Lithology of mud breccia clasts from the Mediterranean Ridge

Clasts from mud breccia extruded by mud volcanoes, discovered during the TTR-3 Cruise of the R/V Gelendzhik (1993) on the Mediterranean Ridge, are represented by a number of different source rocks. They provide important information about the composition and genesis of the deep-seated deposits of the Mediterranean Ridge. Detailed descriptions of the main rock types obtained as clasts from the Mediterranean Ridge mud breccia were made on the basis of a study of more than three hundred thin sections and X-ray data. The genetic features of the rock types indicate deep-sea conditions during their accumulation, and the presence of turbidites in the sedimentary sequence of the Mediterranean Ridge. This suggests that turbidity currents from the African margin were capable of reaching the area presently forming the modern Mediterranean Ridge crest, and that the Mediterranean Ridge was not a positive morphologic structure during the accumulation of lithologies which were extruded from depth by mud volcanoes. The dating of the clasts should shed some light on the history of the Mediterranean Ridge.