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Intrusion of basaltic sills into highly porous sediments, and resulting hydrothermal activity

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Abstract

Sill intrusions into highly porous sediments in the Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California, lead to low-grade metamorphism, thermal alteration and migration of organic compounds, marked changes in interstitial water chemistry, and large-scale expulsion of heated pore fluids. The latter process creates space for the intruding magma and initiates a hydrothermal system, which can explain the observed hydrothermal deposits around fault scarps on the basin floor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geologisches Institut, 74, Tübingen, FRG

    Gerhardt Einsele

  2. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, 92093

    Joris M. Gieskes, Joseph Curray, David M. Moore, Miriam Kastner, Kerry Kelts & Victor Vacquier

  3. Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo, Mexico, 14, D.F.

    Eduardo Aguayo & Jaime Rueda

  4. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543

    Marie-Pierre Aubry

  5. Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Palisades, New York, 10964

    Daniel Fornari

  6. Universidad Nationál Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, 20, D.F.

    José Guerrero

  7. School of Oceanography, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 97331

    Mitchell Lyle & Hans Schrader

  8. Department of Geology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305

    Yasumochi Matoba

  9. CICESE, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

    Adolfo Molina-Cruz

  10. Department of Geology, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 17013

    Jeffrey Niemitz

  11. Department of Geological Sciences, Bedford College, Regent's Park, London, NW1, UK

    Andrew Saunders

  12. Department of Geology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90024

    Bernd Simoneit

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  1. Gerhardt Einsele
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  2. Joris M. Gieskes
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  3. Joseph Curray
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  4. David M. Moore
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  5. Eduardo Aguayo
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  6. Marie-Pierre Aubry
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  7. Daniel Fornari
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  8. José Guerrero
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  9. Miriam Kastner
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  10. Kerry Kelts
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  11. Mitchell Lyle
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  12. Yasumochi Matoba
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  13. Adolfo Molina-Cruz
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  14. Jeffrey Niemitz
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  15. Jaime Rueda
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  16. Andrew Saunders
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  17. Hans Schrader
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  18. Bernd Simoneit
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  19. Victor Vacquier
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Einsele, G., Gieskes, J., Curray, J. et al. Intrusion of basaltic sills into highly porous sediments, and resulting hydrothermal activity. Nature 283, 441–445 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/283441a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/283441a0

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