The geochemical characteristics and Fe(II) oxidation kinetics of hydrothermal plumes at the Southwest Indian Ridge

Abstract

The Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) is one of the world's slowest spreading ridges with a full spreading rate of ~14mm a−1. Due to its low thermal budget, high-temperature hydrothermal activity along the SWIR was once considered to be impossible. The Chinese cruise DY115-19 on board R/V Dayang Yihao successfully discovered the first SWIR active hydrothermal field at 37°47′S 49°39′E, located at a magmatically robust spreading segment. Here, the geochemical characteristics of hydrothermal plumes from the hydrothermal field are first reported, and water column anomalies of light transmission, Fe, Mn, Al, both dissolved and particulate, are discussed. The total Fe and dissolved Mn concentrations in the plumes varied from 13.7 to 277.4 nM and 0.47 to 10.41 nM, respectively. The composition of Fe-Mn-Al implied that particles in the plumes were mainly hydrothermal in origin, also included small contributions of resuspended sediments or background particles. Dissolved Fe constituted a considerable fraction of the total Fe, more than 80% in plume samples from station CTD 4. High Fe concentrations might be sustained in the dissolved phase because of the existence of organic complexes and nanoparticles. On board incubation experiments verified the Fe(II) oxidation half-lives for plumes of CTD 4 and CTD 13 were 1.8 and 1.6h, respectively, which are much longer than the calculated value of ~0.5h based on the deep water pH and oxygen concentration.