Sediment aeolian source

In the South Pacific, the CCD is deep enough to permit the preservation of calcareous oozes except in the center of the basin, which as a result is covered by abyssal clays. The relatively rapid supply of hydrogenous sediments prevents the accumulation of calcareous oozes on the East Pacific Rise. In the North Pacific, abyssal clays dominate as this is the location where the CCD is shallowest. Aeolian transport is the source of the clay minerals that make up these deposits. 

Whatever model is assumed for the mantle source of Aeolian magmas, Sr-Nd-Pb-He isotope variations call for the involvement of upper crustal components in magma genesis. It can be calculated that less than 10% of upper crust added to a pyrolite mantle could explain the entire range of radiogenic isotopic compositions encountered in the Aeolian mafic rocks. Sediments transported by the Ionian subducting plate represent the most likely candidates for such a mantle source contaminant (e.g. Ellam et al. 1988 Francalanci et al. 1993b). 

O-MIF is present in many atmospheric molecules and aeolian sediments, and is nearly always a result of interactions with atmospheric ozone [6]. It is believed that MIF in O3 results from the non-statistical randomization of energy in vibra-tionally excited O3 during the O3 formation reaction, O -F O2 O3, in a manner that depends on the symmetry of the O3 isotopomer [7]. The source of O-MIF in primitive meteorites is unknown but has been attributed to self-shielding during photodissociation of CO in the solar nebula [3,8-10], and also to ozone-like non-statistical reactions on mineral grain surfaces [11], a hypothesis not yet verified in the laboratory. 

Still other factors point to the significance of the anomalies. The hydrocarbon anomalies in the river bank sediments include the complete range from C to C5, which excludes the possibility of the hydrocarbon anomaly being of surface biological origin. The aeolian sand is a comparatively poor medium for the development and detection of hydrocarbon anomalies in soil, but is highly suitable for the detection of Hg in soil air, for which there is no obvious source other than natural gas at depth. 

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