O18 enriched ophiolitic metabasic rocks from E. Liguria (Italy), Pindos (Greece), and Troodos (Cyprus)

Abstract

Low grade hydrothermally metamorphosed ophiolitic basic rocks from E. Liguria (Italy), Pindos (Greece) and Troodos (Cyprus) are enriched in O18 relative to the oxygen isotope ratio of fresh basalt (6.0±0.5‰). The maximum observed δO18 value of +13.22‰ corresponds to a positive isotope shift of 7‰ Enrichments in Sr87 relative to Sr86 correlate with hydrothermal alteration. The δC13 values of secondary calcite from E. Liguria are positive, and fall in the range from +0.2% to +3.6‰ Since ophiolitic rocks are considered to be fragments of the oceanic crust and upper mantle, and since the secondary metamorphic assemblages were produced before mechanical emplacement, it is considered that the hydrothermal metamorphism which affected these rocks occurred in the sub-sea-floor environment. The isotope data are directly consistent with the hypothesis that the alteration was produced by interaction of the basaltic material with introduced sea water. Water: rock ratios were sufficiently large to produce the observed isotope shifts. In the Troodos ophiolite sequence δO18 values decrease steadily downwards and change to progressively larger depletions in the Sheeted Intrusive Complex. The trend of δO18 decrease correlates with the original direction of increasing temperature. The O18 depletions, which have also been observed for oceanic “greenstones” (Muehlenbachs and Clayton, 1972b), resulted from water/rock interaction at temperatures greater than the particular temperature range above which whole rock-water fractionations became less than the isotopic difference between fresh basalt and sea water. Since this isotope geochemistry indicates that the water responsible for hydrothermal metamorphism was of sea water origin, the data support the more general hypothesis that convection of sea water within the upper 4–5 kms of the oceanic crust is a massive and active process at oceanic ridges. This process may be completely or partially responsible for (a.i.), the local scatter and low mean value of the conductive heat flux measured near ridges, (a.ii), the transfer of considerable quantities of heat from spreading oceanic ridges, (b) hydrothermal metamorphism, metasomatism and mineralization of oceanic crust, (c), the production of metal enriched, relatively reduced brines during sea water/basalt interaction, d), the high degree of scatter and low mean value of the compressional wave velocities of oceanic basement layer 2 and (e), the low natural remanent magnetization (NRM) intensity of the lower part of layer 2 and upper part of layer 3 of oceanic crust.