mineralogy and chemistry of massive sulfide deposits from the juan de fuca ridge six hydrothermal vent sites and associated benthic communities were located in the axial valley of the southern juan de fuca ridge using transponder navigated bottom photography the hydrothermal deposits form ledges and shallow mounds within a central zone characterized by a linear bathymetric depression and numerous collapse features the flat valley floor adjacent to the central zone consists of ferrobasalt lobate flows and sheet flows sediment cover is minimal vent sites are characterized by concentrations of tube worms clams benthic siphonophores and several unidentified fauna two types of massive sulfide were dredged from one of the vent sites type a samples are angular slabs of dark gray zn rich sulfide with interlayers and a thin partly oxidized crust of fe sulfide these layered sulfide aggregates appear to be fragments of a sulfide wall enclosing an active hydrothermal vent the outer sulfide wall is composed mainly of colloform fe sulfide and fe poor sphalerite deposited under lower temperature conditions whereby sea water and hydrothermal fluid mix above the discharge point with continued sulfide deposition the wall inhibits mixing of sea water and hydrothermal fluid inside the wall the intensifying hydrothermal system deposits a higher temperature assemblage of granular fe rich sphalerite wurtzite pyrite and minor cu fe sulfide the zonation in wurtzite from fe rich cores to fe poor rims may result from a late stage cooling of the hydrothermal fluid and or a change in fluid chemistry the sulfide wall grows outward where a rupture in it permits the escape of high temperature fluid and then deposition of a secondary shell over the breakthrough point as temperature increases earlier formed minerals dissolve and zn fe and pb migrate toward the outer sulfide wall tube worms flourished in the outer wall of type a samples and abandoned tube structures served as conduits for the late stage hydrothermal fluids type b sulfide samples are subrounded spongy textured fragments composed almost entirely of dendritic aggregates of pale fe poor colloform sphalerite and opaline silica this type of sulfide is deposited in open space by moderate to low temperature fluid discharging at a slow but variable rate the fluid becomes increasingly oxidizing resulting in late stage deposition of hematite barite and sulfur type b samples show little evidence of burrowing animals this type of sulfide may be deposited in settings peripheral to sites of focused discharge

middepth flow near hydrothermal venting sites on the southern juan de fuca ridge long term moored current measurements around the southern end of the juan de fuca ridge show that flow parallels the ridge and may be intensified by its presence the mean flow is northward on the west side and southward on the east thus plumes emanating from the ridge probably are advected along the ridge before flowing away from the ridge other topographic features may be responsible for westward or eastward turning along the west side of the ridge we hypothesize a regional flow pattern with southward flow north of axial seamount northward flow south of axial and a convergence somewhere south of axial resulting in westward flow along the east side the flow may be southward everywhere above the ridge crest the long term mean flow is weaker and more variable and it includes tidal inertial and a dominant broadband 4 day oscillation this 4 day energy is maximum in the rift valley where the inertial is least decreases upward and away from the ridge and is more energetic in winter this oscillation is predominately a clockwise rotating feature which along with the presence of inertial oscillations suggests that it may be storm induced from the sea surface these observations along with those by cannon and pashinski 1990 suggest northward propagation flow variations across the ridge lasting one to a few months have mean speeds of 1 3 cm s and are capable of transporting plumes off axis to the west or east into the northerly or southerly flows respectively

chemical processes in buoyant hydrothermal plumes on the east pacific rise near 21 n hydrothermal plume water containing suspended particles of precipitated black smoke has been sampled from three hydrothermal vent fields on the east pacific rise near 21 n the samples were taken within the lower 22 m of the buoyant plumes directly above 273 350 c black smoker vents using go flo bottles mounted on the submersible alvin based on li as a conservative tracer of the high temperature endmember solution mixing ratios of 102 to 104 g seawater g vent water are achieved within the lower 22 m of the plumes the particle concentrations sampled in the lower 13 m of the plumes are much larger than predicted for these mixing ratios suggesting that the particles are settling within the lower part of the plume the major minerals in the smoke are pyrrhotite fe rich sphalerite pyrite unidentified fe s si and fe si s phases chalcopyrite amorphous silica sulfur fe oxyhydroxides including goethite and anhydrite present in trace quantities are barite isocubanite wurtzite covellite marcasite and unidentified silicates and alsilicates organic matter is common the composition of the plume solutions indicates that 35 25 of the hydrothermally injected fe remains in dissolved form i e 0 45 m within the lower 22 m of the plume in spite of a 3 to 9 fold excess of h2s in the vent solutions nearly all of the mn and si and most of the ba also remain in solution h2s by contrast has been largely 70 100 removed by precipitation as sulfides and sulfur but mainly by oxidation to dissolved species with intermediate oxidation states its early removal implies that 50 30 of the injected fe will eventually precipitate as primary oxides rather than as sulfides and that fe can be fractionated from the other chalcophile metals during sulfide precipitation compared with the vent water the particles are enriched in cu co ag cd al zn pb and ni by factors of 4 to 20 relative to fe and depleted in ba s si and mn scavenging from seawater may play a role in co and cu enrichment at the ngs field and for ag cd and ni at all three fields but is negligible for pb and zn these results indicate that two distinct metalliferous components are delivered to the distal regions of a plume as a result of reactions in the lower part of the buoyant plume 1 1 a dissolved component that includes about half the fe and all of the mn and will eventually precipitate as oxides and 2 2 a particulate component consisting of fine grained sulfide minerals that are enriched in ore metals by factors of 4 to 20

water column anomalies associated with hydrothermal activity in the guaymas basin gulf of california abstract sea floor hydrothermal activity in the guaymas basin gulf of california is quite different from that associated with ridge crest spreading centers injection of hydrothermal fluids occurs in the bottom of a semi enclosed basin and water column anomalies produced by this activity increase to much higher values than in the open ocean in the guaymas basin the hydrothermal venting generates large clouds of fine suspended particulate matter spm 100 300 m above active mounds and chimneys these hydrothermal clouds have potential temperature anomalies of about 0 010 0 020 c are enriched in dissolved silica particulate manganese and depleted in dissolved oxygen relative to areas away from the vents the particulate manganese values increase from about 3 nmol kg at 1000 m well above the enclosing topography of the subsill basin to 100 150 nmol kg in the clouds of spm and in the bottom nepheloid layer the particulate mn in the hydrothermal clouds appears to originate from both direct precipitation of dissolved mn2 injected by the vents and entrainment of mn rich spm in the rising hydrothermal plumes injection of silica rich vent fluids into the basin bottom waters produces a silica anomaly of 10 15 mol relative to the other deep basins of the gulf of california spillover of guaymas basin deep water produces a silica plume just above the basin sill depth which is detectable to the mouth of the gulf a simple two endmember mixing model indicates that the deep waters of the guaymas basin contain approximately 0 1 hydrothermal fluid oxygen anomalies associated with the hydrothermal clouds are on the order of 5 mol relative to regions away from active vents the basin as a whole shows a depletion in oxygen of about 13 mol relative to the other deep basins of the gulf the mixing model shows that this oxygen consumption can be explained by the oxidation of dissolved sulfide and methane injected by the hydrothermal vents box models of the deep basins of the southern gulf of california indicate that the guaymas basin has a significantly higher source term for dissolved silica and sink term for dissolved oxygen than the other basins the calculated flux of hydrothermal fluids into the guaymas basin is 10 12 m3 s

the double silica maximum in the north pacific the north pacific has two vertical silica maxima the well known intermediate maximum occurs between 2000 and 2500 m with a potential density relative to 2000 dbar of 36 90 in the northeastern pacific the deep maximum which has not been observed extensively before is found at or near the ocean bottom in the northern north pacific in a narrow latitude range maps of silica on isopycnals which intersect the intermediate and bottom maxima show that the lowest silica is found in the western tropical north pacific suggesting a route for the spread of south pacific water into the deep north pacific low silica water is found along the western boundary of the north pacific with a separate broad tongue south of hawaii the highest silica on both isopycnals is in the northeast pacific a bottom maximum in the cascadia basin in the northeastern pacific can be differentiated from both open ocean maxima four sources for the vertical maxima are considered in situ dissolution of sinking particles bottom sediment dissolution hydrothermal venting and upslope advection in the northeastern pacific because not enough is known about any of these sources only rough estimates of their contributions can be made the bottom maximum is most likely to result from bottom sediment dissolution but requires a flux larger than some current direct estimates the cascadia basin bottom maximum may result from both bottom sediment dissolution and hydrothermal venting the intermediate maximum is likely to result primarily from dissolution of sinking particles there is no quantitative estimate of the effect of possible upslope advection or enhancement of bottom fluxes due to the columbia river outflow

metabasalts axial hot springs and the structure of hydrothermal systems at mid ocean ridges knowledge of the chemical transfer and mineralogical transformations that occur when sea water reacts with basalt at elevated temperatures and pressures can be used along with geological and geophysical data to deduce the typical structure and evolutionary sequence for hydrothermal systems within the oceanic crust along the axis of a mid ocean ridge studies of metabasalt and metadiabase dredged from fault scarps along the axial valley of the mid atlantic ridge reveal consistent relationships among the bulk chemistry of the altered rocks and their secondary mineralogy mineral abundances and mineral compositions especially for chlorite these relationships can be interpreted in terms of the distribution of alteration with respect to time temperature and water rock ratio in young crust assemblages of chl ab ep act chl ab ep act qtz chl ab qtz and chl qtz are produced at successively higher effective sea water to rock ratios within the temperature range of the greenschist facies 250 to 450 c toward higher ratios chlorites tend to become more mg rich pillow basalts of layer 2 are commonly altered under these conditions by sea water on the descending rather than the ascending limb of a convection system this type of alteration which reflects moderately high water rock ratios may characteristically occur above a still partially molten magma chamber as the magma chamber solidifies and is then penetrated more pervasive alteration of the deeper part of layer 2 and of layer 3 occurs at lower water rock ratios producing solutions such as those recovered from springs on the galapagos rift and the east pacific rise at 21 n localized upwelling limbs of the convection system can produce veins filled with quartz sulfides and fe rich chlorite

flow rates in the axial hot springs of the east pacific rise 21 n implications for the heat budget and the formation of massive sulfide deposits abstract the first in situ measurements of flow rates in submarine hot springs temperatures between 275 and 350 c were made in the hot springs of the east pacific rise at 21 n during november 1981 the flow rates ranged between 0 7 and 2 4 m s we estimate that the total rates at which heat and mass are transported from the three hot spring areas obs national geographic and southwest vents are ca 2 2 108 w and 150 kg of fluid s respectively the very high rate of heat loss precludes the existence of hot springs as steady state features of the east pacific rise at 21 n we estimate that hot springs are active for a maximum of ca 40 000 years chemical and or mechanical clogging of the vents can drastically reduce the lifetime of the hot springs using a simple model of plume development 1 we calculated that less than 3 of the sulfide particles that are entrained in the hydrothermal plumes at 21 n settle from the plumes before dispersal by a lateral submarine current at a height of ca 250 m above the seafloor 2 the time that is required to form the sulfide mounds that surround the hot springs by the accumulation of sulfide particles that settle from the plumes is ca 70 85 years the current rate at which sulfide particles settle from the hydrothermal plumes and accumulate near the hot springs appears to be too small to lead to the formation of large massive sulfide deposits such as the mavrouni deposit on cyprus 3 within the time limits that are suggested by our thermal energy balance calculations

a 6 year time series of hydrothermal plumes over the cleft segment of the juan de fuca ridge the causal links between magmatic tectonic processes and hydrothermal venting along the mid ocean ridge axis will be difficult to discern without broadband observations of the temporal variability of hydrothermal activity i report here on temporal variability in the intensity and distribution of chronic and event plumes generated by continuous and episodic hydrothermal discharge at two vent fields on the cleft segment of the juan de fuca ridge hydrothermal temperature and light attenuation c anomalies were comprehensively mapped between 1 and 4 times per year during nine cruises from 1986 to 1991 intensity of and c in the chronic plume overlying the north cleft vent field showed more variability between years than within a given year both and c were exceptionally high in 1986 fell to moderate levels during 1988 to 1990 and declined to minimum values in 1991 the chronic plume over the south cleft vent field varied similarly superimposed on the chronic plumes were brief and intense releases of hydrothermal fluid that created event plumes distinguishable by their symmetry and exceptional rise height event plumes at the north cleft field ranged from the 1986 megaplume with a rise height exceeding 1000 m to smaller events in 1987 and 1989 with rise heights of 400 m chronic hydrothermal heat 660 277 1 mw and mass 204 86 1 g s 1 fluxes from the north cleft field were determined by assuming these fluxes were equivalent to the long term net advection of a mean cross section of the vertically integrated and c in the plume this 6 year history of hydrothermal plumes indicates that episodic discharge has been an important component of the recent hydrothermal flux and that the aggregate heat and mass fluxes declined significantly though not consistently between 1986 and 1991

transport and release of transition elements during early diagenesis sequential leaching of sediments from manop sites m and h part i ph 5 acetic acid leach sediments from manop sites m and h in the eastern tropical pacific ocean can be partitioned into operationally defined phases by means of a sequential leach procedure this paper reports the results of the first leach in the sequence an acetic acid solution buffered as p h 5 with sodium acetate this leach is designed to remove carbonate bound and sorbed cations the only cation bound in a consistent ratio to calcium in the carbonate is strontium the molar ratio is 2 10 3 in contrast transition metals are sorbed onto the surfaces of other sedimentary particles the proportions sorbed range from 2 to 10 of the total manganese about 10 of the total nickel and copper and less than 1 of the total iron the pool of sorbed metals in surface sediments is sufficiently large and the rate of biological stirring is sufficiently rapid for this metal reservoir potentially to dominate the porewater reservoir in supplying metals to ferromanganese nodules a simple model for nodule growth based upon transfer of metals through this reservoir suggests that only 1 of the sedimentary sorbed metals within a radius of 2 to 9 cm is required to support typical nodule growth rates

gradients in the composition of hydrothermal fluids from the endeavour segment vent field phase separation and brine loss hydrothermal fluid samples collected in 1984 1987 and 1988 from a large vent field near 47 57 n on the endeavour segment of the juan de fuca ridge jfr have been analyzed for major and minor elements and gases there are of the order of 100 individual smoker vents on 10 large sulfide structures which are localized along faults and fault intersections across the vent field each sulfide structure has a characteristic fluid composition which varies very little from one vent orifice to the next or from year to year on a given structure however there are large gradients in fluid composition across the vent field with endmember chlorinity increasing from 255 mmol kg in the sw to 505 mmol kg in the ne end member concentrations of major elements are well correlated with chlorinity and endmember volatile concentrations in the lowest chlorinity fluids are approximately twice as high as in the highest chlorinity fluids the gradients in composition across the vent field and measured vent fluid temperatures 400 c are consistent with supercritical phase separation and loss of brine phase below the seafloor the factor of 2 variation in co2 and h2s is larger than expected for loss of a very high chlorinity brine concentrations of iron and manganese are not positively correlated with chlorinity suggesting that temperature and ph are more important in controlling metal solubility elevated ammonia and bromide chloride ratios indicate that there has been subseafloor interaction between the hydrothermal fluids and organic matter and high boron concentrations point to a sedimentary source

the effect of hydrothermal processes on midwater phosphorus distributions in the northeast pacific abstract the distributions of dissolved particulate and sedimentary phosphorus were measured in the region of the juan de fuca ridge to determine the impacts of hydrothermal processes on the phosphorus cycle in the oceans significant negative dissolved phosphate anomalies ranging from 0 to 60 nmol l were observed in the water column at depths between 1900 and 2300 db the largest anomalies

geochemistry of coeval marine sediments in mediterranean odp cores and a land section implications for sapropel formation models abstract the geochemistry of eastern mediterranean sediments from the early pleistocene insolation cycle i 156 was studied in the vrica land section calabria italy and in odp sites 967 eratosthenes seamount and 969 mediterranean ridge the odp sediments are rich in carbonates and contain a sapropel with up to 20 organic carbon whereas the vrica sediments are rich in clays and contain a laminite with up to 1 organic carbon processes that affect land sections but not odp sediments partly account for these differences more desiccation and compaction of the land sections resulted in higher dry bulk densities subsurface weathering caused oxidation in sediments surrounding porous ash layers resulting in lower organic carbon and total nitrogen contents and lower c n ratios and organic carbon isotopic values around those ash layers subaerial weathering only resulted in further desiccation and higher na and k contents at the outcrop surface because of evaporation other geochemical differences between the odp cores and the land section are interpreted in terms of different settings the vrica sediments have been deposited closer to land in shallower water with a higher sedimentation rate and in a more western part of the mediterranean than the investigated odp sediments thus aluminium contents and organic carbon accumulation rates are higher terrestrial and redox sensitive element to aluminium ratios as well as barium contents are lower and organic carbon isotopic values are more negative in the sediments of vrica than in the odp cores the formation of a laminite enriched in organic carbon at vrica versus laminated sapropels at the odp sites can however be explained by one model combining both higher productivity and better preservation during precession minima the occurrence of an interval enriched in organic carbon around the anoxic laminite provides support for the hypothesis that anoxia is caused when a certain productivity threshold is exceeded the inferred duration of the laminite is shorter than that of the sapropels indicating that anoxia may have lasted longer in deep water or in more eastern parts of the eastern mediterranean than in shallow environments or in the western part of the eastern mediterranean this investigation shows that marine sediments in land sections may be directly comparable with their equivalents in marine cores this presented comparison of organic rich sediments in the well constrained setting of the mediterranean neogene will enhance our understanding of older black shales in marine cores and land sections

hydrothermal scavenging at the mid atlantic ridge modification of trace element dissolved fluxes abstract we have carried out an icp ms study of the distributions of trace elements fe ca mg al mn cu zn v as cr co pb y mo ag sn cd and be in particulate material collected from the tag hydrothermal plume 26 n mid atlantic ridge to examine the extent to which fluxes of dissolved trace elements emitted from hydrothermal vent fluids are balanced by the precipitation of associated particulate phases comparison of particulate trace element distributions with particulate fe concentrations within the neutrally buoyant plume reveals that the distribution of trace elements within the plume is controlled by the following processes i co precipitation from vent fluids ii scavenging from seawater and iii preferential settling from the plume and oxidative dissolution within the water column for y and be continuous scavenging from seawater appears to be important whereas for v as and cr it appears that conditions suitable for uptake into particles may be restricted to the buoyant portion of the hydrothermal plume from a comparison of trace element fe ratios in the particles and associated mid atlantic ridge vent fluids it appears that for many elements e g cu co ag pb al cd be and zn the flux of dissolved material from vent fluids is matched closely by the precipitation of hydrothermal particulate phases of the various elements studied here hydrothermal activity only appears to act as a significant source for dissolved ca and dissolved mn

plume dispersed hydrothermal particles a time series record of settling flux from the endeavour ridge using moored sensors abstract settling particles collected with moored sediment traps near an area of active hydrothermal venting in the northeast pacific ocean provide information about the deep sea distribution of hydrothermal material results of an 8 day near field single trap experiment and a 340 day multi instrument 5 trap deployment two kilometers from the endeavour ridge vent field show variability in the quantity and composition of the plume to sediment particle flux over time with depth and with distance from the vent field hydrothermal elemental fluxes vary by a factor of two among the four sampling intervals of the longer experiment a factor of three variation in fe s among these periods reflects temporal changes in phase composition changes in flux with depth for example a 200 fold increase in cu and zn between above and below plume traps are evidence of hydrothermal input comparison of fluxes determined in the near and far field experiments reveals the spatial influence of vent effluent near field particle flux exceeds that measured two kilometers away by a factor of 10 to 20 and is relatively enriched in fe cu and organic carbon but depleted in mn calculations of the residence time of the plume with respect to settling indicate that more than 90 percent of the particulate material is transported farther than two kilometers from the vent field interpretation of elemental mineralogical and grain size analyses suggest that chemical precipitation kinetics other physical and biological particle forming processes changes in vent output and lateral transport of hydrothermal material by abyssal currents are tenable explanations for our observations our findings suggest that these rate interdependent processes be included in realistic models of hydrothermal particle flux

growth of large sulfide structures on the endeavour segment of the juan de fuca ridge abstract mapping and sampling with dsrv alvin has established that sulfide blocks 0 5 m across dredged from the axial valley of the endeavour segment at 47 57 n are samples of unusually large sulfide structures the steep sided structures up to 30 m in length 20 m in height and 10 15 m across are localized by venting along normal faults at the base of the western axial valley wall and are distributed for about 200 m along strike paralleling the 020 trend of the ridge crest high temperature fluids 350 to more than 400 c pass through the massive sulfide structures and enter seawater through small concentric nozzle like features projecting from the top or the sides of the larger vent structures diffuse low temperature flow is pervasive in the vicinity of the active sulfide structures exiting from basalt and sulfide surfaces alike evidence of recent volcanic activity is sparse the two largest samples taken with the dredge would not have been recoverable using the submersible these samples represent massive complex portions of the sulfide structures which were not closely associated with rapid high temperature fluid flow at the time of sampling they contain textural evidence of sealed hydrothermal fluid exit channels mineralogy is dominated by fe sulfides nnd amorphous silica pyrite marcasite wurtzite chalcopyrite and iss are the most common sulfide phases pyrrhotite galena and sphalerite are present in trace amounts barite amorphous silica and chalcedony are the only non sulfide phases anhydrite is not observed in any of the dredge samples although it is common in the chimney like samples recovered by alvin specific mineralogical textural zones within the dredge samples are anaoogous to individual layers in east pacific rise at 21 n and southern juan de fuca ridge samples with two exceptions a coarse grained highly porous fe sulfide rich interior containing sulfidized tubeworm casts and a 2 5 cm thick zone near the outer margin of the samples dominated by late stage amorphous silica the porous interior may have formed by dendritic crystal growth from a slowly circulating fluid within a large enclosed chamber the amorphous silica deposited from a seawater hydrothermal fluid mixture percolating slowly through the walls of the enclosed chamber conductive cooling of the fluid as it traversed the walls allowed amorphous silica to precipitate these silica rich zones are the densest most durable portions of the structures and may be responsible for the lasting stability of the large sulfide features observations in these samples are consistent with two distinct phases of development phase 1 is analogous to chimney growth and construction at 21 n and ends when flow channels become sealed to rapid flow of through going fluid the flow is evidently redirected within the structure phase 2 includes dissolution of anhydrite and precipitation of amorphous silica during conductive cooling of sluggishly circulating hydrothermal fluid or seawater hydrothermal fluid mixtures evolution of vent structures through phase 2 allows lateral and vertical growth of unusually large structures

chemistry of hydrothermal solutions from the southern juan de fuca ridge fluids from three vent fields on the southern juan de fuca ridge were sampled in september 1984 using the dsrv alvin the fluids are uniquely high in both chloride which ranges up to twice the seawater value and in metal content simple vapor liquid phase separation could not have produced both the high chlorinity and gas concentrations observed in these fluids the cause of the elevated chlorinity can not be uniquely identified but may be the result of either or a combination of two processes 1 subsurface formation of a degassed brine and subsequent mixing of a small amount of this brine with a hydrothermal seawater which has not undergone a phase separation and 2 dissolution of a chloride rich phase combined with a possible small loss of gas during sampling procedures although measured temperatures were all less than 300 sup 0 c quartz geothermometry suggests that the fluids have equilibrated at greater than 340 sup 0 c quartz geobarometry is also in agreement with geophysical estimates of depth to the local magma chamber copyright american geophysical union 1987

submarine venting of phase separated hydrothermal fluids at axial volcano juan de fuca ridge since the discovery of high temperature venting on the east pacific rise in 19791 it has been expected2 3 because of the physical properties of sea water at pressures and temperatures encountered during submarine hydrothermal circulation4 5 that phase separated fluids would discharge from ridgecrest vents although this notion is supported by the reported large deviations in vent fluid chlorinity relative to that of sea water 40 200 6 7 by observations of venting at p t conditions clearly within the two phase region 220 bar and 420 c 8 and by fluid inclusion data9 10 unequivocal identification11 of phase separated venting fluids has remained elusive here we report observations of chloride and metal depleted gas enriched fluids from a shallow vent field on the juan de fuca ridge which confirm the expectation that phase separated effluents are delivered to the deep ocean from some sea floor venting systems

composition and sedimentation of hydrothermal plume particles from north cleft segment juan de fuca ridge in 1990 and 1991 particles from buoyant and neutrally buoyant hydrothermal plumes above hydrothermal vents at the north cleft segment of the juan de fuca ridge were sampled to study their changing composition and fluxes away from the vent field in the rising buoyant plume 75 of the p v cr and as scavenging from seawater by hydrothermal precipitates occurs in the first 50 m above the vent cu and zn are most enriched in buoyant plume particles collected from the first few meters above the vent however the degree of enrichment decreases very rapidly with increased height above the vents due to sedimentation of the more dense cu and zn rich sulfide phases using the plume data coupled with the results of our analysis of sediment trap samples we estimated that more than 99 and 99 9 respectively of the total hydrothermal fe and mn produced at the vent field are transported beyond the vent field and dispersed in the open ocean

distribution and composition of hydrothermal plume particles from the ashes vent field at axial volcano juan de fuca ridge in 1986 and 1987 buoyant and neutrally buoyant hydrothermal plume particles from the ashes vent field within axial volcano were sampled to study their variations in composition with height above the seafloor individual mineral phases were identified using standard x ray diffraction procedures elemental composition and particle morphologies were determined by x ray fluorescence spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy x ray energy spectrometry techniques the vent particles were primarily composed of sphalerite anhydrite pyrite pyrrhotite chalcopyrite barite hydrous iron oxides and amorphous silica grain size analyses of buoyant plume particles showed rapid particle growth in the first few centimeters above the vent orifice followed by differential sedimentation of the larger sulfide and sulfate minerals out of the buoyant plume the neutrally buoyant plume consisted of a lower plume which was highly enriched in fe s zn and cu and an upper plume which was highly enriched in fe and mn the upper plume was enriched in fe and mn oxyhydroxide particles and the lower plume was enriched in suspended sulfide particles in addition to the fe and mn oxyhydroxide particles the chemical data for the water column particles indicate that chemical scavenging and differential sedimentation processes are major factors controlling the composition of the dispersing hydrothermal particles short term sediment trap experiments indicate that the fallout from the ashes vent field is not as large as some of the other vent fields on the juan de fuca ridge

the limitations of accurate thin film x ray fluorescence analysis of natural particulate matter problems and solutions abstract the limitations of thin film x ray fluorescence xrf analysis of natural particulate matter have been re examined theoretically and experimentally the degree to which elemental signal intensity is absorbed by the sample matrix far exceeds that which has been assumed in most previous field studies by means of a simplified theoretical model the magnitude of absorption effects is predicted for various elements in a variety of natural matrices the non specialist may quantify potential analytical artefacts by means of the tables graphs and equations presented here relatively simple formulae have been derived by which absorption phenomena may be calculated and corrected for even in samples characterised by a wide range of particle sizes multimodal size distributions and chemical inhomogeneity as a function of particle size the applicability of these formulae to the enhanced accuracy of coastal particulate matter analyses is discussed meaningful analyses of filtered particulate samples by xrf procedures are quite feasible the limitations of the technique however are finite and must be considered in detail matrix absorption effects although modified by various physical parameters are of sufficient magnitude to render the term thin film inappropriate to the analysis of natural particulates

dispersal patterns for hydrothermal plumes in the south pacific using manganese as a tracer abstract manganese profiles over the spreading axis of the east pacific rise epr between 22 15 s and 19 25 s disclose a series of plumes which are formed by buoyant emanations of hot hydrothermal vent fluids the plume ceilings or anomaly maxima can occur several hundred meters above the sea floor these plumes are dispersed laterally and are detectable as mid depth manganese anomalies 2000 km from the spreading axis along this section the plumes are dispersed mainly westward but at 30 s the plumes are advected eastward the asymmetrical dispersal pattern inferred from these data is coincident with the asymmetrical distribution of metalliferous sediments about the epr which suggests that plumes generated by high temperature venting play a dominant role in the formation of these sediments

geochemistry of hydrothermal fluids from axial seamount hydrothermal emissions study vent field juan de fuca ridge subseafloor boiling and subsequent fluid rock interaction hydrothermal fluids collected from the ashes vent field in 1986 1987 and 1988 exhibit a very wide range of chemical composition over a small area 60 m in diameter compositions range from a 300 c gas enriched 285 mmol kg co2 low chlorinity 33 of seawater fluid to a 328 c relatively gas depleted 50 mmol kg co2 high chlorinity 116 of seawater fluid the entire range of measured compositions at ashes is best explained by a single hydrothermal fluid undergoing phase separation while rising through the ocean crust followed by partial segregation of the vapor and brine phases other mechanisms proposed to produce chlorinity variations in hydrothermal fluids precipitation dissolution of a chloride bearing mineral or crustal hydration cannot produce the covariation of chlorinity and gas content observed at ashes there is good agreement of the measured fluid compositions with compositions generated by a simple model of phase separation in which gases are partitioned according to henry s law and all salt remains in the liquid phase significant enrichments in silica lithium and boron in the low chlorinity fluids over levels predicted by the model are attributed to fluid rock interaction in the upflow zone depletions in iron and calcium suggest that these elements have been removed by iron sulfide and anhydrite precipitation at some time in the history of the low chlorinity fluids the distribution of low and high chlorinity venting is consistent with mechanisms of phase segregation based on differential buoyancy or relative permeability the relatively shallow depth of the seafloor 1540 m and the observed chemistry of ashes fluids are consistent with phase separation in the sub critical or near critical region

hydrothermal particle plumes over the southern juan de fuca ridge hydrothermal particles originate in buoyant plumes emanating from seafloor thermal vents1 4 and accumulate as metalliferous sediments found along oceanic spreading centres5 7 observational evidence of the transport pathway of hydrothermal particles is scarce however and the structure extent and particle concentrations of hydrothermal plumes remain largely conjectural to evaluate the potential of hydrothermal plumes as particle transport agents we mapped their distribution along and across the 80 100 m deep axial valley of the southern juan de fuca ridge in the north east pacific ocean 44 30 n 130 w an area of known hydrothermal activity8 11 continuous light scattering measurements reported here defined numerous particle plumes centred 30 120 m above bottom m a b elemental analysis of the plume particles and the theta potential temperature s salinity signatures of the plume water verified their hydrothermal origin concentrations of hydrothermal particles remained elevated at ridge crest depths at least 100 km from the ridge indicating distant off axis dispersal of hydrothermal emissions

field and laboratory studies of metal uptake and release by hydrothermal precipitates data for suspended particles from hydrothermal plumes on the mid atlantic ridge mar support uptake of dissolved v and as during formation of fe oxides and release of cu and cd during alteration of sulfides to complement these field observations we carried out laboratory time series experiments to determine the stability of v as cu and cd in precipitates from hydrothermal plumes on the mar and juan de fuca ridge for v and as the metal fe ratio in plume particles remained uniform after sampling in contrast to v and as particulate cu and cd values decreased relative to fe over time in laboratory studies using both plume particles and mound derived sulfides the combined field and laboratory results show that scavenging is an important removal mechanism for seawater v and as whereas oxidative dissolution of hydrothermal precipitates in seawater adds cu and cd to the ocean

trace metals in hydrothermal solutions from cleft segment on the southern juan de fuca ridge concentrations of trace metals in fe and cl rich hydrothermal solutions from the southern juan de fuca ridge sjfr have been determined and corrected for residual precipitates formed in the sampler precipitate corrections for ag cd cu mo pb sb and zn were variable contributing an average of 20 to total solution concentrations whereas corrections for co averaged less than 5 and essentially no corrections were required for fe and mn values for cu co and mo in these solutions showed a strong dependence on temperature with sharp decreases in concentrations as temperatures decreased to less than 320 c in addition and unlike most other metals studied all vent fluids from the sjfr were almost completely depleted in mo relative to seawater values of about 110 nmol kg 1 in contrast to the cu co mo group concentrations of ag cd sb and pb correlated well with those for zn and are presumed to follow a distribution that is influenced less by temperature over the 246 to 332 c range encountered in this study and more by the combined chemical processes that control zn levels along the transport pathway from the deep reaction zone to the vent orifice

sea surface temperature anomalies planetary waves and air sea feedback in the middle latitudes the mechanisms that contribute to the generation and damping of large scale mid latitude sea surface temperature sst anomalies are discussed the sst anomalies reflect primarily the response of the upper ocean to the changes in air sea fluxes that are associated with daily weather fluctuations heat flux forcing is dominant in the lower middle latitudes while wind driven entrainment may be most effective in the high latitudes advection by anomalous ekman current is generally less important and ekman pumping is negligible the sst anomalies decay in part because of entrainment effects associated with mixed layer deepening and oceanic mixing and in part because of heat exchanges with the atmosphere the three approaches commonly used to model the evolution of sst anomalies are reviewed case studies based on monthly or seasonal anomaly maps of the large scale sst and atmospheric anomalies numerical simulations with one dimensional mixed layer models and stochastic forcing models we stress the similarities in the different approaches and discuss their main advantages and limitations the response of the atmosphere to mid latitude sst anomalies is considered first we discuss the poorly known relationship between sst anomalies and diabatic heating using a crude assumption for the air sea coupling we consider a two layer quasi geostrophic channel model and discuss the stationary wave response to sst anomaly forcing and the resulting air sea feedback it is found that the back interaction of the sst anomalies onto the atmosphere causes a weak sst anomaly damping at large scales and a strong one at small scales the air sea coupling should also act as an eastward propagator for the sst anomalies the response of more realistic linear wave models to prescribed diabatic heating is then reviewed and it is suggested that realistic mid latitude sst anomalies have a weak influence on the atmospheric circulation corresponding to changes in the geopotential height of 10 30 m at most this order of magnitude is consistent with the results of general circulation model experiments and with the limited climate predictability associated with mid latitude sst anomalies

time and space constraints on the evolution of medium rate spreading centers geologic field relationships observed in the axial valley of the southern juan de fuca ridge suggest that high effusion rate sheet flow volcanism has been active for a maximum of about 16 000 yr similar observations in the axial region of the east pacific rise near lat 21 n suggest that the duration of the pillow flow dominant phase may be 5 10 4 yr geochemical evidence from axial and off axis basalt samples from both the juan de fuca ridge and east pacific rise 21 n indicates that surficial geologic cycles of volcanism tectonism and hydrothermal activity are an expression of changes in the locus of replenishment within the magma chamber that take place with a periodicity of 10 4 10 5 yr anomalously high rates of spreading due to magmatic replenishment and inflation during the first phases of a volcanic cycle may cause the southern juan de fuca ridge to display a morphology more commonly associated with fast rate spreading centers

tracking the dispersal of hydrothermal plumes from the juan de fuca ridge using suspended matter compositions in 1988 and 1989 particles from on and off axis neutrally buoyant plumes over the juan de fuca ridge were sampled to study their changing composition with distance from the ridge crest plume depth and particle composition in off axis hydrothermal plumes were used to identify plume sources and trajectories iron and phosphorus concentrations and in particular p fe molar ratios were found to be sensitive indicators of hydrothermal phases in the suspended matter phosphorus vanadium and arsenic are scavenged from solution where dissolved iron from hydrothermal vents oxidizes in seawater and forms submicrometer sized particles of fe oxyhydroxide the p fe molar ratio 0 23 is essentially the same for vent fields along cleft and endeavour segments indicating that the scavenging processes are the same for both regions high p fe ratios are observed over the south and north cleft segment vent fields and to the west along the vance seamount chain the seamounts evidently function as a barrier bathymetrically steering the hydrothermal plumes to the west away from the ridge crest since particles from the endeavour vent field are greatly enriched in copper relative to hydrothermal plumes from other vent fields along the juan de fuca ridge copper concentrations in the plumes can be used to distinguish plume sources based on water column depth and elemental composition hydrothermal plume particles from specific vent fields on the juan de fuca ridge may be tracked as much as several tens of kilometers from their source using particle compositions