Heat, volume and chemical fluxes from submarine venting: A synthesis of results from the Rainbow hydrothermal field, 36°N MAR

Abstract

High-temperature hydrothermal activity occurs in all ocean basins and along ridge crests of all spreading rates. While it has long been recognized that the fluxes associated with such venting are large, precise quantification of their impact on ocean biogeochemistry has proved elusive. Here, we report a comprehensive study of heat, fluid and chemical fluxes from a single submarine hydrothermal field. To achieve this, we have exploited the integrating nature of the non-buoyant plume dispersing above the Rainbow hydrothermal field, a long-lived and tectonically hosted high-temperature vent site on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Our calculations yield heat and volume fluxes for high-temperature fluids exiting the seafloor of ∼0.5 GW and 450 L s −1, together with accompanying chemical fluxes, for Fe, Mn and CH 4 of ∼10, ∼1 and ∼1 mol s −1, respectively. Accompanying fluxes for 25 additional chemical species that are associated with Fe-rich plume particles have also been calculated as they are transported away from the Rainbow vent site before settling to the seabed. High-temperature venting has been found to recur at least once every ∼100 km along all slow-spreading ridges investigated to-date, with half of all known sites on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge occurring as long-lived and tectonically hosted systems. If these patterns persist along all slow- and ultraslow-spreading ridges, high-temperature venting of the kind reported here could account for ∼50% of the on-axis hydrothermal heat flux along ∼30,000 km of the ∼55,000 km global ridge crest.