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Detection of an unusually large hydrothermal event plume above the slow‐spreading Carlsberg Ridge: NW Indian Ocean
Author(s) -
Murton Bramley J.,
Baker Edward T.,
Sands Carla M.,
German Christopher R.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2006gl026048
Subject(s) - hydrothermal circulation , geology , plume , ridge , volcano , hydrothermal vent , mid ocean ridge , panache , volcanism , tectonics , oceanography , geochemistry , earth science , paleontology , meteorology , physics
About 90% of Earth's volcanism occurs along the global mid‐ocean ridge system. Here, sporadic volcanic and tectonic activity is thought to cause cataclysmic release of hydrothermal fluids, forming event plumes. Each plume often contains as much hydrothermal effluent and heat as chronic hydrothermal venting from a typical vent site discharges during a year. To date, only a few event plumes have been detected, and only above intermediate‐rate spreading ridges in the Pacific. Here, we report the first evidence for an unusually large event plume that originated from the slow‐spreading (3 cm/yr full‐rate) Carlsberg Ridge in the NW Indian Ocean. At 70 km long, up to 4540 km 3 in volume and with up to 24 × 10 16 J of excess heat, this event plume was substantially larger than previous ones and demonstrates that dispersion of hydrothermal heat and biological products from slow spreading ridges may be more significant and effective than hitherto imagined.