Carbonate Precipitation Induced by Serpentinization on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jörn Peckmann
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2005 to 2009
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5441317

... It is the aim of this project to reconstruct the genesis of these carbonates and to understand the factors triggering their precipitation. ... The proposed project will test, if biogeochemical cycling of methane-derived carbon and, in particular, anaerobic oxidation of methane favours carbonate formation during serpentinization. This process is indicated by (1) recent evidence for anaerobic oxidation of methane in hydrothermal environments, and (2) Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) calcites depleted in 13C assosicated with mircrobial biofilms. Several rock samples with authigenic carbonate impregnations on serpentinized periodotites and carbonate vein in sulphides and peridotites have been sampled at three different sites (Stations 49, 54, 67 GTV) in the Logatchev Hydrothermal Field between 14°40'N and 14°55'N during R/V Meteor cruise M60/3 (January 14 to February 13, 2004). The recovered samples are most suitable for the proposed project.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1144: From Mantle to Ocean: Energy, Material and Life Cycles on Spreading Axes
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Wolfgang Bach