Feely, R. A., Trefry, J. H., Lebon, G. T., and German, C. R., 1998.
The relationship between P/Fe and V/Fe ratios in hydrothermal
precipitates and dissolved phosphate in seawater. Geophysical
Research Letters, 25, 2253–2256.
German, C. R., and Von Damm, K. L., 2003. Hydrothermal processes. In Elderfield, H. (ed.), The Oceans and Marine Geochemistry, Vol. 6 Treatise on Geochemistry (eds. Holland, H. D., and
Turekian, K. K.). Oxford: Elsevier-Pergamon, pp. 181–222.
German, C. R., Yoerger, D. R., Jakuba, M., Shank, T. M., Langmuir,
C. H., and Nakamura, K., 2008. Hydrothermal exploration with
the Autonomous Benthic Explorer. Deep-Sea Research I, 55,
203–219.
Humphris, S., Zierenberg, R., Mullineaux, L. S., and Thomson,
R. (eds.), 1995. Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems: Physical,
Chemical, Biological, and Geological Interactions. Washington,
DC: American Geophysical Union. Geophysical Monograph
Series, Vol. 91.
Lavelle, J. W., 1995. The initial rise of a hydrothermal plume from
a line segment source – results from a three-dimensional numerical model. Geophysical Research Letters, 22, 159–162.
Lupton, J. E., Weiss, R. F., and Craig, H., 1977. Mantle helium in
hydrothermal plumes in the Galapagos Rift. Nature, 267,
603–604.
Lupton, J. E., Pyle, D. G., Jenkins, W. J., Greene, R., and Evans, L.,
2003. Evidence for an extensive hydrothermal plume in the
Tonga-Fiji region of the south Pacific. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 5, Q01003, doi:10.1029/2003GC000607.
Morton, B. R., Taylor, G. I., and Turner, J. S., 1956. Turbulent gravitational convection from maintained and instantaneous sources.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A234, 1–23.
Ramondenc, P., Germanovich, L. N., Von Damm, K. L., and Lowell, R. P., 2006. The first measurements of hydrothermal heat
output at 9
50
0 N, East Pacific Rise. Earth and Planetary Science
Letters, 245, 487–497.
Rosenberg, N. D., Lupton, J. E., Kadko, D., Collier, R., Lilley, M.,
and Pak, H., 1988. A geochemical method for estimating the heat
and mass flux from a seafloor hydrothermal system. Nature, 334,
604–607.
Rudnicki, M. D., and Elderfield, H., 1993. A chemical model of the
buoyant and neutrally buoyant plume above the TAG vent field,
26
N, Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta,
57, 2939–2957.
Speer, K. G., and Rona, P. A., 1989. A model of an Atlantic and
Pacific hydrothermal plume. Journal of Geophysical Research,
94, 6213–6220.
Thomson, R. E., Delaney, J. R., McDuff, R. E., Janecky, D. R., and
McClain, J. S., 1992. Physical characteristics of the Endeavour
Ridge hydrothermal plume during July 1988. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 111, 141–154.
Weiss, R. F., Lonsdale, P., Lupton, J. E., Bainbridge, A. E., and
Craig, H., 1977. Hydrothermal plumes in the Galapagos Rift.
Nature, 267, 600–602.
Cross-references
Black and White Smokers
Explosive Volcanism in the Deep Sea
Hot Spots and Mantle Plumes
Hydrothermal Vent Fluids (Seafloor)
Hydrothermalism
Mid-Ocean Ridge Magmatism and Volcanism
Oceanic Spreading Centers
Submarine Lava Types
Volcanogenic Massive Sulfides
HYDROTHERMAL VENT FLUIDS (SEAFLOOR)
Andrea Koschinsky
Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Engineering
& Science, Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany
Synonyms
Black-smoker fluids; Hydrothermal solutions; Seafloor
hot springs
Definition
Hydrothermal vent fluid (seafloor): a hot (up to >400
C)
aqueous solution discharging at the seafloor that typically
originates from the reaction of seawater with oceanic crust
under high-temperature high-pressure conditions, leading
to enrichments in dissolved components such as metals
and gases. Hydrothermal vent fluids may also originate
from discharges of magma-derived waters from beneath
submarine volcanoes, which typically mix with seawater
or other vent fluids prior to venting.
Introduction
Hydrothermal fluids on the seafloor typically form by circulation of seawater in fractured oceanic crust at volcanically active sites in the ocean (Figure 1) (Von Damm,
1995; German and Seyfried, 2014). These places include
mid-ocean ridges, back-arc spreading centers, and
hot-spot or arc-related submarine volcanoes. Circulating
seawater is heated by a heat source such as a magma
chamber or associated hot rock and, during heating and
chemical reaction with the surrounding rock, undergoes
a suite of chemical modifications. These include acidification, leaching of major and trace components (including
trace metals such as copper, zinc, and gold) from the rock,
precipitation of specific mineral phases, and redox reactions including the formation of reduced gases such as
methane, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen. In the reaction
zone in the subsurface, the fluids can reach temperatures
of several hundred degrees Celsius, which makes them
very buoyant. Furthermore, if fluid temperatures reach
the boiling point under the respective pressure conditions
during their circulation and ascent back to the seafloor,
the fluids can boil and phase-separate into a vapor phase
and a residual brine phase. This process is a major cause
of salinity variations in vent fluids. After ascent the hot,
low pH, and reduced fluids discharge at the seafloor
through larger channels or finer cracks, reacting with the
cold seawater and forming hot (up to >400
C) focused
black-smoker fluids and, in most cases, sulfide edifices
or “chimneys.” Mixing with seawater and the associated
cooling and chemical changes induce the precipitation of
sulfide minerals either forming sulfide structures or “black
smoke” particles. When the fluid is cooled or diluted
deeper in the subsurface prior to discharging at the seafloor, diffuse and translucent fluid emissions at lower
HYDROTHERMAL VENT FLUIDS (SEAFLOOR)
339
The relationship between P/Fe and V/Fe ratios in hydrothermal
precipitates and dissolved phosphate in seawater. Geophysical
Research Letters, 25, 2253–2256.
German, C. R., and Von Damm, K. L., 2003. Hydrothermal processes. In Elderfield, H. (ed.), The Oceans and Marine Geochemistry, Vol. 6 Treatise on Geochemistry (eds. Holland, H. D., and
Turekian, K. K.). Oxford: Elsevier-Pergamon, pp. 181–222.
German, C. R., Yoerger, D. R., Jakuba, M., Shank, T. M., Langmuir,
C. H., and Nakamura, K., 2008. Hydrothermal exploration with
the Autonomous Benthic Explorer. Deep-Sea Research I, 55,
203–219.
Humphris, S., Zierenberg, R., Mullineaux, L. S., and Thomson,
R. (eds.), 1995. Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems: Physical,
Chemical, Biological, and Geological Interactions. Washington,
DC: American Geophysical Union. Geophysical Monograph
Series, Vol. 91.
Lavelle, J. W., 1995. The initial rise of a hydrothermal plume from
a line segment source – results from a three-dimensional numerical model. Geophysical Research Letters, 22, 159–162.
Lupton, J. E., Weiss, R. F., and Craig, H., 1977. Mantle helium in
hydrothermal plumes in the Galapagos Rift. Nature, 267,
603–604.
Lupton, J. E., Pyle, D. G., Jenkins, W. J., Greene, R., and Evans, L.,
2003. Evidence for an extensive hydrothermal plume in the
Tonga-Fiji region of the south Pacific. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 5, Q01003, doi:10.1029/2003GC000607.
Morton, B. R., Taylor, G. I., and Turner, J. S., 1956. Turbulent gravitational convection from maintained and instantaneous sources.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A234, 1–23.
Ramondenc, P., Germanovich, L. N., Von Damm, K. L., and Lowell, R. P., 2006. The first measurements of hydrothermal heat
output at 9
50
0 N, East Pacific Rise. Earth and Planetary Science
Letters, 245, 487–497.
Rosenberg, N. D., Lupton, J. E., Kadko, D., Collier, R., Lilley, M.,
and Pak, H., 1988. A geochemical method for estimating the heat
and mass flux from a seafloor hydrothermal system. Nature, 334,
604–607.
Rudnicki, M. D., and Elderfield, H., 1993. A chemical model of the
buoyant and neutrally buoyant plume above the TAG vent field,
26
N, Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta,
57, 2939–2957.
Speer, K. G., and Rona, P. A., 1989. A model of an Atlantic and
Pacific hydrothermal plume. Journal of Geophysical Research,
94, 6213–6220.
Thomson, R. E., Delaney, J. R., McDuff, R. E., Janecky, D. R., and
McClain, J. S., 1992. Physical characteristics of the Endeavour
Ridge hydrothermal plume during July 1988. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 111, 141–154.
Weiss, R. F., Lonsdale, P., Lupton, J. E., Bainbridge, A. E., and
Craig, H., 1977. Hydrothermal plumes in the Galapagos Rift.
Nature, 267, 600–602.
Cross-references
Black and White Smokers
Explosive Volcanism in the Deep Sea
Hot Spots and Mantle Plumes
Hydrothermal Vent Fluids (Seafloor)
Hydrothermalism
Mid-Ocean Ridge Magmatism and Volcanism
Oceanic Spreading Centers
Submarine Lava Types
Volcanogenic Massive Sulfides
HYDROTHERMAL VENT FLUIDS (SEAFLOOR)
Andrea Koschinsky
Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Engineering
& Science, Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany
Synonyms
Black-smoker fluids; Hydrothermal solutions; Seafloor
hot springs
Definition
Hydrothermal vent fluid (seafloor): a hot (up to >400
C)
aqueous solution discharging at the seafloor that typically
originates from the reaction of seawater with oceanic crust
under high-temperature high-pressure conditions, leading
to enrichments in dissolved components such as metals
and gases. Hydrothermal vent fluids may also originate
from discharges of magma-derived waters from beneath
submarine volcanoes, which typically mix with seawater
or other vent fluids prior to venting.
Introduction
Hydrothermal fluids on the seafloor typically form by circulation of seawater in fractured oceanic crust at volcanically active sites in the ocean (Figure 1) (Von Damm,
1995; German and Seyfried, 2014). These places include
mid-ocean ridges, back-arc spreading centers, and
hot-spot or arc-related submarine volcanoes. Circulating
seawater is heated by a heat source such as a magma
chamber or associated hot rock and, during heating and
chemical reaction with the surrounding rock, undergoes
a suite of chemical modifications. These include acidification, leaching of major and trace components (including
trace metals such as copper, zinc, and gold) from the rock,
precipitation of specific mineral phases, and redox reactions including the formation of reduced gases such as
methane, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen. In the reaction
zone in the subsurface, the fluids can reach temperatures
of several hundred degrees Celsius, which makes them
very buoyant. Furthermore, if fluid temperatures reach
the boiling point under the respective pressure conditions
during their circulation and ascent back to the seafloor,
the fluids can boil and phase-separate into a vapor phase
and a residual brine phase. This process is a major cause
of salinity variations in vent fluids. After ascent the hot,
low pH, and reduced fluids discharge at the seafloor
through larger channels or finer cracks, reacting with the
cold seawater and forming hot (up to >400
C) focused
black-smoker fluids and, in most cases, sulfide edifices
or “chimneys.” Mixing with seawater and the associated
cooling and chemical changes induce the precipitation of
sulfide minerals either forming sulfide structures or “black
smoke” particles. When the fluid is cooled or diluted
deeper in the subsurface prior to discharging at the seafloor, diffuse and translucent fluid emissions at lower
HYDROTHERMAL VENT FLUIDS (SEAFLOOR)
339