Chapter 4.

Introduction
Donna K. Blackman
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
E-mail: dblackman@ucsd.edu

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) coring and logging documented in

situ composition and material properties that tested predrilling hypotheses and
that continue to guide new assessments of solid Earth cycling and geodynamic
processes. While the pace and scope of advances made from 2003 to 2013
did not meet all the ambitious goals laid out in the Initial Science Plan, due to
factors outlined in Chapter 1 of this volume, a number of striking results were
obtained, and these have already impacted thinking in the field. In combination
with regional data, the core analyses and borehole characterizations performed
on data acquired by IODP have been, and will continue to be, a determining
factor for structural interpretations, geochemical inferences, insights into
physical–chemical interplay, and ongoing modeling efforts. Below, examples
of IODP findings that brought new perspectives on crust or mantle processes
are noted—these are just a few of the intriguing results presented in each of
the papers of this chapter, but they illustrate the pivotal role that drilling has in
geoscience research.
Both site-specific findings and general insights into crust and mantle pro-
cesses were obtained by IODP at each of two to three oceanic spreading cen-
ters, convergent margins, and long-lived intraplate volcanic systems. Processes
that occur within or near the axial zone of an oceanic spreading center were
targeted by six IODP expeditions (Chapter 4.2.1). Three other expeditions had
major emphasis on ridge flank processes (Chapter 4.2.2), and additional brief
borehole/observatory work was accomplished three times at these sites. Impli-
cations of intraplate volcanism in the ocean basins were explored via two IODP
expeditions (Chapter 5.3). Ultimately, all but one Chikyu IODP expedition (11)
and two JOIDES Resolution expeditions documented convergent margin geol-
ogy (Chapters 4.4.1–3).
IODP results anchored structural interpretations that shaped inferences about
the formation of oceanic lithosphere. The occurrence of a lava pond many tens
of meters thick at Site 1256 on the East Pacific Rise flank indicated that flow
volumes of many cubic kilometers can interrupt the pattern of typically smaller
seafloor lava flows at a fast spreading ridge. Tilting of the underlying sheeted

Developments in Marine Geology, Volume 7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-62617-2.00016-5

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446  Earth and Life Processes Discovered from Subseafloor Environments

dike complex was modest, indicating that little tectonic disruption occurred after
initial accretion of the upper crust. The low ratio of dike: lava thickness at this
site contrasts with that exposed in Hess Deep, at IODP Site U1415, despite both
being formed at a fast spreading rate. Ildefonse et al. (Chapter 4.2.1) thus infer
that tectonic windows may document interplay between axial magmatism and
faulting that is distinct from typical intermediate-fast spread oceanic crust. This
may be important for gauging which results from tectonic windows should be
incorporated in general models of crustal structure. Deep drilling at an oceanic
core complex on the young flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge discerned extreme
strain localization associated with detachment faulting. While the recovered
core records deformation in only a few narrow zones, paleomagnetic data indi-
cate that the unroofed intrusive crust rotated several tens of degrees; this is the
strongest support yet of the “rolling hinge” model of core complex formation.
Drilling and seafloor samples at Atlantis Massif indicate that the detachment
fault channeled significant seawater flow, which increased the cooling rate of
this unroofed core complex. Hydrothermal circulation in fast spread crust was
shown to be dominated by cool temperatures within the lava section and to
rapidly transition to higher temperatures across both the lava-dike and the dike–
gabbro transitions, the latter sampled in situ for the first time at Site 1256. On
the flank of the Juan de Fuca ridge, active flow experiments show that upper
crustal permeability varies considerably and that hydrologic connectivity can
be limited in this interval (Fisher et al., Chapter 4.2.2).
The structure of mature ocean lithosphere as it enters a subduction zone has
been found to fundamentally impact deformation of the sedimentary wedge at
subduction zones, with IODP results providing key new insights into Nankai
and Costa Rica margins. Together with seismic imaging, drilling results docu-
ment pulses of thrust faulting, and shifts in the deformation locus from the inner
to the outer wedge, sometimes altering trench sediment supply if a forearc basin
rapidly subsided, sequestering deposits (Tobin et al., Chapter 4.4.1). Sediment
supply at the trench is inferred to control whether a subduction zone is accre-
tionary (high trench sediment supply) or erosive (low), which in turn affects
the stress field within the wedge. While regional plate driving forces dominate
overall, in situ stress can differ locally in response to splay fault displacements
(Kinoshita et al., Chapter 4.4.2), and broader areas can undergo periods of
extension, as documented in Costa Rica (Chapter 4.4.1).
Petrology and geochemistry results point to complex crustal magma inter-
actions and document the nature of long-lived melting associated with mantle
plumes. Chemical reactivity between rock types traditionally thought of as dis-
tinct crustal “layers,” sometimes enhanced by magmatic or hydrothermal fluids,
has been documented by IODP. Interaction near the dike–gabbro transition was
evidenced by contact metamorphism with complete recrystallization and a com-
plex history of cross intrusions likely to have occurred at the past location of
an axial melt lens (Site 1256; Chapter 4.2.1). Interaction of mantle melts with
lower crustal rocks is strongly suggested by geochemical analyses of core from
 Introduction Chapter | 4.1  447

both the Mid-Atlantic ridge (Site U1309) and Hess Deep (Site U1415) tectoni-
cally exposed sections (Chapter 4.2.1). These new findings challenge the simple
fractional melting model of midocean ridge basalt genesis, at least locally. Work
along the Louisville volcanic chain documents consistent chemistry of magmas
erupted from this long-lived mantle melt anomaly. This is unique, globally, rais-
ing the question of whether consistent thickness of the lithosphere overlying the
plume might have played a role (Koppers and Sager, Chapter 5.3).
The interplay between chemical and physical processes in the ocean litho-
sphere has been illuminated by IODP data. The extent of alteration recorded in
the crust was found to depend directly on lithology. In the upper crust, alteration
halos track given lava units, and likely flow-edge permeability paths, rather than
the extent of alteration decreasing steadily as a function of depth below seafloor
(Chapter 4.2.2). For intrusive crust, olivine-rich intervals can be highly serpen-
tinized while adjacent gabbroic intervals are only modestly altered, as found
at Atlantis Massif core complex (Chapter 4.2.1). Local weakening related to
alteration that proceeds to talc formation plays an important role in strain local-
ization that characterizes detachment faulting and oceanic core complex forma-
tion. While lower rate flow and alteration continue as oceanic plates age, with
basement structure impacting local rates and hydrologic directivity (Chapter
4.2.2), it is at the convergent margins where the next round of major physical–
chemical interplay strongly impacts geologic processes. Kastner et al. (Chapter
4.4.3) elucidate the key role of thermal structure in sediment dehydration, and
other geochemical reactions that fingerprint fluid source region, and determine
that fluid pathways depend on whether a subduction zone is accretionary or ero-
sive. In the former, the plate boundary decollement channels much of the flow,
whereas in the latter, conduits through the sediment prism are also important.
Finally, IODP 2003–2013 findings have helped advance modeling of solid
Earth processes. Recent models of oceanic crust hydrology are beginning to
narrow the field of possible flow patterns and heat advection in both volcanic
and intrusive crust (Chapter 4.2.2), with measurements of porosity and tempera-
ture to constrain numerical experiments. While IODP did not explicitly tackle
rifted margins, a new understanding of the nontrivial role of magmatism in the
development of long-lived detachments and unroofing of lithospheric blocks
(core complexes, Chapter 4.2.1) constrain recent dynamic models of rifting.
Thermal models of convergent margins are significantly improved by con-
straints that IODP fluid chemistry, core alteration, and borehole measurements
provide (Chapters 4.3.2 and 4.3.3). Both theoretical and numerical modeling
of earthquake processes have been a major focus in the broader geophysical
community in 2004–2014, but predictions are highly dependent on assumed
material properties within the fault zone. By sampling in situ material (Chapter
4.4.1) and testing its frictional behavior under variable slip velocity (Chapter
4.4.2), IODP has contributed data that are crucial to new understanding of sub-
duction zone fault behavior, including at previously unexpected very shallow
subseafloor depths. In a remarkable feat of rapid planning and implementation,
448  Earth and Life Processes Discovered from Subseafloor Environments

in very challenging deep-water conditions, IODP obtained unique samples from

a fault displaying evidence of coseismic slip associated with the devastating
2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
Almost all the authors for this Chapter played a lead role in designing and
carrying out a central component of IODP work on the topic presented in each
paper. Here, they provide an overview of the scientific context and major find-
ings of that research. For investigators interested in delving more deeply, these
summaries can serve as an entry point into the wealth of underlying literature,
as well as to the rich set of drilling, logging, and site survey data, many of which
are far from being fully tapped and all of which are openly available for future
study.