The process of formation of ocean crust

Ocean crust is the outermost layer of earth under the oceans. It is separated from the underlying mantle by a seismic transition zone called the Moho. A widely held view is that the Moho represents a petrologic change from basaltic-type rocks to a mantle composed mostly of olivine and pyroxene. According to this view, crust is formed by a steady segregation of basaltic melt, derived from partial melting of the mantle, into a crustal magma chamber wherein cooling and crystallization bring about steady-state accretion to the continuously spreading plates. There is sufficient disagreement between the predictions of this hypothesis and marine geophysical data to cause one to doubt the validity of this formation process. At least two other processes are more compatible with the geophysical data. In one, the crust is formed from the episodic injection of basaltic dikes from a mantle reservoir and the Moho is a primary petrologic boundary. In the other, the crust is treated as a mechanical boundary layer in which thermal contraction results in cracking; by comparison, in the mantle thermal contraction is accommodated by flow. The upper part of the crust is formed from episodic extrusion and intrusion of basaltic melt. The lower crust is formed by rapid hydrothermal alteration of mantle that may be continuously or episodically injected by viscous flow at temperatures below the melting temperature.     

Fluids from aging ocean crust that support microbial life

Little is known about the potential for life in the vast, low-temperature (<100 degrees C) reservoir of fluids within mid-ocean ridge flank and ocean basin crust. Recently, an overpressured 300-meter-deep borehole was fitted with an experimental seal (CORK) delivering crustal fluids to the sea floor for discrete and large-volume sampling and characterization. Results demonstrate that the 65 degrees C fluids from 3.5-million-year-old ocean crust support microbial growth. Ribosomal RNA gene sequence data indicate the presence of diverse Bacteria and Archaea, including gene clones of varying degrees of relatedness to known nitrate reducers (with ammonia production), thermophilic sulfate reducers, and thermophilic fermentative heterotrophs, all consistent with fluid chemistry.     

Geothermal convection through oceanic crust and sediments in the Indian ocean

Closely spaced heat flow surveys at four sites on the flanks of the Central Indian Ridge and the Southeast Indian Ridge delineate a pattern of oscillatory heat flow which can only result from cellular convection of oceanic bottom water through the oceanic crust and overlying sediment. These cells have a wavelength of 5 to 10 kilometers and are presently active in sea floor 18 x 10(6), 25 x 10(6), and 45 x 10(6) years old of the Crozet Basin and in sea floor 55 x 10(6) years old of the Madagascar Basin. The precise measurement of nonlinear temperature profiles makes it possible to calculate the conductive and convective heat transfer components through the sea floor. Even in the oldest sites, geothermal convection is still a major component of heat transfer through both the crust and sedimentary layers. These observations coupled with the results of earlier oceanwide geothermal studies indicate that more than one-third of the entire surface area of the world's ocean floor contains presently active geothermal convection that is cellular in plan form.     

Lherzolite, anorthosite, gabbro, and basalt dredged from the mid-Indian ocean ridge

The Central Indian Ridge is mantled with flows of low-potassium basalt of uniform composition. Gabbro, anorthosite, and garnet-bearing lherzolite are exposed in cross fractures, and lherzolite is the bedrock at the center of the ridge. The Iherzolites are upper-mantle rock exposed by faulting.     

Layered basic complex in oceanic crust, romanche fracture, equatorial atlantic ocean

A layered, basic igneous intrusion, analogous in mineralogy and texture to certain large, continental layered complexes, is exposed in the Romanche Fracture, equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Crustal intrusion of large masses of basic magmas with their subsequent gravity differentiation is probably one of a number of major processes involved in the formation of new oceanic crust during sea-floor spreading.     

Transformation of gibbsite to chlorite in ocean bottom sediments

Numerous grains of gibbsite surrounded by zones of chlorite were found in six samples of sediment taken from Waimea Bay off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. The chlorite has formed from the gibbsite, and growth bands in the chlorite either are parallel to chlorite-gibbsite interfaces or are concentric around small remnants of gibbsite. Aggregates were found that appeared to be composed of two or more gibbsite grains surrounded by chlorite bands that have grown together. The index of refraction of the chlorite ranged from 1.58 to 1.60 and the chlorite displayed anomalous blue interference colors. The gibbsite was formed on land under conditions of strong weathering and strong leaching. When transported to the sea, the gibbsite was deposited in a solution containing silicic acid, magnesium, potassium, and hydrogen ions, in which it is unstable. Chlorite, a stable mineral in this solution, replaced the gibbsite.     

Climatic fluctuations due to deep ocean circulation

A simple climate model that includes the effect of deep ocean turnover as a pure time delay exhibits an oscillatory behavior. The deep ocean signal contains frequencies characteristic of both the forcing function and the deep ocean delay.     

Carbonate compensation depth: relation to carbonate solubility in ocean waters

In situ calcium carbonate saturometry measurements suggest that the intermediate water masses of the central Pacific Ocean are close to saturation with resppect to both calcite and local carbonate sediment. The carbonate compensation depth, located at about 3700 meters in this area, appears to represent a depth above which waters are essentially saturated with respect to calcite and below which waters deviate toward undersaturation with respect to calcite.     

Adaptation of cardiac output to peripheral runoff studied in intact dogs

A pump with sinusoidal piston movement was connected to the abdominal aorta of intact anesthetized dogs, causing slow oscillations of arterial blood pressure. Evidence was found for the existence of a mechanism which enables the heart to adjust its output immediately to changes of peripheral outflow.     

Seasonality in ocean microbial communities

Ocean warming occurs every year in seasonal cycles that can help us to understand long-term responses of plankton to climate change. Rhythmic seasonal patterns of microbial community turnover are revealed when high-resolution measurements of microbial plankton diversity are applied to samples collected in lengthy time series. Seasonal cycles in microbial plankton are complex, but the expansion of fixed ocean stations monitoring long-term change and the development of automated instrumentation are providing the time-series data needed to understand how these cycles vary across broad geographical scales. By accumulating data and using predictive modeling, we gain insights into changes that will occur as the ocean surface continues to warm and as the extent and duration of ocean stratification increase. These developments will enable marine scientists to predict changes in geochemical cycles mediated by microbial communities and to gauge their broader impacts.     

Hydrocarbons in open ocean waters

Nonvolatile hydrocarbons in Atlantic Ocean and nearby waters were found to contain aromatics at lower concentrations than would be expected if the source of the hydrocarbons were crude oil or petroleum refinery products. Hydrocarbons appear to persist in the water to varying degrees with the most persistent being the cycloparaffins, then the isoparaffins, and finally the aromatics.     

Beryllium-7 in ocean water

Concentration of the radio nuclide beryllium-7, produced by cosmic rays, was measured in waters collected from both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This short-lived nuclide is well suited as a tracer for interactions at the air-sea interface and for the measurement of rapid mixing processes in the surface layer of the ocean.