Salt-formation in rifting and subduction (Wilson cycles): Reply to Alijan Aftabi and Habibeh Atapour on their comments to our two articles

Abstract

Our new hydrothermal salt model provides improved explanations for the seemingly inexplicable occurrences of salt in deep-water rift basins that were never desiccated. This is highly relevant to the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and other large salt accumulations. Aftabi and Atapour have questioned the amount of hydrothermally produced salt and request evidence for hydrothermal brine feeder zones. The short answer to this is that salts have been produced hydrothermally during a period of more than 3 billion years of subduction and rifting. Feeder zones may take different forms. Salt may be part of volcanic activity, be embedded in granites, but also emanate onto the surface or onto the bottom of the sea to form brine lakes. Our detailed replies to the queries recalls concepts already expressed in our two papers, that large salt accumulations are caused by repeated episodes of hydrothermal activity through geological times.