Journal
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 3, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1636
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Funding
- UK NERC [NE/F017774/1, NE/F017758/1]
- Royal Society [2009/R3]
- SENSEnet
- Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN)
- European Commission [PITN-GA-2009-237868]
- NASA ASTEP [NNX09AB75G]
- Natural Environment Research Council [NE/I01442X/1, noc010011, NE/F017758/1, NE/F017774/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- NERC [NE/F017758/1, NE/I01442X/1, noc010011, NE/F017774/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Division Of Ocean Sciences
- Directorate For Geosciences [0961775] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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The Mid-Cayman spreading centre is an ultraslow-spreading ridge in the Caribbean Sea. Its extreme depth and geographic isolation from other mid-ocean ridges offer insights into the effects of pressure on hydrothermal venting, and the biogeography of vent fauna. Here we report the discovery of two hydrothermal vent fields on the Mid-Cayman spreading centre. The Von Damm Vent Field is located on the upper slopes of an oceanic core complex at a depth of 2,300 m. High-temperature venting in this off-axis setting suggests that the global incidence of vent fields may be underestimated. At a depth of 4,960 m on the Mid-Cayman spreading centre axis, the Beebe Vent Field emits copper-enriched fluids and a buoyant plume that rises 1,100 m, consistent with >400 degrees C venting from the world's deepest known hydrothermal system. At both sites, a new morphospecies of alvinocaridid shrimp dominates faunal assemblages, which exhibit similarities to those of Mid-Atlantic vents.
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