Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 28 March 1980:
Vol. 207. no. 4438, pp. 1433 - 1444
DOI: 10.1126/science.207.4438.1433
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Sulfide Deposits from the East Pacific Rise Near 21°N

R. Hekinian 1, M. Fevrier 2, J. L. Bischoff 3, P. Picot 4, and W. C. Shanks 5

1 Centre Océanologique de Bretagne, Brest Cédex 29273, France
2 Centre Océanologique de Bretagne and Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest Cédex 29200
3 U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025
4 Bureau de Recherche Géologique et Minière, Orleans Cédex 45018
5 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706

Massive sulfide deposits were discovered from the diving saucer Cyana on the accreting plate boundary region of the East Pacific Rise near 21°N. The deposits form conical and tubular structures lying on a basaltic basement. Mineralogical and geochemical analyses showed two main types of intimately associated products: a polymetallic sulfide-rich material composed of pyrite and marcasite in association, zinc-rich phases, and copper-rich compounds, and an iron-rich oxide and hydroxide material (also called gossan) composed largely of goethite and limonite. Silicate phases such as opaline, silica, iron-silicon clay, and trace amounts of mica and zeolite are encountered in both types of material. Possible mechanisms for the formation of the sulfide deposits on the East Pacific Rise are discussed.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Stable Isotopes in Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems: Vent fluids, hydrothermal deposits, hydrothermal alteration, and microbial processes.
W. C. Shanks and W. C. Shanks III (2001)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 43, 469-525
   Full Text »    PDF »
Biogeological Mineralization in Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Deposits.
T. L. Cook and D. S. Stakes (1995)
Science 267, 1975-1979
   Abstract »    PDF »
Detailed geological studies of hydrothermal fields in the North Atlantic.
S. G. Krasnov, G. A. Cherkashev, T. V. Stepanova, B. N. Batuyev, A. G. Krotov, B. V. Malin, M. N. Maslov, V. F. Markov, I. M. Poroshina, M. S. Samovarov, et al. (1995)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 87, 43-64
   Abstract »    PDF »
Fossils of Hydrothermal Vent Worms from Cretaceous Sulfide Ores of the Samail Ophiolite, Oman.
R. M. Haymon, R. M. HAYMON, R. A. KOSKI, and C. SINCLAIR (1984)
Science 223, 1407-1409
   Abstract »    PDF »
Oxygen-isotope and geochemical characterization of hydrothermal alteration in ophiolite complexes and modern oceanic crust.
D. S. Stakes, H. P. Taylor jr, and R. L. Fisher (1984)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 13, 199-214
   Abstract »    PDF »
Seabed Mlinerals and the Law of the Sea.
V. E. McKelvey and V. E. McKelvey (1980)
Science 209, 464-472
   Abstract »    PDF »
Geothermal System at 21{degrees}N, East Pacific Rise: Physical Limits on Geothermal Fluid and Role of Adiabatic Expansion.
J. L. Bischoff and J. L. BISCHOFF (1980)
Science 207, 1465-1469
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)