K isotopes as a tracer of seafloor hydrothermal alteration

Abstract

At ocean spreading ridges, circulation of seawater through rock at elevated temperatures alters the chemical and isotopic composition of oceanic crust. Samples obtained from drilling into ocean floor and from ophiolites have demonstrated that certain isotope systems, such as18O/16O and87Sr/86Sr, are systematically modified in hydrothermally altered oceanic crust. Although K is known to be mobile during hydrothermal alteration, there have not yet been any K-isotope analyses of altered oceanic crustal materials. Moreover, the41K/39K of seawater was recently found to be significantly higher than that of igneous rocks, so the addition of seawater K to oceanic crust would be expected to generate41K/39K variations in affected rocks. Here, we report high-precision41K/39K measurements for samples from the Bay of Islands ophiolite, and we document large variations in41K/39K, covarying with previous determinations of87Sr/86Sr. Our data indicate that analytically resolvable41K/39K effects arise in oceanic crust as a result of hydrothermal alteration. This finding raises the possibility that41K/39K can be used as an effective tracer of oceanic crust recycled into the mantle, as a diagnostic criterion by which to identify ancient fragments of oceanic crust, and as a constraint on the flux of K between oceanic crust and seawater.