Li, Sanzhong, Geldmacher, Jörg , Hauff, Folkmar , Garbe-Schönberg, Dieter, Yu, Shan, Zhao, Shujuan and Rausch, Svenja (2014) Composition and timing of carbonate vein precipitation within the igneous basement of the Early Cretaceous Shatsky Rise, NW Pacific. Marine Geology, 357 . pp. 321-333. DOI 10.1016/j.margeo.2014.09.046.

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Abstract

Numerous calcium carbonate veins were recovered from the igneous basement of the Early Cretaceous Shatsky
Rise during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 324. The chemical (Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca) and isotopic
(87Sr/86Sr, 143Nd/144Nd, !18O, !13C) compositions of these veins were determined to constrain the timing of vein
formation. A dominant control by seawater chemistry on calcite composition is evident for most vein samples
with variable contributions fromthe basaltic basement. Slightly elevated precipitation temperatures (as inferred
from oxygen isotope ratios), indicative of hydrothermal vein formation, are only observed at Site U1350 in the
central part of Shatsky Rise. The highest 87Sr/86Sr ratios (least basement influence) of vein samples at each drill
site range from 0.70726 to 0.70755 and are believed to reflect the contemporaneous seawater composition
during the time of calcite precipitation. In principle, age information can be deduced by correlating these ratios
with the global seawater Sr isotope evolution. Since the Sr isotopic composition of seawater has fluctuated
three times between the early and mid Cretaceous, no unambiguous precipitation ages can be constrained by
this method and vein precipitation could have occurred at any time between ~80 and 140 Ma. However, based
on combined chemical and isotopic data and correlations of vein compositionwith formation depth and inferred
temperature, we argue for a rather early precipitation of the veins shortly after basement formation at each
respective drill site.

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