Petrological Characteristics and Genesis of the Central Indian Ocean Basin Basalts

The Central Indian Ocean Basin （CIOB） basalts are plagioclase-rich, while olivine and pyroxene are very few. The analyses of 41 samples reveal high FeOT （～10-18 wt%） and TiO 2 （～1.4-2.7 wt%） indicating a ferrobasaltic composition. The basalts have high incompatible elements （Zr 63-228 ppm; Nb ～1-5 ppm; Ba ～15-78 ppm; La ～3-16 ppm）, a similar U/Pb （0.02-0.4） ratio as the normal midoceanic basalt （0.16±0.07） but the Ba/Nb （12.5-53） ratio is much larger than that of the normal midoceanic ridge basalt （～5.7） and Primitive Mantle （9.56）. Interestingly almost all of the basalts have a significant negative Eu anomaly （Eu/Eu＊=0.78-1.00） that may have been a result of the removal of feldspar and pyroxene during crystal fractionation. These compositional variations suggest that the basalts were derived through fractional crystallization together with low partial melting of a shallow seated magma.

Physical Properties,Morphology and Petrological Characteristics of Pumices from the Central Indian Ocean Basin

About 400 pumice clasts collected from the Central Indian Ocean Basin（CIOB）were studied for their morphology and were classified based on their shape and size.A majority of the samples range between1 cm and 36 cm and in the Zinggs shape diagram plot in the equant and oblate fields.The Corey Shape Factor for most of the samples is close to 0.7,which is common for volcaniclastic material. The physical properties such as density,specific gravity,void ratio,porosity,moisture content and degree of saturation,were determined for 30 pumice samples.Density varies from 0.21 to 0.74 g/cm^3 specific gravity 1.84 to 3.27,void ratio 2.21 to 10.67,porosity 67%to 91%,moisture content during sinking 0.44 to 2.35 and degree of saturation varies from 26.5%to 86%.Binocular and electron microscopy studies reveal that 60%of the vesicles are elongated,30%are spherical and 10%are fibrous.Petrography of the pumices exhibits vitrophyric texture with phenocrysts of feldspars and clinopyroxenes.X-ray diffractrogram and mineral analyses confirm plagioclase to be a major phase, while quartz and orthoclase are not uncommon.Todorokite is commonly present in the ferromanganese oxide coating present over some of the pumices.This paper also delves into some details concerning the controversial origin of the pumices and glass shards in the CIOB.

Chemical, isotopic and amino acid composition of Mukundpura CM2.0(CM1) chondrite: Evidence of parent body aqueous alteration

The carbonaceous chondrites are intriguing and unique in the sense that they are the only rocks that provide pristine records of the early solar nebular processes. We report here results of a detailed mineralogical, chemical, amino acid and isotopic studies of a recently observed fall at Mukundpura, near Jaipur in Rajasthan, India. Abundance of olivines in this meteorite is low and of serpentine minerals is high. FeO/SiO_2 = 1.05 in its Poorly Characterized Phases(PCP) is similar to that observed in other CM2.0 chondrites. The water content of ～9.8 wt.% is similar to that found in many other CM chondrites.Microscopic examination of matrix shows that its terrestrial weathering grade is WO but aqueous parent body alteration is high, as reflected in low abundance of identifiable chondrules and abundant remnants of chondrules(～7%). Thus, most of the chondrules formed initially have been significantly altered or dissolved by aqueous alterations on their parent bodies. The measured bulk carbon(2.3%) and nitrogen content and their isotopic(δ^(13)C =-5.5‰, δ^(15)N = 23.6%0) composition is consistent with CM2.0 classification probably bordering CM1. Several amino acids such as Alanine, Serine, Proline, Valine, Threonine,Leucine, Isoleucine, Asparagine and Histamine are present. Tyrosine and Tryptophan may occur in trace amounts which could not be precisely determined. All these data show that Mukundpura chondrite lies at the boundary of CM2.0 and CM1 type carbonaceous chondrites making it one of the most primitive chondrites.

Sources and implications of particulate organic matter from a small tropical river——Zuari River, India

Transitional ecosystems,estuaries and the coastal seas,are distinctively affected by natural and anthropogenic factors.Organic matter(OM)originating from terrestrial sources is exported by rivers and forms a key component of the global biogeochemical cycles.Most previous studies focused on the bulk biochemical and anthropogenic aspects affecting these ecosystems.In the present study,we examined the sources and fate of OM entrained within suspended particulate matter(SPM)of the Zuari River and its estuary,west coast of India.Besides using amino acid(AA)enantiomers(L-and D-forms)as biomarkers,other bulk biochemical parameters viz.particulate organic carbon(POC),δ13C,particulate nitrogen(PN),δ15N and chlorophyll a were analyzed.Surprisingly no significant temporal variations were observed in the parameters analyzed;nonetheless,salinity,POC,δ13C,PN,δ15N,glutamic acid,serine,alanine,tyrosine,leucine and D-aspartic acid exhibited significant spatial variability suggesting source differentiation.The POC content displayed weak temporal variability with low values observed during the post-monsoon season attributed to inputs from mixed sources.Estuarine samples were less depleted than the riverine samples suggesting contributions from marine plankton in addition to contributions from river plankton and terrestrial C3 plants detritus.Labile OM was observed during the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons in the estuarine region.More degraded OM was noticed during the pre-monsoon season.Principal component analysis was used to ascertain the sources and factors influencing OM.Principally five factors were extracted explaining 84.52%of the total variance.The first component accounted for 27.10%of the variance suggesting the dominance of tidal influence whereas,the second component accounted for heterotrophic bacteria and their remnants associated with the particulate matter,contributing primarily to the AA pool.Based on this study we ascertained the role of the estuarine turbidity maximum(ETM)controlling the sources of POM and its implications to small tropical rivers.Thus,changes in temporal and regional settings are more likely to affect the natural biogeochemical cycles of small tropical rivers.