Geochemistry of mud volcano fluids in the Taiwan accretionary prism

Taiwan is located at the collision boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Asian Continental Plate and is one of the most active orogenic belts in the world. Fluids sampled from 9 sub-aerial mud volcanoes distributed along two major geological structures in southwestern Taiwan, the Chishan fault and the Gutingkeng anticline, were analyzed to evaluate possible sources of water and the degree of fluid-sediment interaction at depth in an accretionary prism. Overall, the Taiwanese mud volcano fluids are characterized by high Cl contents, up to 347 mM, suggesting a marine origin from actively de-watering sedimentary pore waters along major structures on land. The fluids obtained from the Gutingkeng anticline, as well as from the Coastal Plain area, show high Cl, Na, K, Ca, Mg and NH4, but low SO4 and B concentrations. In contrast, the Chishan fault fluids are much less saline (1/4 seawater value), but show much heavier O isotope compositions (δ18O=5.1–6.5 ‰). A simplified scenario of mixing between sedimentary pore fluids and waters affected by clay dehydration released at depth can explain several crucial observations including heavy O isotopes, radiogenic Sr contents (87Sr/86Sr=0.71136–0.71283), and relatively low salinities in the Chishan fluids. Gases isolated from the mud volcanoes are predominantly CH4 and CO2, where the CH4–C isotopic compositions show a thermogenic component of δ13C=−38 ‰. These results demonstrate that active mud volcano de-watering in Taiwan is a direct product of intense sediment accretion and plate collision in the region.