Peculiarities of Clay Mineral Formation in Pleistocene Sediments Under Specific Tectonomagmatic and Hydrothermal Conditions of the Central Hill (Escanaba Trough, Gorda Ridge, Pacific Ocean): Communication 2. Holes ODP 1038A and 1038H

Abstract

Clay minerals were studied in Pleistocene sediments from Hole 1038А (114.50 m deep) and Hole 1038Н (192.80 m deep) drilled near a hydrothermal vent with a temperature of 217°C on Central Hill, 275 m east of Hole 1038B. In sediments from Hole 1038A, at a depth of 8.52 m, <0.001-mm fraction consists completely of chlorite. In the rest of the sediment section in Hole 1038A, clay minerals consist of chlorite (from ~64 to ~98%) and illite. In sediments from Hole 1038H, clay minerals also consist of chlorite and illite. They were formed under conditions related to the intrusion of a basaltic melt as laccolith into the Escanaba Trough and the heating under its influence of a solution, during the interaction of which with sediments at a high-temperature stage biotite was formed. During the subsequent slow cooling of the laccolith and fluid, the newly formed biotite was replaced completely by chlorite. Illite was precipitated from a hydrothermal solution. At a depth of 183 m, in sediments from Hole 1038H, clay minerals consist of biotite, chlorite, and dioctahedral smectite, just as in sediments from Hole 1038B during their formation under conditions of rapid cooling of the laccolith flank and penetration of sea water into the sediments. The paper shows similarities and dissimilarities in the formation of clay minerals in Pleistocene sediments of the Central Hill, located above the slowly cooling part of the laccolith (Holes 1038A and 1038H) and in sediments located above the rapidly cooling laccolith flank (Hole 1038B).