The origin of carbonate veins within the sedimentary cover and igneous rocks of the Cocos Ridge: results from IODP Hole U1414A

Abstract

Carbonate veins in the igneous basement and in the lithified sedimentary cover of the Cocos Ridge at IODP Hole 344‐U1414A reveal the hydrologic system and fluid‐rock interactions. IODP Hole 344‐U1414A was drilled on the northern flank of the Cocos Ridge, and is situated 1 km seaward from the Middle America Trench offshore Costa Rica. Isotopic and elemental compositions were analyzed to constrain the fluid source of the carbonate veins and to reveal the thermal history of Hole 344‐U1414A. The formation temperatures (oxygen isotope thermometer) of the carbonate veins in the lithified sedimentary rocks range from 70 to 92 °C and in the basalt from 32 to 82 °C. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of the veins in the altered Cocos Ridge basalt range between 0.707307 and 0.708729. The higher ratios are similar to seawater strontium ratios in the Neogene. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios lower 0.7084 indicate exchange of Sr with the igneous host rock. The calcite veins hosted by the sedimentary rocks are showing more primitive ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios < 0.706396. The isotopic compositions indicate seawater, modified into a hydrothermal fluid by subsequent heating, as the main fluid source. Low‐temperature alteration and the presence of a high temperature fluid resulted in different carbonate precipitates forming up to several cm thick veins. The geochemical data combined with age data of the sedimentary rocks suggest intraplate seamount volcanism in the area between the Galapagos hotspot and the Cocos Island as an additional heating source, after the formation of the Cocos Ridge at the Galapagos hotspot.

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ORCID for Matthew J. Cooper: orcid.org/0000-0002-2130-2759

ORCID for Damon A.H. Teagle: orcid.org/0000-0002-4416-8409

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