Document of bibliographic reference 318031

BibliographicReference record

Type
Bibliographic resource
Type of document
Journal article
BibLvlCode
AS
Title
Where are the undiscovered hydrothermal vents on oceanic spreading ridges?
Abstract
In nearly four decades since the discovery of deep-sea vents, one-third of the length of global oceanic spreading ridges has been surveyed for hydrothermal activity. Active submarine vent fields are now known along the boundaries of 46 out of 52 recognized tectonic plates. Hydrothermal survey efforts over the most recent decade were sparked by national and commercial interests in the mineral resource potential of seafloor hydrothermal deposits, as well as by academic research. Here we incorporate recent data for back-arc spreading centers and ultraslow- and slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges (MORs) to revise a linear equation relating the frequency of vent fields along oceanic spreading ridges to spreading rate. We apply this equation globally to predict a total number of vent fields on spreading ridges, which suggests that ~900 vent fields remain to be discovered. Almost half of these undiscovered vent fields (comparable to the total of all vent fields discovered during 35 years of research) are likely to occur at MORs with full spreading rates less than 60 mm/yr. We then apply the equation regionally to predict where these hydrothermal vents may be discovered with respect to plate boundaries and national jurisdiction, with the majority expected to occur outside of states' exclusive economic zones. We hope that these predictions will prove useful to the community in the future, in helping to shape continuing ridge-crest exploration.
WebOfScience code
https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000365379500019
Bibliographic citation
Beaulieu, S.E.; Baker, E.T.; German, C.R. (2015). Where are the undiscovered hydrothermal vents on oceanic spreading ridges? Deep-Sea Res., Part II, Top. Stud. Oceanogr. 121: 202-212. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2015.05.001
Topic
Marine
Is peer reviewed
true

Authors

author
Name
Stace Beaulieu
author
Name
Edward Baker
author
Name
Christopher German

Links

referenced creativework
type
DOI
accessURL
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2015.05.001

Document metadata

date created
2019-11-20
date modified
2019-11-20