Formation of hematite in the euxinic Orca Basin, northern Gulf of Mexico
In: Marine Geology. Elsevier: Amsterdam. ISSN 0025-3227; e-ISSN 1872-6151, meer
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| Trefwoorden |
Aquatic sciences > Marine sciences > Geology > Marine geology
Basins > Sedimentary basins
Chemistry > Geochemistry > Sediment chemistry
Minerals > Oxide minerals > Haematite
Sediments > Anoxic sediments
Marien/Kust |
| Auteurs | | Top |
- Sheu, D.-D.
- Presley, B.J.
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| Abstract |
The Orca Basin is a depression in the northern continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico, which is partially filled with hypersaline, anoxic brine pool. Sediment cores taken from this basin show millimeters to centimeters thick red layers within typical dark anoxic muds. Chemical and X-ray mineralogical analyses reveal that the red laminae are invariably enriched in iron in the form of hematite. They are formed primarily by interaction of ferrous iron in the brine with dissolved oxygen from overlying seawater during isolated incidences of enhanced mixing across the normally stable oxic-anoxic boundary. The presence of hematite red layers within generally anoxic sediment cores would complicate interpretation in the sedimentary record, and limit the usefulness of hematite as an indicator for environment of deposition. |
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