Chris Mahn

Relationships between the stable isotopic signatures of living and fossil foraminifera in Monterey Bay, California

[1] Fossil foraminifera are critical to paleoceanographic reconstructions including estimates of past episodes of methane venting. These reconstructions rely on benthic foraminifera incorporating and retaining unaltered the ambient isotopic compositions of pore fluids and bottom waters. Comparisons are made here of isotopic compositions of abundant live and fossil foraminifera (Uvigerina peregrina, Epistominella pacifica, Bulimina mexicana, and Globobulimina pacifica) collected in Monterey Bay, CA from two cold seeps (Clam Flats and Extrovert Cliffs) and from sediments � 5 m outside of the Clam Flats seep. Clam Flats has steep d 13 CDIC gradients (to <� 45%), but DIC at Extrovert Cliffs is less enriched in 12 C (to approximately � 22%). Oxygen isotope values of fossil foraminifera at Clam Flats are � 1.5% enriched in 18 O over the living foraminifera, as well as those of both live and fossil foraminifera at Extrovert Cliffs, suggesting they may have lived during the last glacial maximum. Statistical comparisons (Student’s t and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests) of d 13 C and d 18 O values indicate that live and fossil foraminifera come from different populations at both Clam Flats and Extrovert Cliffs. At Clam Flats, the difference appears to result from alteration enriching some fossil foraminifera in 12 C over live foraminifera. At Extrovert Cliffs, the fossil foraminifera are enriched in 13 C over the live foraminifera, suggesting they lived prior to the onset of venting and thus that venting began recently. The short time of venting at Extrovert Cliffs may be responsible for the less alteration there compared with Clam Flats. These results indicate that preservation of foraminifera is likely to be poor within long-lived cold seeps, but that foraminifera living in the surrounding sediment may incorporate and preserve broad basin-wide changes in isotopic compositions of the ambient water.

Hydrothermal geochemistry of sediments and pore waters in Escanaba Trough—ODP Leg 169

Geochemical studies of pore fluids and solid phases in two Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) drill sites (Sites 1037 and 1038) in the Escanaba Trough off Northern California have provided further data on the hydrothermal processes associated with the spreading of the Gorda Ridge. Previous work in the area of ODP Site 1038 includes the discovery of a hydrothermal system and associated sulfide deposits centered around an uplifted sediment hill in this sedimented extensional environment. This earlier work provided some insights into the present nature of venting; however, only deep drilling investigations can provide the means to fully understand the genesis and evolution of this system and associated hydrothermal deposits. ODP Leg 169 is the third deep drilling operation to explore the magnitude, genesis, and evolution of hydrothermal systems on sedimented ridges. Previous studies centered on the Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California and the Middle Valley in the NE Pacific Ocean. Pore water studies in the reference ODP Site 1037 and in the hydrothermally active area of ODP Site 1038 have revealed the presence of a complex system of hydrothermally originated fluids. Whereas the data in the reference site indicate recent hydrothermal activity in the basal part of the drill site, the evidence in Site 1038 suggests that fluids of hydrothermal origin spread out at shallow depths around the central hill, causing substantial sediment alteration as well as deposition of hydrothermal sulfides in the near surface zone of the sediments. A second major discovery at Site 1038 was the evidence for fluid phase separation at depth at temperatures possibly in excess of 400 °C. This conclusion is based on the presence of both low Cl and high Cl fluids. The latter appear to be advected rapidly towards the surface, presumably along cracks and faults. The low Cl fluids, however, appear to be transported laterally along sandy horizons in the sediments, thus signifying two very different migration pathways for high Cl and low Cl hydrothermally phase separated fluids. Studies of the organic geochemistry of dissolved gases and matured organic matter corroborate these findings of extensive hydrothermal alteration of the sediments.