Description and interpretation of the composition of fluid and alteration mineralogy in the geothermal system,at Svartsengi,Iceland |
| |
Authors: | Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir John V Walther Stefán Arnórsson |
| |
Affiliation: | Department of Geological Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60201 USA;Science Institute, University of Iceland, Reykjavík 107, IcelandUSA |
| |
Abstract: | The bulk composition and mineralogy of hydrothermally altered tholeiite, along with the composition and speciation of fluid, have been determined for a well-defined alteration zone at 240°C and 110 bars at Svartsengi, Iceland. Mass balances between the geothermal fluid and altered tholeiite, relative to a seawater/fresh water mixture and unaltered tholeiite, indicate the overall reaction per 1000 cm3 is: 1325 gm plagioclase + 1228 gm pyroxene + 215 gm oxide-minerals break down to form 685 gm chlorite + 636 gm albite + 441 gm quartz + 249 gm epidote + 266 gm calcite + 201 gm oxide-minerals + 15 gm pyrite, requiring an influx of 123 gm CO2, 10 gm H2S and 4 gm Na2O and a release of 57 gm SiO2, 35 gm FeO, 21 gm CaO, 8 gm MgO and 4 gm K2O.Principal reactions, deduced from textural evidence, include Na-Ca exchange in plagioclase, precipitation of quartz, calcite and anhydrite, and formation of chlorite and epidote by reactions between groundmass minerals and fluid.Thermodynamic analyses of authigenic minerals and downhole fluid indicate that the fluid maintains a state close to equilibrium with the secondary mineral phases chlorite, epidote, albite, quartz, calcite, prehnite, anhydrite, pyrite and magnetite, whereas remnant primary labradorite and augite are out of equilibrium with the fluid.Water/rock ratios for the system are determined under a variety of assumptions. However, the open nature of the system makes comparisons with experimental and theoretical closed system studies ambiguous. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |
|