Příbor (Czechia) – second occurrence of the cold seep carbonates related to the effusive Teschenite Association Rocks

 

Jakub Jirásek, Dalibor Matýsek, Aneta Machů

Geoscience Research Reports 58, 2025, pages 31–39

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Published online: 2025-09-08

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Abstract

During the construction of the Příbor bypass road (2009–2011), a body of volcanic rocks belonging to the Teschenite Association (Fig. 2), enveloped by the Lower Cretaceous (upper Barremian) sediments, was uncovered on the western edge of the city. The rocks are unaltered to strongly altered picritic rocks near the thrust plane. Completely altered hyaloclastites, or hyaloclastite breccias, were also recognized. These rocks are smectitized (montmorillonite-saponite), carbonatized, and impregnated with pyrite and marcasite. Anatase, baryte, palygorskite, and quartz are accessory phases. The findings of xenocrysts of Cr-rich oxyspinelides as well as calcite pseudomorphs after olivine in the weathered zone provide evidence for the affiliation of hyaloclastites to picritic rocks. Further excavation work near the roundabout (Fig. 1, GPS coordinates N 49° 38.417’ E 018° 07.745’) in 2017 uncovered in these rocks blocks of carbonate material up to 15 × 15 × 25 cm in size. The carbonate material makes fillings of cavities in the hyaloclastite breccia. Their oldest mineral is pyrite that forms fibrous aggregates (sunflower microtexture) up to several centimeters long (Fig. 3) composed of pyrite framboids overgrown by tabular pyrite (Fig. 4). The pyrite aggregates are covered by an older generation of calcite resembling speleothems (stalactites) with a distinctly concentric structure. The spaces between the stalactites are filled by younger white coarse-grained crystalline calcite, in places within cavities (Fig. 3). The isotopically very light sulfur in pyrite with the sunflower microtexture (δ34S -39.9 ‰ CDT) indicates its bacterial origin at anoxic conditions. The aggregates probably represent the original strings of chemotrophic bacteria colonies. Isotopic signature of six calcite samples (δ13C down to -45.6 ‰ V-PDB, δ18O 26.7–30.6 ‰ V-SMOW) demonstrates their cold (hydrocarbon) seep origin (Tab. 1, Fig. 5). These seeps were probably thermally induced by the ascending magma and its extrusion onto the seabed. A similar formation was previously documented for the carbonate from the Baška locality (δ13C up to -28.3 ‰ V-PDB), where it is bound to pillow lavas of the Teschenite Association Rocks. Worldwide, the thermogenic methane seeps triggered by active volcanism are known, but usually not associated with the formation of seep carbonates.
 

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