Coleman Max

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Author: Huber, Julie A. × Author: German, Christopher R. ×

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Diverse styles of submarine venting on the ultraslow spreading Mid-Cayman Rise

2010-06-24 , German, Christopher R. , Bowen, Andrew D. , Coleman, Max , Honig, D. L. , Huber, Julie A. , Jakuba, Michael V. , Kinsey, James C. , Kurz, Mark D. , Leroy, S. , McDermott, Jill M. , Mercier de Lepinay, B. , Nakamura, Ko-ichi , Seewald, Jeffrey S. , Smith, J. L. , Sylva, Sean P. , Van Dover, Cindy L. , Whitcomb, Louis L. , Yoerger, Dana R.

Thirty years after the first discovery of high-temperature submarine venting, the vast majority of the global Mid Ocean Ridge remains unexplored for hydrothermal activity. Of particular interest are the world’s ultra-slow spreading ridges which were the last to be demonstrated to host high-temperature venting, but may host systems particularly relevant to pre-biotic chemistry and the origins of life. Here we report first evidence for diverse and very deep hydrothermal vents along the ~110 km long, ultra-slow spreading Mid-Cayman Rise. Our data indicate that the Mid- Cayman Rise hosts at least three discrete hydrothermal sites, each representing a different type of water-rock interaction, including both mafic and ultra-mafic systems and, at ~5000 m, the deepest known hydrothermal vent. Although submarine hydrothermal circulation, in which seawater percolates through and reacts with host lithologies, occurs on all mid-ocean ridges, the diversity of vent-types identified here and their relative geographic isolation make the Mid-Cayman Rise unique in the oceans. These new sites offer prospects for: an expanded range of vent-fluid compositions; varieties of abiotic organic chemical synthesis and extremophile microorganisms; and unparalleled faunal biodiversity - all in close proximity.

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Trophic regions of a hydrothermal plume dispersing away from an ultramafic-hosted vent-system : Von Damm vent-site, Mid-Cayman Rise

2013-02-22 , Bennett, Sarah A. , Coleman, Max , Huber, Julie A. , Reddington, Emily , Kinsey, James C. , McIntyre, Cameron P. , Seewald, Jeffrey S. , German, Christopher R.

Deep-sea ultramafic-hosted vent systems have the potential to provide large amounts of metabolic energy to both autotrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms in their dispersing hydrothermal plumes. Such vent-systems release large quantities of hydrogen and methane to the water column, both of which can be exploited by autotrophic microorganisms. Carbon cycling in these hydrothermal plumes may, therefore, have an important influence on open-ocean biogeochemistry. In this study, we investigated an ultramafic-hosted system on the Mid-Cayman Rise, emitting metal-poor and hydrogen sulfide-, methane-, and hydrogen-rich hydrothermal fluids. Total organic carbon concentrations in the plume ranged between 42.1 and 51.1 μM (background = 43.2 ± 0.7 μM (n = 5)) and near-field plume samples with elevated methane concentrations imply the presence of chemoautotrophic primary production and in particular methanotrophy. In parts of the plume characterized by persistent potential temperature anomalies but lacking elevated methane concentrations, we found elevated organic carbon concentrations of up to 51.1 μM, most likely resulting from the presence of heterotrophic communities, their extracellular products and vent larvae. Elevated carbon concentrations up to 47.4 μM were detected even in far-field plume samples. Within the Von Damm hydrothermal plume, we have used our data to hypothesize a microbial food web in which chemoautotrophy supports a heterotrophic community of microorganisms. Such an active microbial food web would provide a source of labile organic carbon to the deep ocean that should be considered in any future studies evaluating sources and sinks of carbon from hydrothermal venting to the deep ocean.

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