Effect of paleoseawater composition on hydrothermal exchange in midocean ridges

Antonelli, Michael A.; Pester, Nicholas J.; Brown, Shaun T.; DePaolo, Donald J.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1709145114

Effect of paleoseawater composition on hydrothermal exchange in midocean ridges

Journal Article · Mon Nov 06 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1709145114· OSTI ID:1437974

^[1]; Pester, Nicholas J. ^[2]; Brown, Shaun T. ^[3]; DePaolo, Donald J. ^[3]

Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Department of Earth and Planetary Science
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Earth and Environmental Sciences
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Department of Earth and Planetary Science; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Earth and Environmental Sciences

Variations in the Mg, Ca, Sr, and SO₄ concentrations of paleoseawater can affect the chemical exchange between seawater and oceanic basalt in hydrothermal systems at midocean ridges (MOR). Here, we present a model for evaluating the nature and magnitude of these previously unappreciated effects, using available estimates of paleoseawater composition over Phanerozoic time as inputs and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of ophiolite epidosites and epidote-quartz veins as constraints. The results suggest that modern hydrothermal fluids are not typical due to low Ca and Sr relative to Mg and SO₄ in modern seawater. At other times during the last 500 million years, particularly during the Cretaceous and Ordovician, hydrothermal fluids had more seawater-derived Sr and Ca, a prediction that is supported by Sr isotope data. The predicted ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of vent fluids varies cyclically in concert with ocean chemistry, with some values much higher than the modern value of ~0.7037. The seawater chemistry effects can be expressed in terms of the transfer efficiency of basaltic Ca and Sr to seawater in hydrothermal systems, which varies by a factor of ~1.6 over the Phanerozoic, with minima when seawater Mg and SO₄ are low. This effect provides a modest negative feedback on seawater composition and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr changes. For the mid-Cretaceous, the low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of seawater requires either exceptionally large amounts of low-temperature exchange with oceanic crust or that the weathering flux of continentally derived Sr was especially small. Lastly, the model also has implications for MOR hydrothermal systems in the Precambrian, when low-seawater SO₄ could help explain low seawater ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1437974

Journal Information:: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 47 Vol. 114; ISSN 0027-8424

Publisher:: National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Sr isotopes
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midocean ridges
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Effect of paleoseawater composition on hydrothermal exchange in midocean ridges

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