Preeruptive flow focussing in dikes feeding historical pillow ridges on the Juan de Fuca and Gorda Ridges

Linear, hummocky pillow mound volcanism dominates at slow and intermediate spreading rate mid-ocean ridges. Volcanic hummocks are thought to be formed by low effusion rates or as a result of flow focussing during effusive fissure style eruptions in which the initial dike intercepts the seafloor and erupts along its entire length. In this study, high-resolution autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) bathymetry is used to accurately map the extents of four historical fissure eruptions of the Juan de Fuca and Gorda ridges: on the North Gorda, North Cleft, and CoAxial ridge segments. The four mapped eruptions take the form of pillow mounds, which are similar in both lithology and dimension to hummocks on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Pillow mounds may be isolated, or coalesce to form composite mounds, aligned as ridges or as clustered groups. In three of the four mapped sites, the eruptions were discontinuous along their lengths, with pillow mounds and composite mounds commonly separated by areas of older seafloor. This style of discontinuous eruption is inconsistent with typical en echelon fissure eruptions and is probably due to a mildly overpressured, fingering dike intersecting the seafloor along parts of its length

Hydrothermal Activity and Seismicity at Teahitia Seamount: Reactivation of the Society Islands Hotspot?

Along mid-ocean ridges, submarine venting has been found at all spreading rates and in every ocean basin. By contrast, intraplate hydrothermal activity has only been reported from five locations, worldwide. Here we extend the time series at one of those sites, Teahitia Seamount, which was first shown to be hydrothermally active in 1983 but had not been revisited since 1999. Previously, submersible investigations had led to the discovery of low-temperature (≤30°C) venting associated with the summit of Teahitia Seamount at ≤1500 m. In December 2013 we returned to the same site at the culmination of the US GEOTRACES Eastern South Tropical Pacific (GP16) transect and found evidence for ongoing venting in the form of a non-buoyant hydrothermal plume at a depth of 1400 m. Multi-beam mapping revealed the same composite volcano morphology described previously for Teahitia including four prominent cones. The plume overlying the summit showed distinct in situ optical backscatter and redox anomalies, coupled with high concentrations of total dissolvable Fe (≤186 nmol/L) and Mn (≤33 nmol/L) that are all diagnostic of venting at the underlying seafloor. Continuous seismic records from 1986-present reveal a ∼15 year period of quiescence at Teahitia, following the seismic crisis that first stimulated its submersible-led investigation. Since 2007, however, the frequency of seismicity at Teahitia, coupled with the low magnitude of those events, are suggestive of magmatic reactivation. Separately, distinct seismicity at the adjacent Rocard seamount has also been attributed to submarine extrusive volcanism in 2011 and in 2013. Theoretical modeling of the hydrothermal plume signals detected suggest a minimum heat flux of 10 MW at the summit of Teahitia. Those model simulations can only be sourced from an area of low-temperature venting such as that originally reported from Teahitia if the temperature of the fluids exiting the seabed has increased significantly, from ≤30°C to ∼70°C. These model seafloor temperatures and our direct plume observations are both consistent with reports from Loihi Seamount, Hawaii, ∼10 year following an episode of seafloor volcanism. We hypothesize that the Society Islands hotspot may be undergoing a similar episode of both magmatic and hydrothermal reactivation

Structural control, evolution, and accumulation rates of massive sulfides in the TAG hydrothermal field

The Trans‐Atlantic Geotraverse (TAG) hydrothermal field on the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge is one of the best‐studied hydrothermal systems to date. However, high‐resolution bathymetric data obtained in 2016 by an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) reveal new information about the distribution of active and inactive hydrothermal deposits, and their relation to structural features. The discovery of previously undocumented inactive vent sites contributes to a better understanding of the accumulation rates and the resource potential of seafloor massive sulfide deposits at slow‐spreading ridges. The interpretation of ship‐based and high‐resolution AUV‐based data sets allowed for the determination of the main tectonic stress regimes that have a first‐order control on the location and distribution of past and present hydrothermal activity. The data reveal the importance of cross‐cutting lineament populations and temporal variations in the prevalent stress regime. A dozen sulfide mounds contribute to a substantial accumulation of hydrothermal material (~29 Mt). The accumulation rate of ~1,500 t/yr is comparable to those of other modern seafloor vent fields. However, our observations suggest that the TAG segment is different from many other slow‐spreading ridge segments in its tectonic complexity, which confines sulfide formation into a relatively small area and is responsible for the longevity of the hydrothermal system and substantial mineral accumulation. The inactive and weakly active mounds contain almost 10 times the amount of material as the active high‐temperature mound, providing an important indication of the global resource potential for inactive seafloor massive sulfide deposits

AUV Abyss workflow: autonomous deep sea exploration for ocean research

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) equipped with multibeam echosounders (MBES) are essential for collecting high-resolution bathymetric data in the deep sea. Navigation of AUVs and accuracy of acquired MBES data is challenging, especially in deep water or rough terrain. Here, we present the AUV Abyss operational workflow that uses mission planning together with a long baseline (LBL) positioning network, and systematic post-processing of the MBES data using feature matching. The workflow enables autonomous exploration even in difficult terrain, makes ultrashort baseline navigation during the AUV survey obsolete and with this, increases the efficiency of ship time. It provides an efficient workflow for multi-survey mapping campaigns to produce high-resolution, large-coverage seafloor maps. Automated documentation of post-processing steps enhances the archiving of produced results, facilitates knowledge transfer, adaptation to other systems and management of large datasets. Comprehensive documentation allows developing routines that provide a first step towards automatization of AUV operations and MBES data processing

Multidisciplinary scientific cruise to the Rio Grande Rise

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Hydrothermal activity in Tertiary Icelandic crust: Implications for cooling processes along slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges

Known hydrothermal activity along the Mid–Atlantic Ridge is mostly high–temperature venting, controlled by volcano–tectonic processes confined to ridge axes and neotectonic zones ~15km wide on each side of the axis (e.g. TAG or Snake Pit). However, extensive exploration and discoveries of new hydrothermal fields in off–axis regions (e.g. Lost City, MAR) show that hydrothermalism may, in some areas, be dominated by off–axis venting. Little is known about nature of such systems, including whether low–temperature “diffuse” venting dominates rather than high–temperature black-smokers. This is particularly interesting since such systems may transport up to 90% of the hydrothermal heat to the oceans. In this study we use Icelandic hot springs as onshore analogues for off–shore hydrothermal activity along the MAR to better understand volcano-tectonic controls on their occurrence, along with processes supporting fluid circulation. Iceland is a unique laboratory to study how new oceanic crust cools and suggests that old crust may not be as inactive as previously thought. Our results show that Tertiary (>3.3 Myr) crust of Iceland (Westfjords) has widespread low–temperature hydrothermal activity. Lack of tectonism (indicated by lack of seismicity), along with field research suggest that faults in Westfjords are no longer active and that once sealed, can no longer support hydrothermal circulation, i.e. none of the hot springs in the area occur along faults. Instead, dyke margins provide open and permeable fluid migration pathways. Furthermore, we suggest that the Reykjanes Ridge (south of Iceland) may be similar to Westfjords with hydrothermalism dominated by off–axis venting. Using bathymetric data we infer dyke positions and suggest potential sites for future exploration located away from neotectonic zone. We also emphasise the importance of biological observations in seeking for low-temperature hydrothermal activity, since chemical or optical methods are not sufficient

Young Volcanism on 20 Million Year Old Seafloor: The DISCOL Area, Nazca Plate

Volcanism in the ocean basins is traditionally assumed to occur only at the plate margins (mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones, possibly also transform boundaries) and areas of intraplate hotspot activity related to thermal plumes in the mantle. As a result, abyssal areas away from hotspots are seldom explored systematically for signs of volcanism and are generally regarded as volcanically "dead". Here we present serendipitous results from the Peru Basin, a site of Mn-nodule accumulation which was targetted in 1989 for a large-scale disturbance experiment (the DISCOL experiment) to simulate the effects of seabed nodule mining. The area is truly intraplate - it is 700 km from the south American subduction zone or the Galapagos Islands and 2000 km from the East Pacific Rise. A return trip to DISCOL in 2015 to assess the extent of environmental recovery also included a remotely-operated underwater vehicle (ROV) dive on a small (300m high) seamount adjacent to the Mn-nodule field. ROV video records show the seamount is generally heavily sedimented but has a small (100x150m) pillow mound and an area of indurated calcareous sediments apparently cut by basaltic dykes near its summit. The summit is also cut by N-S and E-W-trending faults, some with up to 20m of throw, whose scarps expose thick sedimentary sequences. The virtual absence of sediment covering the pillows or dyke outcrops suggest that they are very recent - the thick sediment pile exposed on the fault scarps suggests that they were erupted on top of an old seamount. Regionally, acoustic data (bathymetry and backscatter from the ship-mounted multibeam system) shows several other seamounts in the region which may have experienced recent volcanic activity, although no sign of a linear volcanic chain is seen. Taken together, these observations suggest that, even at age 20Ma, the Nazca Plate is volcanically active