Thermal effects of marine sedimentation in hydrothermally active areas

Abstract

SUMMARY a hydrothermally active ocean basin, vigorous hydrothermal circulation in highly permeable basement rocks maintains a nearly constant temperature at the base of the overlying accumulating sediment section. To investigate the thermal effects of sedimentation in such geological settings, we have developed a simple onedimensional finite element model and applied it to cases in the northeast Pacific. The model accounts for differential motion of fluids and sediment grains during compaction, and can be used with any porosity-depth function. Results demonstrate clearly that the constant basal temperature of an accumulating sediment section, maintained by convective heat transfer in the basement, causes the section to remain thermally near steady state for even very high rates of accumulation, particularly when compared to conditions 'estimated for a section where heat is transported in the basement by conduction. A 10-kyr period of thermal recovery due to the highly diminished sediment supply during the post-Pleistocene further reduces the thermal effects of sedimentation by a significant amount. Only in rare cases where rates of accumulation exceed 10 mm yr-l and sediment thicknesses exceed 1 km are the sea-floor heat flow and temperatures at depth diminished significantly. An example is found in Middle Valley of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, in a part of which over 2 km of sediment has accumulated in the past 200 kyr. Even in this extreme case, the heat flow is estimated to be lower than that of the steady state by about only 15 per cent. While rates of accumulation are also high in other parts of Middle Valley and in many other hydrothermally active areas, such as Guayamas Basin, Escanaba Trough and the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, these rates and the accumulated sediment thicknesses are found to be insufficient to cause appreciable thermal anomalies.