Deep submarine infiltration of altered geothermal groundwater on the south Chilean Margin
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
12-1-2022
Abstract
Submarine groundwater discharge is increasingly recognized as an important component of the oceanic geochemical budget, but knowledge of the distribution of this phenomenon is limited. To date, reports of meteoric inputs to marine sediments are typically limited to shallow shelf and coastal environments, whereas contributions of freshwater along deeper sections of tectonically active margins have generally been attributed to silicate diagenesis, mineral dehydration, or methane hydrate dissociation. Here, using geochemical fingerprinting of pore water data from Site J1003 recovered from the Chilean Margin during D/V JOIDES Resolution Expedition 379 T, we show that substantial offshore freshening reflects deep and focused contributions of meteorically modified geothermal groundwater, which is likely sourced from a reservoir ~2.8 km deep in the Aysén region of Patagonia and infiltrated marine sediments during or shortly after the last glacial period. Emplacement of fossil groundwaters reflects an apparently ubiquitous phenomenon in margin sediments globally, but our results now identify an unappreciated locus of deep submarine groundwater discharge along active margins with potential implications for coastal biogeochemical processes and tectonic instability.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Communications Earth and Environment
Volume
3
Issue
1
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Clementi, Vincent J., Yair Rosenthal, Samantha C. Bova, Elizabeth K. Thomas, James D. Wright, Richard A. Mortlock, Owen C. Cowling, Linda V. Godfrey, Laurel B. Childress, Ivano W. Aiello, Alejandro Avila, William Biggs, Christopher D. Charles, Anson H. Cheung, Kimberly deLong, Isabel A. Dove, Xiaojing Du, Emily R. Estes, Ursula Fuentes, Cristina García-Lasanta, Steven L. Goldstein, Anna Golub, Julia R. Hagemann, Robert G. Hatfield, Laura L. Haynes, Anya V. Hess, Nil Irvali, Yael Kiro, Minda M. Monteagudo, Jonathan E. Lambert, Chen Li, William M. Longo, Sarah McGrath, Hailey Riechelson, Rebecca S. Robinson, and John Sarao. "Deep submarine infiltration of altered geothermal groundwater on the south Chilean Margin." Communications Earth and Environment 3, 1 (2022). doi: 10.1038/s43247-022-00541-3.