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Ophiolite Genesis and Evolution of the Oceanic Lithosphere pp 399–425Cite as

Hydrothermal Metamorphism in Oceanic Crust from the Coast Range Ophiolite of California: Fluid-Rock Interaction in a Rifted Island Arc

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Part of the book series: Petrology and Structural Geology ((PESG,volume 5))

Abstract

Metamorphic-mineral parageneses and stable-isotope systematics in remnants of the southern portion of the California Coast Range ophiolite differ from those described in modern oceanic crust and many other ophiolites. Detailed studies of the Del Puerto and Point Sal ophiolite remnants reveal a style of submarine hydrothermal metamorphism characterized by (1) development within the extrusive section of a continuous low-P/T metamorphic facies series that includes zeolite-, prehnite-pumpellyite-, and greenschist-facies mineral assemblages; (2) pervasive alteration of the extrusive rocks; (3) absence of massive sulfide deposits; (4) large 18O enrichments in metavolcanic rocks (up to 20% [SMOW] in the Del Puerto remnant); and (5) absence of corresponding 18O depletions in associated plutonic rocks.

D/H whole-rock and mineral-separate data from the Del Puerto ophiolite remnant confirm that metamorphism occurred in the presence of a seawater-derived hydrothermal fluid. Oxygen-isotope analyses of primary minerals in Del Puerto remnant plutonic rocks indicate limited open-system behavior characterized by 18O-enrichment, relative to primary magmatic values, in plagioclase. In the Coast Range ophiolite remnants, fluid inflow through a large volume of unidentified or missing rocks (possibly sedimentary cover, including tuffaceous cherts), must have enriched seawater in 18O. Because the Coast Range ophiolite remnants did not form in a strongly extensional tectonic environment, major listric normal fault systems did not develop, and thus seawater penetration into the lower crust must have been limited. Consequently, isotopically shifted seawater produced strong 18O enrichments in volcanic roof rocks during upflow, but did not significantly interact with the underlying plutonites.

The absence of massive sulfide deposits as well as the pervasive style of hydrothermal metamorphism and isotopic exchange in Coast Range ophiolite extrusive rocks implies that fluid flow was not strongly fracture controlled. The continuity of metamorphic zones within the extrusive section is more closely analogous to that characteristic of continental geothermal systems or contact metamorphic aureoles as opposed to hydrothermal metamorphism in open ocean spreading centers. Exposure of sediment-capped, volcanic roof rocks to cooling plutons for relatively long periods of time allowed for more complete recrystallization and isotopic exchange, and development of zeolite-and prehnite-pumpellyite-facies assemblages, features that are typically absent from modern ocean crust.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Geology, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA

    Peter Schiffman

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California, 94025, USA

    Russell C. Evarts & William J. Pickthorn

  3. Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California, 92521, USA

    Alan E. Williams

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  2. Russell C. Evarts
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Tj. Peters A. Nicolas R. G. Coleman

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Schiffman, P., Evarts, R.C., Williams, A.E., Pickthorn, W.J. (1991). Hydrothermal Metamorphism in Oceanic Crust from the Coast Range Ophiolite of California: Fluid-Rock Interaction in a Rifted Island Arc. In: Peters, T., Nicolas, A., Coleman, R.G. (eds) Ophiolite Genesis and Evolution of the Oceanic Lithosphere. Petrology and Structural Geology, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3358-6_20

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