Ascending and descending particle flux from hydrothermal plumes at Endeavour Segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge

Cowen, James P.; Bertram, Miriam; Wakeham, Stuart G.; Thomson, Richard E.; Lavelle, J. W.; Baker, Edward T.; Feely, Richard A.

doi:10.1016/s0967-0637(00)00070-4

Cited by 49 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Once plumes reach their level of neutral buoyancy, they spread laterally through diffusion and advection. Consistent with observations from Endeavour Ridge [ Thomson et al , 1992; Cowen et al , 2001], the temperature and salinity anomalies derived by our quasi‐stationary model extend up to 10 km to the west to southwest of the ridge (Figure 11), while to the east, anomalies are confined to within a few kilometers of the ridge flank. In the model, the core of the off‐axis plume at 80 days consists of a 300‐m‐thick, 10‐km‐long elliptical feature with temperature and salinity anomalies of 0.02°–0.04°C and 0.02–0.04 psu centered at 2050 and 2100 m depth directly west of the larger venting sites (Figures 11 and 12).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 89%

Numerical simulation of hydrothermal vent‐induced circulation at Endeavour Ridge

2005

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[1] Hydrothermal venting at Endeavour Ridge is focused at five major vent fields spaced at $2-km intervals along a narrow ($1 km wide) north-south trending rift-valley. A Princeton Ocean Model with an axially symmetric rift-valley centered within a rotating, full-depth (2400 m) stratified ocean is used to simulate the circulation and associated temperature and salinity fields generated by vertical heat fluxes from the five vent fields. Steady seafloor heat fluxes are introduced instantaneously to a quiescent ocean using the model provision for boundary fluxes. The model achieves a quasi-steady state in about 80 days. Results are consistent with observation. In particular, buoyant plumes emanating from the larger vent fields rise to ''trapping'' depths as shallow as 1850 m ($350 m above bottom) and spread laterally with the vent-induced circulation. Plume anomalies remain confined to within several kilometers of the ridge, except to the west where anomalies extend more than 10 km off-axis. As with observations, modeled currents within the valley consist of a strong ($10 cm s À1 ) poleward inflow within roughly 75 m of the bottom and an equally strong equatorward counterflow above that depth. Weak ($1 cm s À1 ) equatorward flow develops over the flank of the west ridge and weak poleward flow over the flank of the east ridge. Cyclonic relative vorticity dominates the model circulation within the valley while anticyclonic vorticity prevails above the depth of neutral plume buoyancy. Findings support the notion that turbulent entrainment by buoyant plumes forces a mean poleward flow within the confines of the Endeavour Ridge axial valley.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 89%

Numerical simulation of hydrothermal vent‐induced circulation at Endeavour Ridge

2005

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“…Thermodynamic models support the idea that plumes are a significant source of chemosynthetically derived organic carbon to the deep oceans (McCollum, 2000), and several observational studies confirm an important contribution of plumes to deep-sea organic carbon on regional scales (De Angelis et al, 1993; Cowen and German, 2003; Lam et al, 2004, Lam et al, 2008). Indeed, plumes are enriched with organic carbon, some of which is labile, and are responsible for dispersing it kilometers away from vent sites (Roth and Dymond, 1989; Cowen et al, 2001; Shackelford and Cowen, 2006; Lam et al, 2008; Bennett et al, 2011a,b). More recently, transcriptomic evidence confirms that autotrophy is a prevalent process in plumes (Baker et al, 2012; Lesniewski et al, 2012; Anantharaman et al, 2013).…”

Section: Microbial Mediation Of Plume Biogeochemistry: Trace Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, another possibility is that this deep seawater surrounding Guaymas Basin is impacted by microbes that are exported from the highly productive chemoautotrophic plumes. Processes that could facilitate export include ascending and descending particles and migratory zooplankton (Cowen et al, 2001), buoyant transparent exopolymeric substances (Shackelford and Cowen, 2006; Prieto and Cowen, 2007), and large scale advection such as mesoscale eddies (Adams et al, 2011). Regional influence of vents on deep-sea microbial communities may be particularly important in the Gulf of California, where restricted basins could limit dispersal of plumes and mixing with true non-hydrothermally-impacted seawater.…”

Section: Microbial Communities In Deep-sea Hydrothermal Plumesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The microbiology of deep-sea hydrothermal vent plumes: ecological and biogeographic linkages to seafloor and water column habitats

et al. 2013

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Hydrothermal plumes are an important yet understudied component of deep-sea vent microbial ecosystems. The significance of plume microbial processes can be appreciated from three perspectives: (1) mediation of plume biogeochemistry, (2) dispersal of seafloor hydrothermal vent microbes between vents sites, (3) as natural laboratories for understanding the ecology, physiology, and function of microbial groups that are distributed throughout the pelagic deep sea. Plume microbiology has been largely neglected in recent years, especially relative to the extensive research conducted on seafloor and subseafloor systems. Rapidly advancing technologies for investigating microbial communities provide new motivation and opportunities to characterize this important microbial habitat. Here we briefly highlight microbial contributions to plume and broader ocean (bio)geochemistry and review recent work to illustrate the ecological and biogeographic linkages between plumes, seafloor vent habitats, and other marine habitats such as oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), cold seeps, and oil spills. 16S rRNA gene surveys and metagenomic/-transcriptomic data from plumes point to dominant microbial populations, genes, and functions that are also operative in OMZs (SUP05, ammonia-oxidizing Archaea, and SAR324 Deltaproteobacteria) and hydrocarbon-rich environments (methanotrophs). Plume microbial communities are distinct from those on the seafloor or in the subsurface but contain some signatures of these habitats, consistent with the notion that plumes are potential vectors for dispersal of microorganisms between seafloor vent sites. Finally, we put forward three pressing questions for the future of deep-sea hydrothermal plume research and consider interactions between vents and oceans on global scales.

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“…Some of these collection methods preclude the capture of ascending particles (e.g., upright sediment traps), while others may obscure ascending particle contributions (e.g., pumps), and thus overestimate sinking particle flux. Positively buoyant particles originate at multiple depths in the water column, such as organic material with high lipid content in hydrothermal plumes (Cowen et al, 2001), abyssal biogenic production of lipid-rich organic material following decomposition/consumption of surface-derived material (Simoneit et al, 1986), formation and vertical migration of diatom mats (Villareal et al, 1999) and other buoyant organisms, such as Trichodesmium (Letelier and Karl, 1998;Villareal and Carpenter, 2003) in the upper water column, or material associated with ice particles . Although the total flux of ascending particulate material can be substantially lower than sinking particulate flux (Simoneit et al, 1986), it can also exceed 50% of the downward particle flux in some regions (Smith et al, 1989), and consideration of ascending particle fluxes can be especially important when assessing nutrient transport.…”

Section: Positively Buoyant Particlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The oceanographic toolbox for the collection of sinking and suspended marine particles

McDonnell

Lam

Lamborg

et al. 2015

Progress in Oceanography

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Article history: Available online xxxx a b s t r a c t Marine particles play a central role in controlling the transport, cycling, and inventories of many major elements and trace elements and isotopes throughout the oceans. Studies seeking to elucidate the biogeochemical roles of marine particles often require reliable ways to collect them from the ocean. Here, we review the oceanographic toolbox of techniques and instrumentation that are employed to collect both suspended and sinking particles. With these tools, it is possible to determine both the concentrations and vertical fluxes of important elements and individual particle types. We describe the various methods for quantifying the concentrations of particulate matter with in situ pumps, towed sampling devices, bottle collectors, and large volume capture devices. The uses of various types of flux collection platforms are discussed including surface tethered, neutrally buoyant, and bottom moored devices. We address the issues of sediment trap collection biases and the apparent inconsistencies that can arise due to differences in the temporal and spatial scales sampled by the various methodologies. Special attention is given to collection considerations made for the analysis of trace metals and isotopes, as these methodologies are of high importance to the ongoing GEOTRACES program which seeks to identify the processes and quantify fluxes that control the distributions of key trace elements and isotopes in the ocean. With the emergence of new particle collection methodologies and the continued reliance on traditional collection methods, it is imperative that we combine these multiple approaches in ways that will help improve their accuracy and precision while enhancing their utility in advancing understanding of the biogeochemical and ecological roles of marine particles.

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Ascending and descending particle flux from hydrothermal plumes at Endeavour Segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge

Cited by 49 publications

References 59 publications

Numerical simulation of hydrothermal vent‐induced circulation at Endeavour Ridge

Numerical simulation of hydrothermal vent‐induced circulation at Endeavour Ridge

The microbiology of deep-sea hydrothermal vent plumes: ecological and biogeographic linkages to seafloor and water column habitats

The oceanographic toolbox for the collection of sinking and suspended marine particles

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