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Occurrence of pumpellyite in hydrothermally altered basalts from the Vema fracture zone (mid-Atlantic ridge)

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Abstract

Metabasalts with abundant pumpellyite have been dredged in the Vema fracture zone, Atlantic ocean, and contain prehnite+pumpellyite±epidote+chlorite+white mica. The prehnite — pumpellyite association in these rocks differs from the prehnite-epidote association for most of the prehnite — pumpellyite facies metabasalts from the ocean crust described previously. The occurrence of pumpellyite is discussed in terms of temperature conditions, \(\mu _{H_2 O} \) and oxygen fugacity and the pumpellyiterich metabasalts are believed to be recrystallized by hydrothermal circulation of seawater at about 250° C under a very low pressure (<1 kb).

The bulk composition of the rocks demonstrates a strong chemical modification during hydrothermal metamorphism, similar to what is observed under greenschist facies conditions, except for potassium which can be uptaken from seawater by the rocks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Pétrographie, Université de Paris VI, T 26, 3ème ét., 4 place Jussieu, 75230, Paris Cedex 05, France

    Catherine Mevel

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  1. Catherine Mevel
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Mevel, C. Occurrence of pumpellyite in hydrothermally altered basalts from the Vema fracture zone (mid-Atlantic ridge). Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 76, 386–393 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00371480

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00371480

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