Abstract
In 1968 hot brines from which gypsum had precipitated were discovered in the Red Sea, in a divergent plate boundary setting with hydrothermal activity1. We now report the discovery of cold brines in an entirely different geodynamic situation, a convergent plate boundary in the eastern Mediterranean, where the heatflow is very low2 and no hydrothermal activity occurs. Decimetric pure gypsum crystals precipitate from the cold brines, which occupy the bottom of a rimmed anoxic basin near the southern edge of the Mediterranean Ridge, close to the Sirte Abyssal Plain. Nucleation of the crystals does not occur at the surface, but from the deep brines, because the salinity of the water is normal down to the depth of −3,000 m. We propose the name ‘Bacino Bannock’ for this basin, after the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche R/V Bannock from which the bottom-water brines were surveyed and sampled.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Degens, E. T. & Ross, D. A. (eds) Hot Brines and Recent Heavy Metal Deposits in Red Sea 1–600 (Springer, Berlin, 1969).
Erickson, A. J. & von Herzen, R. P. Init. Rept. DSDP 42(1), 857–872 (1978).
Jongsma, D. et al. Nature 305, 795–797 (1983).
De Lange, G. J. & ten Haven, H. L. Nature 305, 797–798 (1983).
Ryan, W. B. F. & Hsu, K. J. et al.. Init. Rept. DSDP 13, 175–218 (1973).
Hsu, K. J., Cita, M. B. & Ryan, W. B. F. Init. Rept. DSDP 13, 1203–1231 (1973).
Thunell, R. C., Williams, D. F. & Cita, M. B. J. Foraminifera Res. 13, 283–290 (1983).
Belderson, R. H., Kenyon, N. H. & Stride, A. H. Geology 6, 716–720 (1978).
Kastens, K. A. & Spiess, F. N. Mar. Geol. 56, 181–194 (1984).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cita, M., Kastens, K., McCoy, F. et al. Gypsum precipitation from cold brines in an anoxic basin in the eastern Mediterranean. Nature 314, 152–154 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/314152a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/314152a0
This article is cited by
-
Bannock Basin, Sirte Abyssal Plain and Conrad Spur: structural relationships between Mediterranean Ridge and its western foreland and implications on the character of the accretionary complex (eastern Mediterranean)
Marine Geophysical Researches (2009)
-
Microbial Community of a Hydrothermal Mud Vent Underneath the Deep-Sea Anoxic Brine Lake Urania (Eastern Mediterranean)
Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres (2007)
-
Deep sea turbidites in brine-filled anoxic basins of the Mediterranean Ridge. Depositional models based on sedimentological and geochemical characterization
Rendiconti Lincei (2007)
-
Sediment injection in the pit of the Urania Anoxic brine lake (Eastern Mediterranean)
Rendiconti Lincei (2006)
-
Stratified prokaryote network in the oxic–anoxic transition of a deep-sea halocline
Nature (2006)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.