Oxygen, hydrogen and carbon isotope studies of the franciscan formation, Coast Ranges, California

Abstract

Analyses of 230 Franciscan rock and mineral samples, including the San Luis Obispo ophiolite, show that metamorphism produces no change in the δ18O of the graywackes (+11 to +14), but that igneous rocks become enriched in 18O by 2–6% and the cherts depleted by 5–10%. The shales are of two types, a high-18O type (+16 to +20) associated with chert and a low-18O type isotopically and mineralogically similar to the graywackes. The vein quartz (δ = + 15 to + 20) is invariably richer in 18O than the host rock quartz and in most of the rocks the δ18O of the clastic quartz is similar to the δ18O of the whole rock. Mineral assemblages are typically not in isotopic equilibrium. Although the δ18O values are very uniform (+13 to +16). the δ13C of vein aragonite and calcite is widely variable (0 to − 14), implying that a major source of the carbon is oxidized organic material. The δD values of 83 igneous and sedimentary rocks are -45 to -80, exceptions are the Fe-rich minerals howieite and deerite, which have δD = −100. All of these samples could have equilibrated with H2O having δD ≈ +10 to −20 and δ18O ≈ −3 to +8. assuming temperatures of 100–300°C. However, the serpentines (δD ≈ −85 to −110) and the vein minerals (δD = −23 to −55) are exceptions. The vein minerals are 10–20%, richer in deuterium than the adjacent wall rocks; they formed from a relatively D-rich metamorphic water, typically at lower temperatures than did their host rocks. The isotopic compositions of the other Franciscan rocks were affected by three distinct events: (1) hydrothermal alteration of the ophiolite complexes and volcanic rocks as a result of submarine igneous activity at a spreading center or in an island-arc environment; (2) low-temperature, high-pressure regional metamorphism and diagenesis; and (3) a late-stage, very low temperature (<100°C) alteration of the ultramafic bodies by meteoric ground waters, producing lizardite-chrysotile serpentine. In the first two cases, the pore fluid involved in the alteration of the Franciscan rocks was sea water. However, this water became somewhat depleted in D and enriched in 18O during blueschist metamorphism, evolving to values of δD ≈ − 20 and δ18O ≈ + 6 to + 8 at the highest grades. Except for one graywacke sample, the meteoric waters that affected the serpentinites did not significantly change the ratios of the OH-bearing minerals in any other Franciscan rock. The δ18O values of orogenic andesites are too low for such magmas to have formed by direct partial melting of Franciscan-type materials in a subduction zone. Andesites either form in some other fashion, or the melts must undergo thorough isotopic exchange with the upper mantle. The great Cordilleran granodiorite-tonalite batholiths, however, are much richer in 18O and may well have formed by large-scale melting or assimilation of Franciscan-type rocks. The range of δD values of Franciscantype rocks is identical to the −50 to −80 range shown by most igneous rocks. This suggests that 'primary magmatic H2O' throughout the world may be derived mainly by partial melting of Franciscantype materials, or by dehydration of such rocks in the deeper parts of a Benioff zone.

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