Real-time characterization of submarine hydrothermal vents with an in-situ mass spectrometer operating aboard a human occupied submersible

Summary

Richard Camilli, Dimitris Sakellariou, Brendan Foley, Christos Anagnostou, Joanne Goudreau, Brian Bingham, Ryan Eustice, Aggelos Mallios and Konstantinos Katsaros, Real-time characterization of submarine hydrothermal vents with an in-situ mass spectrometer operating aboard a human occupied submersible. In EOS: Transactions of the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Supplement, 2006. (Abstract).

Abstract

Mapping and characterization of submarine hydrothermal vents have historically been limited to rudimentary in- situ tools such as temperature probes and backscatter sensors. We present results from an investigation of hydrothermal vents in the Aegean Sea using the Gemini insitu mass spectrometer operating aboard the HCMR Thetis submersible. The Thetis-Gemini system conducted a series of dive missions to locate and characterize hydrothermal vent activity in the Hellenic back arc system near the Greek island of Milos and in the Santorini caldera. Data from these dives provide a novel way to characterize the water chemistry of hydrothermal vents in real-time. We present results from the mass spectrometer as well as ship-based geologic and gas chromatographic analysis of rock and water samples. Data from ship-based analysis clearly agree with the hydrothermal vent geochemistry as identified by the mass spectrometer. This new technological capability enables rapid and detailed analysis of hydrothermal vents as well as identification of other seafloor seep structures such as cold seeps that were previously unobservable.

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