Dispersed Carbon in Basalts of the Altered Oceanic Crust: Isotope Composition and Mechanisms of Formation

Carbon contents and isotopic compositions were compared in the basalt groundmass of the oceanic crust of different age in the zone of the East Pacific Rise. In samples the basalt groundmass of the ancient oceanic crust (~270 Ma, ODP Site 801C) in which a carbonate phase was found, the isotopic composition of the oxidized carbon (δ13C = ±1.5‰) indicates that this carbon was formed by the precipitation of seawater dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). In the samples in which no carbonate phase was identified, the low concentration (<0.1 wt % CO2) of oxidized dispersed carbon and its isotopic composition (δ13C < –7‰) are in the range of values typical of carbon dissolved in basalt glasses without crystallinity. This makes it possible to relate the oxidized dispersed carbon to residual carbon dissolved in the magmatic melt after CO2 degassing. The precipitation of DIC results in a positive correlation between the concentration of total carbon and its δ13C values, along with the formation of a carbonate phase. The application of this criterion to basalt groundmass samples of the young crust (~15 Ma, ODP Site 1256D) showed that oxidized dispersed carbon in the young oceanic crust groundmass was not formed by the precipitation of DIC, contradicting the generally accepted paradigm. Constant concentration and δ13C values of the reduced dispersed carbon in the basalt groundmass of the young and ancient oceanic crusts, including lithological zones where microbial activity has not been recorded, indicate that the most probable model is high-temperature abiogenic generation of reduced dispersed carbon near the ridge axis. The Fischer–Tropsch synthesis and/or Bell–Boudouard reaction provide a possible basis for the abiogenic model. The Bell–Boudouard reaction 2CO = C + CO2 leads to the formation of an adsorbed layer of elemental carbon on the fresh surfaces of minerals during background alteration of the oceanic basalt crust. The CO2–CO gas-phase equilibrium maintains the necessary depletion of the newly formed elemental carbon in the 13C isotope to δ13C < –20‰. Abiogenic models for the origin of the isotopically light reduced dispersed carbon in the basalt groundmass do not assume the presence of carbon depleted in the heavy 13C isotope in the magmatic melt.

Defining the composition of the deep mantle and the primordial He inventory of the Afar plume

&lt;p&gt;Basaltic rocks generated by upwelling mantle plumes display a range of trace element and isotope compositions indicative of strong heterogeneity in deep material brought to Earth surface.&amp;#160; Helium isotopes are an unrivalled tracer of the deep mantle in plume-derived basalts. &amp;#160;It is frequently difficult to identify the composition of the deep mantle component as He isotopes rarely correlate with incompatible trace element and radiogenic isotope tracers. It is supposed that this is due to the high He concentration of the deep mantle compared to degassed/enriched mantle reservoirs dominating the He in mixtures, although this is far from widely accepted.&amp;#160; The modern Afar plume is natural laboratory for testing the prevailing paradigm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;He/&lt;sup&gt;4&lt;/sup&gt;He of basalt glasses from 26&amp;#176;N to 11&amp;#176;N along the Red Sea spreading axis increases systematically from 7.9 to 15 R&lt;sub&gt;a&lt;/sub&gt;. Strong along-rift relationships between &lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;He/&lt;sup&gt;4&lt;/sup&gt;He and incompatible trace element ratios are consistent with a binary mixture between moderately enriched shallow asthenospheric mantle in the north and plume mantle evident in basalts from the Gulf of Tadjoura, Djibouti (the Ramad enriched component of Barrat et al. 1990). &amp;#160;The high-&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;He/&lt;sup&gt;4&lt;/sup&gt;He basalts have trace element-isotopic compositions that are similar, but not identical, to the high &lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;He/&lt;sup&gt;4&lt;/sup&gt;He (22 R&lt;sub&gt;a&lt;/sub&gt;) high Ti (HT2) flood basalts erupted during the initial phase of the Afar plume volcanism (Rogers et al. in press). This suggests that the deep mantle component in the modern Afar plume has a HIMU-like composition. From the hyperbolic &lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;He/&lt;sup&gt;4&lt;/sup&gt;He-K/Th-Rb/La mixing relationships we determine that the upwelling deep mantle has 3-5 times higher He concentration than the asthenosphere mantle beneath the northern Red Sea.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Barrat et al. 1990. &amp;#160;Earth and Planetary Science Letters 101, 233-247.&lt;/p&gt;

Trace Element and Isotopic Evidence for Recycled Lithosphere from Basalts from 48 to 53°E, Southwest Indian Ridge

Mantle source heterogeneity and magmatic processes have been widely studied beneath most parts of the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR). But less is known from the newly recovered mid-ocean ridge basalts from the Dragon Bone Amagmatic Segment (53°E, SWIR) and the adjacent magmatically robust Dragon Flag Segment. Fresh basalt glasses from the Dragon Bone Segment are clearly more enriched in isotopic composition than the adjacent Dragon Flag basalts, but the trace element ratios of the Dragon Flag basalts are more extreme compared with average mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) than the Dragon Bone basalts. Their geochemical differences can be explained only by source differences rather than by variations in degree of melting of a roughly similar source. The Dragon Flag basalts are influenced by an arc-like mantle component as evidenced by enrichment in fluid-mobile over fluid-immobile elements. However, the sub-ridge mantle at the Dragon Flag Segment is depleted in melt component compared with a normal MORB source owing to previous melting in the subarc. This fluid-metasomatized, subarc depleted mantle is entrained beneath the Dragon Flag Segment. In comparison, for the Dragon Bone axial basalts, their Pb isotopic compositions and their slight enrichment in Ba, Nb, Ta, K, La, Sr and Zr and depletion in Pb and Ti concentrations show resemblance to the Ejeda–Bekily dikes of Madagascar. Also, Dragon Bone Sr and Nd isotopic compositions together with the Ce/Pb, La/Nb and La/Th ratios can be modeled by mixing the most isotopically depleted Dragon Flag basalts with a composition within the range of the Ejeda–Bekily dikes. It is therefore proposed that the Dragon Bone axial basalts, similar to the Ejeda–Bekily dikes, are sourced from subcontinental lithospheric Archean mantle beneath Gondwana, pulled from beneath the Madagascar Plateau. The recycling of the residual subarc mantle and the subcontinental lithospheric mantle could be related to either the breakup of Gondwana or the formation and accretion of Neoproterozoic island arc terranes during the collapse of the Mozambique Ocean, and is now present beneath the ridge.

Crystallization and Thermal Stability of the P-Doped Basaltic Glass Fibers

The present research focuses on the influence of phosphorus oxide additives on the structure and thermal properties of the basalt glasses, produced in the form of fibers, i.e. at very high quenching speed. Basaltic glass fibers with various P2O5 contents were produced in two stages. In the first stage, the bulk glasses were prepared by adding variable amounts of (NH4)4P2O7 to milled natural andesitic basalt in order to obtain samples containing 2, 4, and 6 wt % P2O5. In the second stage, the glass fibers were obtained using a laboratory-scale system. Basalt glass fibers were characterized by Raman spectroscopy to obtain information on the structure of the obtained fibers, and by DSC-TG and XRD analyses to determine the change in crystallization mechanism of basaltic fibers. The hydrostatic weighing was used for the determination of glasses density. An increase in the content of P2O5 to 6 wt % leads to a decrease in the density of glass fibers due to the polymerizing effect of phosphorus oxide. The obtained X-ray diffraction patterns indicate that all samples are X-ray amorphous. The Raman results show that the decrease in the intensity of the line corresponding to vibrations of the structural units Q2 (about 920 cm–1) with respect to the line corresponding to Q3 (about 1125 cm–1) is related to an increase of P2O5 content. This also indicates the increase in polymerization degree of glass structure. DSC and XRD data also found out the change of phase transformations order with an increase of phosphorus oxide. The crystallization in natural and modified basalt glass fibers begins with spontaneous spinel-like phase formations that become nucleation sites for the precipitation of monoclinic pyroxene as a major phase. With an increase in the P2O5 content, there is a tendency to a decrease in the pyroxene at higher temperature, as a result of which, the hematite crystallizes at lower temperatures. That is associated with the activation of liquation processes, accompanied by the formation of amorphous phases with different viscosities with an increase in the concentration of P2O5. In conclusion, all the obtained data indicate the prospect of using the proposed approach to obtain basalt glass fibers with enhanced thermal and mechanical stability.