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Composition of Volcanic Tuffs, Neotectonics, and Structure of the Upper Sedimentary Cover of the Osborn Plateau (Indian Ocean)

  • MARINE GEOLOGY
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Abstract

The Osborn Plateau is a large intraplate elevation in the eastern Indian Ocean, which has been poorly studied by geological and geophysical methods. On cruise SO258/1 aboard the R/V Sonne, new data were collected by Parasound seismic processing, multibeam survey, and, for the first time, dredging. Faults in the sedimentary cover, which extend to the seafloor surface, indicate high neotectonic activity in the area of the Osborn Plateau. It may have continued up to the present, as well as in the adjacent segment of the Ninetyeast Ridge, where strong earthquakes are recorded. Two reflectors A and C in the upper part of the sedimentary cover mark global regressive changes in the World Ocean level at the Pliocene–Pleistocene and Miocene–Pliocene and boundaries. Reflector B in sediments at the Lower–Upper Pliocene boundary is associated with a change in the regional hydrodynamic regime at the time in the eastern Indian Ocean. Reflector B at the Lower–Upper Pliocene boundary is associated with a change in the local hydrodynamic regime in the region of the plateau and was caused by uncompensated sedimentation. As a result of dredging, strongly altered vitroclastic tuffs were obtained, consisting of palagonized ash particles and lapilli. Analysis of geochemical data on the composition of palagonite made it possible to reconstruct the main geochemical features of the primary composition of glass in tuffs, in particular, high enrichment in incompatible elements (Nb, Zr, Ti, La, etc.). The results of studying the dredged rocks suggest that tuffs dredged on the Osborn Plateau were formed as a result of explosive volcanic eruptions of alkaline basalts under subaerial or relatively shallow conditions and represent the latest eruption products in the region.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to captain of the R/V Sonne O. Meyer, the ship’s crew, and colleagues/participants in the research of cruise SO258/1.

Funding

R/V SONNE cruise SO258/1 has been carried under INGON project funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). The research of Russian scientists was funded by the state assignment of IO RAS, theme 0149-2019-0006; processing and interpretation of geophysical data was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 19-05-00680A).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    Yu. G. Marinova & O. V. Levchenko

  2. GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany

    M. V. Portnyagin & R. Werner

  3. Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    M. V. Portnyagin

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  1. Yu. G. Marinova
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Correspondence to Yu. G. Marinova.

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Marinova, Y.G., Levchenko, O.V., Portnyagin, M.V. et al. Composition of Volcanic Tuffs, Neotectonics, and Structure of the Upper Sedimentary Cover of the Osborn Plateau (Indian Ocean). Oceanology 60, 691–703 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S000143702004013X

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