Holger Paulick

Unraveling the sequence of serpentinization reactions: petrography, mineral chemistry, and petrophysics of serpentinites from MAR 15°N (ODP Leg 209, Site 1274)

[1] The results of detailed textural, mineral chemical, and petrophysical studies shed new light on the poorly constrained fluid-rock reaction pathways during retrograde serpentinization at mid-ocean ridges. Uniformly depleted harzburgites and dunites from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 15� N show variable extents of static serpentinization. They reveal a simple sequence of reactions: serpentinization of olivine and development of a typical mesh texture with serpentine-brucite mesh rims, followed by replacement of olivine mesh centers by serpentine and brucite. The serpentine mesh rims on relic olivine are devoid of magnetite. Conversely, domains in the rock that are completely serpentinized show abundant magnetite. We propose that low-fluid-flux serpentinization of olivine to serpentine and ferroan brucite is followed by later stages of serpentinization under more open-system conditions and formation of magnetite by the breakdown of ferroan brucite. Modeling of this sequence of reactions can account for covariations in magnetic susceptibility and grain density of the rocks. Citation: Bach, W., H. Paulick, C. J. Garrido, B. Ildefonse, W. P. Meurer, and S. E. Humphris (2006), Unraveling the sequence of serpentinization reactions: petrography, mineral chemistry, and petrophysics of serpentinites from MAR 15� N (ODP Leg 209, Site 1274), Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L13306,

Hydrothermal alteration and microbial sulfate reduction in peridotite and gabbro exposed by detachment faulting at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 15°20′N (ODP Leg 209): A sulfur and oxygen isotope study

Whole rock sulfur and oxygen isotope compositions of altered peridotites and gabbros from near the 15°20′N Fracture Zone on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge were analyzed to investigate hydrothermal alteration processes and test for a subsurface biosphere in oceanic basement. Three processes are identified. (1) High-temperature hydrothermal alteration (∼250–350°C) at Sites 1268 and 1271 is characterized by 18O depletion (2.6–4.4‰), elevated sulfide-S, and high δ34S (up to ∼2 wt% and 4.4–10.8‰). Fluids were derived from high-temperature (>350°C) reaction of seawater with gabbro at depth. These cores contain gabbroic rocks, suggesting that associated heat may influence serpentinization. (2) Low-temperature (<150°C) serpentinization at Sites 1272 and 1274 is characterized by elevated δ18O (up to 8.1‰), high sulfide-S (up to ∼3000 ppm), and negative δ34S (to −32.1‰) that reflect microbial reduction of seawater sulfate. These holes penetrate faults at depth, suggesting links between faulting and temperatures of serpentinization. (3) Late low-temperature oxidation of sulfide minerals caused loss of sulfur from rocks close to the seafloor. Sulfate at all sites contains a component of oxidized sulfide minerals. Low δ34S of sulfate may result from kinetic isotope fractionation during oxidation or may indicate readily oxidized low-δ34S sulfide derived from microbial sulfate reduction. Results show that peridotite alteration may be commonly affected by fluids ± heat derived from mafic intrusions and that microbial sulfate reduction is widespread in mantle exposed at the seafloor.

Young volcanism and related hydrothermal activity at 5°S on the slow‐spreading southern Mid‐Atlantic Ridge

The effect of volcanic activity on submarine hydrothermal systems has been well documented along fast- and intermediate-spreading centers but not from slow-spreading ridges. Indeed, volcanic eruptions are expected to be rare on slow-spreading axes. Here we report the presence of hydrothermal venting associated with extremely fresh lava flows at an elevated, apparently magmatically robust segment center on the slow-spreading southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 5°S. Three high-temperature vent fields have been recognized so far over a strike length of less than 2 km with two fields venting phase-separated, vapor-type fluids. Exit temperatures at one of the fields reach up to 407°C, at conditions of the critical point of seawater, the highest temperatures ever recorded from the seafloor. Fluid and vent field characteristics show a large variability between the vent fields, a variation that is not expected within such a limited area. We conclude from mineralogical investigations of hydrothermal precipitates that vent-fluid compositions have evolved recently from relatively oxidizing to more reducing conditions, a shift that could also be related to renewed magmatic activity in the area. Current high exit temperatures, reducing conditions, low silica contents, and high hydrogen contents in the fluids of two vent sites are consistent with a shallow magmatic source, probably related to a young volcanic eruption event nearby, in which basaltic magma is actively crystallizing. This is the first reported evidence for direct magmatic-hydrothermal interaction on a slow-spreading mid-ocean ridge.

Facies reconstruction of a hydrothermally altered dacite extrusive sequence: Evidence from geophysical downhole logging data (ODP Leg 193)

ODP Leg 193 drilled into the PACMANUS hydrothermal field (Papua New Guinea), which is an activehydrothermal vent field associated with felsic magmatism in a convergent geodynamic setting. ThePACMANUS hydrothermal field is part of the eastern Manus Basin and is located near the crest of PualRidge, a 500 to 700 meters high felsic neo-volcanic ridge. Two sites, Snowcap (Site 1188) and RomanRuins (Site 1189), were drilled approximately 800 m apart. Although low core recovery limited theexamination of the subsurface geology, geophysical downhole measurements provided continuous recordsof in-situ physical properties with depth and were used to reconstruct lithostratigraphic profiles. Downholelogging operations included standard wire line logging and Logging While Drilling (LWD) measurements.Electrical resistivity images of the borehole wall were examined to find characteristic textures and threedifferent volcanic facies were distinguished: coherent dacite, volcaniclastic dacite and brecciated dacite. Inaddition, intervals with sulfide mineralization were identified based on characteristic responses of thephotoelectric factor log. A comparison of the reconstructed profiles from both sites shows considerabledifferences in the proportions of facies and the thickness of individual layers. Thick units of coherent faciesare predominant at Snowcap and indicate a proximal position of the site within the volcanic system of PualRidge. At Roman Ruins, thin individual layers with rapid changes in volcanic facies and a higherproportion of volcaniclastic and brecciated dacite suggest a medial position. These differences in volcanicfacies show that the volcanic architecture at Pual Ridge is characterized by small-scale facies changes,emplacement of small-volume individual lava flows and complex geometries of individual emplacementunits. Geophysical logging data suggest that subseafloor hydrothermal activity is focused to the areaaround one hole at Roman Ruins. Downhole logs from this hole show characteristic cyclic patterns in theelectrical resistivity and photoelectric factor logs indicating that hydrothermal sulfide mineralization isconcentrated at the tops of individual lava flows representing paleo-seafloor positions.

Alteration at the ultramafic-hosted Logatchev hydrothermal field: Constraints from trace element and Sr-O isotope data

Serpentinized peridotite and gabbronorite represent the host rocks to the active, ultramafic-hosted Logatchev hydrothermal field at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. We use trace element, δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr data from bulk rock samples and mineral separates in order to constrain the controls on the geochemical budget within the Logatchev hydrothermal system. The trace element data of serpentinized peridotite show strong compositional variations indicating a range of processes. Some peridotites experienced geochemical modifications associated with melt-rock interaction processes prior to serpentinization, which resulted in positive correlations of increasing high field strength element (HFSE) concentrations and light rare earth element (LREE) contents. Other serpentinites and lizardite mineral separates are enriched in LREE, lacking a correlation with HFSE due to interaction with high-temperature, black-smoker type fluids. The enrichment of serpentinites and lizardite separates in trace elements, as well as locally developed negative Ce-anomalies, indicate that interaction with low-T ambient seawater is another important process in the Logatchev hydrothermal system. Hence, mixing of high-T hydrothermal fluids during serpentinization and/or re-equilibration of O-isotope signatures during subsequent low-T alteration is required to explain the trace element and δ18O temperature constraints. Highly radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr signatures of serpentinite and lizardite separates provide additional evidence for interaction with seawater-derived fluids. Sparse talc alteration at the Logatchev site are most likely caused by Si-metasomatism of serpentinite associated with the emplacement of shallow gabbro intrusion(s) generating localized hydrothermal circulation. In summary the geochemistry of serpentinites from the Logatchev site document subsurface processes and the evolution of a seafloor ultramafic hydrothermal system.