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Hydrothermal recharge and discharge across 50 km guided by seamounts on a young ridge flank

Nature volume 421, pages 618–621 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Hydrothermal circulation within the sea floor, through lithosphere older than one million years (Myr), is responsible for 30% of the energy released from plate cooling, and for 70% of the global heat flow anomaly (the difference between observed thermal output and that predicted by conductive cooling models)1,2. Hydrothermal fluids remove significant amounts of heat from the oceanic lithosphere for plates typically up to about 65 Myr old3,4. But in view of the relatively impermeable sediments that cover most ridge flanks5, it has been difficult to explain how these fluids transport heat from the crust to the ocean. Here we present results of swath mapping, heat flow, geochemistry and seismic surveys from the young eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca ridge, which show that isolated basement outcrops penetrating through thick sediments guide hydrothermal discharge and recharge between sites separated by more than 50 km. Our analyses reveal distinct thermal patterns at the sea floor adjacent to recharging and discharging outcrops. We find that such a circulation through basement outcrops can be sustained in a setting of pressure differences and crustal properties as reported in independent observations and modelling studies.

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Figure 1: Maps of field area on the eastern flank of Juan de Fuca ridge, and selected geochemical data collected during ODP Leg 16812.
Figure 2: Heat-flow values, isotherms and seismic profiles across the Baby Bare and Grizzly Bare outcrops.
Figure 3: Calculated pressures available to drive large-scale lateral fluid flow, thermal profiles within outcrops, and lateral bulk permeabilities within basement between outcrops.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the NSF, LANL/CULAR, and IGPP at UCSC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth Sciences Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 95064, USA

    A. T. Fisher, M. Hutnak & A. Cherkaoui

  2. Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 95064, USA

    A. T. Fisher

  3. Pacific Geoscience Center, Geological Survey of Canada, Sydney, British Columbia, V8L 4B2, Canada

    E. E. Davis & R. Macdonald

  4. Earth Sciences Department, University of Bremen, D-28359, Bremen, Germany

    V. Spiess, L. Zühlsdorff & H. Villinger

  5. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21218, USA

    L. Christiansen

  6. Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, 33149, USA

    K. Edwards & K. Becker

  7. School of Earth and Ocean Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822, USA

    M. J. Mottl

  8. Global Undersea Research Unit, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, 99775, USA

    C. G. Wheat

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  1. A. T. Fisher
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Correspondence to A. T. Fisher.

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Fisher, A., Davis, E., Hutnak, M. et al. Hydrothermal recharge and discharge across 50 km guided by seamounts on a young ridge flank. Nature 421, 618–621 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01352

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