The Iceland Deep Drilling Project: (III) Evidence for amphibolite grade contact metamorphism in an active geothermal system

One of the scientific goals of the Iceland Deep Drilling Project is to reach the depths of transition from greenschist to amphibolite grade metamorphism in an active geothermal system. The deepest borehole to date in the Reykjanes system is RN-17, which was drilled to a depth of 3082 m. This well had been considered as a candidate for deepening by the IDDP until it collapsed during a flow test in November 2005. Temperatures in the lower portion of the borehole were never recorded due to an obstruction at 2100 m depth, but are estimated to be approximately 340°C. Epidote, albite, and actinolite are ubiquitous within pillow basalt, hyaloclastite, and in veins, implying that greenschist grade conditions have been attained throughout much of the well below approximately 1200 m. Intrusive lithologies constitute approximately 50% of the observed cuttings between 2600 and 2700 m. These intrusive rocks have produced small, but recognizable contact metamorphic effects characterized by granoblastic hornfels consisting of amphibolite grade assemblages of quartz + anorthite + diopside + magnetite + titanite. These have, in turn, been locally cut by actinolite veins, presumably reflective of the present-day, thermal state of the hydrothermal system at these depths. Based on their siliceous bulk composition, we believe the hornfels represent the thermally- recrystallized products of earlier-formed, hydrothermal veins consisting of quartz, epidote, and actinolite. The metamorphic plagioclase is distinctly more anorthitic (An90 to An98) than igneous plagioclase in adjacent mafic intrusives (An33 to An80) and also exhibits consistently lower Mg content and higher iron (up to 2.07 wt.% as Fe2O3). Stoichiometry implies that much of the iron in hydrothermal anorthite is Fe3+, which may imply recrystallization from precursor epidote under relatively oxidizing conditions. Diopside compositions (average Wo0.48En0.27Fs0.25) are consistently less calcic than hydrothermal clinopyroxenes found in quartz+epidote+actinolite veins, and are also distinct from igneous clinopyroxene. Their compositions imply that hornfelsic recrystallization may have occurred at temperatures as high as 600-650°C at depths of approximately 2.5 km. If the intrusive activity occurred during the last glaciation, hydrostatic pressures attending amphibolite metamorphism may have been as high as 300 bars. To our knowledge, this is the first time that texturally-equilibrated, amphibolite grade assemblages have been reported from an active geothermal system.