About Our Hydrothermal Vent Research

The goal of our research group is to examine the chemistry of deep sea hot springs and to understand what effect these hot springs may have in maintaining the chemistry of the ocean basins. We are also curious about the interactions between the biology of the deep sea and the deep sea hot springs.

Along mid-ocean ridges, sea water can percolate through cracks into the sea floor rock. As it reaches progressively deeper depths, the fluid is heated from contact with hot (but solidified) rocks. At the water flows deeper and the temperature increases the fluids begin to react with the rocks resulting in a fluid chemistry much different than the starting sea water. Eventually, the fluids become so hot, their density forces them to rise up through the oceanic crust, where they are released at the sea floor as deep sea hot springs or "black smokers." These black smokers can reach temperatures >400 degrees Celsius. Fantastic animal communities including giant tube worms and mussels have been found living near these black smokers. These animals do not live in the ~350 degree water, but live in very nearby cooler areas where the hydrothermal waters have mixed with sea water to form cooler ~5-60C "diffuse flow fluids." Chemicals in these "diffuse flow fluids" provide the energy that the animals need to live on the bottom of the ocean.

The goal of this cruise, for the water chemists, is to collect black smoker and "diffuse flow fluids" in order to analyze their chemistries. We will then try to understand the chemical relationship between the high temperature vents and the diffuse flow. Is diffuse flow simply a mix of black smoker fluids with sea water? Or are there other chemical reactions occurring that result in the chemistry of "diffuse flow?" Understanding the of hydrothermal fluids at mid-ocean ridges is important to understanding how animals can live in these regions, completely isolated from the light of the sun. We are also continuing to study how the chemicals released at black smokers affect the chemistry of the whole ocean.