Petrographic and spectral study of hydrothermal mineralization in drill core from Hawaii: A potential analog to alteration in the martian subsurface
Abstract
Continuous rock core was collected for 1764 m (5786′) on the Pohakuloa Army Training base near the center of the big island of Hawaii. The core traverses basaltic lava flows from the volcano’s shield-building phase, and perched aquifers and higher temperature groundwaters were encountered. The collected samples record water-rock interactions of basaltic materials in a setting that may be a model for groundwater interactions on Mars. We collected visible and infrared point spectra of materials in the lowest portion of the core, where alteration was noted to become more prominent. We identified three types of phyllosilicate spectral signatures and three types of zeolites. The phyllosilicates show similarity to those identified on Mars using data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM). Based on the field survey, 25 depths were selected for sampling and petrographic analysis of thin sections. The spectral data and thin section work have a strong agreement in the types of materials identified by the two different techniques. Both the spectral and petrographic data indicate low to moderate temperature geothermal alteration occurred in the lower half of the core. The field spectra are a useful reconnaissance tool for selecting mineralogic diversity for subsequent higher resolution and more time-consuming laboratory analysis.
Acknowledgments and Funding
We appreciate the two external reviews whose comments and suggestions help improve the clarity of the manuscript. This project was funded in part by the Department of Energy award: FG36-02ID14311 and 10EE0003997 to the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy for travel and data analyses. Additional support from the University of Nevada, Reno, and the NASA Solar Systems Workings program Award 80NSSC19K0031 to W.M. Calvin.
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Articles in the same Issue
- MSA Centennial Review Paper
- How American Mineralogist and the Mineralogical Society of America influenced a career in mineralogy, petrology, and plate pushing, and thoughts on mineralogy’s future role
- Petrographic and spectral study of hydrothermal mineralization in drill core from Hawaii: A potential analog to alteration in the martian subsurface
- Characterizing low-temperature aqueous alteration of Mars-analog basalts from Mauna Kea at multiple scales
- Archean to Paleoproterozoic seawater halogen ratios recorded by fluid inclusions in chert and hydrothermal quartz
- Metasomatism-controlled hydrogen distribution in the Spitsbergen upper mantle
- Phase transformation of hydrous ringwoodite to the lower-mantle phases and the formation of dense hydrous silica
- Density and sound velocity of liquid Fe-S alloys at Earth’s outer core P-T conditions
- Some geometrical properties of fission-track-surface intersections in apatite
- Thermal equation of state of post-aragonite CaCO3-Pmmn
- Structure of NaFeSiO4, NaFeSi2O6, and NaFeSi3O8 glasses and glass-ceramics
- Raman spectroscopic studies of O–H stretching vibration in Mn-rich apatites: A structural approach
- Characterization of modified mineral waste material adsorbent as affected by thermal treatment for optimizing its adsorption of lead and methyl orange
- Morin-type transition in 5C pyrrhotite
- The formation of marine red beds and iron cycling on the Mesoproterozoic North China Platform
- A multi-methodological study of kernite, a mineral commodity of boron
- Letter
- Si-rich Mg-sursassite Mg4Al5Si7O23(OH)5 with octahedrally coordinated Si: A new ultrahigh-pressure hydrous phase
- Inherited Eocene magmatic tourmaline captured by the Miocene Himalayan leucogranites
- Memorial of F. Donald Bloss 1920–2020
- Book Review
Articles in the same Issue
- MSA Centennial Review Paper
- How American Mineralogist and the Mineralogical Society of America influenced a career in mineralogy, petrology, and plate pushing, and thoughts on mineralogy’s future role
- Petrographic and spectral study of hydrothermal mineralization in drill core from Hawaii: A potential analog to alteration in the martian subsurface
- Characterizing low-temperature aqueous alteration of Mars-analog basalts from Mauna Kea at multiple scales
- Archean to Paleoproterozoic seawater halogen ratios recorded by fluid inclusions in chert and hydrothermal quartz
- Metasomatism-controlled hydrogen distribution in the Spitsbergen upper mantle
- Phase transformation of hydrous ringwoodite to the lower-mantle phases and the formation of dense hydrous silica
- Density and sound velocity of liquid Fe-S alloys at Earth’s outer core P-T conditions
- Some geometrical properties of fission-track-surface intersections in apatite
- Thermal equation of state of post-aragonite CaCO3-Pmmn
- Structure of NaFeSiO4, NaFeSi2O6, and NaFeSi3O8 glasses and glass-ceramics
- Raman spectroscopic studies of O–H stretching vibration in Mn-rich apatites: A structural approach
- Characterization of modified mineral waste material adsorbent as affected by thermal treatment for optimizing its adsorption of lead and methyl orange
- Morin-type transition in 5C pyrrhotite
- The formation of marine red beds and iron cycling on the Mesoproterozoic North China Platform
- A multi-methodological study of kernite, a mineral commodity of boron
- Letter
- Si-rich Mg-sursassite Mg4Al5Si7O23(OH)5 with octahedrally coordinated Si: A new ultrahigh-pressure hydrous phase
- Inherited Eocene magmatic tourmaline captured by the Miocene Himalayan leucogranites
- Memorial of F. Donald Bloss 1920–2020
- Book Review