel normal faults were initiated as extensional fractures during this early stage of crustal extension thus providing the necessary permeability for focused fluid flow and that later slip along these structures during rotational planar normal faulting caused reduction in permeability due to gouge formation

evidence from gabbro of the troodos ophiolite for lateral magma transport along a slow spreading mid ocean ridge the lateral flow of magma and ductile deformation of the lower crust along oceanic spreading axes has been thought to play a significant role in suppressing both mid ocean ridge segmentation and variations in crustal thickness direct investigation of such flow patterns is hampered by the kilometres of water that cover the oceanic crust but such studies can be made on ophiolites fragments of oceanic crust accreted to a continent in the oman ophiolite small scale radial patterns of flow have been mapped along what is thought to be the relict of a fast spreading mid ocean ridge here we present evidence for broad scale along axis flow that has been frozen into the gabbro of the troodos ophiolite in cyprus thought to be representative of a slow spreading ridge axis the gabbro suite of troodos spans nearly 20 km of a segment of a fossil spreading axis near a ridge transform intersection we mapped the pattern of magma flow by analysing the rocks magnetic fabric at 20 sites widely distributed in the gabbro suite and by examining the petrographic fabric at 9 sites we infer an along axis magma flow for much of the gabbro suite which indicates that redistribution of melt occurred towards the segment edge in a large depth range of the oceanic crust our results support the magma plumbing structure that has been inferred indirectly from a seismic tomography experiment on the slow spreading mid atlantic ridge

the iberian roman humid period 2600 1600 cal yr bp in the zonar lake varve record andalucia southern spain abstract the iberian roman humid period irhp 2600 1600 cal yr bp is the most humid phase of the last 4000 yr in southern spain as recorded in the sedimentary sequence of zonar lake 37 29 00 n 4 41 22 w 300 m a s l a varve chronology supported by several ams 14 c dates allows study of the lake evolution at annual scale in response to human impact and climate changes there are four climate phases within this period i gradual transition 2600 2500 yr ago 650 550 bc from a previous arid period ii the most humid interval during the iberian early roman epoch 2500 2140 yr ago 550 190 bc iii an arid interval during the roman empire epoch 2140 1800 yr ago 190 bc ad 150 and iv a humid period synchronous with the decline of the roman empire 1800 1600 yr ago ad 150 350 varve thickness and geochemical proxies show a multi decadal cyclicity similar to modern north atlantic oscillation nao 60 20 years and solar variability cycles 11 yr the timing and the structure of this humid period is similar to that described in eastern mediterranean and northern european sites and supports the same large scale climate control for northern latitudes and the mediterranean region

a serpentinite hosted ecosystem the lost city hydrothermal field the serpentinite hosted lost city hydrothermal field is a remarkable submarine ecosystem in which geological chemical and biological processes are intimately interlinked reactions between seawater and upper mantle peridotite produce methane and hydrogen rich fluids with temperatures ranging from 40 to 90 c at ph 9 to 11 and carbonate chimneys 30 to 60 meters tall a low diversity of microorganisms related to methane cycling archaea thrive in the warm porous interiors of the edifices macrofaunal communities show a degree of species diversity at least as high as that of black smoker vent sites along the mid atlantic ridge but they lack the high biomasses of chemosynthetic organisms that are typical of volcanically driven systems

oceanic detachment faults focus very large volumes of black smoker fluids it is generally assumed that the seawater derived fluids that feed black smoker vent fields on the seafloor are discharged vertically from depths of 1 3 km we present new oxygen and strontium isotope data that show that fluids at black smoker temperatures of 300 400 c were focused along a low angle detachment fault at 15 45 n near the mid atlantic ridge isotopic alteration is the most extreme ever reported from oceanic rocks altered at similar temperatures indicating intensely focused fluid flow both in recharge and discharge parts of the hydrothermal system rare earth element mobility in the fault rocks demonstrates isotopic alteration by evolved hydrothermal fluids not conductively heated seawater the fault zone protolith was predominantly ultramafic but also included mafic rocks with metasomatic alteration to talc tremolite chlorite schists resulting mainly from chemical exchange between these lithologies during fluid flow fluids in equilibrium with this assemblage would be similar to ultramafic hosted black smoker fluids we present a new model in which hydrothermal circulation around detachment faults evolves from basalt hosted tag type to footwall ultramafic hosted rainbow type to low temperature ultramafic hosted lost city type key features of our model are the intrusion of gabbro bodies immediately below the detachment to provide a heat source for circulation and focusing of fluid flow into the detachment fault to allow venting away from the neovolcanic axis