Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 188.
Diversity of Hydrothermal Systems on Slow Spreading Ocean Ridges presents a multidisciplinary overview of the remarkable emerging diversity of hydrothermal systems on slow spreading ocean ridges in the Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic oceans. When hydrothermal systems were first found on the East Pacific Rise and other Pacific Ocean ridges beginning in the late 1970s, the community consensus held that the magma delivery rate of intermediate to fast spreading was necessary to support black smoker-type high-temperature systems and associated chemosynthetic ecosystems and polymetallic sulfide deposits. Contrary to that consensus, hydrothermal systems not only occur on slow spreading ocean ridges but, as reported in this volume, are generally larger, exhibit different chemosynthetic ecosystems, produce larger mineral deposits, and occur in a much greater diversity of geologic settings than those systems in the Pacific. The full diversity of hydrothermal systems on slow spreading ocean ridges, reflected in the contributions to this volume, is only now emerging and opens an exciting new frontier for ocean ridge exploration, includingProcesses of heat and chemical transfer from the Earth's mantle and crust via slow spreading ocean ridges to the oceansThe major role of detachment faulting linking crust and mantle in hydrothermal circulationChemical reaction products of mantle involvement including serpentinization, natural hydrogen, abiotic methane, and hydrocarbon synthesisGeneration of large polymetallic sulfide deposits hosted in ocean crust and mantleChemosynthetic vent communities hosted in the diverse settings
The readership for this volume will include schools, universities, government laboratories, and scientific societies in developed and developing nations, including over 150 nations that have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
PrefacePeter A. Rona, Colin W. Devey, Jérôme Dyment, and Bramley J. Murton vii
Diversity of Hydrothermal Systems on Slow Spreading Ocean Ridges: IntroductionPeter A. Rona, Colin W. Devey, Jérôme Dyment, and Bramley J. Murton 1
Emerging Diversity of Hydrothermal Systems on Slow Spreading Ocean RidgesPeter A. Rona 5
Hydrothermal Circulation at Slow Spreading Ridges: Analysis of Heat Sources and Heat Transfer ProcessesRobert P. Lowell 11
Chemical Signatures From Hydrothermal Venting on Slow Spreading RidgesHenrietta N. Edmonds 27
The Magnetic Signature of Hydrothermal Systems in Slow Spreading EnvironmentsMaurice A. Tivey and Jérôme Dyment 43
Hydrothermal Activity at the Arctic Mid-Ocean RidgesRolf B. Pedersen, Ingunn H. Thorseth, Tor Eivind Nygård, Marvin D. Lilley, and Deborah S. Kelley 67
Implications of the Iceland Deep Drilling Project for Improving Understanding of Hydrothermal Processes at Slow Spreading Mid-Ocean RidgesWilfred A. Elders and Guðmundur Ómar Friðleifsson 91
Crustal Structure, Magma Chamber, and Faulting Beneath the Lucky Strike Hydrothermal Vent FieldWayne C. Crawford, Satish C. Singh, Tim Seher, Violaine Combier, Doga Dusunur, and Mathilde Cannat 113
The Relationships Between Volcanism, Tectonism, and Hydrothermal Activity on the Southern Equatorial Mid-Atlantic RidgeC. W. Devey, C. R. German, K. M. Haase, K. S. Lackschewitz, B. Melchert, and D. P. Connelly 133
The Ultraslow Spreading Southwest Indian RidgeDaniel Sauter and Mathilde Cannat 153
Deformation and Alteration Associated With Oceanic and Continental Detachment Fault Systems: Are They Similar?Barbara E. John and Michael J. Cheadle 175
Detachment Fault Control on Hydrothermal Circulation Systems: Interpreting the Subsurface Beneath the TAG Hydrothermal Field Using the Isotopic and Geological Evolution of Oceanic Core Complexes in the AtlanticAndrew M. McCaig, Adélie Delacour, Anthony E. Fallick, Teddy Castelain, and Gretchen L. Früh-Green 207
Serpentinization and Associated Hydrogen and Methane Fluxes at Slow Spreading RidgesMathilde Cannat, Fabrice Fontaine, and Javier Escartín 241
High Production and Fluxes of H2 and CH4 and Evidence of Abiotic Hydrocarbon Synthesis by Serpentinization in Ultramafic-Hosted Hydrothermal Systems on the Mid-Atlantic RidgeJean Luc Charlou, Jean Pierre Donval, Cécile Konn, Hélène Ondréas, Yves Fouquet, Philippe Jean-Baptiste, and Elise Fourré 265
Phase Equilibria Controls on the Chemistry of Vent Fluids From Hydrothermal Systems on Slow Spreading Ridges: Reactivity of Plagioclase and Olivine Solid Solutions and the pH-Silica ConnectionW. E. Seyfried Jr., Nicholas Pester, and Qi Fu 297
Geodiversity of Hydrothermal Processes Along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Ultramafic-Hosted Mineralization: A New Type of Oceanic Cu-Zn-Co-Au Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide DepositYves Fouquet, Pierre Cambon, Joël Etoubleau, Jean Luc Charlou, Hélène Ondréas, Fernando J. A. S. Barriga, Georgy Cherkashov, Tatiana Semkova, Irina Poroshina, M. Bohn, Jean Pierre Donval, Katell Henry, Pamela Murphy, and Olivier Rouxel 321
Hydrothermal Systems: A Decade of Discovery in Slow Spreading EnvironmentsDeborah S. Kelley and Timothy M. Shank 369
Chemosynthetic Communities and Biogeochemical Energy Pathways Along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: The Case of Bathymodiolus AzoricusN. Le Bris and S. Duperron 409
Index 431
