Abstract
Fresh basalt and metabasalt dredged from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge were studied for Na, K, Rb, Sr, and H2O(+) contents, and strontium and hydrogen isotope ratios. Na, K, Rb, and Sr contents of these samples are within the range of those of oceanic tholeiite. H2O(+) content, strontium, and hydrogen isotope ratios vary widely. The variation in water content of metabasalt is apparently related to the chlorite content. The metamorphic temperature was about 550 °C based on the estimated δD value of chlorite. There is positive linear relationship between water content and strontium isotope ratio. Based on this relationship, the variation of strontium isotope ratio of the metabasalt was interpreted as follows: complete exchange occurred between strontium in the chlorite portion of the metabasalt and strontium in sea water (87Sr/86Sr ratio=0.7090), while the original strontium (87Sr/86Sr∼0.7023) was retained in the non-altered portion of the basalts.
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