Discovery of abundant hydrothermal venting on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge in the Arctic Ocean
Submarine hydrothermal venting along mid-ocean ridges is an important contributor to ridge thermal structure, and the global distribution of such vents has implications for heat and mass fluxes from the Earth's crust and mantle and for the biogeography of vent-endemic organisms. Previous studie...
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ftlouisianastuir:oai:digitalcommons.lsu.edu:geo_pubs-2003 2023-06-11T04:09:34+02:00 Discovery of abundant hydrothermal venting on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge in the Arctic Ocean Edmonds, H. N. Michael, P. J. Baker, E. T. Connelly, D. P. Snow, J. E. Langmuir, C. H. Dick, H. J.B. Mühe, R. German, C. R. Graham, D. W. 2003-01-16T08:00:00Z https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1004 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01351 unknown LSU Digital Commons https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1004 doi:10.1038/nature01351 Faculty Publications text 2003 ftlouisianastuir https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01351 2023-05-28T18:17:27Z Submarine hydrothermal venting along mid-ocean ridges is an important contributor to ridge thermal structure, and the global distribution of such vents has implications for heat and mass fluxes from the Earth's crust and mantle and for the biogeography of vent-endemic organisms. Previous studies have predicted that the incidence of hydrothermal venting would be extremely low on ultraslow-spreading ridges (ridges with full spreading rates <2 cmyr-1 - which make up 25 per cent of the global ridge length), and that such vent systems would be hosted in ultramafic in addition to volcanic rocks. Here we present evidence for active hydrothermal venting on the Gakkel ridge, which is the slowest spreading (0.6-1.3 cmyr-1) and least explored mid-ocean ridge. On the basis of water column profiles of light scattering, temperature and manganese concentration along 1,100 km of the rift valley, we identify hydrothermal plumes dispersing from at least nine to twelve discrete vent sites. Our discovery of such abundant venting, and its apparent localization near volcanic centres, requires a reassessment of the geologic conditions that control hydrothermal circulation on ultraslow-spreading ridges. Text Arctic Arctic Ocean LSU Digital Commons (Louisiana State University) Arctic Arctic Ocean Gakkel Ridge ENVELOPE(90.000,90.000,87.000,87.000) Nature 421 6920 252 256 |
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description |
Submarine hydrothermal venting along mid-ocean ridges is an important contributor to ridge thermal structure, and the global distribution of such vents has implications for heat and mass fluxes from the Earth's crust and mantle and for the biogeography of vent-endemic organisms. Previous studies have predicted that the incidence of hydrothermal venting would be extremely low on ultraslow-spreading ridges (ridges with full spreading rates <2 cmyr-1 - which make up 25 per cent of the global ridge length), and that such vent systems would be hosted in ultramafic in addition to volcanic rocks. Here we present evidence for active hydrothermal venting on the Gakkel ridge, which is the slowest spreading (0.6-1.3 cmyr-1) and least explored mid-ocean ridge. On the basis of water column profiles of light scattering, temperature and manganese concentration along 1,100 km of the rift valley, we identify hydrothermal plumes dispersing from at least nine to twelve discrete vent sites. Our discovery of such abundant venting, and its apparent localization near volcanic centres, requires a reassessment of the geologic conditions that control hydrothermal circulation on ultraslow-spreading ridges. |
format |
Text |
author |
Edmonds, H. N. Michael, P. J. Baker, E. T. Connelly, D. P. Snow, J. E. Langmuir, C. H. Dick, H. J.B. Mühe, R. German, C. R. Graham, D. W. |
spellingShingle |
Edmonds, H. N. Michael, P. J. Baker, E. T. Connelly, D. P. Snow, J. E. Langmuir, C. H. Dick, H. J.B. Mühe, R. German, C. R. Graham, D. W. Discovery of abundant hydrothermal venting on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge in the Arctic Ocean |
author_facet |
Edmonds, H. N. Michael, P. J. Baker, E. T. Connelly, D. P. Snow, J. E. Langmuir, C. H. Dick, H. J.B. Mühe, R. German, C. R. Graham, D. W. |
author_sort |
Edmonds, H. N. |
title |
Discovery of abundant hydrothermal venting on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge in the Arctic Ocean |
title_short |
Discovery of abundant hydrothermal venting on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge in the Arctic Ocean |
title_full |
Discovery of abundant hydrothermal venting on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge in the Arctic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Discovery of abundant hydrothermal venting on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge in the Arctic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Discovery of abundant hydrothermal venting on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge in the Arctic Ocean |
title_sort |
discovery of abundant hydrothermal venting on the ultraslow-spreading gakkel ridge in the arctic ocean |
publisher |
LSU Digital Commons |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1004 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01351 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(90.000,90.000,87.000,87.000) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Gakkel Ridge |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Gakkel Ridge |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
op_source |
Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1004 doi:10.1038/nature01351 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01351 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
421 |
container_issue |
6920 |
container_start_page |
252 |
op_container_end_page |
256 |
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1768383503352725504 |