Hydrothermal systems in peridotites of slow-spreading mid-oceanic ridges. Modeling phase transitions and material balance: Downwelling limb of a hydrothermal circulation cell

A model is development for the kinetic and thermodynamic simulation of the interaction of seawater and its metamorphosed derivatives with crustal rocks in slow-spreading ridges. The thermodynamic modulus of the model is based on the GEOCHEQ complex, which makes it possible to simulate equilibria in systems of aqueous solutions-minerals-gases. The calculating code was modified and adjusted for the thermodynamic-kinetic simulation of the passage of irreversible solution-rock reactions with time. The simulations were carried out for a simplified crustal vertical section of slow-spreading (Hess-type) ridges, which consist only of mantle peridotites (spinel harzburgites). The results of our simulations demonstrate that the degree of peridotite serpentinization under the effect of low-temperature seawater when the rocks are exposed at the seafloor surface remains very low even after 10000 years of interaction. Serpentinization becomes efficient only at temperatures of 130–150°C at crustal depths of 3.5–4.5 km. The results of our simulations allowed us to develop a thermodynamic model for the origin of hydrothermal systems in peridotites in slow-spreading ridges, with regard for the major stages in the material and tectonic evolution of the Hess crust.