Influence of hydrothermal-metasomatic processes on the formation of present-day sulfide ores in carbonate bottom sediments of the mid-Atlantic Ridge (19°–20° N)

Abstract

Based on materials obtained in Cruises 33 and 34 of the R/V Professor Logachev, the paper addresses formation conditions, morphology, structures, mineral composition of the present-day oceanic sulfide ores, and their relationships with the host (biogenic carbonate) bottom sediments in the 19°–20° N MAR (Zenith-Victoria and Petersburg hydrothermal fields) region. The grain size distribution, mineral composition of the carbonate (background) and ore-hosting sediments, as well as physicochemical parameters of their interstitial waters, are examined. The results suggest a significant role of hydrothermal-metasomatic processes in the formation of ores and ore-bearing sediments. A model is proposed for the formation of sulfide mineralization in oceanic sediments at the geochemical barrier in the zone of their interaction with the acid hydrothermal (diffuse-type) ore-bearing solutions delivered from rocks of the ocean floor.