Ocean-ridge basalt compositions correlated with palaeobathymetry
Abstract
KLEIN and Langmuir1 investigated the relationships between the chemistry and water
depth of eruption of zero-age mid-ocean-ridge basalts around the world. They showed
that the regionally averaged values of the major-element oxides Na2O and FeO, corrected
for low-pressure fractionation, and the ratio CaO/Al2O3, correlate with their axial
depths. Klein and Langmuir pointed out that the same principles should also apply
to older ocean crust, where the relationships that they had established could be used
as 'calibration curves', and that there was a "possibility of petrologically constraining
the origins of bathymetrie anomalies throughout the ocean basins"1. Keen2 showed that
this can be achieved if the initial depths of eruption of older basalts are found
by correcting their present depths below sea level for sediment loading and thermal
subsidence. Here we show that the chemistry of basalts from older oceanic crust in
the Atlantic and Indian Oceans correlates with their depth restored in this way to
the original water depth at the time of eruption. © 1990 Nature Publishing Group.
Type
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/8315Collections
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Emily M. Klein
University Distinguished Service Professor
Dr. Klein's research focuses on the geochemistry of oceanic basalts, using diverse
tools of major, trace and isotopic analyses. Her research involves sea-going expeditions
to sample and map the ocean floor.

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