Hydrothermal plume mapping as a prospecting tool for seafloor sulfide deposits: a case study at the Zouyu-1 and Zouyu-2 hydrothermal fields in the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Details

• Journal Title:
  Marine Geophysical Research
• Personal Author:
  Tao, Chunhui ; Chen, Sheng ; Baker, Edward T. ; Li, Huaiming ; Liang, Jin ; Liao, Shili ; Chen, Yongshun John ; Deng, Xianming ; Zhang, Guoyin ; Gu, Chunhua ; Wu, Jialin
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; PMEL (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory) ; JISAO (Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean)
• Description:
  Seafloor hydrothermal polymetallic sulfide deposits are a new type of resource, with great potential economic value and good prospect development. This paper discusses turbidity, oxidation-reduction potential, and temperature anomalies of hydrothermal plumes from the Zouyu-1 and Zouyu-2 hydrothermal fields on the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. We use the known location of these vent fields and plume data collected in multiple years (2009, 2011, 2013) to demonstrate how real-time plume exploration can be used to locate active vent fields, and thus associated sulfide deposits. Turbidity anomalies can be detected 10 s of km from an active source, but the location precision is no better than a few kilometers because fine-grained particles are quasi-conservative over periods of many days. Temperature and oxidation-reduction potential anomalies provide location precision of a few hundred meters. Temperature anomalies are generally weak and difficult to reliably detect, except by chance encounters of a buoyant plume. Oxidation-reduction potential is highly sensitive (nmol concentrations of reduced hydrothermal chemicals) to discharges of all temperatures and responds immediately to a plume encounter. Real-time surveys using continuous tows of turbidity and oxidation-reduction potential sensors offer the most efficient and precise surface ship exploration presently possible.
• Source:
  Marine Geophysical Research, 38(1-2), 3-16.
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-016-9275-2
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  Grant no. NA10OAR4320148
• Rights Information:
  CC BY
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:44722cc8dd1108670bc3d787cb93ff12a5b4628baaf20a940c985b38332ec2b3
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/16497/noaa_16497_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.06 MB ]