Submarine barite-opal rocks of hydrothermal origin.
Unusual submarine rocks consisting of barite, opal, and volcanic detritus were recovered from the Lau Basin northeast of Australia. It is proposed that these rocks were formed when hydrothermal solutions emanating from a fracture zone offsetting the active spreading center in the Lau Basin came into contact with cooler ocean waters.
Bertine
K K
KK
Keene
J B
JB