Abstract
The initial discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents at the Galapagos Rift1,2 has resulted in a decade of exploration and experimentation. Subsequent discoveries in the Pacific3–8 and Atlantic9 ocean basins have established the importance of these features as sources of mantle-derived gases and solutes10–2, and as loci for heat dissipation13,14, polymetallic sulphide mineral deposition15,16 and geochemical exchange17–19. The presence of dense communities of bacteria and specialized macrofauna20–22 has called into question the absolute role of sunlight as the principal energy source for marine organisms. Until recently, these deep-sea vents were known only at, or near, plate boundaries, but recent dredging23,24, near-bottom-water sampling25–27 and sea-floor camera survey28 programmes have indicated that hydrothermal vents are present at the summit of Loihi Seamount, a mid-plate, hotspot submarine volcano at the southern end of the Hawaiian island chain29. Here we report results obtained from sampling two active vent fields. The fluid chemistry (especially high CO2 and Fe), presence of alkalic lavas and iron-depositing bacteria, and absence of macrofauna suggest that mid-plate vents may differ from the hydrothermal vents found at mid-ocean ridges.
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Karl, D., McMurtry, G., Malahoff, A. et al. Loihi Seamount, Hawaii: a mid-plate volcano with a distinctive hydrothermal system. Nature 335, 532–535 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/335532a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/335532a0
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