Geochemistry of pyrite and chalcopyrite from an active black smoker in 49.6°E Southwest Indian Ridge

Abstract

Active hydrothermal chimneys, as the product of submarine hydrothermal activity, can be used to determine the fluid evolution and formation process of potential volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits. A hard-won specimen from an active hydrothermal chimney was collected in the 49.6°E ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) field through a television-guided grab. A geochemical study of prominent sulfide (e.g., pyrite and chalcopyrite) included in this sample was performed using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. The early sulfides produced at low temperature are of disseminated fine-grained anhedral morphology, whereas the late ones with massive, coarse euhedral features precipitated in a high-temperature setting. The systematic variations in the contents of minor and trace elements are apparently related to the crystallization sequence, as well as to texture. Micro-disseminated anhedral sulfides rich in Pb, As, Ni, Ba, Mn, Mo, U, and V were formed during the initial chimney wall growth, whereas those rich in Sn, Se, and Co with massive, coarse euhedral morphology were formed within the late metallogenic stage. The hydrothermal fluid composition has experienced a great change during the chimney growth. Such a conclusion is consistent with that indicated by using principal component analysis, which is a powerful statistical analysis method widely used to project multidimensional datasets (e.g., element contents in different mineral phases) into a few directions. This distribution pattern points to crystallographic controls on minor and trace element uptake during chimney growth, occurring with concomitant variations in the fluid composition evolutionary history. In this pyrite-chalcopyrite-bearing active hydrothermal chimney at the SWIR, the metal concentration and precipitation of sulfides largely occurred at the seafloor as a result of mixing between the upwelling hot hydrothermal fluid and cold seawater. Over the course of mixing, significant variations in metal solubility were caused by changes in temperature, pH, and redox conditions in the parental fluid phase.