Hydrothermal Origin of the Clays from the Upper Slopes of Mauna Kea, Hawaii

Abstract

Abstract--The soils of the summit region of Mauna Kea are similar to the soils of the high mountain deserts and to the soils of cold deserts. Dramatic differences, however, exist between the soils of the summit and other neighboring cones and the soils of the glaciated terrain. The soils of some of the cones of the summit area are clay rich and contain phyllosilicate minerals; the soils of the glaciated terrain are sandy and contain X-ray amorphous clay. Montmorillonite and a Mg-rich trioctahedral mineral identified as saponite are the clay minerals of the summit. Because the summit area of Mauna Kea supported an ice cap at the time of the formation of the cones, the origin of the smectite minerals could have resulted from the alteration of the tephra by steam and water released in the melting of the ice. Hypogene fluids are, however, more likely to be responsible for the genesis of the phyllosilicate minerals.

Hydrologic and Isotopic Modeling of Alpine Lake Waiau, Mauna Kea, Hawai'i

“…Based on previous studies (Ugolini 1974, Woodcock 1980, we assume that the lake is perched on impermeable substrate. Thus, flux into or out of the bottom of the lake was assumed to be negligible (though the model accounts for subsurface input derived from precipitation falling interior to the basin-see discussion of the Q runoff parameter in the next paragraph).…”

“…Woodcock et al (1966) found lake-bottom sediments extending more than 7.5 m deep. Both hydrothermally altered, fine-grained ash and permafrost have been proposed as the cause of the low permeability (Ugolini 1974, Woodcock 1980. At the contact of the northwestern rim of the cinder cone and flow, there is a topographically low V-shaped notch underlain by jointed flow outcrop.…”

Pedogenesis along a thermal gradient in a geothermal region of the southern Cascades, California

“…Sharp contrasts in soil temperature and vegetation commonly occur over short distances in active hydrothermal areas; however, little is known about how soil properties change along these thermal gradients. Furthermore, altered secondary minerals formed from hydrothermal alteration contribute to detritial clay minerals being widely distributed with explosive eruptive events, such as pyroclastic flows and airfall tephra (Ugolini, 1974;LaManna and Ugolini, 1987;Jongmans et al, 1994). These detritial materials have a tremendous influence on soil properties during the early stages of soil formation and ecosystem establishment.…”

Examining the sediments and soils of Gusev Crater with the Athena science payload

“…The detection of phyllosilicates does not automatically indicate that “terrestrial” type chemical weathering has operated on Mars. Hydrothermal alteration of basaltic primary minerals by eruption of magma through ground ice [ Ugolini , 1974; Soderblom and Wenner , 1978; Allen et al , 1981; Jongmans et al , 1994; Gulick , 1998] and/or impacts into ground ice containing regolith can also produce phyllosilicates [ Allen et al , 1982; Hagerty and Newsom , 2001; Newsom et al , 2001]. Phyllosilicates associated with dust could have a hydrothermal origin because they could be produced distally and then transported into Gusev by the wind.…”