Serpentinization-assisted deformation processes and characterization of hydrothermal fluxes at mid-ocean ridges

Seafloor hydrothermal systems play a significantly important role in Earth’s energy and geochemical budgets and support the existence and development of complex biological ecosystems by providing nutrient and energy to microbial and macrafaunal ecosystems through geochemical fluxes. Heat output and fluid flow are key parameters which characterize hydrothermal systems at oceanic spreading centers by constraining models of hydrothermal circulation. Although integrated measurements of heat flux in plumes are critically important as well, quantification of heat flux at discrete sources (vent orifices versus patches of seafloor shimmering diffuse flow) from direct measurements is particularly essential for examining the partitioning of heat flow into focused and diffuse components of venting and determining geochemical fluxes from these two modes of flow. Hydrothermal heat output also constrains the permeability of young oceanic crust and thickness of the conductive boundary layer that separates magmatic heat source from overlying hydrothermal circulation. This dissertation will be fundamentally focused on three main inter-connected topics: (1) the design and development of direct high- or low-temperature heat flow measuring devices for hydrothermal systems, (2) the collection of new heat output results on four cruises between 2008 and 2010 at several distinct hydrothermal sites along mid-ocean ridges (MORs) to estimate total heat output from individual vent structures such as Dante, Hulk or the whole vent field (e.g., Main Endeavour Vent Field (MEF)), the partitioning between focused and diffuse hydrothermal venting in MEF, and determination of initial estimates of geochemical flux from diffuse hydrothermal fluids which may be influenced by the activity in subsurface biosphere and finally (3) the deformation and uplift associated with serpentinization at MORs and subduction zones.;Despite extensive efforts spent for the last couple of decades on heat flow measurement methods and techniques either in the plumes or right at sources, there is still limited knowledge of direct estimates of heat discharge particularly at the vent scale and reliable estimates of temporal variation in heat flux. Moreover, a few previously used tools to make discrete measurements were associated with mechanical complications and/or problems mostly related to electronics or irrecoverable damage due to environmental problems such as accumulation of sediments/particles from hydrothermal fluids. In this dissertation we showed the stages of design, fabrication, calibration and in-situ deployment from DSV Alvin for two unique heat flow measuring seafloor instruments; cup anemometer and turbine flow meter. The devices have proven to be robust, practical, and simple to maneuver and perform in both focused and diffuse flow milieus. Field experiments showed that these self-contained devices yielded a broad range of accurate heat flow estimates ranging from 2 cm/s to 200 cm/s with minimum required maintenance and much less on-station time compared to previous designs.;This dissertation reports 63 successful point measurements of focused and diffuse fluid flow the majority of which were completed at the Main Endeavour, High Rise and Mothra hydrothermal vent fields along Endeavour Segment of Juan de Fuca Ridge. By coupling a fraction of our flow rate results with geochemical data (i.e. fluid volatile concentrations) collected with in-situ mass spectrometer, direct geochemical flux were estimated from both focused and diffuse flows.;Heat and fluid flow results we have obtained complement our understanding of serpentinization assisted deformation processes at Mid-Ocean Ridges and subduction zones. This dissertation also includes a simple mathematical model developed for crustal deformation and seafloor uplift resulting from volume expansion associated with subsurface serpentinization. Application of this model shows the apparent deformation at the central portion of the east wall of the axial valley at the TAG hydrothermal field and the Quaternary uplift of the Miyazaki Plain observed above the Kyushu-Palau subduction zone in the western Pacific. Our model suggests that observed topographic anomaly may have been produced in a relatively deep-seated region of serpentinized mantle associated with a volume expansion (transformation strain) of 20 to 40% that could have possibly resulted into fracturing/faulting processes or only with 3% of transformation strain respectively.