Volcanically hosted venting with indications of ultramafic influence at Aurora hydrothermal field on Gakkel Ridge

Christopher R. German (), Eoghan P. Reeves, Andreas Türke, Alexander Diehl, Elmar Albers, Wolfgang Bach, Autun Purser, Sofia P. Ramalho, Stefano Suman, Christian Mertens, Maren Walter, Eva Ramirez-Llodra, Vera Schlindwein, Stefan Bünz and Antje Boetius
Additional contact information
Christopher R. German: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Eoghan P. Reeves: University of Bergen
Andreas Türke: University of Bergen
Alexander Diehl: University of Bremen
Elmar Albers: University of Bremen
Wolfgang Bach: University of Bremen
Autun Purser: Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar & Marine Research
Sofia P. Ramalho: Department of Biology, University of Aveiro
Stefano Suman: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Christian Mertens: University of Bremen
Maren Walter: University of Bremen
Eva Ramirez-Llodra: Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA)
Vera Schlindwein: University of Bremen
Stefan Bünz: University of Tromso–The Arctic University of Norway
Antje Boetius: University of Bremen

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract The Aurora hydrothermal system, Arctic Ocean, hosts active submarine venting within an extensive field of relict mineral deposits. Here we show the site is associated with a neovolcanic mound located within the Gakkel Ridge rift-valley floor, but deep-tow camera and sidescan surveys reveal the site to be ≥100 m across—unusually large for a volcanically hosted vent on a slow-spreading ridge and more comparable to tectonically hosted systems that require large time-integrated heat-fluxes to form. The hydrothermal plume emanating from Aurora exhibits much higher dissolved CH4/Mn values than typical basalt-hosted hydrothermal systems and, instead, closely resembles those of high-temperature ultramafic-influenced vents at slow-spreading ridges. We hypothesize that deep-penetrating fluid circulation may have sustained the prolonged venting evident at the Aurora hydrothermal field with a hydrothermal convection cell that can access ultramafic lithologies underlying anomalously thin ocean crust at this ultraslow spreading ridge setting. Our findings have implications for ultra-slow ridge cooling, global marine mineral distributions, and the diversity of geologic settings that can host abiotic organic synthesis - pertinent to the search for life beyond Earth.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34014-0

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