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IMAGE: MICROSCOPIC CROSS SECTION OF THE NEW TYPE OF BASALT. Show more CREDIT: EXP 351 SCIENCE TEAM
A new type of rock has been discovered under the Pacific, formed by large and extraordinarily hot volcanic eruptions.
An international team of researchers, including the University of Leeds, discovered the previously unknown form of basalt after it pierced the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
The discovery suggests that the eruptions of the sea floor in the Earth’s mantle were even hotter and more voluminous than previously thought. The report is co-authored by Dr. Ivan Savov from the Leeds Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics at the University’s School of Earth and Environment.
He said: “At a time when we are right to admire discoveries made through space exploration, our results show that there are still many discoveries to be made on our own planet.
“The rocks that we have extracted are very different from rocks of this type that we already know. In fact, they can differ from the well-known seabed basalts of the earth as well as the basalts of the earth from the basalts of the moon.
“Now that we know where and how this type of rock is formed, we anticipate that many other rocks that we know were originally formed by seabed eruptions will be re-examined and potentially alter our broader understanding of basalt formation . “
The newly discovered basalt differs from known rocks in both its chemical and mineral composition.
Its existence was previously unknown as no new examples have emerged in millions of years. As a result, the new type of basalt was buried deep under the sediment on the sea floor.
To find the new rock, the research team on board the Research Vessel (RV) JOIDES “Resolution” sank its drilling equipment 6 km to the seabed of the Amami Sankaku Basin – about 1,000 km southwest of the Japanese volcano Mount Fuji.
They then drilled another 1.5 km into the ocean floor and extracted samples that had never been examined by scientists before.
The research area was part of the birth of the “Ring of Fire” – a horseshoe-shaped belt known for regular volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. It extends about 40,000 km around the Pacific and is believed to have formed at least 50 million years ago.
Dr. Savov stated, “This was one of the deepest bodies of water ever considered for drilling. A research ship was used that was specially developed for such challenging deep-sea environments.
“Basalt is one of the most common types of rock on earth. We looked for basalt that was formed during the early volcanic eruptions of the Ring of Fire. “
The eruptions that created the newly discovered basalt were very widespread (in areas the size of Western Europe) and occurred over a relatively short geological span of between 1 and 2 million years.
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The results of the research team were published in Nature Communications. The team consisted of scientists from Australia, Japan, the USA, Germany, Great Britain, China and Switzerland.
Further information
Basalt extracted from high refractory mantle sources during the early Izu Bonin Mariana arc development is published by Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038 / s41467-021-21980-0
The research was part of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP).
Dr. Savov was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.
The research team also included: Deep Sea Research Center, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China; Marine Mineral Resource Laboratory, Qingdao National Marine Science and Technology Laboratory, Qingdao, China; Ocean Mega Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China; Geosciences Research School, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; Geological Survey of Japan / AIST, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; Department of Earth and Environment, AHC5-394, Florida International University, Miami, USA; Institute of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA; Institute for Geosciences, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, UK; GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany; College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, USA.
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