Mineralogical Analysis and Material Source Interpretation of a Gravity Core from Marsili Seamount (Tyrrhenian Sea)
Loading...
Date
2024-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
Marsili Seamount (MS) is the largest volcano in the Mediterranean Sea with a peak at about 3000 m above the seafloor and -500 m below sea level. MS has been labeled as a potential geohazard due to measured 3He/4He anomalies indicating gases are being released by an active magma chamber. The core location is 328 m below the summit and possibly provides a view of the recent activity of MS. Physical characteristics data was collected from the core by a multi sensor core logger (MSCL) and grain size data was acquired via laser diffraction (LD). Smear slides were created, and XRD data was collected from the samples analyzed in this paper. The gravity core is comprised of a 13 cm clayed silt upper zone and a lower 25 cm thick volcanic zone made of lapilli and ash tephra layers. This volcanic zone is composed of high amounts of glass implying the source is that of an underwater eruption and it can be described as a tephra bearing unit. Additionally, plagioclase, muscovite, and augite are major minerals in the lower zone and further imply an igneous source. The loose nature of the volcanic zone, as well as its moderate grain sorting and an irregular upper contact, are consistent with near-source flows. These characteristics are similar to those of other cores taken from MS. However, without additional chemical composition data, it is difficult to confidently determine an exact source for the volcanic material.
Description
Keywords
Marsili, Seamount, Tephra, Tyrrhenian Sea, X-ray diffraction