多通道化学传感器及其在热液喷口探测中的应用

热液喷口附近的羽状流中存在明显的化学及浊度异常，通过探测这些异常可判断是否存在热液喷口及确定喷口的具体位置。本文研制了一款可用于探测热液喷口的多通道化学传感器，该传感器具有体积小、精度高的特点，且可在4000米深海中进行工作。该化学传感器共配备五个全固态电极，一个为参比电极，其余四个为离子选择性电极，并且可根据所测量的化学离子进行更换。本文基于该化学传感器共进行了两组实验。在第一组浅海试验中，化学传感器集成了pH，Eh，CO₃^2-和SO₄^2-电极，在浅海海域中测量对应化学量，结果表明该化学传感器可在实际应用中获得高精度、稳定的测量数据。第二组实验为深海热液探测，装配了pH，Eh，CO₃^2-和H₂S电极的化学传感器在西南印度洋中脊区域的29次测线中投入使用，共获得有效数据27组。通过对测量所得到的化学量进行分析，本文提出了一种确定热液喷口的化学异常探测方法，若某时间段内Eh和H₂S的电势降低，而pH和CO₃^2-的电势上升则可判定存在化学异常。利用该方法对27组有效数据进行分析，共发现5个潜在的热液喷口。实验结果表明，该化学传感器可有效地探测由热液引起的化学异常，适用于实际热液探测中。

A multi-channel chemical sensor and its application in detecting hydrothermal vents

There are well-established chemical and turbidity anomalies in the plumes occurring vicinity of hydrothermal vents, which are used to indicate their existence and locations. We here develop a small, accurate multi-channel chemical sensor to detect such anomalies which can be used in deep-sea at depths of more than 4 000 m. The design allowed five all-solid-state electrodes to be mounted on it and each (apart from one reference electrode) could be changed according to chemicals to be measured. Two experiments were conducted using the chemical sensors. The first was a shallow-sea trial which included sample measurements and in situ monitoring. pH, Eh, CO₃^2- and SO₄^2- electrodes were utilized to demonstrate that the chemical sensor was accurate and stable outside the laboratory. In the second experiment, the chemical sensor was integrated with pH, Eh, CO₃^2- and H₂S electrodes, and was used in 29 scans of the seabed along the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) to detect hydrothermal vents, from which 27 sets of valid data were obtained. Hydrothermal vents were identified by analyzing the chemical anomalies, the primary judging criteria were decreasing voltages of Eh and H₂S, matched by increasing voltages of pH and CO₃^2-. We proposed that simultaneous detection of changes in these parameters will indicate a hydrothermal vent. Amongst the 27 valid sets of data, five potential hydrothermal vents were targeted using the proposed method. We suggest that our sensors could be widely employed by marine scientists.