On the problem of geochemical signatures of mud volcanoes and sediment-hosted hydrothermal systems

Abstract

The present paper is a comparative study of geochemical characteristics of the emissions of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsky mud volcano and the sediment-hosted hydrothermal systems Salton Sea and Lusi. The comparative analysis was performed using the data on the content of Cl, Br, SO4, Li, Na, K, Ca, Mg, B, Ba, Sr, Si, oxygen-18 and deuterium in the discharged fluids, as well as on the content of CO2, C1-C5, carbon-13 in CO2 and CH4 in the released gases. It showed the absence of any distinct systematic differences in geochemical parameters between mud volcanoes and sediment-hosted hydrothermal systems. This suggests, inter alia, a need for a detailed geochemical classification of mud volcanoes, which to this day has not been elaborated.