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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1984; v. 16; p. 137-149;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1984.016.01.10
© 1984 Geological Society of London

Western Pacific Region

Hydrothermal and volcaniclastic sedimentation on the Tonga-Kermadec Ridge and in its adjacent marginal basins

D. S. Cronan, R. Hodkinson & S. A. Moorby

Applied Geochemistry Research Group, Geology Department, Imperial College, London SW7 2BP, U.K.

G. P. Glasby, K. Knedler & J. Thomson

New Zealand Oceanographic Institute, P.O. Box 12-346, Wellington, New Zealand
Department of Chemistry, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey, U.K.

Analyses of over 180 sediment samples from the Tonga-Kermadec Ridge and adjacent marginal basins demonstrate volcaniclastic, biogenic, lithogenous and hydrothermal influences on them. The volcaniclastic component decreases westwards from the Tonga-Kermadec Ridge where volcanism is presently active. Biogenic components are predominant in sediment throughout most of the region, but a significant lithogenous component becomes apparent in the S, in the vicinity of New Zealand. Hydrothermal influences have been detected in two areas: (i) on the Tonga-Kermadec Ridge where Mn oxide crusts represent the end member of a hydrothermal fractionation sequence, earlier members of which may occur beneath the sea-floor; and (ii) in the Lau Basin where Fe and Mn are widely dispersed in the sediments and where sulphide deposits may occur in the immediate vicinity of hydrothermal vents.