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J.C. Hathaway

Publications and source records attributed to J.C. Hathaway.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Hot brines and recent iron deposits in deeps of the Red Sea

Sedimentary iron and heavy-metal deposits of undetermined size have been found in the middle of the Red Sea some 2000 meters below the surface of the sea (Fig. 1). This discovery has been made from the Research Vessel Atlantis II , which is still at sea engaged in a series of oceanographic investigations which ultimately will end in November 1965, after the ship has circumnavigated the globe. The discovery is significant because the environment and the processes controlling deposition of heavy metals are observable and appear to be still active.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗

Hot brines and recent iron deposits in deeps of the Red Sea

Sedimentary iron and heavy-metal deposits of undetermined size have been found in the middle of the Red Sea some 2000 meters below the surface of the sea. This discovery has been made from the Research Vessel Atlantis II , which is still at sea engaged in a series of oceanographic investigations which ultimately will end in November 1965, after the ship has circumnavigated the globe. The discovery is significant because the environment and the processes controlling deposition of heavy metals are observable and appear to be still active. The environment of the deposits can be breiefly described as an isolated sub-marine pool of brine having a pH as low as 5.3, a temperature of 56° c. and a salt content of about 310 grams per liter (at 20° c). Shipboard oxygen determinations and the indicated presence of H 2 S, divalent iron and divalent manganese in the water suggest that the environment is anaerobic. This hot, dense brine is trapped in a local depression of the Red Sea median valley. (Atlantis II Deep). The iron deposits, consisting largely of hydrous iron oxides, are found in the same depression. Brines from the Discovery Deep (21° 17 1 N, 38° 02'E) (1), a few miles southwest of the Atlantis II Deep (21°21 1 N, 38 ° 04'E), have a pH of 6.2 and a temp­erature of 44.7° c, and are also associated with iron-bearing sedirnents. The Discovery and Atlantis II brine pools both extend about 150 meters above the bottom. A few miles south of the: Discovery Deep another depression of greater depth has been reported (2) containing essentially normal Red Sea water. Deeps several hundred miles to the north (Sta. 540) and south (Sta. 545) were investigated and contained no brine. One of these (Sta. 545) is known to contain normal sediments.

Open-File Report↗

Nordstrandite from Guam

NORDSTRANDITE (Al 2 O 3 ·3H 2 O), previously reported only as a synthetic product 1,2 , occurs in Miocene limestone on Guam. In south Guam this limestone forms a cap several hundred feet thick, on the Mount Alifan–Mount Lamlan ridge, and overlies late Eocene and early Miocene basalt flows and volcanic conglomerates. The volcanic rocks below the limestone are deeply weathered. The nordstrandite occurs in secondary solution cavities and is concentrated mainly in the basal part of the limestone near its contact with the weathered basalt. In thin section the nordstrandite crystals are seen as flamboyant aggregates reaching lengths of as much as 0.4 mm. The optical properties of the mineral are as follows: The hardness is about 3 and the specific gravity was determined by Edward J. Young to be 2.436.

Guam↗