Seafloor authigenic carbonate crusts along the submerged part of the North Anatolian Fault in the Sea of Marmara: Mineralogy, geochemistry, textures and genesis

Abstract

Extensive seafloor authigenic carbonate crusts occur as pavements, mounds and chimneys along the North Anatolian Fault System (NAFS) in the Sea of Marmara. They are often covered or surrounded by patches of black Fe-sulphide-rich sediments, and associated with hydrocarbon-rich gas and brackish-water emissions in the 1250m-deep deep basins and with deep saline formation waters and hydrocarbons emissions from mud volcanoes and anticlines on the 350–650m-deep compressional highs.The authigenic carbonate crusts are commonly porous with sinter-like, botryoidal and sugary- granular textures, and constructed from cementation of framework elements consisting mainly of bivalve shells and shell fragments, serpulid tubes, fibrous microbial organic matter and rarely pebbles. The authigenic cements consist mainly of aragonite in most sites, but high Mg-calcite occurs as a major carbonate cement at some basinal sites, where the brackish former Marmara “Lake” waters emerge. The buoyant emission of brackish waters in the deep Marmara basins and deeply sourced fluids from the Tertiary Thrace basin at the compressional highs are supported by relatively low δ18O values (+0.5‰ to +3.8‰ V-PDB, average = +2.1‰V-PDB, n = 24) of carbonates in the former and high values (+2.6‰ to +3.4‰ V-PDB, average = +3.0‰, n = 9) in the latter areas.Low δ13C values (−47.6‰ to −13.7‰ V-PDB, average: −34.9‰ V-PDB, n = 33) and close association with black reduced sediments indicate that the seafloor authigenic carbonates are formed by the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) at or near the seafloor, as result of high methane flux, possibly during periods of high seismic activity. Authigenic carbonates from the Western and Central highs are relatively less depleted in 13C than those of the deep basin sites, suggesting both microbial and thermogenic methane source for the deep basins carbonates and mainly thermogenic hydrocarbon, with some contribution from the biodegradation of heavy hydrocarbons and gas hydrate dissociation, for carbonates from the compressional highs. U-Th ages of the authigenic carbonates range from less than 1 ka BP to 9.6 ka BP. The age distribution, together with the geochemical and mineralogical data, suggests that different processes such as seismo-tectonics and gas hydrates destabilization might have played important role in the authigenic carbonate formation in the Sea of Marmara over the last 10 ka.