Talc-dominated seafloor deposits reveal a new class of hydrothermal system

Matthew R. S. Hodgkinson (), Alexander P. Webber, Stephen Roberts, Rachel A. Mills, Douglas P. Connelly and Bramley J. Murton
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Matthew R. S. Hodgkinson: National Oceanography Centre, Waterfront Campus
Alexander P. Webber: National Oceanography Centre, Waterfront Campus
Stephen Roberts: Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton
Rachel A. Mills: Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton
Douglas P. Connelly: National Oceanography Centre, Waterfront Campus
Bramley J. Murton: National Oceanography Centre, Waterfront Campus

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract The Von Damm Vent Field (VDVF) is located on the flanks of the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre, 13 km west of the axial rift, within a gabbro and peridotite basement. Unlike any other active vent field, hydrothermal precipitates at the VDVF comprise 85–90% by volume of the magnesium silicate mineral, talc. Hydrothermal fluids vent from a 3-m high, 1-m diameter chimney and other orifices at up to 215 °C with low metal concentrations, intermediate pH (5.8) and high concentrations (667 mmol kg−1) of chloride relative to seawater. Here we show that the VDVF vent fluid is generated by interaction of seawater with a mafic and ultramafic basement which precipitates talc on mixing with seawater. The heat flux at the VDVF is measured at 487±101 MW, comparable to the most powerful magma-driven hydrothermal systems known, and may represent a significant mode of off-axis oceanic crustal cooling not previously recognized or accounted for in global models.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10150

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