Volcanic activity and its link to glaciation cycles: Single-grain age and geochemistry of Early to Middle Miocene volcanic glass from ANDRILL AND-2A core, Antarctica
Highlights
► Volcanic glass geochemistry reveals a response of volcanism to climate change. ► The study documents activity previously unknown for the Mt. Morning volcano. ► Glass compositions demonstrate two magmatic lineages for Mt. Morning activity.
Introduction
The climate of Antarctica throughout the geologic past has been extremely different from today's icehouse conditions, experiencing a dynamic environment with several fluctuations in climate, glacial advance and retreat, and sea-level change (Harwood et al., 2009, McKay et al., 2009, Naish et al., 2009, Warny et al., 2009). Understanding how fast, large, and frequent these fluctuations occurred in the past utilizing paleoclimate reconstructions will provide invaluable information in the understanding of the future of global climate change, as a much wider range of possible climatic behaviors existed in the past than in modern environments (Naish et al., 2001, Naish et al., 2009, Shevenell and Kennett, 2007). The investigation of glacimarine sediments and the volcanic materials within them, chiefly tephra layers in sediment cores in key Antarctic basins, are essential in constraining the timing of volcanic, tectonic, and climatic events (Smellie et al., 2008, Smellie et al., 2011).
The ANtarctic DRILLing (ANDRILL) project is a multi-national project, developed along the western margin of the West Antarctic rift system bordering the Transantarctic Mountains. The purpose of this project is to collect and examine drill cores from proximal sedimentary basins along the coast of Antarctica in order to build up stratigraphic data that record key events of the glacial and climate history, as well as volcanic and tectonic events in the region (Naish et al., 2007, Harwood et al., 2009). The sediment input into the marine depositional system close to the Antarctic continent is directly affected by changes in the terrestrial environment, making it an excellent location to use the stratigraphic record as a paleoclimate proxy (McKay et al., 2009, Warny et al., 2009). Two cores have been drilled: the McMurdo Ice Shelf (MIS) project AND-1B core in 2006 and the Southern McMurdo Sound (SMS) project AND-2A core in 2007 (Fig. 1), both of which contain a significant volcanic component (Pompilio et al., 2007, Panter et al., 2008) from the late Cenozoic Erebus Volcanic Province (EVP), which surrounds and is within the Victoria Land Basin (Fig. 1; Kyle, 1990).
The AND-2A core in particular targeted sediments containing an expanded Early to Middle Miocene section, a key interval of time in the development of the modern Antarctic climatic conditions, which experienced exceptionally dynamic and often “cyclic” climatic changes (Passchier et al., 2011). The sediments of the AND-2A core thus offer a unique opportunity to examine and reconstruct glacial conditions as well as their relationship to volcanic activity. Indeed, glacial unloading of lithosphere during a warming climate may be a factor controlling the volume, explosiveness, and timing of volcanic activity. The relationship between rapid de-glaciation and increased volcanism has been suggested in Iceland (Slater et al., 1998, Maclennan et al., 2002, Sigvaldason, 2002, Stinton et al., 2005), Germany and France (Nowell et al., 2006) as well as Canada (Edwards et al., 2002). It is possible then, that the frequent glacial loading and unloading caused by the dynamic environment in Antarctica during the Miocene could affect the input of volcanic material into the AND-2A core.
In this study we provide single-grain 40Ar–39Ar ages and LA-ICP-MS trace element data on mafic glass fragments from the AND-2A core between ~ 364 and 765 m below seafloor (mbsf) to assess the volcanic response to glacial dynamism in the southern McMurdo Sound area during the Early to Middle Miocene.
Section snippets
Geological background
The AND-2A core recovered sediments deposited into the southern Victoria Land Basin, which developed as part of the West Antarctic rift system (Fig. 1). The accommodation space needed to allow for deposition of sediments in the basin was created by fault and flexure-related subsidence associated with rifting (Wilson, 1999, Fielding et al., 2008b). The Victoria Land Basin contains ca.14 km thick sequence of Mesozoic-Cenozoic strata with dominant sediment supply being from the Transantarctic
Methods
Twenty-two samples (15-cm long, 1/4 round core samples, 25–30 mm radius) were requested from the Antarctic Marine Research Facility at Florida State University based on several criteria. First, sediment samples containing a significant amount of volcanic glass (> 15% by volume) were selected. The amount of glass was determined by visual estimates of smear slides and core log identification of scoria concentrations during the logging of the core (Panter et al., 2008). Second, glass-rich sediments
Physical characteristics
The volcanic glass recovered between ~ 354 and 765 mbsf occurs within muddy sandstone, fine sandstone, and stratified diamictite, occurring most frequently in lithofacies 5 to 7 (Fielding et al., 2008a, Fielding et al., 2011). The glass varies in color (brown, colorless, green), size (up to 4 mm), vesicularity (0–50 vol.%, including both spherical and stretched vesicles), crystal content (0–20 vol.%, primarily as plagioclase and smaller amounts of clinopyroxene, olivine, magnetite, and apatite),
Mode of deposition and volcanic source
Because the majority of the glass fragments is found dispersed within sediments and not as primary layers, it is necessary to consider all possible mechanisms for how the glass was introduced into the basin. The source of the glass from volcanoes in the EVP is confirmed by their matching geochemistry. The major and trace element compositions of AND-2A glass and scoria is remarkably similar to mafic-intermediate (41–48 wt.% SiO2) EVP whole rock compositions (Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 5, Fig. 6). The
Conclusions
In this paper we present 40Ar–39Ar ages, major element and LA-ICP-MS trace element data on fresh, single glass fragments within glacimarine sediments from the AND-2A core between ~ 364 and 765 mbsf. These data led to inferences regarding the volcanic source, mechanisms of transport and chemical evolution of the AND-2A glass. Because the sediments of the AND-2A core offer a unique opportunity to examine the reconstructed glacial conditions and their relationship to volcanic activity, we were able
Acknowledgments
This work is, in part, the result of a Master's thesis (R. Nyland) supported by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative agreement No. 0342484, through sub-award 25-0550-0001-151 to K. Panter from the ANDRILL U.S. Science Support Program. The ANDRILL Program is a multinational collaboration between the Antarctic Programs of Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United States. Antarctica New Zealand is the project operator, and has developed the drilling system in collaboration with Alex
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2016, Global and Planetary ChangeCitation Excerpt :The sedimentary clasts generally form a subordinate and non-persistent component in the AND-2A clast assemblages. Indeed, the dominant clasts in the gravel-size fraction of the AND-2A succession were sourced from volcanic, intrusive and metamorphic rock units, which previous provenance studies have identified in: the volcanic apparatus of the McMurdo Volcanic Complex (mainly the Mt. Discovery – Mt. Morning area, Di Vincenzo et al., 2010; Del Carlo et al., 2009; Di Roberto et al., 2012; Nyland et al., 2013), and the crystalline basement of the TAM in the wider region between the Ferrar and Nimrod glaciers (Sandroni and Talarico, 2011; Talarico and Sandroni, 2011; Talarico et al., 2012; Hauptvogel and Passchier, 2012; Zattin et al., 2014) (Fig. 1). As already reported by Cornamusini (2010) and Panter et al. (2008–2009), clasts consisting of diamictite, conglomerate, mudstone (clayey/silty marl) or volcanic breccia probably represent intrabasinal/intraformational reworking processes.