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Hydrothermal Fossilization of Microorganisms at the Earth's Surface in Iceland

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Abstract

The fossilization of biota and formation of low- and high-temperature hydrothermally altered rocks were studied in solfataric fields, artificial hot lakes, at natural hot springs, and on heated beach within the present-day rift zone at the Reykjanes, Nesjavellir, Geysir, Landmannalaugar, Namafjall, and Oxarfjodur geothermal areas. The hydrothermally altered rocks can be divided into the following mineral types: (1) smectite assemblage with iron oxides and hydroxides; (2) smectite assemblage with sulfides (pyrite); (3) kaolinite-metahalloysite assemblage with sulfates, anatase, and boehmite; and (4) siliceous assemblage. The detailed study of the hydrothermally altered rocks allowed us to elucidate some environmental features of modern fossilization and replacement of organic matter with clay minerals, iron oxyhydroxides, and silica. The fossilized microstructures have been described in rocks of the smectite and siliceous assemblages. It has been shown that the pseudobiomorphic (actually, abiogenic) micro- and nannostructures are formed in the moving water of silica deposition zone.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Institute (GIN), Russian Academy of Sciences, Pyzhevskii per. 7, Moscow, 119017, Russia

    A. R. Geptner, T. A. Ivanovskaya & E. V. Pokrovskaya

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  1. A. R. Geptner
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  2. T. A. Ivanovskaya
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  3. E. V. Pokrovskaya
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__________

Translated from Litologiya i Poleznye Iskopaemye, No. 6, 2005, pp. 581–599.

Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Geptner, Ivanovskaya, Pokrovskaya.

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Geptner, A.R., Ivanovskaya, T.A. & Pokrovskaya, E.V. Hydrothermal Fossilization of Microorganisms at the Earth's Surface in Iceland. Lithol Miner Resour 40, 505–520 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10987-005-0048-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10987-005-0048-2

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