High-resolution multibeam bathymetry of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 45–46° N: the Moytirra hydrothermal field

• Main Authors: Somoza, Luis, Medialdea, Teresa, González, Francisco J., Machancoses, Sara, Candón, Jose A., Cid, Constantino, Calado, António, Afonso, Andreia, Ribeiro, Luisa Pinto, Blasco, Iker, Albuquerque, Mónica, Asensio-Ramos, María, Bettencourt, Renato, De Ignacio, Cristina, López-Pamo, Enrique, Ramos, Bruno, Rincón-Tomás, Blanca, Santofimia, Esther, Souto, Miguel, Tojeira, Inês, Viegas, Cláudia, Madureira, Pedro
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2021
• Subjects: Biophysics; 29999 Physical Sciences not elsewhere classified; FOS Physical sciences; 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified; FOS Earth and related environmental sciences; Ecology; FOS Biological sciences; 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified; Cancer; Inorganic Chemistry; FOS Chemical sciences; Mid-Atlantic Ridge; Sarmiento; Iceland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14226627; https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/High-resolution_multibeam_bathymetry_of_the_northern_Mid-Atlantic_Ridge_at_45_46_N_the_Moytirra_hydrothermal_field/14226627

This work presents a new high-resolution multibeam bathymetric map of a segment of active deep sea-floor spreading in the Atlantic Ocean, the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) at 45–46º N. New high-resolution bathymetry data were acquired using an Atlas multibeam echosounder onboard the research vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa during the EXPLOSEA-2 survey in 2019. The final map of the MAR (50 m cell grid size) at the original scale of 1:200,000 shows a segment of 140 × 35 km of the MAR, at water depths from 715 to 3700 m. This new high-resolution bathymetric map allows to better defining the submarine morphology of the Moytirra hydrothermal active field, the only high-temperature field identified between the Azores Archipelago (Portugal) and Iceland. ROV submarine observations reaching the deepest part of the system for the first time show giant anhydrite-sulfide chimneys up to 20 m high, active strong black smokers and polymetallic massive sulfides.