hydrothermal

In the eastern South Pacific Ocean, excess DBC concentrations increase closer to the equator, and are correlated with helium-3 isotopes from hydrothermal vents. Hydrothermal vents are the primary source of excess DBC. Credit: Youhei Yamashita, Yutaro Mori, Hiroshi Ogawa, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade3807 Hydrothermal vents have been identified as a previously undiscovered source of dissolved black carbon in…

Ocean Networks Canada's hydrophone and the Deep Acoustic Lander are used to monitor hydrothermal vents. Credit: Ocean Networks Canada Deep-sea hydrothermal vents host unique life that survives without sunlight, and they play a significant role in the cycle of heat, water, and chemicals within the ocean. But long-term monitoring of these vents is difficult because of their hot and caustic characteristics.…

Hydrothermal chimneys: Looking down on tall stalagmite-like hydrothermal chimneys from extensive mineral deposits at the Aurora hydrothermal field, Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Ocean. Pale cream-colored “blobs” near the tops of some chimneys represent geothermally-fueled microbial life of a kind that could exist on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Credit: Alfred Wegener Institute When scientists discovered a hydrothermal vent site in the…

A huge high-temperature off-axis hydrothermal vent field has been discovered in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. According to researchers at Lehigh University, the YBW-Sentry vent field is located at a depth of 2,550 metres and is nearly as big as a football field and two times the size of the nearest active hydrothermal vents in the region. It could help scientists understand the impact of these vents on the life and chemistry of the Earth's oceans. While these deep-sea hydrothermal vents are found around the world, they…

The research team has instrumented nine high temperature vents with temperature loggers manufactured by EP Oceanographic. The loggers collect data every ten minutes, in order to track changes in vent fluid temperature that can be used to infer changes in permeability of the crust beneath the vent. Credit: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, National Deep Submergence Facility, remotely operated vehicle Jason team, WHOI-MISO Facility, National Science…

Sunrise at Yellowstone Lake. Credit: Lisa Morgan While much of public attention on Yellowstone focuses on its potential to produce large supereruptions, the hazards that are much more likely to occur are smaller, violent hydrothermal explosions. Hydrothermal explosions occur when near-boiling water suddenly flashes into steam, releasing large amounts of energy. The energy release fractures the rock downward, often leaving…