Ocean Drilling Program Leg 134 Preliminary Report
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OCEAN DRILLING PROGRAM LEG 134 PRELIMINARY REPORT VANUATU (New Hebrides) Dr. Gary Greene Dr. Jean-Yves Collot Co-Chief Scientist, Leg 134 Co-Chief Scientist, Leg 134 U.S. Geological Survey ORSTOM MS-999,345 Middlefield Road B. P. 48 Menlo Park, California 94025 06230 Villefranche-sur-Mer France Dr. Laura Stokking Staff Scientist, Leg 134 Ocean Drilling Program Texas A&M University College Station, Texas 77845-9547 Philip D. Rabinowitz Director ODP/TAMU Audrey W. tyeyer Manager Science Operations ODP/T. (Jr Tv‰>< Timothy J.G. Francis Deputy Director ODP/TAMU February 1991 This informal report was prepared from the shipboard files by the scientists who participated in the cruise. The report was assembled under time constraints and is not considered to be a formal publication which incorporates final works or conclusions of the participating scientists. The material contained herein is privileged proprietary information and cannot be used for publication or quotation. Preliminary Report No. 34 First Printing 1991 Distribution Copies of this publication may be obtained from the Director, Ocean Drilling Program, Texas A&M University Research Park, 1000 Discovery Drive, College Station, Texas 77845-9547. In some cases, orders for copies may require payment for postage and handling. DISCLAIMER This publication was prepared by the Ocean Drilling Program, Texas A&M University, as an account of work performed under the international Ocean Drilling Program, which is managed by Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation. Funding for the program is provided by the following agencies: Canada/Australia Consortium for the Ocean Drilling Program Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Federal Republic of Germany) Institut Francais de Recherche pour 1'Exploitation de la Mer (France) Ocean Research Institute of the University of Tokyo (Japan) National Science Foundation (United States) Natural Environment Research Council (United Kingdom) European Science Foundation Consortium for the Ocean Drilling Program (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey) Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, the participating agencies, Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc., Texas A&M University, or Texas A&M Research Foundation. Leg 134 Preliminary Report Page 3 SCIENTIFIC REPORT Leg 134 Preliminary Report Page 4 The scientific party aboard JOIDES Resolution for Leg 134 of the Ocean Drilling Program consisted of: Gary Greene, Co-Chief Scientist (U.S. Geological Survey, MS-999, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California 94025). Jean-Yves Collot, Co-Chief Scientist (ORSTOM, B.P. 48, 06230 Villefranche-sur-Mer, France). Laura Stokking, ODP Staff Scientist (Ocean Drilling Program, 1000 Discovery Drive, College Station, Texas 77845-9547). Kazumi Akimoto (Nagoya Jiyu Gakuin Junior College, 281 Furui, Kumanosho, Shikatsu- cho, Nishikasugai-gun, 481 Aichi Prefecture, Japan). Maria V.S. Ask (Division of Rock Mechanics, Lulea University of Technology, S-951 87 Lulea, Sweden). Peter E. Baker (Department of Earth Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom). Louis Briqueu (C.N.R.S. France, Laboratoire de Géochimie Isotopique, U.S.T.L., C.P. 066, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 2, France). Thierry Chabernaud (Borehole Research Group, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Palisades, New York 10964). Massimo Coltorti (Mineralogy Institute, Ferrara University, C.soE. 1 d'Este 32,44100 Ferrara, Italy). Michael A. Fisher (U.S. Geological Survey, MS-999, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California 94025). Margaret Goud (Coastal Research Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543). Toshiaki Hasenaka (Institute of Mineralogy, Petrology and Economic Geology, Faculty of Science, Tohoku University, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi 980, Japan). Mike Hobart (Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Palisades, New York 10964). Anton Krammer (Geophysical Institute, Hertzstrasse 16, D-7500 Karlsruhe 21, Federal Republic of Germany). John Leonard (Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77840-3146). Jonathan B. Martin (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093). Jose I. Martinez-Rodriguez (Department of Geology, Australian National University, GPO Box 4, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia). Stefan Menger (Deutsche Montan Technologie, Institut für Angewandte Geophysik, Herner Strasse 45, D-4630 Bochum, Federal Republic of Germany). Martin Meschede (Institut fur Geologie, Università^ Tubingen, Sigwartstrasse 10, D-7400 Tubingen, Federal Republic of Germany). Bernard Pelletier (ORSTOM, B.P. A5, Noumea, New Caledonia). Russell C.B. Perembo (Department of Geology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia). Terrence M. Quinn (Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1063). Pamela Reid (Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, Florida 33149). William R. Riedel (Geological Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093). Pierrick Roperch (ORSTOM, B.P. 48,06230 Villefranche-sur-Mer, France). Leg 134 Preliminary Report Page 5 Thomas S. Staerker (Department of Geology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306). Frederick W. Taylor (Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas, 871 Mopac Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78749-8345). Xixi Zhao (Earth Sciences Board, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064). Leg 134 Preliminary Report Page 6 ABSTRACT Leg 134 of the Ocean Drilling Program investigated the influence of ridge collision and subduction on the structural evolution of island arcs by drilling at a series of sites in the collision zone between the d*Entrecasteaux Zone (DEZ) and the central New Hebrides Island Arc. The DEZ is an arcuate Eocene-Oligocene submarine chain extending from the northern New Caledonia ridge to the New Hebrides trench. Near the New Hebrides trench, the DEZ comprises two parallel, E-W trending morphologic features: the fairly continuous North d'Entrecasteaux Ridge (NDR) and the South d'Entrecasteaux Chain (SDC), composed of seamounts and guyots whose most eastern member is the Bougainville Guyot. The impingement of the DEZ upon the central New Hebrides Island Arc has greatly disrupted and tectonically modified the forearc and arc morphology and structure. Holes at Sites 827 and 829 were drilled to penetrate the lowermost accretionary wedge and the interplate thrust fault (decollement). The primary objective of drilling at Site 828 was to obtain a critical reference section of north-ridge rocks. Sites 830 and 831 are located where the Bougainville Guyot has collided with the arc. At Site 830 we sought to penetrate imbricated arc rocks, and at Site 831 we sought to determine the lithology, age, paleobathymetry, and mechanical properties of the guyot. Sites 832 and 833 are located in North Aoba Basin (NAB), an intra-arc basin that is considerably deeper than any other basin along the arc summit and that occurs directly east of the collision. This basin contains several unconformities that appear to document the structural evolution of the Central New Hebrides Island Arc. Preliminary interpretations of the results of Leg 134 suggest that each ridge of the twin-ridge DEZ causes different forearc deformation. The sedimentary and surficial basement rocks of the NDR, whose basement rocks (MORB) are denser than those of the Bougainville Guyot, appear to have been scraped off and accreted to the forearc during subduction. This accretion has formed the Wousi Bank, which consists of uplifted forearc rocks and stacked thrust sheets. The SDC impacts the forearc in a different manner: little deformation has occurred compared to the NDR collision zone, although the SDC is converging at the same rate and at the same angle as the NDR. Major compositional changes of pore fluids in the collision zone result from diagenetic alteration of volcanic sediment and are manifested as chloride and calcium concentrations greater than seawater values and sodium, potassium, and magnesium concentrations lower than seawater values. Variations in these solute concentrations correspond to structural features, particularly across thrust faults at Site 829 and in a fractured zone at Site 830. More fluid is present below thrust faults penetrated at Site 829, which implies that the faults may channelize fluid flow similar to the Barbados accretionary wedge. Low chloride and high methane concentrations characterize fluids from deep levels at Site 829, a covariance that also characterizes the pore fluid chemistry within the decollement at the Barbados accretionary wedge. Thus, the fluid near the deep thrust fault at Site 829 may have been derived from the decollement and subduction-related processes. Middle Miocene to Pleistocene sedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks were recovered from two holes deeper than 1 km in the NAB. Drilling at Site 832 penetrated over 1106 m of basin-fill deposits and at Site 833 cored 1001 m of basin material. A strong reflector observed in the seismic reflection data around 700 mbsf correlates with an apparent upper Pliocene or lower Pleistocene unconformity in the sediment record.This