Journal
DEEP-SEA RESEARCH PART II-TOPICAL STUDIES IN OCEANOGRAPHY
Volume 121, Issue -, Pages 202-212Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2015.05.001
Keywords
Hydrothermal springs; Hydrothermal activity; Mid-ocean ridges; Spreading centers; Plate boundaries
Categories
Funding
- NSF [NSF OCE08-38923, NSF GeoEd12-02977, OCE10-61863]
- WHOI Marquet Award
- Earth-Ocean Interactions Program
- Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) under NOAA [NA10OAR4320148]
- NASA [NASA NNX09AB75G]
- NOAA [NA14OAR4320158]
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In nearly four decades since the discovery of deep-sea vents, one-third of the length of global oceanic spreading ridges has been surveyed for hydrothermal activity. Active submarine vent fields are now known along the boundaries of 46 out of 52 recognized tectonic plates. Hydrothermal survey efforts over the most recent decade were sparked by national and commercial interests in the mineral resource potential of seafloor hydrothermal deposits, as well as by academic research. Here we incorporate recent data for back-arc spreading centers and ultraslow- and slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges (MORs) to revise a linear equation relating the frequency of vent fields along oceanic spreading ridges to spreading rate. We apply this equation globally to predict a total number of vent fields on spreading ridges, which suggests that 900 vent fields remain to be discovered. Almost half of these undiscovered vent fields (comparable to the total of all vent fields discovered during 35 years of research) are likely to occur at MORs with full spreading rates less than 60 mm/yr. We then apply the equation regionally to predict where these hydrothermal vents may be discovered with respect to plate boundaries and national jurisdiction, with the majority expected to occur outside of states' exclusive economic zones. We hope that these predictions will prove useful to the community in the future, in helping to shape continuing ridge-crest exploration. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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