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Influence of the Precipitation Rate on the Isotope (δ18O, δ13C and δ88Sr) Composition of Carbonate Chimneys of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field (30° N, Mid-Atlantic Ridge)

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Abstract

The behavior of four isotope systems (δ18О, δ13С, δ88Sr and 87Sr/86Sr) during submarine precipitation of inorganic carbonates is considered using the Lost City hydrothermal field as an example of “natural laboratory”. During the carbonate precipitation, the isotope composition, T, and pH of hydrothermal solution change due to mixing of the “end member” Lost City fluid with ocean water. The composition of DIC and carbonates (Cc, Arag) equilibrated with mixed hydrothermal solution was calculated in the isotopic coordinates 87Sr/86Sr–103(Sr/Ca), 87Sr/86Sr–δ18О, 87Sr/86Sr–δ13С, and 87Sr/86Sr–δ88Sr. The observed isotope composition of the Lost City field carbonates is compared with the calculated equilibrium lines. The disequilibrium values of δ18О, δ13С, and δ88Sr in the Cс(Arag) are result of rapid precipitation of carbonates from a hydrothermal fluid under T and pH gradient. The δ18О values of most chimney samples vary around the “DIC–water” equilibrium curve with a slight shift to the Сс(Arag)–water equilibrium. The values of δ13С of chimney carbonates fall between the calculated curves of δ13С (DIC) and equilibrium Сс and Arag. The kinetic isotopic shift Δ88Sr established in chimney carbonates is close to available experimental data on the synthesis of calcite and aragonite from aqueous solutions.

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Notes

  1. DIC = [CO2]aq + [H2CO3]0 + [HCO3]– + [CO3]2–).

  2. It is necessary to note that this shift does not exert significant influence on the results of mixing calculations, where 87Sr/86Sr was used as an indicator of LCF and SW mass fractions. The contribution of 88Sr/86Sr in the measurement error of 87Sr/86Sr is insignificant, since the scale of 87Sr/86Sr variations (in rel %) in the studied samples is over an order of magnitude higher than that of 88Sr/86Sr. For instance, at a maximum shift measured in this work (Δ88Sr(сarb-w) = –0.34‰), a possible shift of 87Sr/86Sr ratio caused by mass-dependent fractionation is as low as –0.0001 (according to Eqs. (19–21) from Young et al., 2002).

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to reviewers for critical comments that improved our manuscript.

Funding

This work was performed in the framework of State Task (project no. 0136-2019-0013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology of Оre Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    E. O. Dubinina & N. S. Bortnikov

  2. Institute of Precambrian Geology and Geochronology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St.-Petersburg, Russia

    A. Yu. Kramchaninov

  3. Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    S. A. Silantyev

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  1. E. O. Dubinina
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Dubinina, E.O., Kramchaninov, A.Y., Silantyev, S.A. et al. Influence of the Precipitation Rate on the Isotope (δ18O, δ13C and δ88Sr) Composition of Carbonate Chimneys of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field (30° N, Mid-Atlantic Ridge). Petrology 28, 374–388 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0869591120040037

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