Adriano Taddeucci

Calcite in fractures in a volcanic environment (Vulcano Island, Italy): contribution of geochronological and isotopic studies to volcanotectonics

Abstract The southern and southeastern rim of the present caldera (La Fossa caldera) at Vulcano Island (Aeolian Islands, Italy) is crosscut by a network of fractures filled with calcite and minor chalcedony. Fluid inclusion studies indicate that both mineral phases were deposited from hydrothermal solutions. Several calcite samples were analyzed and their U, Sr, Nd, O and C isotopic composition was determined. U Th geochronological data suggest two discrete depositional episodes: one at 50 ka (southern rim) and the other at 25 ka (southeastern rim). Oxygen isotopic compositions, 87 Sr 86 Sr and 234 U 238 U ratios exclude that seawater was involved significantly in the hydrothermal system, in agreement with fluid inclusion studies which did not document the presence of NaCl. The Nd and Sr isotopic composition of calcite reflects the composition of the host rocks. The oxygen isotopic composition excludes a post-depositional interaction with meteoric water and suggests a depositional temperature consistent with that obtained from the fluid inclusion study (160–170 °C), assuming equilibrium conditions and a fluid isotopic composition close to present-day steam emissions. The positive correlation between U content and C isotopic composition indicates a rapid change in CO 2 pressure during calcite deposition. This observation is consistent with a rapid fluid ascent, likely connected to two phases of collapse of the La Fossa caldera. The ages of the calcites which fill the fractures at the La Fossa caldera indicate the activation time of the fracture systems which, in turn, are connected to the above mentioned phases of the caldera collapse.

Dating of newly formed minerals in geothermal fields through 232Th series short lived isotopes: Check on mineral of known age and implications to fluid-rock interactions

The 228Th/228Ra activity ratio can provide a tool for age measurements of newly formed minerals, down to about 15 yr. A general discussion of the method is followed by an experimental check on an aphthitalite brine, crystallized from a geothermal well at Cesano (Rome) in July, 1978 (the real age is 85 ± 5 months). It yielded an age of 75 + 8/-5 months through alpha-spectrometry activity measurements, and 85 ± 3 months through gamma-spectrometry activity measurements. A residence time of the fluid in the rock ranging from 3 to 10 centuries has been estimated by comparing the Ra isotopic composition of the fluid with the U/Th ratio of the wall rocks, according to a model proposed by Cherdyntsev (1971).