Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Flood basalt”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Mechanisms of Basalt-plains Ridge Formation

The morphologic similarities between the Columbia Plateau ridges and ridges on the Moon, Mercury and Mars form a strong basis for the interpretation of basalt-plains ridges as compressional folds. The basalt-plains ridges appear to have formed on competent flood basalt units deformed at the surface with essentially no confining pressure. Estimates of compressive strain for planetary ridges range from a few tenths of a percent on the Moon to up to 0.4% on Mars, to as high as 35% for Columbia Plateau folds with associated thrust faults. Such values have strong implications for both deformational mechanisms as well as for the source of stress. Deformational mechanisms that will attempt to account for the morphology, fold geometry, possible associated thrust faulting and regular spacing of the basalt-plains ridges on the terrestrial planets are under investigation.

Watters, T. R.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Facile Metal Release from Pore-Lining Phases Enables Unique Carbonate Zonation in a Basalt Carbon Mineralization Demonstration

Carbon-negative strategies such as geologic carbon sequestration in continental flood basalts offers a promising route to the removal of greenhouse gases, such as CO 2 , via safe and permanent storage as stable carbonates. This potential has been successfully demonstrated at a field scale at the Wallula Basalt Carbon Storage Pilot Project where supercritical CO 2 was injected into the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG). Here, we analyze recovered post-injection sidewall core cross-sections containing carbonate nodules using μ-XRF chemical mapping techniques that revealed compositional zonation within the nodules. The unique nature of the subsurface anthropogenic carbonates is highlighted by the near absence of Mg in an ankerite-like composition. Furthermore, a comparison between pre- and post-injection sidewall cores along with an in-depth chemical mapping of basalt pore lining cements provides a better understanding into the source and fate of critical cationic species involved in the precipitation of carbon mineralization products. Collectively, these results provide crucial insights into carbonate growth mechanisms under a time-dependent pore fluid composition. Finally, as such, these findings will enable parameterization of predictive models for future CO 2 sequestration efforts in reactive reservoirs around the world.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1977

Chemical character of the partially flooded Smythii Basin based on Al/Si orbital X-ray data

Orbital X-ray fluorescence data indicate that continuous mare-basalt flooding is confined to the northeastern quadrant of the Smythii Basin. Al/Si values for soils in the unflooded northwestern section of the Smythii Basin closely approximate those for the adjacent terra to the west. Terra soils east of Mare Smythii, however, are unusually aluminous compared to terra soils west of the basin. This pronounced contrast between Al/Si values for terra soils to the east and west of Smythii as well as the minimal difference in values between the northwestern section of the basin and adjacent terra to the west are most likely due to a chemically homogeneous layer of ejecta from a large impact event west of Mare Smythii, such as that which formed the Crisium Basin. An alternate hypothesis is that the unflooded section of the basin is predominantly original basin floor material, indicating that the impact forming the 4km deep Smythii Basin did not penetrate into a horizon chemically different from the terra west of Smythii. The chemical contrast between the terra east and west of Smythii, then, would be ascribed to lateral heterogeneity within the lunar crust

Andre, C. G.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Planetary Geophysics and Tectonics

We have carried out several studies that explore explanations for the role of chemical density variations in Moon s evolution. Meaningful models for the evolution of the Moon must explain a number of important magmatic characteristics. Volcanic activity subsequent to the formation of its anorthositic crust was dominated by the eruption of mare basalt. 1) The main phase of mare volcanism began approx. 500 Myr after the crystallization of the anorthositic crust and continued for approx. l Gyr. 2) The picitic glasses, considered to be representative of mare basalt least affected by low pressure, near-surface fractionation, were generated by melting, at 400-600 km depth, of a source containing components that, on the basis of the magma ocean hypothesis, should have crystallized at much shallower depth during fractionation of the anorthositic crust. 3) Mare basalts occur primarily in one region of the Moon. Recent topographic data demonstrate that the earlier idea that mare basalt flooded areas of low elevation is not correct. Large areas of very low elevation do not contain mare basalt. The hemispheric asymmetry of mare basalt distribution on the lunar surface must be explained in some other way. 4) A region of the surface roughly correlating with that containing mare basalts also is thought to contain high subsurface concentrations of KREEP which was excavated during the formation of large impact basins. This so-called Procellarum KREEP Terrane (PKT) is responsible for the Imbrium basin-centered thorium anomaly mapped by Lunar Prospector.

Parmentier, E. Marc↗
NASA NTRS1987

Petrology of the igneous rocks

Papers published during the 1983-1986 period on the petrology and geochemistry of igneous rocks are discussed, with emphasis on tectonic environment. Consideration is given to oceanic rocks, subdivided into divergent margin suites (mid-ocean ridge basalts, ridge-related seamounts, and back-arc basin basalts) and intraplate suites (oceanic island basalts and nonridge seamounts), and to igneous rocks formed at convergent margins (island arc and continental arc suites), subdivided into volcanic associations and plutonic associations. Other rock groups discussed include continental flood basalts, layered mafic intrusions, continental alkalic associations, komatiites, ophiolites, ash-flow tuffs, anorthosites, and mantle xenoliths.

Mccallum, I. S.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Basaltic Ring Structures as an Analog for Ring Features in Athabasca Valles, Mars

Basaltic ring structures (BRSs) are enigmatic, quasi-circular landforms in eastern Washington State that were first recognized in 1965. They remained a subject of geologic scrutiny through the 1970 s and subsequently faded from the spotlight, but recent Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images showing morphologically similar structures in Athabasca Valles, Mars, have sparked renewed interest in BRSs. The only known BRSs occur in the Channeled Scabland, a region where catastrophic Pleistocene floods from glacial Lake Missoula eroded into the Miocene flood basalts of the Columbia Plateau. The geologic setting of the martian ring structures (MRSs) is similar; Athabasca Valles is a young channel system that formed when catastrophic aqueous floods carved into a volcanic substrate. This study investigates the formation of terrestrial BRSs and examines the extent to which they are appropriate analogs for the MRSs in Athabasca Valles.

Jaeger, W. L.↗
NASA NTRS2001

A Return to Io: Science Goals and Implementation

Io remains one of the most fascinating objects in the solar system: the only place beyond Earth where we can watch hard-rock geology in action. In its high heat flow Io resembles the early Earth, providing a present-day analog to some of the processes that dominated the Earth's geology at the time that life first appeared. Io's usefulness as an early-Earth analog has been underscored recently by the detection of very high eruption temperatures, hotter than terrestrial basaltic lavas. These temperatures are most plausibly interpreted as resulting from ultramafic lava compositions, analagous to the komatiites that were common on Earth in the Precambrian but which have been virtually absent during the Phanerozoic. The large scale of many Io eruptions also provides useful analogs to Phanerozoic terrestrial eruptions, such as flood basalts, which are important for the Earth's geological and biological evolution but which occur too rarely to be witnessed by humans on our own planet. By providing living examples, Io can thus play the same role in understanding large-scale planetary volcanism that volcanically active terrestrial regions have played in understanding the results of smaller-scale volcanic processes seen in the geological record worldwide. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Spencer, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Basaltic fissure eruptions, plume heights, and atmospheric aerosols

Convective plumes that rise above Hawaiian-style fire fountains consist of volcanic gases, aerosols, fine ash, and entrained heated air. Plume theory has been applied to observational estimates of the rate of thermal energy release from large fire fountains. The theoretically predicted heights of maintained plumes agree very well with the heights found from actual observations. Predicted plume heights for both central-vent (point-source) and fissure (line-source) eruptions indicate a stratospheric penetration by plumes that form over vents with very high magma-production rates. Flood basalt fissure eruptions that produce individual lava flows with volumes greater than 100 cu km at very high mass eruption rates are capable of injecting large quantities of sulfate aerosols into the lower stratosphere, with potentially drastic short-term atmospheric consequences, like acid precipitation, darkening of the sky, and climatic cooling.

Stothers, R. B.↗
NASA NTRS1979

A global geochemical model for the evolution of the mantle

It is proposed that the upper mantle transition region, 220 to 670 km, is composed of eclogite which has been derived from primitive mantle by about 20 percent partial melting and that this is the source and sink of oceanic crust. The remainder of the upper mantle is garnet peridotite which is the source of continental basalts and hotspot magmas. This region is enriched in incompatible elements by hydrous and CO2 rich metasomatic fluids which have depleted the underlying layers in the L.I.L. elements and L.R.E.E. The volatiles make this a low-velocity, high attenuation, low viscosity region. The eclogite layer is internally heated and its controls the convection pattern in the upper mantle. Plate tectonics is intermittent. The continental thermal anomaly at a depth of 150-220 km triggers kimberlite and carbonatite activity, alkali and flood basalt volcanism, vertical tectonics and continental breakup. Hot spots remain active after the continents leave and build the oceanic islands. Mantle plumes rise from a depth of about 220 km. Midocean ridge basalts rise from the depleted layer below this depth. Material from this layer can also be displaced upwards by subducted oceanic lithosphere to form back-arc basins.

Anderson, D. L.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Linking impact melt redox with crustal weathering regime

Abstract Impact melting and outgassing of impact melts were important processes shaping the crust and atmosphere of early Earth and Mars. The redox state of impact melts influences the gases they release, but the controls on impact melt redox are not well understood. Here, we present Fe micro–X-ray absorption near edge structure (μ-XANES) measurements of a suite of impact melt glasses from Lonar crater, India. As an impact into continental flood basalts, Lonar crater is an ideal analog for impacts into basaltic crust on early Earth and Mars. The Fe-μ-XANES technique permits robust characterization of the Fe3+/ΣFe ratio and therefore redox conditions in Lonar glasses. We found a range in Fe3+/ΣFe of 0.21–0.49 among Lonar glasses, including substantial intraclast variations. We conclude that a primary factor driving these variations was pre-impact oxidative weathering of target rocks. The coupling between crustal weathering regime and speciation of gases released from impact melts implies that impact melt outgassing could act as a feedback mechanism to reinforce prevailing surface redox conditions.

Geology↗
NASA NTRS1973

Mapping of the major structures of the African rift system

The author has identified the following significant results. ERTS-1 imagery of the African rift system has already proved of great value in structural geological studies. One of the interesting megastructures expressed on the imagery occurs some 40 km east of the eastern margin of the main Ethiopian rift, in Arussi province, and extending between latitude 71/2 and 81/4 deg N. The Badda-Encuolo ridge proves to have been a line of major Tertiary volcanism and probably supplied the thick Trap Series flood basalt sequence exposed farther east in the canyons of the Webi Shebeli drainage system. The ridge itself was built up by the waning activity of the Sagatu line of volcanism. Serendipitious has been the discovery on Mt. Badda of several deeply glaciated valleys, many of which show clearly on the ERTS-1 imagery. It seems that Mt. Badda was one of the most important glacial centers in eastern Africa during the Pleistocene. Three major late-Tertiary trachytic centers lie between the Badda-Encuolo ridge and the rift valley. The relationships of these three volcanoes to each other and to the rift faulting is revealed for the first time by the ERTS-1 imagery, as is the form of the cladera of Baltata and the crater of Chilalo.

Mohr, P. A.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Lunar volcanism in space and time

The role of lunar volcanism in the history of the moon is documented using lunar-orbit and earth-based data along with characterizations derived from Apollo and Luna sample-return missions. Characteristics of mare and highland volcanic features are described, Apollo and Luna results are discussed, and the characteristics of other mare deposits and of other highland features of possible volcanic origin are summarized. Major conclusions are that: (1) there is little unequivocal morphologic evidence for highland volcanism, (2) lunar mare lavas appear to have originated from depths of 100 to 500 km, (3) impact melting does not appear to have been a factor in the generation of mare lavas, (4) mare volcanism was characterized by massive outpourings of very fluid volatile-poor lava analogous to terrestrial flood basalts, (5) mare volcanism took place from 3.83 to about 2.5 billion years ago, (6) the preferential occurrence of mare deposits in large impact basins appears to be generically unrelated to basin formation, and (7) a thicker farside crust may be responsible for the distinctive nearside-farside asymmetry of mare deposits.

Head, J. W., III↗
NASA NTRS1976

Inferences about magma sources and mantle structure from variations of Nd-143/Nd-144

Continental flood basalts and mid-ocean ridge (MOR) tholeiitic basalts have distinctly different Nd-143/Nd-144 which may permit a priori distinction between continental and oceanic igneous rocks. Initial Nd-143/Nd-144 of continental igneous rocks through time fall on a Sm/Nd evolution curve with chondritic REE abundance ratio. These observations indicate that many continental igneous rocks are derived from a reservoir with chondritic REE pattern which may represent primary material remaining since the formation of the earth. Oceanic igneous rocks are derived from a different ancient reservoir which has Sm/Nd higher than chondritic. Initial Nd-143/Nd-144 and Sr-87/Sr-86 in young basalts from both oceans and continents show a strong correlation suggesting that Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr fractionation events in the mantle may be correlative and caused by the same process. From this correlation Rb/Sr for the earth is inferred to be 0.029.

Depaolo, D. J.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Global tectonic studies: Hotspots and anomalous topography

Volcanic activity on Earth and its secular variations are compared with that on other terrestrial planets. Activity at divergent, transform, and convergent plate margins is described with particular emphasis on hot spots and flood basalts. The timing and causing of uplifting above 500 meters, which in not associated with either plate boundaries or the normal nonplate margin edges of continents is considered with particular focus on the Guyana Highlands in southern Venezuela and western British Guiana, and the Brazilian Highlands in the central, eastern, and southern parts of the country. The mode and mechanism of plateau uplifting and the re-elevation of old mountain belts and subsidence of intra-continental basins are also discussed.

Burke, K.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The Tempe volcanic province of Mars and comparisons with the Snake River Plains of Idaho

The Tempe volcanic region of Mars, a relatively low plain of probable basaltic flood lava affinity, is shown to be comparable in many respects to features of the Snake River Plains of Idaho, including both scale and type of features observed. Superimposed upon the Tempe plain are a variety of features that appear structurally controlled, along an orientation of N60 deg E; comprising low shields, irregular hills that may be silicic domes, and possible composite cones. The Tempe/Snake River match is held to be the first in which direct comparison can be made between Martian and terrestrial geologic-geomorphic features without encountering problems of scale.

Plescia, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Ridge systems of Mars

Mare-type ridges on the Planet Mars were mapped and described based on Viking images. The ridges mapped range from 5 to 400 km long and 1 to 8 km wide. Most ridges on Mars are on plains and plateau units; 4,321 ridges with a total length of 153,835 km were mapped on these unit types. Ridges which resemble lunar mare ridges were also mapped in craters, basins, and several volcanic calderas on Mars. Mapping of ridges on a global scale reveals that they are preferentially developed in older, thinner plains units probably of flood basalt origin. Measuring the trends of ridges in plains units on Mars shows that there is a planetwide predominance of north, northwest and northeast trends. It is proposed that ridges are compressional tectonic features which have formed in response to changes in the planet's rotational equilibrium figure early in its history. In addition, the Tharsis uplift has created a regional stress system which accounts for the trends of ridges in areas near by. Ridges in craters and basins are similarly caused by shortening across the basin in response to regional stresses.

Gifford, A. W.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Martian volcanism: Festoon-like ridges on terrestrial basalt flows and implications for Mars

The Fink and Fletcher, and Fink model was used to assess and compare flow rheology for two terrestrial basalt flows and one Martian flow with previous studies. Based on the morphologic similarities between the Martian flows and the Icelandic flows and knowledge of the emplacement of the terrestrial flows, the flows west of Arsia Mons are considered to have been emplaced as large sheet flows from basaltic flood style eruptions. Festoon ridges represent folding of the surface crust in the last stages of emplacement when viscosities would be high due to cooling. Alternatively, the lava may have had a high crystallinity or was erupted at low temperatures. In addition, increased compressive stress behind halted flow fronts or in ponded areas may have contributed to ridge formation.

Theilig, E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Crustal evolution and the eclogite to granulite phase transition in xenoliths from the West African Craton

A suite of eclogite and granulite facies xenoliths from kimberlite pipes in the Archean Man Shield of West Africa is described. The xenoliths include lithologies ranging in composition from komatiite to anorthosite and appear to be geochemically, petrologically, and geophysically related. The suite may represent fractionation of felsic material separated from ancient mantle and added to early Archean crust. The samples can be used to define a xenolith geotherm, which may represent an ancient episode of high heat flow. The samples also imply that the crust-mantle boundary is a gradational and possibly interlayered geochemical, mineralogical, and seismic transition. It is speculated that the depleted subcontinental mantle required by diamond bearing coalescence of smaller depletion cells formed by extraction of ancient crustal components. These depleted zones are surrounded by fertile asthenospheric mantle, which may have given rise to later flood basalts such as the Karroo and Parana Provinces.

Haggerty, S. E.↗