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Isotopic Constraints on the Origin of Sulfur in Oceanic Igneous Rocks

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Syngenesis and Epigenesis in the Formation of Mineral Deposits

Abstract

Oceanic and submarine basalts contain variable amounts of oxidized and reduced sulfur (∿20 to 1350 ppm) as both syngenetic and epigenetic components. Syngenetic sulfur is predominantly in reduced form, consists of microcrystalline anhedra and globules of Cu-Fe-Ni sulfides, and has δ 3 4S values of about 0 ± 3%o that are typical of primary magmatic sulfur. Deviations from this value are not uncommon, and they are caused by variable contamination with epigenetic sulfur. Isotopically heavy sulfate sulfur (∿20%o), presumably derived from seawater, characterizes serpentinized ultramafics and some altered basalts. Epigenetic sulfides, as pyrite and minor marcasite, are common but rarely abundant, and they exhibit compositions that range mostly from −24 to 2%o. Isotopic variability and 3 4S depletion are typical, and these are attributed to fractionation imposed by exchange reactions in aqueous systems having limited amounts of sulfide sulfur and undergoing progressive oxidation. Chemical and mineralogical evidence suggest that the epigenetic sulfides formed by hydrothermal leaching and redeposition of syngenetic magmatic sulfur (∿0%o) in the basalts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    C. W. Field

  2. Institute for Thermal Spring Research, Okayama University, Misasa, Tottori-Ken, Japan

    H. Sakai & A. Ueda

Authors
  1. C. W. Field
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  2. H. Sakai
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  3. A. Ueda
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mineralogisch-Petrographisches Institut, Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 236, 6900, Heidelberg, Germany

    Arndt Wauschkuhn , Cornelia Kluth  & Richard A. Zimmermann ,  & 

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© 1984 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Field, C.W., Sakai, H., Ueda, A. (1984). Isotopic Constraints on the Origin of Sulfur in Oceanic Igneous Rocks. In: Wauschkuhn, A., Kluth, C., Zimmermann, R.A. (eds) Syngenesis and Epigenesis in the Formation of Mineral Deposits . Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70074-3_50

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70074-3_50

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-70076-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-70074-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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