Silicate diagenesis in deep-sea sediments from the Tonga forearc (SW Pacific): a strontium and Rare Earth Elements signature

Abstract

87Sr/ 86Sr isotopic ratios, strontium and Rare Earth Element concentrations obtained on volcano-sedimentary rocks and separated clay mineral and zeolite fractions reveal a formation by pore water–volcanic rock interaction for most of the hydrous silicate minerals of the Site 841 ODP collected from the Tonga forearc. Unusual strontium concentrations and isotopic ratios recorded in the Miocene tuffs associated with specific REE patterns indicate that the formation of these hydrous silicates does not follow a simple burial diagenesis model, but was related to the cooling of intruding basaltic sills in the Miocene volcano-sedimentary series. Migration of strontium into the pore water in response to the heat flow induced the formation of Sr-bearing zeolites such as clinoptilolite, heulandite and chabazite. No evidence of any influence of a further thermal pulse in the Eocene rhyolitic tuffs could be found. As recorded by the chemistry of their clay mineral fraction, the rhyolitic tuffs developed a polyphasic diagenetic process, which might have been influenced by a possible circulation of a fluid into structurally weak areas. © 2000 Ifremer/CNRS/IRD/Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS Tonga / silicates / strontium / Rare Earth Elements / diagenesis / heat flow