Sulfide mineral major and trace element analyses were performed on more than 50 polished slabs representing mineralization from three seafloor hydrothermal massive sulfide deposits. Samples from the Bent Hill and ODP Mound massive sulfide deposits, both on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, can be contrasted with samples from the Trans-Atlantic Geotraverse (TAG) hydrothermal mound on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The massive sulfide at Bent Hill is predominantly pyrite and pyrrhotite, with increasing amounts of copper-bearing sulfide minerals at the base of the massive sulfide body and through the stockwork to an interval 200 m below seafloor that hosts high copper mineralization (Deep Copper Zone). ODP Mound contains much more abundant sphalerite and copper-bearing sulfides as compared to either Bent Hill or TAG, which are predominantly pyrite with much less abundant chalcopyrite. Copper-bearing sulfides from the Deep Copper Zone beneath Bent Hill and the lowest sampled interval of ODP Mound are petrographically and chemically similar, but distinct from copper-bearing minerals higher in either sequence.
1Lawrie, D., and Miller, D.J., 2000. Data report: Sulfide mineral chemistry and petrography from Bent Hill, ODP Mound, and TAG massive sulfide deposits. In Zierenberg, R.A., Fouquet, Y., Miller, D.J., and Normark, W.R. (Eds.), Proc. ODP, Sci. Results, 169 [Online]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/169_SR/chap_05/chap_05.htm>. [Cited YYYY-MM-DD]
2Ocean Drilling Program, Texas A&M University, 1000 Discovery Drive, College Station TX 77845-9547, USA.
3Correspondence author: miller@odpemail.tamu.edu
Date of
initial receipt: 22 February 1999
Date of acceptance: 11 November 1999
Date of publication: 14 July 2000
Ms 169SR-106