FY 2006 Hydrothermal vent geology and biology at Earth’s fastest spreading rates Hey, R.N., G.J. Massoth, R.C. Vrijenhoek, P.A. Rona, J. Lupton, and D.A. Butterfield Mar. Geophys. Res., 27(2), 137–153, doi: 10.1007/s11001-005-1887-x (2006) Earth’s fastest present seafloor spreading occurs along the East Pacific Rise near 31°–32°S. Two of the major hydrothermal plume areas discovered during a 1998 multidisciplinary geophysical/hydrothermal investigation of these mid-ocean ridge axes were explored during a 1999 Alvin expedition. Both occur in recently eruptive areas where shallow collapse structures mark the neovolcanic axis. The 31°S vent area occurs in a broad linear zone of collapses and fractures coalescing into an axial summit trough. The 32°S vent area has been volcanically repaved by a more recent eruption, with non-linear collapses that have not yet coalesced. Both sites occur in highly inflated areas, near local inflation peaks, which is the best segment-scale predictor of hydrothermal activity at these superfast spreading rates (~150 mm/yr). Feature Publications | Outstanding Scientific Publications Contact Sandra Bigley | Help
