Hydrothermal Alteration in Submarine Basaltic Rocks from the Reykjanes Geothermal Field, Iceland. (Invited)

The Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) is preparing to drill to 4-5 km in the Reykjanes Geothermal Field to sample geothermal fluids at supercritical temperature and pressure for power generation. The Reykjanes geothermal field is the on-land extension of the Reykjanes Ridge spreading center. The upper 1-2 kilometers drilled at Reykjanes are submarine basalts and basaltic sediments, hyalloclastites, and breccias, with an increasing proportion of basaltic intrusive rocks below 2 km depth. Geothermal fluids are evolved seawater with a composition similar to mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems. Zn- and Cu-rich sulfide scale, locally enriched in Au and Ag, are deposited in production pipes. The sulfide deposits are compositionally and isotopically similar to seafloor massive sulfides. In anticipation of deeper drilling, we have investigated the mineralogy and geochemistry of drill cuttings from a 3 km deep well (RN-17). The depth zoning of alteration minerals is similar to that described from other Icelandic geothermal fields, and is comparable to observed seafloor metamorphic gradients in ODP drill holes and ophiolites. Chlorite-epidote alteration occurs at depths >400 m and passes downhole through epidote-actinolite alteration and into amphibole facies (hornblende-calcic plagioclase) alteration below 2.5 km. Local zones of high temperature (>800°C), granoblastic-textured, pyroxene hornfels, are interpreted to form by contact metamorphism during dike/sill emplacement. Similar granoblasically altered basalts were recovered from the base of the sheeted dikes in IODP Hole 1256D. Downhole compositional variations of drill cuttings, collected every 50 m, suggest that rocks below ~ 2 km are little altered. Whole-rock oxygen isotope profiles are consistent with low water/rock ratios, but suggest that early stages of hydrothermal alteration included meteoric water-derived fluids. Strontium isotope profiles indicate more extensive exchange with seawater-derived fluids. Drill core collected (100% recovery) at an in situ temperature of 320°C from an inclined off-set hole drilled from RN-17 provides a sharp contrast to the drill cuttings. Original rock textures, including fine-scale banding and quenched crystals in hyalloclastite, are very well preserved, but the core is pervasively altered to amphibole-calcic plagioclase. Fluid inclusions in epidote veins record episodes of seawater boiling, and zonation of strontium isotopes across the veins indicates changing seawater-rock ratios, both of which may relate to dike emplacement. The compositional variation observed in 9 m of drill core far exceeds the compositional variation the lowermost km of drill cuttings. Different areas of the core show addition and depletion of silica, alkalies, and magnesium. The cuttings are highly biased due to selective recovery of relatively fresh igneous plagioclase and pyroxene crystals from intrusive bodies, and resistant alteration minerals such as vein quartz and epidote are more abundant in the cuttings relative to the core. Selective recovery of less altered rock during ocean drilling operations is a known problem, but the recovered core may be less representative of the degree of alteration than is generally appreciated.