Radial growth rates and 210Pb ages of hydrothermal massive sulfides from the Juan de Fuca Ridge

Abstract

Activities of 238U, 228Ra, 226Ra and 210Pb were determined in submarine hydrothermal massive sulfides by nondestructive, gamma-ray spectrometry. The samples were collected by the manned submersible DSRV “Alvin” from active hydrothermal fields on the Endeavour Segment and Axial Seamount of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. 210Pb activities are mostly below the equilibrium level with 226Ra, which is linearly correlated with the concentration of Ba, Sr and Ca in the deposits. The ratios of 226Ra to the alkaline earth elements indicate that hydrothermal alteration of the underlying oceanic crust is the dominant source of Ra in the sulfide deposits. The 210Pb/Pb ratios measured in many of the sulfides are higher than the ratio obtained for a basalt source of 210Pb, probably because of 210Pb ingrowth from 226Ra within the sulfide deposits. An isochron approach employing ratios of 210Pb/Pb and 226Ra/Pb yielded an initial 210Pb/Pb ratio in the range of 0–0.57 dpm/μg Pb, implying that the crustal residence time of the hydrothermal fluid in the Endeavour Segment is very short ( < 10 years) and that basalt alteration is the only source of the 210Pb and Pb. For the hydrothermal fluid in Axial Seamount, a residence time of 10–20 years is estimated on the basis of the initial 210Pb/Pb and 228Ra/ 226Ra ratios of a sulfide chimney. Both residence time estimates are consistent with the results of previous studies. We have estimated the upper limits of sample ages ranging from tens to a hundred years for 12 samples, with the remaining seven samples indicating ages close to or older than 150 years, the practical limit of the 210Pb/Pb dating technique. A concentrically sectioned sulfide chimney from Axial Seamount yielded mean radial growth rates ranging from a few tenths to a few mm/year based on gradients of 210Pb/Pb and 228Ra/ 226Ra activity ratios, whereas a similarly sectioned chimney from the Endeavour Segment, although collected from the top of an active “black smoker” vent, displayed no 210Pb or 228Ra activity. Our results have implications for the duration and periodicity of hydrothermal circulation and associated mineral deposition at mid-ocean ridges.