Jeffrey S. Gee

An early India-Asia contact: Paleomagnetic constraints from Ninetyeast Ridge, ODP Leg 121

New paleomagnetic results from sedimentary rock and basement of the Ninetyeast Ridge (Ocean Drilling Program Leg 121, Sites 756-758) detail the northward movement of the Indian plate for the past 80 m.y. Analysis of the combined paleolatitude-age profile indicates a distinct reduction in India9s northward movement rate at 55+ Ma, interpreted as completion of suturing of Greater India and Asia. India9s northward motion slowed from 18-19.5 cm/yr to 4.5 cm/yr for the location of Site 758. Comparison of this profile with paleomagnetic data from the wider Himalayan region indicates that initial contact between northwestern Greater India and southern Asia was already established by Cretaceous-Tertiary time. This supports a possible causal link between the India-Asia convergence and the Deccan Traps extrusion.

A long in situ section of the lower ocean crust: results of ODP Leg 176 drilling at the Southwest Indian Ridge

Ocean Drilling Program Leg 176 deepened Hole 735B in gabbroic lower ocean crust by 1 km to 1.5 km. The section has the physical properties of seismic layer 3, and a total magnetization sufficient by itself to account for the overlying lineated sea-surface magnetic anomaly. The rocks from Hole 735B are principally olivine gabbro, with evidence for two principal and many secondary intrusive events. There are innumerable late small ferrogabbro intrusions, often associated with shear zones that cross-cut the olivine gabbros. The ferrogabbros dramatically increase upward in the section. Whereas there are many small patches of ferrogabbro representing late iron- and titanium-rich melt trapped intragranularly in olivine gabbro, most late melt was redistributed prior to complete solidification by compaction and deformation. This, rather than in situ upward differentiation of a large magma body, produced the principal igneous stratigraphy. The computed bulk composition of the hole is too evolved to mass balance mid-ocean ridge basalt back to a primary magma, and there must be a significant mass of missing primitive cumulates. These could lie either below the hole or out of the section. Possibly the gabbros were emplaced by along-axis intrusion of moderately differentiated melts into the near-transform environment. Alteration occurred in three stages. High-temperature granulite- to amphibolite-facies alteration is most important, coinciding with brittle^ductile deformation beneath the ridge. Minor greenschist-facies alteration occurred under largely static conditions, likely during block uplift at the ridge transform intersection. Late post-uplift low-temperature alteration produced locally abundant smectite, often in previously unaltered areas. The most important features of the high- and low-temperature alteration are their respective

Geology of the Atlantis Massif (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30° N): Implications for the evolution of an ultramafic oceanic core complex

The oceanic core complex comprising Atlantis Massif was formed within the past 1.5–2 Myr at the intersection of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30° N, and the Atlantis Transform Fault. The corrugated, striated central dome prominently displays morphologic and geophysical characteristics representative of an ultramafic core complex exposed via long-lived detachment faulting. Sparse volcanic features on the massifs central dome indicate that minor volcanics have penetrated the inferred footwall, which geophysical data indicates is composed predominantly of variably serpentinized peridotite. In contrast, the hanging wall to the east of the central dome is comprised of volcanic rock. The southern part of the massif has experienced the greatest uplift, shoaling to less than 700 m below sea level, and the coarsely striated surface there extends eastward to the top of the median valley wall. Steep landslide embayments along the south face of the massif expose cross sections through the core complex. Almost all of the submersible and dredge samples from this area are deformed, altered peridotite and lesser gabbro. Intense serpentinization within the south wall has likely contributed to the uplift of the southern ridge and promoted the development of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field near the summit. Differences in the distribution with depth of brittle deformation observed in microstructural analyses of outcrop samples suggest that low-temperature strain, such as would be associated with a major detachment fault, is concentrated within several tens of meters of the domal surface. However, submersible and camera imagery show that deformation is widespread along the southern face of the massif, indicating that a series of faults, rather than a single detachment, accommodated the uplift and evolution of this oceanic core complex.

The effect of remanence anisotropy on paleointensity estimates: a case study from the Archean Stillwater Complex

Paleomagnetism of Archean rocks potentially provides information about the early development of the Earth and of the geodynamo. Precambrian layered intrusive rocks are good candidates for paleomagnetic studies: such complexes are commonly relatively unaltered and may contain some single-domain magnetite ‘armored’ by silicate mineral grains. However, layered intrusives often have a strong petrofabric that may result in a strong remanence anisotropy. Magnetic anisotropy can have particularly disastrous consequences for paleointensity experiments if the anisotropy is unrecognized and if its effects remain uncorrected. Here we examine the magnetic anisotropy of an anorthosite sample with a well-developed magmatic foliation. The effect of the sample’s remanence fabric on paleointensity determinations is significant: paleointensities estimated by the method of Thellier and Thellier range from 17 to 55 μT for specimens magnetized in a field of 25 μT. We describe a technique based on the remanence anisotropy tensor to correct paleointensity estimates for the effects of magnetic fabric and use it to estimate a paleointensity for the Stillwater Complex (MT, USA) of ∼32 μT (adjusted for the effects of slow cooling).

Flow directions in dikes from anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility data: The bootstrap way

One of the first applications of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) was an attempt to determine flow directions from mafic dikes [Khan, 1962]. Since the seminal work of Knight and Walker [1988] defining the expected behavior of AMS in response to magma flow, there has been increasing interest in using AMS for this purpose. Here we present a quantitative method for interpretation of AMS data from dikes, using a parametric bootstrap. First, dikes must be sampled with at least five (and preferrably more) samples from within 10 cm of the dike margin. The distributions of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the AMS tensor are delineated by calculating eigenparameters of many bootstrapped paradata sets. We generate paradata sets by first selecting a sample at random, then calculating a replacement set of data by drawing tensor elements from normal distributions with the mean and standard deviation of the entire site. The bounds containing 95% of the eigenparameters of the bootstrapped data serve as confidence limits for the parameter of interest. Classification of dikes proceeds as follows: Sites whose maximum and intermediate eigenvalues could not be distinguished are deemed uninterpretable. In addition, sites with principal eigenvectors with angles >45° away from the dike margin (inverse) or with markedly different directions on either side of the dike (scissored) are excluded. The remaining dikes are classified as having unique flow direction information if the principal eigenvectors from at least one side are distinct from the dike plane based on the distribution of the bootstrapped principal eigenvectors. If neither side has principal eigenvectors distinct from the dike plane, the dikes are classified as having lineation information only. A study comprising 251 dikes from the Troodos ophiolite has 151 sites with directional data, 38 sites with lineations only, 7 inverse sites, 5 scissored sites, and 55 sites not fitting into any other category. The flow directions interpreted from the data were generally southerly, toward a fossil transform zone.

The intensity of the Earth's magnetic field over the past 160 million years

In contrast to our detailed knowledge of the directional behaviour of the Earths magnetic field during geological and historical times,, data constraining the past intensity of the field remain relatively scarce. This is mainly due to the difficulty in obtaining reliable palaeointensity measurements, a problem that is intrinsic to the geological materials which record the Earths magnetic field. Although the palaeointensity database has grown modestly over recent years these data are restricted to a few geographical locations and more than one-third of the data record the field over only the past 5 Myr—the most recent database covering the time interval from 5 to 160 Myr contains only about 100 palaeointensity measurements. Here we present 21 new data points from the interval 5–160 Myr obtained from submarine basalt glasses collected from locations throughout the worlds oceans. Whereas previous estimates for the average dipole moment were comparable to that of the Earths present field, the new data suggest an average dipole moment of (4.2 ± 2.3) × 1022 A m2, or approximately half the present magnetic-field intensity. This lower average value should provide an important constraint for future efforts to model the convective processes in the Earths core which have been responsible for generating the magnetic field.

40Ar/39Ar ages and paleomagnetism of São Miguel lavas, Azores

We present new 40 Ar= 39 Ar ages and paleomagnetic data for Sao Miguel island, Azores. Paleomagnetic samples were obtained for 34 flows and one dike; successful mean paleomagnetic directions were obtained for 28 of these 35 sites. 40 Ar= 39 Ar age determinations on 12 flows from the Nordeste complex were attempted successfully: ages obtained are between 0.78 Ma and 0.88 Ma, in contrast to published K-Ar ages of 1 Ma to 4 Ma. Our radiometric ages are consistent with the reverse polarity paleomagnetic field directions, and indicate that the entire exposed part of the Nordeste complex is of a late Matuyama age. The duration of volcanism across Sao Miguel is significantly less than previously believed, which has important implications for regional melt generation processes, and temporal sampling of the geomagnetic field. Observed stable isotope and trace element trends across the island can be explained, at least in part, by communication between different magma source regions at depth. The 40 Ar= 39 Ar ages indicate that our normal polarity paleomagnetic data sample at least 0.1 Myr (0-0.1 Ma) and up to 0.78 Myr (0-0.78 Ma) of paleosecular variation and our reverse polarity data sample approximately 0.1 Myr (0.78-0.88 Ma) of paleosecular variation. Our results demonstrate that precise radiometric dating of numerous flows sampled is essential to accurate inferences of long-term geomagnetic field behavior. Negative inclination anomalies are observed for both the normal and reverse polarity time-averaged field. Within the data uncertainties, normal and reverse polarity field directions are antipodal, but the reverse polarity field shows a significant deviation from a geocentric axial dipole direction.

Geomagnetic intensity variations over the past 780 kyr obtained from near-seafloor magnetic anomalies.

Knowledge of past variations in the intensity of the Earths magnetic field provides an important constraint on models of the geodynamo. A record of absolute palaeointensity for the past 50 kyr has been compiled from archaeomagnetic and volcanic materials, and relative palaeointensities over the past 800 kyr have been obtained from sedimentary sequences. But a long-term record of geomagnetic intensity should also be carried by the thermoremanence of the oceanic crust. Here we show that near-seafloor magnetic anomalies recorded over the southern East Pacific Rise are well correlated with independent estimates of geomagnetic intensity during the past 780 kyr. Moreover, the pattern of absolute palaeointensity of seafloor glass samples from the same area agrees with the well-documented dipole intensity pattern for the past 50 kyr. A comparison of palaeointensities derived from seafloor glass samples with global intensity variations thus allows us to estimate the ages of surficial lava flows in this region. The record of geomagnetic intensity preserved in the oceanic crust should provide a higher-time-resolution record of crustal accretion processes at mid-ocean ridges than has previously been obtainable.

Paleomagnetic evidence of large footwall rotations associated with low-angle faults at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Exposures of gabbros and mantle-derived peridotites at slow-spreading oceanic ridges have been attributed to extension on long-lived, low-angle detachment faults, similar to those described in continental metamorphic core complexes. In continental settings, such detachments have been interpreted as having originated and remained active at shallow dips. Alternatively, currently shallow dipping fault surfaces may have originated at moderate to steep dips and been fl attened by subsequent fl exure and isostatic uplift. While the latter interpretation would be more con sistent with Andersonian faulting theory, it predicts large footwall tilts that have not been observed in continental detachment faults. Here we use the magnetization of oceanic gabbro and peridotite samples exposed near the Fifteen-Twenty Fracture Zone on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to demonstrate that substantial footwall rotations have occurred. Widespread rotations ranging from 50° to 80° indicate that original fault orientations dipped steeply toward the spreading axis.

Dike surface lineations as magma flow indicators within the sheeted dike complex of the Troodos Ophiolite, Cyprus

Mesoscopic flow lineations and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) have been measured for dikes within the Cretaceous-age Troodos ophiolite with the goal of comparing the direction of initial magma flow through dike conduits immediately following crack propagation with that of flow of subsequent magma emplaced during later stages of dike growth. Dike margin indicators of flow include cusp axes and elongate vesicles found high in the ophiolite pseudostratigraphy and ridge-and-groove structures termed hot slickenlines found throughout the complex. A unique flow direction is determined where elongate vesicles near dike margins display imbrication with respect to the margin. Significant changes in vesicle elongation directions across dikes likely indicate either changes in magma flow direction after dike propagation or back-flow of magma during the waning stages of intrusion. Surface lineations generally lie subparallel to the direction of flow inferred from AMS determinations on cores within 5 cm of dike margins. Surface lineations also lie subparallel to the long axis (e1) of the orientation ellipsoid defined by long axes of groundmass plagioclase phenocrysts measured in sections from AMS cores. Correlation of surface lineations with interior indicators of flow (AMS, plagioclase trachytic texture) indicate that the surface features are good proxies for grain-scale magma flow directions during dike propagation in Troodos dikes. Orientations of surface flow features in the dikes of the Troodos ophiolite indicate an approximately equal mix of subhorizontal to near-vertical magma flow, contradicting the paradigm of primarily vertical flow of magma beneath continuous axial magma chambers at oceanic spreading centers. Our data are consistent with a model of magma emplacement both vertically and horizontally away from isolated magma chambers beneath axial volcanoes spaced along a ridge crest.