Coupling between mineral reactions, chemical changes in groundwater, and earthquakes in Iceland

• Chemical analysis of groundwater samples collected from a borehole at Hafralækur, northernIceland, from October 2008 to June 2015 revealed (1) a long-term decrease in concentration of Si and Naand (2) an abrupt increase in concentration of Na before each of two consecutive M > 5 earthquakes whichoccurred in 2012 and 2013, both 76 km from Hafralækur. Based on a geochemical (major elements and stableisotopes), petrological, and mineralogical study of drill cuttings taken from an adjacent borehole, we areable to show that (1) the long-term decrease in concentration of Si and Na was caused by constant volumereplacement of labradorite by analcime coupled with precipitation of zeolites in vesicles and along fracturesand (2) the abrupt increase of Na concentration before the first earthquake records a switchover tononstoichiometric dissolution of analcime with preferential release of Na into groundwater. We attributedecay of the Na peaks, which followed and coincided with each earthquake to uptake of Na along fracturedor porous boundaries between labradorite and analcime crystals. Possible causes of these Na peaks are anincrease of reactive surface area caused by fracturing or a shift from chemical equilibrium caused by mixingbetween groundwater components. Both could have been triggered by preseismic dilation, which was alsoinferred in a previous study by Skelton et al. (2014). The mechanism behind preseismic dilation so far from thefocus of an earthquake remains unknown.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Geokemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Geochemistry (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

geochemistry

Iceland

groundwater

earthquakes

mineralogy

Geovetenskap med inriktning mot mineralogi, petrologi och tektonik

Earth Science with specialization in Mineral Chemistry, Petrology and Tectonics

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)