Interstitial water studies on small core samples, Leg 9

The chemistry of the pore fluids obtained on Leg 9 is remarkable primarily in its constancy. Excepting silicon and strontium, only at one site do the concentrations of the major and minor constituents deviate notably from sea water concentrations (see Tables 1 and 2). The trends, or lack of them, seen in these samples have been discussed previously and only references will be given here. The constancy of composition and similarity to sea water is particularly noteworthy, as the sediments at all of the 9 sites are thought to be intruded by the basal basalt. The pore fluid chemistry exhibits no evidence of intrusion except possibly at Site 84.