A new type of submarine chimneys built of halite

Autor(en)

C. Siebert, D. Ionescu, U. Mallast, Silke Merchel, B. Merkel, P. Möller, S. Pavetich, T. Pohl, T. Rödinger, Y. Yechieli

Abstrakt

In contrast to the subaquatic sulphide and carbonate chimneys, which are known from Mid Ocean Ridges and abyssal submarine volcanoes, chimneys built of salts have not been described yet. Here we present such halite chimneys as a new form of cold-water smokers in hypersaline environments. The here described structures rise up from the bottom of the Dead Sea and result from the submarine discharge of saturated halite-dissolution brines into the salt lake, which is at halite saturation and holds remarkable chloride excess. At the interface with the lake brine, halite precipitates instantaneously, forming chimneys up to several meters in height. The brines leading to the formation of these chimneys vary in composition, while their generation processes are similar. Fresh groundwater from surrounding aquifers enters the saline lake sediments and considerably leaches halite in the adjacencies of the lake. Simultaneously, it mixes with ancient brines before it emerges from the lake floor. The distinct differences in composition between the Dead Sea and the emerging chimney brines lead to the instantaneous crystallisation of halite and few other mineral phases. The chimney structure result from the buoyancy flow of the chimney brines, which are less dense then the ambient Dead Sea.
The chimneys indicate intense cavitation of massive halite bodies in the subsurface of the Dead Sea environment, a process that leads to increasing formation of hazardous sinkholes. Since chimneys are proven in shallow water but may be expected in deeper parts too, they are comfortably mappable by echo-sounding or aerial imaging. They thus provide in the Dead Sea as in any likewise setting a potent predictive tool to locate dangerous subsurface cavitation and hence areas that are at risk of collapse in the near future.

Organisation(en)

Isotopenphysik

Externe Organisation(en)

Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, Technische Universität Berlin, Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum, Australian National University, Geological Survey of Israel (GSI), Ben Gurion University of the Negev

Journal

Science of the Total Environment

Band

955

Seiten

1-15

Anzahl der Seiten

15

ISSN

0048-9697

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176752

Publikationsdatum

12-2024

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

104002 Analytische Chemie, 104020 Radiochemie, 105127 Geochronologie, 105303 Hydrogeologie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Pollution, Waste Management and Disposal, Environmental engineering, Environmental Chemistry

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/e6d388f6-6dcd-497f-bf20-9e44eb6e879d