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Diversity of magmatism, hydrothermal processes and microbial interactions at mid-ocean ridges

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 3, pages 852–871 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Hydrothermal circulation and alteration at mid-ocean ridges and ridge flanks have a key role in regulating seawater chemistry and global chemical fluxes, and support diverse ecosystems in the absence of light. In this Review, we outline tectonic, magmatic and hydrothermal processes that govern crustal architecture, alteration and biogeochemical cycles along mid-ocean ridges with different spreading rates. In general, hydrothermal systems vary from those that are magmatic-dominated with low-pH fluids >300 °C to serpentinizing systems with alkaline fluids <120 °C. Typically, slow-spreading ridges (rates <40 mm yr−1) have greater variability in magmatism, lithology and vent chemistry, which are influenced by detachment faults that expose lower-crustal and serpentinized mantle rocks. Hydrothermal alteration is an important sink for magnesium, sodium, sulfate and bicarbonate, and a net source of volatiles, iron and other nutrients to the deep ocean and vent ecosystems. Magmatic hydrothermal systems sustain a vast, hot and diverse microbial biosphere that represents a deep organic carbon source to ocean carbon budgets. In contrast, high-pH serpentinizing hydrothermal systems harbour a more limited microbial community consisting primarily of methane-metabolizing archaea. Continued advances in monitoring and analytical capabilities coupled with developments in metagenomic technologies will guide future investigations and discoveries in hydrothermal systems.

Key points

  • Spreading rates control variations in heat sources, magma input and tectonic processes along mid-ocean ridges and influence crustal architecture and hydrothermal processes, providing multifaceted habitats for life.

  • Approximately one-third (7 × 1012 to 11 × 1012 W) of the global oceanic heat flux (32 × 1012 W) occurs through hydrothermal convection at ridges and ridge flanks. Seawater circulation, hydrothermal alteration and microbial interactions regulate seawater chemistry and change the composition and physical properties of the lithosphere.

  • Roughly 50% of the global mid-ocean ridges are spreading at rates <40 mm yr−1, where major detachment faults expose lower-crustal and upper-mantle rocks, creating asymmetric ridge segments with large variability in structure, hydrothermal processes and vent fluid chemistry.

  • Serpentinization decreases bulk density (<2.9 g cm−3) and seismic velocities (Vp < 6 km s−1) of mantle rocks and weakens the oceanic lithosphere along detachment faults. Serpentinization reactions produce highly reduced fluids with high H2, CH4 and other organic molecules that provide energy for microbial life.

  • Hydrothermal processes govern global chemical fluxes (such as Mg, Fe, Mn and volatiles) and provide nutrients (for example, Fe flux ~4–6 × 109 mol yr−1) to the deep ocean. Approximately 0.05 GtC yr−1 of organic carbon is estimated to be produced through microbial interactions and oxidation of organic compounds within hydrothermal plumes.

  • Basalt-hosted systems support a vast, hot and diverse microbial biosphere, in contrast to serpentinizing systems, which sustain more limited microbial communities primarily dominated by methane-metabolizing archaea. Advanced technologies allow better characterization of the genetic makeup and metabolism of microbes and the role of viruses in shaping diversity.

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Fig. 1: Global distribution of hydrothermal vents on the seafloor.
Fig. 2: Variations in magmatism, structure and hydrothermal systems with varying spreading rates.
Fig. 3: Hydrothermal processes at mid-ocean ridges.
Fig. 4: Mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal fluxes and life.

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Data availability

The compilation of vent distributions and fluid compositions is provided in the online Supplementary Data file.

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Acknowledgements

G.L.F.-G. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant no. 200021-163187). Support to D.S.K. was provided by the US National Science Foundation grant no. OCE-0137206, the Management and Operation of the Ocean Observatories Initiative grant 1743430 and the University of Washington. M.D.L. was supported by the US National Science Foundation (grants OCE-1037874 and 535962) and the W.M. Keck Foundation for Project NEPTUNE. The authors acknowledge the late Karen L. Von Damm, who pioneered and inspired decades of MOR hydrothermal vent research discussed in this Review. We further acknowledge the unwaning efforts of John R. Delaney, who was instrumental in driving the innovative ideas behind installing seafloor observatories at JdF.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Gretchen L. Früh-Green

  2. School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Deborah S. Kelley, Marvin D. Lilley & John A. Baross

  3. Équipe de Géosciences Marines, Université de Paris, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, UMR CNRS, Paris, France

    Mathilde Cannat

  4. Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, Université de Toulouse, UMR CNRS, Toulouse, France

    Valérie Chavagnac

Authors
  1. Gretchen L. Früh-Green
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  2. Deborah S. Kelley
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  3. Marvin D. Lilley
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  4. Mathilde Cannat
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  5. Valérie Chavagnac
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  6. John A. Baross
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Contributions

G.L.F.-G. coordinated and led the writing of this Review. M.D.L. contributed to all aspects of writing, compiled data and led discussions on hydrothermal vent discoveries, distributions, fluid chemistry, volatiles and fluxes. D.S.K. led discussions on Axial, Endeavour, Ocean Observatories, phase separation and water–rock–microbe interactions, and together with her CEV team provided many of the figures. M.C. and V.C. provided input on slow- and ultraslow-spreading ridges and the EMSO observatory. J.A.B. wrote all sections on life in hydrothermal environments. All authors participated in discussions and edited multiple versions of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gretchen L. Früh-Green.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Reviews Earth & Environment thanks W. Bach, S. Sievert and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Related links

European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water-column Observatory (EMSO): https://www.emso-fr.org/EMSO-Azores

MARUM: https://www.marum.de/en/Discover/Deep-Sea.html

Ocean Networks Canada: https://www.oceannetworks.ca/observatories/

Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Regional Cabled Array: https://interactiveoceans.washington.edu

WHOI: https://www.whoi.edu

Supplementary information

Glossary

Abiotic

Formed or characterized by the absence of life or living organisms.

Aerobic

Pertaining to or requiring the presence of free oxygen.

Anaerobic

Occurring, living or active in the absence of free oxygen.

Asthenosphere

The viscous, mechanically weak and ductile region of the upper mantle between approximately 80 and 200 km depth that is involved in plate tectonic dynamics.

Chemosynthesis

The synthesis of organic compounds by microorganisms using energy derived from inorganic chemical reactions.

Critical point of seawater

Pressure and temperature conditions at which solid, liquid and vapour phases of seawater coexist in thermodynamic equilibrium.

Gabbro

Igneous rock (formed from crystallization of magma) consisting primarily of varying proportions of the minerals plagioclase and pyroxene.

Heterotrophs

Organisms that are incapable of making their own food from light or inorganic compounds but consume complex organic compounds or other organisms in a food chain.

Hydrothermal plumes

Upwelling and dispersal of buoyant hydrothermal fluids into the ocean at hydrothermal vents or after eruptions or dyking events.

Hyperthermophilic

Pertaining to microorganisms that thrive in extremely hot environments and optimally grow above 80 °C.

Lithosphere

Outer solid layer of the Earth, consisting of the brittle crust and uppermost mantle.

Magma lenses

During periods of enhanced magma replenishment at MORs, magma accumulates in an axial melt lens overlying smaller stacked sills beneath sheeted dykes.

Microbial floc

Microbial aggregates that appear as cloudy suspensions of cells floating in seawater rather than attached to a surface like most biofilms.

Moho

The Mohorovičić discontinuity, known as the seismic Moho, is a discrete change in seismic wave velocities used to define the boundary between the crust and the mantle.

Oceanic detachment faults

Extensional normal faults associated with asymmetric spreading that results in exposure of lower-crustal and upper-mantle rocks on the seafloor.

Oceanic crust

The outermost layer of the lithosphere formed at mid-ocean ridge (MOR) spreading centres; it is 5–10 km thick, primarily composed of mafic lavas, dykes and gabbros.

Oceanic crustal architecture

Rock types (lithologies), their distribution and structure of the oceanic crust.

Ophiolite

Segments of oceanic crust and upper mantle tectonically exposed on land, often preserving features observed in different tectonic settings on the seafloor.

Peridotite

The dominant rock type in the Earth’s upper mantle, consisting primarily of the Mg-rich minerals olivine and pyroxene.

pH

A logarithmic scale from 0 to 14 to indicate the concentration of hydrogen ions in an aqueous solution and specifies the acidity (pH < 7) or basicity (pH > 7) of the solution.

Serpentinization

Hydrothermal process that transforms anhydrous Fe–Mg silicates into hydrous minerals, such as serpentine and brucite, producing magnetite and hydrogen.

Snowblowers

A distinct form of low-temperature hydrothermal venting with expulsion of copious amounts of white flocculent microbial material, reminiscent of snow.

Spreading rate

The rate at which new oceanic lithosphere is created at mid-ocean ridge plate boundaries resulting in seafloor spreading.

Volatiles

Dissolved gases in hydrothermal fluids or exsolved from melts.

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Früh-Green, G.L., Kelley, D.S., Lilley, M.D. et al. Diversity of magmatism, hydrothermal processes and microbial interactions at mid-ocean ridges. Nat Rev Earth Environ 3, 852–871 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00364-y

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