IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v451y2008i7175d10.1038_nature06424.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Seismic identification of along-axis hydrothermal flow on the East Pacific Rise

Author

Listed:
  • M. Tolstoy

    (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, 61 Route 9W, Palisades, New York 10964-8000, USA)

  • F. Waldhauser

    (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, 61 Route 9W, Palisades, New York 10964-8000, USA)

  • D. R. Bohnenstiehl

    (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, 61 Route 9W, Palisades, New York 10964-8000, USA
    Present address: Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Campus Box 8208, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8208, USA.)

  • R. T. Weekly

    (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, 61 Route 9W, Palisades, New York 10964-8000, USA)

  • W.-Y. Kim

    (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, 61 Route 9W, Palisades, New York 10964-8000, USA)

Abstract

Against the flow Hydrothermal circulation at the axis of mid-ocean ridges occurs when water seeps through fissures on the seafloor and travels down towards molten rock where it warms, finally emerging as super-heated fluid at hydrothermal vents. These vent systems account for much of the heat and mass transfer from the crust to the ocean. It is commonly thought that the direction of circulation in these systems is across the ridge axis, with recharge occurring along faults away from the axis. This view is based mainly on modelling. Now, after seven months of monitoring of microearthquake locations beneath a hydrothermal vent field on the East Pacific Rise, Tolstoy et al. report that here at least, the hydrothermal down-flow zone is probably located on the ridge axis, with hydrothermal circulation oriented along the ridge axis.

Suggested Citation

  • M. Tolstoy & F. Waldhauser & D. R. Bohnenstiehl & R. T. Weekly & W.-Y. Kim, 2008. "Seismic identification of along-axis hydrothermal flow on the East Pacific Rise," Nature, Nature, vol. 451(7175), pages 181-184, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:451:y:2008:i:7175:d:10.1038_nature06424
    DOI: 10.1038/nature06424
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature06424
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature06424?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:451:y:2008:i:7175:d:10.1038_nature06424. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.