Magmatic evolution of the Kolumbo submarine volcano and its implication to seafloor massive sulfide formation
Simon HectorClifford PattenAratz BeranoaguirrePierre LanariStephanos P. KiliasParaskevi NomikouAlexandre PeillodElisabeth EicheJochen Kolb
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Abstract Seafloor massive sulfides form in various marine hydrothermal settings, particularly within volcanic arcs, where magmatic fluids may contribute to the metal budget of the hydrothermal system. In this study, we focus on the Kolumbo volcano, a submarine volcanic edifice in the central Hellenic Volcanic Arc hosting an active hydrothermal system. Diffuse sulfate-sulfide chimneys form a Zn-Pb massive sulfide mineralization with elevated As, Ag, Au, Hg, Sb, and Tl contents. These elements have similar behavior during magmatic degassing and are common in arc-related hydrothermal systems. Trace-element data of igneous magnetite, combined with whole rock geochemistry and numerical modelling, highlights the behavior of chalcophile and siderophile elements during magmatic differentiation. We report that, despite early magmatic sulfide saturation, chalcophile element contents in the magma do not decrease until water saturation and degassing has occurred. The conservation of chalcophile elements in the magma during magmatic differentiation suggests that most of the magmatic sulfides do not fractionate. By contrast, upon degassing, As, Ag, Au, Cu, Hg, Sb, Sn, Pb, and Zn become depleted in the magma, likely partitioning into the volatile phase, either from the melt or during sulfide oxidation by volatiles. After degassing, the residual chalcophile elements in the melt are incorporated into magnetite. Trace-element data of magnetite enables identifying sulfide saturation during magmatic differentiation and discrimination between pre- and post-degassing magnetite. Our study highlights how magmatic degassing contributes to the metal budget in magmatic-hydrothermal systems that form seafloor massive sulfides and shows that igneous magnetite geochemistry is a powerful tool for tracking metal-mobilizing processes during magmatic differentiation.Keywords:
Seafloor Spreading
Submarine volcano
Mineral resource classification
On 8 October 2023 UTC, significant tsunamis were observed around Japan without any major tsunamigenic earthquake, associated with a series of 14 successive minor earthquakes (mb = 4.5–5.4) near Sofugan in the Izu-Bonin islands. To examine the cause of this tsunami, we estimated the horizontal locations of the tsunami source and temporal history of the seafloor displacement, using the tsunami data recorded by the ocean-bottom pressure gauges > ~600 km away. Our results showed the main tsunami source was an uplift located at a caldera-like bathymetric feature near Sofugan, suggesting the involvement of caldera activity in the tsunami generation. The total seafloor uplift was larger than ~3 m, and the uplift amount of each event gradually increased over time, reflecting an accelerating occurrence of multiple sudden caldera uplifts within only a few hours.
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On 27 February 2005, one of the largest submarine earthquake sequences ever recorded in 12 years of real‐time seismoacoustic monitoring of the northeastern Pacific Ocean occurred at the Juan de Fuca Ridge (JFR) Endeavour segment (Figure 1). On the basis of available information, an oceanographic expedition was quickly organized to investigate the site for magmatic activity and hydrothermal discharge. The research vessel T.G. Thompson arrived on site and began water column and seafloor surveys just seven days after the onset of earthquake activity, the most rapid response cruise to the JFR yet organized. However, no evidence of plume generation or a seafloor eruption was found.
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Abstract The 2015 eruption at Axial Seamount, an active volcano at a depth of 1500 m in the Northeast Pacific, marked the first time a seafloor eruption was detected and monitored by an in situ cabled observatory—the Cabled Array, which is part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative. After the onset of the eruption, eight cabled and noncabled instruments on the seafloor recorded unusual, nearly synchronous and spatially uniform temperature increases of 0.6–0.7°C across the southern half of the caldera and neighboring areas. These temperature signals were substantially different from those observed after the 2011 and 1998 eruptions at Axial and hence cannot be explained by emplacement of the 2015 lava flows on the seafloor. In this study, we investigate several possible explanations for the 2015 temperature anomalies and use a numerical model to test our preferred hypothesis that the temperature increases were caused by the release of a warm, dense brine that had previously been stored in the crust. If our interpretation is correct, this is the first time that the release of a hydrothermal brine has been observed due to a submarine eruption. This observation would have important implications for the salt balance of hydrothermal systems and the fate of brines stored in the subsurface. The observation of the 2015 temperature anomalies and the modeling presented in this study also demonstrate the importance of contemporaneous water column observations to better understand hydrothermal impacts of submarine eruptions.
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Derived digital elevation models (DEMs) are high-resolution acoustic technology that has proven to be a crucial morphometric data source for research into submarine environments. We present a morphometric analysis of forty deep seafloor edifices located to the west of Canary Islands, using a 150 m resolution bathymetric DEM. These seafloor structures are characterized as hydrothermal domes and volcanic edifices, based on a previous study, and they are also morphostructurally categorized into five types of edifice following an earlier classification. Edifice outline contours were manually delineated and the morphometric variables quantifying slope, size and shape of the edifices were then calculated using ArcGIS Analyst tools. In addition, we performed a principal component analysis (PCA) where ten morphometric variables explain 84% of the total variance in edifice morphology. Most variables show a large spread and some overlap, with clear separations between the types of mounds. Based on these analyses, a morphometric growth model is proposed for both the hydrothermal domes and volcanic edifices. The model takes into account both the size and shape complexity of these seafloor structures. Grow occurs via two distinct pathways: the volcanoes predominantly grow upwards, becoming large cones, while the domes preferentially increase in volume through enlargement of the basal area.
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Abstract Seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposits form on and just below the seafloor along submarine tectonic plate boundaries. The deposits form from seawater that circulates through the underlying crust, is heated, leaches metals and sulfur from the surrounding rock, and then ascends and vents at the seafloor, forming sulfide mineral accumulations rich in Cu, Zn, Pb, Au, and Ag. Hydrothermal circulation through the crust is driven by shallow magmatic heat sources along the plate boundaries. Although high temperature “black smoker” chimneys and the unique ecosystems that they support are the most recognizable features of these vent sites, the mineral deposits can take on a variety of forms, from individual chimneys of less than a meter tall to large mounds with diameters of several hundred meters. The description of the deposits as “massive” refers to the high proportion (typically over 60%) of sulfide minerals that make up the deposits. Other minerals that commonly occur in SMS deposits are sulfates (barite and anhydrite), amorphous silica, and clay minerals. At the time of writing, more than 500 sites of high temperature seafloor hydrothermal systems and related mineral deposits have been found of the seafloor.
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The Bayonnaise knoll, an active submarine volcano belonging to an actively rifted part of the Izu-Bonin volcanic arc, exhibits hydrothermal ore deposits on its caldera floor in a region known as the Hakurei Sulfide Deposit (HSD) area. We observed the HSD area using high-resolution acoustic observation equipment consisting of multibeam echo sounder (MBES), sidescan sonar (SSS), and sub-bottom profiler (SBP) systems, on the AUV Urashima. We used visual and acoustic results to examine the consistency of the HSD area extent and to consider possibilities of other ore areas within the caldera. The resultant high-resolution acoustic imageries suggest expansion of the HSD area to the northeastern caldera wall and the southwestern sub-seafloor of the caldera floor. The SBP data show a thick sediment layer on the western part of the caldera floor where many high-backscattering signals were observed. Small chimney-like features were acoustically observed in the HSD area and also at the central cone and along the rim of the caldera. However, most are remnant features of ancient volcanic activity of the knoll, and thus may not indicate current hydrothermal deposits. Acoustic investigations such as this, along with appropriate interpretation, are very useful to determine the detailed distribution of ore on the seafloor and at the shallow subsurface, and should be an effective tool for regional site surveying before seabed mineral mining.
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The study conducted during this work, is focused in the interpretation of morphological features on the seafloor in the Stromboli Island (Tyrrhenian Sea).Stromboli is the northwest island of the Aeolian archipelago and comprises an area of 12.6 km 2 . It emerges 924 meters above the sea level and extends up to 3000 meters (m) under sea level. Submarine portions of Stromboli volcano account for about 98% of the whole extent of the volcanic edifice. The bathymetric map was made from processing data acquired during the experiment Tomo-Etna 2014. The preliminary seafloor interpretation; give us a notable morphological division by sectors, which are dominated by different morphological features patterns. The northeast and southwest flanks are mainly characterized by narrow platform in the first 120 m depth. The northwest and southwest upper slope are dominated by morphologies related with slope instability processes, related with submarine landslides events. Particularly the NW flank is affected by the continuation of the note Sciara del Fuoco (SdF). On the seafloor in the SW flank, were detected the presence of small craters, which present a NE-SW trend almost parallel to the main trend of the volcano. We supposed that these morphologies are hydrothermal vent or smokers. In the upper slope of NE sector is remarkable the presence of a well-developed network of gullies, give place a really younger turbidity system.
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