Analyses of rim-to-interior samples of fresh tholeiitic pillow basalts, deuterically altered holocrystalline basalts, and older, weathered tholeiitic basalts from the deep sea indicate that 87Sr/86Sr ratios of the older basalts are raised by low temperature interaction with strontium dissolved in sea water. 87Sr/86Sr correlates positively with H2O in these basalts; however, there is little detectable modification of the strontium isotope composition in rocks with H2O contents less than 1%. The isotope changes appear to be a function of relatively long-term, low-temperature weathering, rather than high-temperature or deuteric alteration. Strontium abundance and isotopic data for these rocks suggest that strontium content is only slightly modified by interaction with sea water, and it is a relatively insensitive indicator of marine alteration. Average Rb-Sr parameters for samples of apparently unaltered basalt are: Rb= 1.11ppm; Sr= 132ppm; 87Sr/86Sr= 0.70247.
