Abstract
The concentration of dissolved manganese in sea water can be used as a chemical tracer of hydrothermal activity on the underlying sea floor. Here we present vertical profiles of seawater manganese concentrations above the rift valley of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). The values obtained indicate the presence of plumes that are presently active generated by hydrothermal vents in the rift valley. These plumes are confined to the rift valley and do not spill over into the adjacent deep ocean basins. Differences between them suggest that there are at least five hydrothermal sources along this 1,700-km-long section of mid-ocean ridge.
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Klinkhammer, G., Rona, P., Greaves, M. et al. Hydrothermal manganese plumes in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rift valley. Nature 314, 727–731 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/314727a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/314727a0
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