Authigenic smectite clay coats in CRP-3 drillcore, Victoria Land basin, Antarctica, as a possible indicator of fluid flow: a progress report
The presence of authigenic smectite in the lower Oligocene sandstones of the Cape Roberts Project core CRP-3 from the Victoria Land Basin of Antarctica is confirmed by scanning electron, scanning-transmission electron, and light
microscopy. It was emplaced as a single generation of cement within the lower portion of the Oligocene section. This section has undergone no discernible compaction since cementation. Permeabilities measured on fifty core plugs show that the lower portion of the Oligocene (from 370-766 meters below sea floor) also has systematically higher values than sediment in uppermost CRP-3 and all of
CRP-2 and CRP-1. Three models for smectite authigenesis are considered as multiple working hypotheses to be tested: 1) Burial diagenesis with necessary components sourced from volcanogenic materials and heavy minerals within the
drilled sequence; 2) Precipitation from hydrothermal waters associated with possible igneous intrusion(s) and
nearby faults; 3) Mobilization and injection of regionally compactive “thermobaric” fluids along a nearby
fault that bounds a major graben parallel to the Transantarctic Mountain Front. The preponderance of the
available evidence and Occum’s Razor favors the first model, although special circumstances dictated by the
position of the drill site along a rapidly subsiding rift basin require that all three models be considered
equally until our analyses are complete.
Details
Publication status:
Published
Author(s):
Authors: Wise, S.W., Smellie, J., Aghib, F., Jarrard, R., Krissek, L.
Date:
1 January, 2001
Journal/Source:
Terra Antartica / 8
Page(s):
281-298
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