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Disseminated sulphides in basalts from the northern Central Indian Ridge: implications on late-stage hydrothermal activity

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Abstract

This study examined the mineralogy and mineral chemistry of disseminated sulphides (mainly chalcopyrite-pyrite) in partly altered basalts from the northern Central Indian Ridge, Indian Ocean in order to understand the role of hydrothermal alterations and infer possible sulphide formation history. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are dominant sulphide minerals and generally associated with the oxide phases including magnetite and often ilmenite. Close association of sulphide and oxide minerals suggests that they are paragenetically related. Sulphides also occur as late impregnated veins cutting through the basaltic hosts. The chemical compositions of pyrite (avg. Fe 46.3 wt%, S 53.7 wt%) and chalcopyrite (avg. Cu 34.4 wt%, Fe 30.7 wt%, S 34.7 wt%) are almost uniform, while the secondary ilmenite often shows MnO enrichment (up to 3.0–3.4 wt%). The associated altered minerals typically resemble the greenschist facies mineral assemblages—e.g. chlorite±epidote. Evidence of albitisation and silicification suggests low-temperature hydrothermal alteration processes. This is supported by the bulk Au content (up to 60 ppb) of host-altered basalts with pyrite mineralisation. Au is usually associated with late-stage pyrites and thus related with low-temperature hydrothermal activity. Close to the dredge location, tectonic activity around the Vityaz megamullion might have promoted hydrothermal circulation and subsequent alteration of the mineral constituents in basalts, eventually inducing the formation of late-stage disseminated sulphide minerals in these rocks.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Director, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, India for permission to publish this work. Ship time was provided by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES, New Delhi). This research was partly funded by ONR grant no. 0014-97-1-0925 and the CSIR Network Programme (COR0006). D.R. is grateful to the CSIR, New Delhi for financial support in the form of a Senior Research Fellowship. R.B. is thankful to INSA, New Delhi and JSPS, Tokyo for a fellowship to visit ORI, Tokyo for analytical work. We appreciate the help and support of the captain, crew members and all other colleagues during sampling operations onboard the ORV Sagar Kanya, cruise SK195. J.R. Hein is especially thanked for his aid in analyses of noble metals including Au at the USGS, Menlo Park, California. Valuable comments from S. Misra, two anonymous reviewers and the editors are gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Geological Oceanography Division, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, 403004, India

    Ranadip Banerjee

  2. PLANEX, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, 380009, India

    Dwijesh Ray

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  1. Ranadip Banerjee
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Banerjee, R., Ray, D. Disseminated sulphides in basalts from the northern Central Indian Ridge: implications on late-stage hydrothermal activity. Geo-Mar Lett 35, 91–103 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-014-0396-9

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