scholarly journals Depth-Dependent Permeability and Heat Output at Basalt-Hosted Hydrothermal Systems Across Mid-Ocean Ridge Spreading Rates

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 1259-1281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thibaut Barreyre ◽  
Jean-Arthur Olive ◽  
Timothy J. Crone ◽  
Robert A. Sohn
Keyword(s):  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Heat Output ◽  
Mid Ocean Ridge ◽  
Spreading Rates ◽  
Ocean Ridge

scholarly journals 2D reactive transport simulations of mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 05006
Author(s):  
Donald DePaolo ◽  
Eric Sonnenthal ◽  
Nicholas Pester
Keyword(s):  
Reactive Transport ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Charge Balance ◽  
Seawater Chemistry ◽  
Fluid Chemistry ◽  
Mid Ocean Ridge ◽  
Spreading Rates ◽  
Ocean Ridge ◽  
Model Fluids

Water-rock interactions in mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems are a critical part of Earth system evolution. Extensive insights have been developed from vent fluid chemistry and laboratory experiments, but these leave unanswered many questions about the temporal evolution and spatial structure of the hydrothermal systems that can only be addressed with reactive transport simulations. Other issues are the effects of changing spreading rates and seawater chemistry through Earth history. We are addressing this problem using the Toughreact code, starting with 2D static (no seafloor spreading) simulations of the near-axis region where most of the interaction occurs. The simulations use a dual-permeability grid to represent fractured rocks, and also have a formulation for Sr isotope exchange. Vent fluid Ca, Mg, SO4, and Na concentrations and Sr isotopes can be used as a guide to fluid chemical evolution. Initial simulations reproduce modern vent fluid chemistry even with maximum temperature only at 380°C, and suggest that fluids need not be in equilibrium with the rocks at any point in the system. Model fluids continue to evolve chemically even in the upflow zone prior to venting. The effects of different seawater chemical composition, as proposed for the Cretaceous, for example, can be captured with charge-balance models.

scholarly journals A Si-Cl geothermobarometer for the reaction zone of high-temperature, basaltic-hosted mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice J. Fontaine ◽  
William S. D. Wilcock ◽  
Dionysis E. Foustoukos ◽  
David A. Butterfield
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Reaction Zone ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Mid Ocean Ridge ◽  
Ocean Ridge

Fluids in Submarine Mid-Ocean Ridge Hydrothermal Settings

Elements ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 389-394
Author(s):  
Esther M. Schwarzenbach ◽  
Matthew Steele-MacInnis
Keyword(s):  
Heat Budget ◽  
Oceanic Lithosphere ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Hydrothermal Fluids ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
Geologic Time ◽  
Mid Ocean Ridge ◽  
Time Changes ◽  
Ocean Ridge

Seawater interaction with the oceanic lithosphere crucially impacts on global geochemical cycles, controls ocean chemistry over geologic time, changes the petrophysical properties of the oceanic lithosphere, and regulates the global heat budget. Extensive seawater circulation is expressed near oceanic ridges by the venting of hydrothermal fluids through chimney structures. These vent fluids vary greatly in chemistry, from the metal-rich, acidic fluids that emanate from “black smokers” at temperatures up to 400 °C to the metal-poor, highly alkaline and reducing fluids that issue from the carbonate–brucite chimneys of ultramafic-hosted systems at temperatures below 110 °C. Mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems not only generate signifi-cant metal resources but also host unique life forms that may be similar to those of early Earth.

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