Smith Matthew C.

No Thumbnail Available
Last Name
Smith
First Name
Matthew C.
ORCID

Filters

2006 - 2009 1 2010 - 2012 1
2
2
Reset filters

Settings

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Article
    Lava geochemistry as a probe into crustal formation at the East Pacific Rise
    (The Oceanography Society, 2012-03) Perfit, Michael R. ; Wanless, V. Dorsey ; Ridley, W. Ian ; Klein, Emily M. ; Smith, Matthew C. ; Goss, Adam R. ; Hinds, Jillian S. ; Kutza, Scott W. ; Fornari, Daniel J.
    Basalt lavas comprise the greatest volume of volcanic rocks on Earth, and most of them erupt along the world's mid-ocean ridges (MORs). These MOR basalts (MORBs) are generally thought to be relatively homogeneous in composition over large segments of the global ridge system (e.g., Klein, 2005). However, detailed sampling of two different regions on the northern East Pacific Rise (EPR) and extensive analysis of the samples show that fine-scale mapping and sampling of the ridge axis can reveal significant variations in lava chemistry on both small spatial and short temporal scales. The two most intensely sampled sites within the EPR Integrated Study Site (ISS) lie on and off axis between 9°17'N and 10°N, and from a wide region centered around 9°N where two segments of the EPR overlap (see Fornari et al., 2012, Figure 3, in this issue). The chemical composition of erupted lavas, similar to the genotype of an organism, can be used by igneous petrologists to trace the evolution of magmas from the mantle to the seafloor. The extensive and detailed geochemical studies at the EPR highlight how a thorough understanding of the variability in lava compositions on small spatial scales (i.e., between lava flows) and large spatial scales (i.e., from segment center to segment end and including discontinuities in the ridge crest) can be used in combination with seafloor photography, lava morphology, and bathymetry to provide insights into the magmatic system that drives volcanism and influences hydrothermal chemistry and biology at a fast-spreading MOR.
  • Article
    Magmatic processes in developing oceanic crust revealed in a cumulate xenolith collected at the East Pacific Rise, 9°50′N
    (American Geophysical Union, 2006-12-12) Ridley, W. Ian ; Perfit, Michael R. ; Smith, Matthew C. ; Fornari, Daniel J.
    The petrology and geochemistry of a xenolith, a fragment of a melt-bearing cumulate, within a recently erupted mid-ocean ridge (MOR) lava flow provide information on petrogenetic processes occurring within the newly forming oceanic crust beneath the northern East Pacific Rise (NEPR). The xenolith reveals important petrologic information about MOR magmatic systems concerning (1) melt distribution in a crystal-dominated mush; (2) melt-crystal reactions within the mush; (3) the chemistry of melts that have contributed to the cumulate lithology; and (4) the chemistry of axial melts that enter the axial magma system. The xenolith was enclosed within a moderately primitive, normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (NMORB) erupted in 1991 within the neovolcanic zone of the NEPR, at approximately 9°50′N. The sample is a matrix-dominated, cumulate olivine anorthosite, composed of anorthite (An94-90) and bytownite (An89-70), intergranular olivine (Fo86±0.3), minor sulfide and spinel, and intergranular glass. Marginal corrosion of plagioclase, and possibly olivine, and internal remelting of plagioclase indicate syntexis. It is surmised that the pore volume was eviscerated several times with moderately primitive basaltic melts and reduced by intergranular crystallization of forsteritic olivine. The presence of anorthite as a cumulate phase in the xenolith and the observation of anorthite xenocrysts in NMORB lavas, and as a cumulate phase in ophiolite gabbros, indicate that Ca-rich melts that are not a part of the NMORB lineage play an important role in the construction of the oceanic crust.