National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
United States Department of Commerce


 

FY 2015

First hydrothermal discoveries on the Australian-Antarctic Ridge: Discharge sites, plume chemistry, and vent organisms

Hahm, D., E.T. Baker, T.S. Rhee, Y.-J. Won, J.A. Resing, J.E. Lupton, W.-K. Lee, M. Kim, and S.-H. Park

Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 16(9), 3061–3075, doi: 10.1002/2015GC005926 (2015)


The Australian-Antarctic Ridge (AAR) is one of the largest unexplored regions of the global mid-ocean ridge system. Here, we report a multiyear effort to locate and characterize hydrothermal activity on two first-order segments of the AAR: KR1 and KR2. To locate vent sites on each segment, we used profiles collected by Miniature Autonomous Plume Recorders on rock corers during R/V Araon cruises in March and December of 2011. Optical and oxidation-reduction-potential anomalies indicate multiple active sites on both segments. Seven profiles on KR2 found 3 sites, each separated by ∼25 km. Forty profiles on KR1 identified 17 sites, some within a few kilometer of each other. The spatial density of hydrothermal activity along KR1 and KR2 (plume incidence of 0.34) is consistent with the global trend for a spreading rate of ∼70 mm/yr. The densest area of hydrothermal activity, named “Mujin,” occurred along the 20 km-long inflated section near the segment center of KR1. Continuous plume surveys conducted in January–February of 2013 on R/V Araon found CH4/3He (1− 15 × 106) and CH4/Mn (0.01–0.5) ratios in the plume samples, consistent with a basaltic-hosted system and typical of ridges with intermediate spreading rates. Additionally, some of the plume samples exhibited slightly higher ratios of H2/3He and Fe/Mn than others, suggesting that those plumes are supported by a younger hydrothermal system that may have experienced a recent eruption. The Mujin-field was populated by Kiwa crabs and seven-armed Paulasterias starfish previously recorded on the East Scotia Ridge, raising the possibility of circum-Antarctic biogeographic connections of vent fauna.



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