Award Abstract # 0525864
Noble Gas Studies of the Pacific Mantle

NSF Org: OCE
Division Of Ocean Sciences
Recipient: WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION
Initial Amendment Date: August 23, 2005
Latest Amendment Date: August 23, 2005
Award Number: 0525864
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Barbara Ransom
bransom@nsf.gov
 (703)292-7792
OCE
 Division Of Ocean Sciences
GEO
 Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date: September 1, 2005
End Date: February 28, 2009 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $412,982.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $412,982.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2005 = $412,982.00
History of Investigator:
  • Mark Kurz (Principal Investigator)
    mkurz@whoi.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
266 WOODS HOLE RD
WOODS HOLE
MA  US  02543-1535
(508)289-3542
Sponsor Congressional District: 09
Primary Place of Performance: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
266 WOODS HOLE RD
WOODS HOLE
MA  US  02543-1535
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
09
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): GFKFBWG2TV98
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): Marine Geology and Geophysics
Primary Program Source: app-0105 
Program Reference Code(s): 0000, 1620, OTHR
Program Element Code(s): 162000
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.050

ABSTRACT


ABSTRACT (0525864) Kurz

Intellectual Merit: This research will expand the number of heavy noble gas analyses (Ne, Ar, Xe) and CO2 in recently recovered submarine glasses from Fernandino volcano on the western flank of the Galapagos hotspot. These samples have unusual He isotope ratios, indicating that Fernandino volcano sits directly over the central melting zone of the hotspot. The noble gas isotopic ratios observed in Fernandino glasses are thought to originate from deep undegassed reservoirs in the earth. This is controversial because most mantle convection models assume that subducted slabs penetrate into the lower mantle, which is difficult to reconcile with the preservation of any undegassed or "primordial" mantle sources. This research involves the measurement of heavy noble gases (Ne, Ar, and Xe) and CO2 in Galapagos submarine glasses through crushing, heating and trapping of evolved gases and then their analysis by mass spectrometry. The resulting data will help determine the effects of degassing on absolute abundances of these elements in the mantle and can be used to help constrain geodynamic models of mantle convection and stratification.

Broader impacts: This project supports researchers, technicians, and students at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. It also supports institutional infrastructure by enhancing the ultra-high vacuum extraction line and mass spectrometer dedicated to heavy noble gases. New instrumentation will be developed and installed, which permits the rapid and simultaneous measurement of the heavy noble gases, Ne, Ar, and Xe.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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(Showing: 1 - 10 of 18)
Jackson M.G., M.D. Kurz, and S.R. Hart "New Samoan lavas from Ofu Island reveal a hemispherically heterogeneous high 3He/4He mantle." Earth and Planetary Science Letters , v.264 , 2007 , p.360
DeLaeter, J. and M.D. Kurz "Alfred Nier and the sector field mass spectrometer." Journal of Mass Spectrometry , v.41 , 2006 , p.847
Garcia, M.O., J. Caplan-Auerbach, E. H. DeCarlo, M.D. Kurz and N. Becker "Geology, Geochemistry and Earthquake History of Loihi Seamount, Hawaii?s Youngest Volcano" Chemie der Erde (Invited review) , v.66 , 2006 , p.61
Geist, D; Diefenbach, BA; Fornari, DJ; Kurz, MD; Harpp, K; Blusztajn, J "Construction of the Galapagos platform by large submarine volcanic terraces" GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS , v.9 , 2008 View record at Web of Science 10.1029/2007GC00179
Geist, DJ; Fornari, DJ; Kurz, MD; Harpp, KS; Soule, SA; Perfit, MR; Koleszar, AM "Submarine Fernandina: Magmatism at the leading edge of the Galapagos hot spot" GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS , v.7 , 2006 View record at Web of Science 10.1029/2006GC00129
Geist, D., T. Naumann, J. Standish, K. Harpp, M. Kurz, W.M. White, and D. Fornari "Wolf Volcano, Galapagos archipelago: melting and magmatic evolution at the margins of a mantle plume." Journal of Petrology , v.46 , 2005 , p.2197
Hart, R.P., M.D. Kurz, Z. Wang "Scale length of mantle heterogeneities: Constraints from helium diffusion." Earth and Planetary Science Letters , v.269 , 2008 , p.508
Jackson, MG; Hart, SR; Koppers, AAP; Staudigel, H; Konter, J; Blusztajn, J; Kurz, M; Russell, JA "The return of subducted continental crust in Samoan lavas" NATURE , v.448 , 2007 , p.684 View record at Web of Science 10.1038/nature0604
Jackson, M. G., S. R. Hart, A. E. Saal, N. Shimizu, M. D. Kurz, J. S. Blusztajn, A. C. Skovgaard "Globally elevated titanium, tantalum, and niobium (TITAN) in ocean island basalts with high 3He/4He." G-cubed, , v.9 , 2008 10.1029/2007GC001876
Koleszar, AM; Saal, AE; Hauri, EH; Kurz, MD "Melt inclusions from the Galapagos plume: Mirrors and mirages of the deep" GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA , v.71 , 2007 , p.A508 View record at Web of Science
M.D.Kurz, S. Rowland, J. Curtice, A. Saal, T. Naumann "Eruption rates at Fernandina volcano, Galapagos archipelago, from cosmogenic helium in surficial lava flows." EOS Trans. AGU , v.86 , 2005 , p.F3`
(Showing: 1 - 10 of 18)

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