Composition and timing of carbonate vein precipitation within the igneous basement of the Early Cretaceous Shatsky Rise, NW Pacific

• Published in: Marine geology 2014-11, Vol.357, p.321-333
• Main Authors: Li, Sanzhong, Geldmacher, Jörg, Hauff, Folkmar, Garbe-Schönberg, Dieter, Yu, Shan, Zhao, Shujuan, Rausch, Svenja
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Basements; Calcite; Calcite vein; Correlation; Expedition 324; Formations; JOIDES Resolution; Marine; ODP; Precipitation; Sea water; Shatsky Rise; Strontium; Strontium isotope ratio; Veins; δ18O
• ISSN: 0025-3227; 1872-6151
• DOI: 10.1016/j.margeo.2014.09.046

Numerous calcium carbonate veins were recovered from the igneous basement of the Early Cretaceous Shatsky Rise during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 324. The chemical (Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca) and isotopic (87Sr/86Sr, 143Nd/144Nd, δ18O, δ13C) compositions of these veins were determined to constrain the timing of vein formation. A dominant control by seawater chemistry on calcite composition is evident for most vein samples with variable contributions from the basaltic basement. Slightly elevated precipitation temperatures (as inferred from oxygen isotope ratios), indicative of hydrothermal vein formation, are only observed at Site U1350 in the central part of Shatsky Rise. The highest 87Sr/86Sr ratios (least basement influence) of vein samples at each drill site range from 0.70726 to 0.70755 and are believed to reflect the contemporaneous seawater composition during the time of calcite precipitation. In principle, age information can be deduced by correlating these ratios with the global seawater Sr isotope evolution. Since the Sr isotopic composition of seawater has fluctuated three times between the early and mid Cretaceous, no unambiguous precipitation ages can be constrained by this method and vein precipitation could have occurred at any time between ~80 and 140Ma. However, based on combined chemical and isotopic data and correlations of vein composition with formation depth and inferred temperature, we argue for a rather early precipitation of the veins shortly after basement formation at each respective drill site. •Composition of carbonate veins in Early Cretaceous igneous basement at Shatsky Rise are used to constrain precipitation age.•The Sr/Ca ratio of the vein calcite is positively correlated with Mg/Ca and both ratios decrease with increasing temperature.•Correlation of decreasing Sr isotope ratios with increasing temperatures at one site indicates a hydrothermal origin.•The combined chemical data suggest a rather early carbonate precipitation, shortly after basement formation.