Description: The 3-D subseafloor architecture of submarine hydrothermal systems is largely unknown, particularly at arc volcanoes. The alteration of volcanic rocks in these systems produces dramatic changes in their magnetic prop- erties. Here, we present the first comprehensive study of paleomagnetic measurements from oriented samples of hydrothermally altered dacites from Brothers volcano (Kermadec arc), drilled during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 376. These data have enabled insight into the progressive evolution of magnetic minerals in subseafloor volcanic rocks affected by variable types and degrees of hydrothermal alteration in response to varying fluid temperatures, chemistry, and associated mineralization; from initial chlo- ritization typical of relatively low-temperature interaction with seawater to extremely altered rocks affected by higher-temperature, very acidic magmatic fluids. Hydrothermally altered samples show a significant reduction in natural remanent magnetization intensity (10–4 to 10–2 A/m) compared with unaltered samples (1–10 A/m), suggesting that primary titanomagnetite grains are destroyed during the hydrothermal alteration process. Except for a small region in proximity to the mineral- ized stockwork zone, no chemical remanent magnetization is observed in association with hydrothermal altera- tion, consistent with the widespread formation of diamagnetic and/or paramagnetic minerals such as pyrite, rutile, and leucoxene, which do not carry any natural remanent magnetization. Demagnetization experiments show that most of the oriented samples possess a stable characteristic rema- nent magnetization induced by the residual primary magnetic minerals formed at the time the rocks cooled on the sea floor. Partially chloritized dacites, however, are characterized by large magnetic susceptibilities, low Koenigsberger ratios, and very low magnetic coercivities, consistent with initial dissolution of smaller, single- domain magnetic grains, indicating that intensely hydrothermally altered rocks are better paleomagnetic indica- tors than initially chloritized samples at the periphery of the hydrothermal systems. The significant magnetic contrast between fresh and hydrothermally altered rocks, in addition to a thick layer (〉300 m) of demagnetized rocks observed at Brothers volcano, confirms the empirical results that magnetic anomalies are important geophysical tools to determine the geometry of hydrothermal systems at submarine arc volcanoes.

Description: Published

Description: 1605–1627

Description: OSA1: Variazioni del campo magnetico terrestre, imaging crostale e sicurezza del territorio

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Brothers volcano, which is part of the active Kermadec arc, northeast of New Zealand, forms an elongate edifice 13 km long by 8 km across that strikes northwest-southeast. The volcano has a caldera with a basal diameter of ~3 km and a floor at 1,850 m below sea level, surrounded by 290- to 530-m-high walls. A volcanic cone of dacite rises 350 m from the caldera floor and partially coalesces with the southern caldera wall. Three hydrothermal sites have been located: on the northwest caldera wall, on the southeast caldera wall, and on the dacite cone. Multiple hydrothermal plumes rise ~750 m through the water column upward from the caldera floor, originating from the northwest caldera walls and atop the cone, itself host to three separate vent fields (summit, upper flank, northeast flank). In 1999, the cone site had plumes with relatively high concentrations of gas with a ΔpH of −0.27 relative to seawater (proxy for CO2 + S gases), dissolved H2S up to 4,250 nM, high concentrations of particulate Cu (up to 3.4 nM), total dissolvable Fe (up to 4,720 nM), total dissolvable Mn (up to 260 nM) and Fe/Mn values of 4.4 to 18.2. By 2002, plumes from the summit vent field had much lower particulate Cu (0.3 nM), total dissolvable Fe (175 nM), and Fe/Mn values of 0.8 but similar ΔpH (−0.22) and higher H2S (7,000 nM). The 1999 plume results are consistent with a magmatic fluid component with the concentration of Fe suggesting direct exsolution of a liquid brine, whereas the much lower concentrations of metals but higher overall gas contents in the 2002 plumes likely reflect subsea-floor phase separation. Plumes above the northwest caldera site are chemically distinct, and their compositions have not changed over the same 3-year interval. They have less CO2 (ΔpH of −0.09), no detectable H2S, total dissolved Fe of 955 nM, total dissolved Mn of 150 nM, and Fe/Mn of 6.4. An overall increase in 3He/4He values in the plumes from R/RA = 6.1 in 1999 to 7.2 in 2002 is further consistent with a magmatic pulse perturbing the system. The northwest caldera site is host to at least two large areas (~600 m by at least 50 m) of chimneys and sub-cropping massive sulfide. One deposit is partially buried by sediment near the caldera rim at ~1,450 m, whereas the other crops out along narrow, fault-bounded ledges between ~1,600 and 1,650 m. Camera tows imaged active 1- to 2-m-high black smoker chimneys in the deeper zone together with numerous 1- to 5-m-high inactive spires, abundant sulfide talus, partially buried massive sulfides, and hydrothermally altered volcanic rocks. 210Pb/226Ra dating of one chimney gives an age of 27 ± 6 years; 226Ra/Ba dating of other mineralization indicates ages up to 1,200 years. Formation temperatures derived from Δ34Ssulfate-sulfide mineral pairs are 245° to 295° for the northwest caldera site, 225° to 260°C for the southeast caldera and ~260° to 305°C for the cone. Fluid inclusion gas data suggest subsea-floor phase separation occurred at the northwest caldera site. Alteration minerals identified include silicates, silica polymorphs, sulfates, sulfides, Fe and Mn oxide and/or oxyhydroxides, and native sulfur, which are consistent with precipitation at a range of temperatures from fluids of different compositions. An advanced argillic assemblage of illite + amorphous silica + natroalunite + pyrite + native S at the cone site, the occurrence of chalcocite + covellite + bornite + iss + chalcopyrite + pyrite in sulfide samples from the southeast caldera site, and veins of enargite in a rhyodacitic sample from the northwest caldera site are indicative of high-sulfidation conditions similar to those of subaerial magmatic-hydrothermal systems. The northwest caldera vent site is a long-lived hydrothermal system that is today dominated by evolved sea-water but has had episodic injections of magmatic fluid. The southeast caldera site represents the main upflow of a relatively well established magmatic-hydrothermal system on the sea floor where sulfide-rich chimneys are extant. The cone site is a nascent magmatic-hydrothermal system where crack zones localize upwelling acidic waters. Each of these different vent sites represents diverse parts of an evolving hydrothermal system, any one of which may be typical of submarine volcanic arcs.

Description: Volcanic arcs are the surface expression of magmatic systems that result from subduction of mostly oceanic lithosphere at convergent plate boundaries. Arcs with a submarine component include intraoceanic arcs and island arcs that span almost 22,000 km on Earth’s surface, and the vast majority of them are located in the Pacific region. Hydrothermal systems hosted by submarine arc volcanoes commonly contain a large component of magmatic fluid. This magmatic-hydrothermal signature, coupled with the shallow water depths of arc volcanoes and their high volatile contents, strongly influences the chemistry of the fluids and resulting mineralization and likely has important consequences for the biota associated with these systems. The high metal content and very acidic fluids in these hydrothermal systems are thought to be important analogs to numerous porphyry copper and epithermal gold deposits mined today on land. During International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 376 (5 May–5 July 2018), a series of five sites was drilled on Brothers volcano in the Kermadec arc. The expedition was designed to provide the missing link (i.e., the third dimension) in our understanding of hydrothermal activity and mineral deposit formation at submarine arc volcanoes and the relationship between the discharge of magmatic fluids and the deep biosphere. Brothers volcano hosts two active and distinct hydrothermal systems: one is seawater influenced and the other is affected by magmatic fluids (largely gases). In total, 222.4 m of volcaniclastics and lavas were recovered from the five sites drilled, which include Sites U1527 and U1530 in the Northwest (NW) Caldera seawater-influenced hydrothermal field; Sites U1528 and U1531 in the magmatic fluid-influenced hydrothermal fields of the Upper and Lower Cones, respectively; and Site U1529, located within an area of low crustal magnetization that marks the West (W) Caldera upflow zone on the caldera floor. Downhole logging and borehole fluid sampling were completed at two sites, and two tests of a prototype turbine-driven coring system (designed by the Center for Deep Earth Exploration [CDEX] at Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology [JAMSTEC]) for drilling and coring hard rocks were conducted. Core recovered from all five sites consists of dacitic volcaniclastics and lava flows with only limited chemical variability relative to the overall range in composition of dacites in the Kermadec arc. Pervasive alteration with complex and variable mineral assemblages attest to a highly dynamic hydrothermal system. The upper parts of several drill holes at the NW Caldera hydrothermal field are characterized by secondary mineral assemblages of goethite + opal + zeolites that result from low-temperature (〈150°C) reaction of rock with seawater. At depth, NW Caldera Site U1527 exhibits a higher temperature (~250°C) secondary mineral assemblage dominated by chlorite + quartz + illite + pyrite. An older mineral assemblage dominated by diaspore + quartz + pyrophyllite + rutile at the bottom of Hole U1530A is indicative of acidic fluids with temperatures of ~230°–320°C. In contrast, the alteration assemblage at Site U1528 on the Upper Cone is dominated by illite + natroalunite + pyrophyllite + quartz + opal + pyrite, which attests to high-temperature reaction of rocks with acid-sulfate fluids derived from degassed magmatic volatiles and the disproportionation of magmatic SO2. These intensely altered rocks exhibit extreme depletion of major cation oxides, such as MgO, K2O, CaO, MnO, and Na2O. Furthermore, very acidic (as low as pH 1.8), relatively hot (≤236°C) fluids collected at 160, 279, and 313 meters below seafloor in Hole U1528D have chemical compositions indicative of magmatic gas input. In addition, preliminary fluid inclusion data provide evidence for involvement of two distinct fluids: phase-separated (modified) seawater and a ~360°C hypersaline brine, which alters the volcanic rock and potentially transports metals in the system. The material and data recovered during Expedition 376 provide new stratigraphic, lithologic, and geochemical constraints on the development and evolution of Brothers volcano and its hydrothermal systems. Insights into the consequences of the different types of fluid–rock reactions for the microbiological ecosystem elucidated by drilling at Brothers volcano await shore-based studies.

Description: Volcanic arcs are the surface expression of magmatic systems that result from subduction of mostly oceanic lithosphere at convergent plate boundaries. Arcs with a submarine component include intraoceanic arcs and island arcs that span almost 22,000 km on Earth’s surface, and the vast majority of them are located in the Pacific region. Hydrothermal systems hosted by submarine arc volcanoes commonly contain a large component of magmatic fluid. This magmatic-hydrothermal signature, coupled with the shallow water depths of arc volcanoes and their high volatile contents, strongly influences the chemistry of the fluids and resulting mineralization and likely has important consequences for the biota associated with these systems. The high metal content and very acidic fluids in these hydrothermal systems are thought to be important analogs to numerous porphyry copper and epithermal gold deposits mined today on land. During International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 376 (5 May–5 July 2018), a series of five sites was drilled on Brothers volcano in the Kermadec arc. The expedition was designed to provide the missing link (i.e., the third dimension) in our understanding of hydrothermal activity and mineral deposit formation at submarine arc volcanoes and the relationship between the discharge of magmatic fluids and the deep biosphere. Brothers volcano hosts two active and distinct hydrothermal systems: one is seawater influenced and the other is affected by magmatic fluids (largely gases). In total, 222.4 m of volcaniclastics and lavas were recovered from the five sites drilled, which include Sites U1527 and U1530 in the Northwest (NW) Caldera seawater-influenced hydrothermal field; Sites U1528 and U1531 in the magmatic fluid-influenced hydrothermal fields of the Upper and Lower Cones, respectively; and Site U1529, located within an area of low crustal magnetization that marks the West (W) Caldera upflow zone on the caldera floor. Downhole logging and borehole fluid sampling were completed at two sites, and two tests of a prototype turbine-driven coring system (designed by the Center for Deep Earth Exploration [CDEX] at Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology [JAMSTEC]) for drilling and coring hard rocks were conducted. Core recovered from all five sites consists of dacitic volcaniclastics and lava flows with only limited chemical variability relative to the overall range in composition of dacites in the Kermadec arc. Pervasive alteration with complex and variable mineral assemblages attest to a highly dynamic hydrothermal system. The upper parts of several drill holes at the NW Caldera hydrothermal field are characterized by secondary mineral assemblages of goethite + opal + zeolites that result from low-temperature (〈150°C) reaction of rock with seawater. At depth, NW Caldera Site U1527 exhibits a higher temperature (~250°C) secondary mineral assemblage dominated by chlorite + quartz + illite + pyrite. An older mineral assemblage dominated by diaspore + quartz + pyrophyllite + rutile at the bottom of Hole U1530A is indicative of acidic fluids with temperatures of ~230°–320°C. In contrast, the alteration assemblage at Site U1528 on the Upper Cone is dominated by illite + natroalunite + pyrophyllite + quartz + opal + pyrite, which attests to high-temperature reaction of rocks with acid-sulfate fluids derived from degassed magmatic volatiles and the disproportionation of magmatic SO2. These intensely altered rocks exhibit extreme depletion of major cation oxides, such as MgO, K2O, CaO, MnO, and Na2O. Furthermore, very acidic (as low as pH 1.8), relatively hot (≤236°C) fluids collected at 160, 279, and 313 meters below seafloor in Hole U1528D have chemical compositions indicative of magmatic gas input. In addition, preliminary fluid inclusion data provide evidence for involvement of two distinct fluids: phase-separated (modified) seawater and a ~360°C hypersaline brine, which alters the volcanic rock and potentially transports metals in the system. The material and data recovered during Expedition 376 provide new stratigraphic, lithologic, and geochemical constraints on the development and evolution of Brothers volcano and its hydrothermal systems. Insights into the consequences of the different types of fluid–rock reactions for the microbiological ecosystem elucidated by drilling at Brothers volcano await shore-based studies.