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Table 1. Summary of Hole 990A flow textural characteristics.

Unit General structure Crystallinity

1

Thickness: 19.2 m. The top 1.4 m is highly weathered; much of this unit is massive (<5% vesicles), with segregations and weak banding through most of the unit below 4.23 m. The lower vesicular zone is 20 cm thick.



2

Thickness: 24.8 m. Flow top is highly oxidized breccia for >1.5 m. Some reincorporated crust and internal flow boundaries in the top 4 m. Flow is massive (<5% vesicles). Prominent banding appears at a depth of 6.48 m, continues downward through 20.5 m. Flow base is highly oxidized and finely vesicular.

Fine-grained (<200 µm) throughout, with larger (up to 300 µm) poikilitic oxide grains. Crystal number densities range from 800 (internal) - 1800 (flow top) /mm2.

3

Thickness: 17.5 m. Upper breccia zone is 4.4 m thick. Mesostasis banding appears at 6.25 m below the flow top and continues through most of the flow. The 25-cm flow base is finely vesicular.



4

Thickness: 4.58 m. Flow top shows thin reddish breccia that grades downward into an irregular vesicular zone 14.2 m thick (up to 15% vesicles). Below this melt, segregations become more common and show banding. Finely vesicular lower boundary over 50 cm.

This sample is characterized by numerous plagioclase microphenocryst laths (~500 µm) in a finer grained matrix (<200 µm).

5

Thickness: 5.7 m. Flow top indistinct. The 0.83-m upper vesicular zone (up to 27% vesicles) is underlain by a 1.75-m-thick internal breccia zone. Below that lies another vesicular zone 0.87 m in thickness. The flow base is nicely preserved and shows the lower vesicular zone to be 50 cm in thickness.



6

Thickness: 14.3 m. Brecciated flow top is 1.46 m thick and highly altered. Below this is a vesicular zone that also contains melt segregation blobs. Segregation bands are plentiful in the lower few meters of the flow. Flow base is vesicular over the lower 40 cm.



7

Thickness: 6.1 m. Upper surface has a thin vesicular zone notable for the presence of numerous small vesicular blobs with a high number density of very small vesicles. Below this is an abrupt transition into a banded zone over 1.3 m. The lower vesicular zone is 50 cm in thickness.



8

Thickness: 4.3 m. Flow top is reddish and fine grained. Upper vesicular zone is 2.65 m in thickness (<20% vesicles), although some vesicles are apparent throughout the flow. Irregular pipe vesicle structures rise to 45 cm above the flow base.



9

Thickness: 4.1 m. Most of the flow is vesicular, with the upper vesicular zone persisting over 3.54 m.



10

Thickness: 5.1 m. Most of this flow was missing, although the flow base was preserved as pipe vesicles over ~20 cm.



11

Thickness: 11.06 m. This unit has a complex vesicle structure and appears to be a compound flow. The entire upper vesicular zone is 3.9 m thick (about 15%-20% vesicles). There are internal pipe vesicles and a quenched base, underlain by another flow top with irregular vesicles. The flow base as mapped has 10 cm of pipe vesicles.

Aphyric flow with a ground mass that varies from extremely fine-grained at the base (~1600 crystals/mm2) and coarser grained in the interior (~150 crystals/mm2).

12

Thickness: 7.4 m. The top is marked by reddish lava. Upper vesicular zone is 2 m thick, below which the flow is massive. There are pipe vesicles near the base of the unit.



13

Thickness: unknown (base not recovered). Flow top is finely vesicular breccia, and the lowermost material recovered contains numerous mesostasis segregations.


Note: Quantitative analysis results of groundmass textures are included where appropriate.

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