The Origin of Nanoscopic Grooving on
Vesicle Walls in Submarine Basaltic Glass:
Implications for Nanotechnology
Figure 1
SEI images of a grooved vesicle from the glassy margin of a submarine pillow basalt from DSDP-418A-75-3-[]. The sample is coated with 150 of Au. (a) Overview of the vesicle. Note the step (S) in the fracture surface at lower right, which formed in lee of the vesicle as a propagating fracture opened it from upper left to lower right. Pits along the rim of the vesicle (P) show where sulfide spherules once were. (b) Close-up of the vesicle wall from (a) highlighting the distribution of sulfide spherules (SS) and dendritic patterns of nanoscopic grooves (viscous fingers—V) on the vesicle wall, in addition to other less commonly observed textural features including tension gashes (TG), wrinkles (W), and rill and trellis texture (RT). (c) Detail from (b) showing a Cu-bearing iron sulfide spherule (SS), dendritic nanogrooves (viscous fingers—V), a tension gash (TG), and amorphous material (AM) that postdates and partially obscures the viscous fingers and the tension gash.
