Geochemistry of Rift Valley Sediments at the Ultra-slow Spreading Mohns-Knipovich Ridge

Submarine volcanic and hydrothermal activity is mainly located in close vicinity of the mid-ocean spreading ridges where limited amounts of sediment is accumulated. The ultra-slow spreading Mohns-Knipovich Ridges in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea (73° N) are however located close to the Norwegian-Greenland continental margins. At the Mohns-Knipovich bend the rift valley has been partially covered by thick layers of glacigenic and post-glacial sediments that represent the distal parts of the Bear Island Fan system, off N-Norway. These sediments represent a unique record of hydrothermal, tectonic and volcanic activity at an ultraslow spreading ridge. A number of 3-4 metres long sediment cores were retrieved from the ocean floor in the area around the recently discovered black smoker vent field Loki’s Castle during the H2Deep cruise of 2008. Optical, radiographic and elemental variations from splitted sediment core sections have been recorded using a non-destructive ITRAX XRF core scanner system while magnetic susceptibility, bulk density and fractional porosity were recorded using a multi sensor core logger (MSCL) from GEOTEK. Additionally the pore water chemistry (ammonium, sulphide, sulphate and major elements) of selected layers in the cores have been analysed. The sediment cores are in general quite stratified with layers of hydrothermal and volcanic origin containing sulphide minerals and basaltic glass indicating several volcanic eruptions at the ridge during the last 10 000 years. Preliminary results show several manganese peaks which may indicate incidents of hydrothermal influence. Also the red-brown colouring of the sediments proposes a hydrothermal and/or volcanic influence and an elevated iron content compared to deep sea sediments. These geochemical studies of the rift valley sediments and sediment pore water from locations close to the Loki’s Castle provide a uniqe insight into the temporal and spatial evolution of the volcanic and hydrothermal activity along this ridge segment.