Gronvold Karl

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Gronvold
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Karl
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  • Article
    CO2 content beneath northern Iceland and the variability of mantle carbon
    (Geological Society of America, 2017-11-16) Hauri, Erik H. ; Maclennan, John ; McKenzie, Dan ; Gronvold, Karl ; Oskarsson, Niels ; Shimizu, Nobumichi
    Primitive basalt melt inclusions from Borgarhraun, northern Iceland, display large correlated variations in CO2 and nonvolatile incompatible trace elements (ITEs) such as Nb, Th, Rb, and Ba. The average CO2/ITE ratios of the Borgarhraun melt inclusion population are precisely determined (e.g., CO2/Nb = 391 ± 16; 2σM [two standard errors of the mean], n = 161). These data, along with published data on five other populations of undegassed mid-oceanic ridge basalt (MORB) glasses and melt inclusions, demonstrate that upper mantle CO2/Ba and CO2/Rb are nearly homogeneous, while CO2/Nb and CO2/Th are broadly correlated with long-term indices of mantle heterogeneity reflected in Nd isotopes (143Nd/144Nd) in five of the six regions of the upper mantle examined thus far. Our results suggest that heterogeneous carbon contents of the upper mantle are long-lived features, and that average carbon abundances of the mantle sources of Atlantic MORB are higher by a factor of two than those of Pacific MORB. This observation is correlated with a similar distinction in water contents and trace elements characteristic of subduction fluids (Ba, Rb). We suggest that the upper mantle beneath the younger Atlantic Ocean basin contains components of hydrated and carbonated subduction-modified mantle from prior episodes of Iapetus subduction that were entrained and mixed into the upper mantle during opening of the Atlantic Ocean basin.
  • Article
    Effects of variable magma supply on mid-ocean ridge eruptions : constraints from mapped lava flow fields along the Galápagos Spreading Center
    (American Geophysical Union, 2012-08-25) Colman, Alice ; Sinton, John M. ; White, Scott M. ; McClinton, J. Timothy ; Bowles, Julie A. ; Rubin, Kenneth H. ; Behn, Mark D. ; Cushman, Buffy ; Eason, Deborah E. ; Gregg, Tracy K. P. ; Gronvold, Karl ; Hidalgo, Silvana ; Howell, Julia ; Neill, Owen ; Russo, Chris
    Mapping and sampling of 18 eruptive units in two study areas along the Galápagos Spreading Center (GSC) provide insight into how magma supply affects mid-ocean ridge (MOR) volcanic eruptions. The two study areas have similar spreading rates (53 versus 55 mm/yr), but differ by 30% in the time-averaged rate of magma supply (0.3 × 106 versus 0.4 × 106 m3/yr/km). Detailed geologic maps of each study area incorporate observations of flow contacts and sediment thickness, in addition to sample petrology, geomagnetic paleointensity, and inferences from high-resolution bathymetry data. At the lower-magma-supply study area, eruptions typically produce irregularly shaped clusters of pillow mounds with total eruptive volumes ranging from 0.09 to 1.3 km3. At the higher-magma-supply study area, lava morphologies characteristic of higher effusion rates are more common, eruptions typically occur along elongated fissures, and eruptive volumes are an order of magnitude smaller (0.002–0.13 km3). At this site, glass MgO contents (2.7–8.4 wt. %) and corresponding liquidus temperatures are lower on average, and more variable, than those at the lower-magma-supply study area (6.2–9.1 wt. % MgO). The differences in eruptive volume, lava temperature, morphology, and inferred eruption rates observed between the two areas along the GSC are similar to those that have previously been related to variable spreading rates on the global MOR system. Importantly, the documentation of multiple sequences of eruptions at each study area, representing hundreds to thousands of years, provides constraints on the variability in eruptive style at a given magma supply and spreading rate.