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Marine geophysics

Where there's smoke there's fire

Seafloor vents spewing mineral-rich plumes of hydrothermal fluid — termed black smokers — can persist at mid-ocean ridges for decades or longer. Earthquake data indicate that ongoing magma injection may determine their locations.

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Figure 1: Spewing smoke.

DEBORAH KELLEY / JOHN DELANEY

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Tolstoy, M. Where there's smoke there's fire. Nature Geosci 2, 463–464 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo564

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