A new gas-tight isobaric sampler for hydrothermal fluids

A new gas-tight isobaric sampler for the collection of hydrothermal fluids venting at the seafloor has been designed, constructed, and tested at a ridge-crest vent site. The new device is constructed of chemically inert titanium, is gas-tight to 450 bar and can be used to sample fluids with temperatures up to 400°C. Compressed gas is used to maintain the sample at seafloor pressure before and during sample withdrawal onboard ship, allowing subsampling without degassing the fluid remaining in the sampler. This feature eliminates the need to collect separate gas-tight and major element samples since a single fluid sample can be analyzed quantitatively for major, trace, semi-volatile, and volatile components. The sampler fill rate is regulated to minimize entrainment of ambient seawater during collection of fluids from environments characterized by low fluid flow such as diffuse hydrothermal vents. In addition to deployment at the ridge-crest, the samplers can be used to collect gas-tight samples from other subseasurface environments such as hydrocarbon seeps, areas of methane-gas hydrate formation, cold seeps associated with serpentinites, regions of groundwater egress to the oceans, and the water column.     

A Remotely Operated Serial Sampler for Collecting Gas-Tight Fluid Samples

This paper describes the design, construction and preliminary test results for a gas-tight serial sampler intended to be deployed at seafloor for long-term operation to take time-series fluid samples from deep-sea environments such as cold seeps, water column and hydrothermal vents. The serial sampler is a modular system that is based on independent and identical sampling modules, which are designed to collect six 160 ml gas-tight fluid samples maintained at high pressure to a depth of 4000 meters. With two working modes, the sampler can be deployed either with seafloor cabled observatory for remote control or as a stand-alone device for autonomous operation. A prototype of the instrument has been constructed and tested on the MARS cabled observatory for two months. The laboratory and field tests proved the success of the design and construction of the serial sampler, and indicated the potential for future ocean sciences.     

A new, automatic hydrothermal fluid sampler using a shape-memory alloy

A new hydrothermal fluid sampler has been developed to provide more maneuverability in underwater operation. The sampler characteristically employs a shape-memory alloy, which senses high temperature and actuates the suction mechanism. A shape-memory alloy is also used to switch the intake valve of the sampler, the intention being to avoid missampling when the inlet is in low temperature water. Prototype samplers were designed to collect the fluids hotter than 80°C. Test sampling was performed at hydrothermal vents (1372–1374 m deep) in the submarine volcano, Suiyo Seamount, Izu-Bonin Arc, northwestern Pacific. Observed fluid temperature was between 138 and 298°C, while the ambient seawater temperature was 3.1°C. Each prototype collected about 100 ml fluid as designed. The magnesium concentration in the samples indicated a seawater content of 47.5–90.8%, which indicates the entrainment of ambient seawater. Microscopic observatinn revealed the occurrence of microorganisms in the sample fluids at a population density of 10⁵ to 10⁶ cells ml⁻¹, which is 2–3 orders of magnitude higher than those in seawater at that depth. The use of the newly developed fluid sampler will greatly facilitate the collection of vent-associated microorganisms, which are of potential biological and biotechnological interest.     

A suspended-particle rosette multi-sampler for discrete biogeochemical sampling in low-particle-density waters

To enable detailed investigations of early stage hydrothermal plume formation and abiotic and biotic plume processes we developed a new oceanographic tool. The Suspended Particulate Rosette sampling system has been designed to collect geochemical and microbial samples from the rising portion of deep-sea hydrothermal plumes. It can be deployed on a remotely operated vehicle for sampling rising plumes, on a wire-deployed water rosette for spatially discrete sampling of non-buoyant hydrothermal plumes, or on a fixed mooring in a hydrothermal vent field for time series sampling. It has performed successfully during both its first mooring deployment at the East Pacific Rise and its first remotely-operated vehicle deployments along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It is currently capable of rapidly filtering 24 discrete large-water-volume samples (30–100 L per sample) for suspended particles during a single deployment (e.g. >90 L per sample at 4–7 L per minute through 1 μm pore diameter polycarbonate filters). The Suspended Particulate Rosette sampler has been designed with a long-term goal of seafloor observatory deployments, where it can be used to collect samples in response to tectonic or other events. It is compatible with in situ optical sensors, such as laser Raman or visible reflectance spectroscopy systems, enabling in situ particle analysis immediately after sample collection and before the particles alter or degrade.     

A comparative study of energy performance of hydrostatic seafloor sediment samplers and a new high-efficiency sampler

The hydrostatic energy of high-pressure seawater is a renewable and green energy source for ocean exploration and have been used to replace underwater electrical energy transmission through the cable and underwater battery pack to power seafloor equipment. The advantage of the energy supply method is the cost-effective and the robustness. In the paper, the energy performance of the existing hydrostatic seafloor sediment samplers powered by seawater hydrostatic energy are modelled and analyzed and compared. In view of the common shortcoming of existing technology, a novel hydrostatic seafloor sediment sampler is proposed. The model of energy conversion of the new sampler is built, and its energy performance is obtained. The analysis results indicate that the energy conversion efficiency of the novel sediment sampler is much higher than the existing ones, which means that the new sampler can collect much longer sample with the limited amount of hydrostatic energy. The seawater hydrostatic energy conversion system of the new sampler can also be used to power other seafloor equipment.     

洋中脊和弧后盆地热液区热液流体B同位素组成的系统性差异

硼(B)是流体迁移元素,趋向于在热液流体中富集而成为常量元素。不同来源的B其同位素组成有着明显的区别。因此,B的含量及其同位素组成可标识热液流体(元素)的物质来源、水–岩反应程度及沉积物(元素)混入等重要过程,对海底热液活动及其成矿作用过程具有重要的示踪意义。迄今,对全球主要热液活动区热液流体中B的含量及同位素组成特征已做了大量的测试分析及研究工作,积累了丰富的资料和重要研究成果。但是,对不同地质背景(构造环境)条件下热液流体中B的含量及同位素组成特征尚缺乏系统性的对比分析,进而对造成不同环境热液流体中元素及其同位素组成的系统性差异的原因或机制尚缺乏深入的认识。本文在获取了洋中脊和弧后盆地主要热液活动区热液端元流体中B的含量及其同位素组成数据的基础上,定量估算了热液流体中B的主要来源,并对洋中脊和弧后盆地热液端元流体中B同位素组成的系统性差异进行了分析及成因探讨。结果表明,不同热液活动区热液端元流体的δ11B值都具有较大的变化范围,水–岩反应过程中不同来源B的混合是热液流体B同位素组成变化的主要原因。无沉积物覆盖的洋中脊和弧后盆地热液区热液流体中的B主要为海水与基底岩石来源B的混合,弧后盆地岩浆挥发性组分对热液系统的直接贡献及两种不同地质背景下基底岩石地球化学组成与水–岩反应程度的差异是其热液端元流体B同位素组成差异的主要原因。在有沉积物覆盖的弧后盆地热液区,热液流体中B的同位素组成与前两者之间存在显著差异,具有异常低的δ11B值,水–岩反应过程中沉积物来源B的加入是导致热液流体中δ11B值系统性降低的主要原因,沉积物的吸附作用也在一定程度上影响了热液流体的B同位素组成。有沉积物覆盖的洋中脊热液区热液流体同样受到了沉积物来源B加入的影响,具有较低的δ11B值,且相对于冲绳海槽受到了更强烈的沉积物吸附作用的影响。基于以上分析,并结合热液流体的Sr同位素组成特征,本文提出了洋中脊和弧后盆地这两大构造环境中热液流体B同位素组成系统性差异的成因模式。     

Two-stage influences of hydrothermal fluids on pumice near the Iheya North hydrothermal field,Okinawa Trough

Hydrothermal precipitates and hydrothermal alteration products could record important information about temporal variations of seafloor hydrothermal systems. Geochemistry, mineralogy, and microscopic features of three pumice samples (T3-1, T3-2, and T3-3) near the Iheya North hydrothermal field were analyzed in this article. The results show that T3-3 sample has undergone at least two-stage influences by hydrothermal fluids. In the first stage, pure amorphous silica from hydrothermal fluid precipitated in the vesicles of all three T3 samples as a result of conductive cooling and fluid–seawater mixing. The precipitation temperatures according to oxygen isotope thermometer are approximately 13–21°C. In the second stage, T3-3 pumice underwent low-temperature hydrothermal alteration, during which the amorphous silica precipitates were redissolved, together resulting in losses of FeO and SiO₂ and gains of MgO, Pb, Zn, and Cu. Furthermore, ferruginous filamentous silica, which might be related to activities of Fe-oxidizing bacteria, was formed in the altered pumice. The transformation from pure amorphous silica precipitation to redissolution of the silica in T3-3 pumice might indicate a rise of temperature and/or decrease in silica concentrations in hydrothermal fluids, implying a changing hydrothermal environment.     

海底热液活动的环境与产物

近23年的调查研究,使我们认识到分布于洋中脊、弧后盆地、岛弧和热点等环境的海底热液活动发育在多种围岩类型之上,包括超基性岩石、基性岩石、中性岩石、酸性岩石和沉积物。海底热液活动经历了岩浆去气作用、流体-岩石/沉积物相互作用和流体-海水混合,获取了岩浆、岩石、海水和沉积物的物质,构成了热液循环,产生了高温、低氧、高或低pH值、富含Fe、Mn、Cu、Zn、Pb、Hg、As等元素以及气体组分(甲烷、氢等)的喷口流体,影响了海水、沉积、岩石和生物环境,形成了热液柱、硫化物、含金属沉积物和蚀变岩石等热液产物,组成了海底热液系统。未来,促进海底热液活动探测技术和热液产物测试方法的发展,对海底热液区的岩石、喷口流体、热液柱、硫化物、含金属沉积物以及热液循环、生物活动的持续观测与研究,无疑将为人类探知海底地质过程及生命活动、保护海底热液环境和合理开发利用海底资源提供有力的工作支撑。     

现代海底热液沉积物的硫同位素组成及其地质意义

共收集到现代海底热液沉积物的1264个硫同位素数据,结合我们对冲绳海槽Jade热液区和大西洋中脊TAG热液区中表层热液沉积物的硫同位素研究成果,对比分析了不同地质-构造环境中海底热液沉积物的硫同位素组成特征及其硫源问题.结果表明:(1)现代海底热液沉积物中硫化物的硫同位素组成集中分布在1‰～9‰之间,均值为4.5‰(n=1042),而硫酸盐矿物的硫同位素组成主要分布在19‰～24‰之间,均值为21.3‰(n=217);(2)无论在洋中脊还是在弧后盆地扩张中心,无沉积物覆盖热液活动区中热液沉积物与有沉积物覆盖热液活动区相比,其硫同位素组成的分布范围相对狭窄;(3)各热液活动区中硫化物硫同位素组成的不同,反映出各自硫源的差异性.无沉积物覆盖洋中脊中热液成因硫化物的硫主要来自玄武岩,部分来自海水,是玄武岩和海水硫酸盐中硫不同比例混合的结果,而在弧后盆地和有沉积物覆盖的洋中脊,除了火山岩以外,沉积物和有机质均可能为热液硫化物的形成提供硫;(4)现代海底热液沉积物硫同位素组成的变化和硫源的不同可能归因于海底热液体系中流体物理化学性质的变化、岩浆演化和构造-地质背景的不同.     

用于海底热液pH探测电极自校正的控制技术研究

在海底热液pH值的探测过程中,探测电极的特性会随时间的推移而发生变化。为了实现长期的原位探测,需要一套流体控制系统对探测电极进行自校正与自维护。针对所设计的流体控制系统,遵循低功耗的设计原则,研制了其主控系统,包括硬件设计和软件开发。为了使控制系统能应用于海底热液环境,对其进行了耐压封装设计,并进行了高压水实验,实验结果表明系统在40 MPa的高压下能正常工作。各种测试指标亦表明系统能自动实现pH探测电极自校正与自维护的功能。     

Sulfur isotopic composition of modern seafloor hydrothermal sediment and its geological significance

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海底热液喷口流体中H2S浓度数据统计及其探测技术进展

统计了全球38个热液活动区264个热液喷口流体样品中的H_2S浓度数据,结果表明H_2S浓度主要受岩浆去气、水岩反应、相分离作用影响,而广泛使用的非气密保压采样技术不能反映原始喷口流体状态和化学组成,可能会造成H_2S浓度测量误差。为了提高测量数据的精度,一方面需要进一步发展气密保压采样技术,以提高样品的保真水平;另一方面利用深海原位电化学传感器或拉曼光谱系统进行海底原位探测也将是一个重要的发展方向。     

Deep-sea hydrothermal microplume generation – a case study from the North Fiji Basin

A diffusely venting, low-temperature (<13 °C) hydrothermal field was detected in the North Fiji Basin, using the newly developed Hydro Bottom Station. According to the fluid chemistry (gas-rich, salt-depleted), its fluids derive from subcritical boiling in the underground and represent a condensed vapour phase strongly diluted with entrained seawater. A rhythmic expulsion of hydrothermal fluids is substantiated by microplumes observed in multiprobe profiles in the near-bottom water column. These microplumes were successfully predicted by modelling the thermal convection above the seafloor. The pattern of venting is reminiscent of geyser activity on land caused by subcritical subsurface boiling.     

台湾龟山岛东南部海域白色热泉特征分析

海底热液活动及其周边环境的调查研究是海洋科学领域的热点之一。海底热液喷口环境的物理化学参数,尤其是浅水型热液,会受到潮汐变化的影响。台湾龟山岛靠近冲绳海槽南端分布有多处浅水型热液喷口(30m)。2010年5月,浙江大学、杭州电子科技大学和台湾中山大学对该海域实施了联合考察,利用电化学传感器获得了低温热液喷口(24.834 14°N,121.961 91°E)连续87h的温度和pH现场观测数据。基于Morlet复小波变换方法,分析了浅水型热液喷口的温度和pH现场观测时间序列的变化周期,并通过与当地潮汐记录数据作比较,获得了其与潮汐信号之间的潜在关系,证实了潮汐变化是海底白色热泉喷口物理化学参数现场观测最主要的影响因素。温度和pH现场观测数据经Morlet复小波变换后的小波系数分别存在规律的12.9h和12.5h变化周期,并且温度的小波系数在准半日周期尺度与潮汐高度呈负相关变化,相关系数为-0.89;pH的小波系数情况相反,相关系数为0.76。     

Discovery of a new hydrothermal vent based on an underwater,high-resolution geophysical survey

A new hydrothermal vent site in the Southern Mariana Trough has been discovered using acoustic and magnetic surveys conducted by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology's (JAMSTEC) autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), Urashima. The high-resolution magnetic survey, part of a near-bottom geophysical mapping around a previously known hydrothermal vent site, the Pika site, during the YK09-08 cruise in June–July 2009, found that a clear magnetization low extends ∼500 m north from the Pika site. Acoustic signals, suggesting hydrothermal plumes, and 10 m-scale chimney-like topographic highs were detected within this low magnetization zone by a 120 kHz side-scan sonar and a 400 kHz multibeam echo sounder. In order to confirm the seafloor sources of the geophysical signals, seafloor observations were carried out using the deep-sea manned submersible Shinkai 6500 during the YK 10-10 cruise in August 2010. This discovered a new hydrothermal vent site (12°55.30′N, 143°38.89′E; at a depth of 2922 m), which we have named the Urashima site. This hydrothermal vent site covers an area of approximately 300 m×300 m and consists of black and clear smoker chimneys, brownish-colored shimmering chimneys, and inactive chimneys. All of the fluids sampled from the Urashima and Pika sites have chlorinity greater than local ambient seawater, suggesting subseafloor phase separation or leaching from rocks in the hydrothermal reaction zone. End-member compositions of the Urashima and Pika fluids suggest that fluids from two different sources feed the two sites, even though they are located on the same knoll and separated by only ∼500 m. We demonstrate that investigations on hydrothermal vent sites located in close proximity to one another can provide important insights into subseafloor hydrothermal fluid flow, and also that, while such hydrothermal sites are difficult to detect by conventional plume survey methods, high-resolution underwater geophysical surveys provide an effective means.     

EMRIDGE: The electromagnetic investigation of the Juan de Fuca Ridge

From July to November 1988, a major electromagnetic (EM) experiment, known as EMRIDGE, took place over the southern end of the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the northeast Pacific. It was designed to complement the previous EMSLAB experiment which covered the entire Juan de Fuca Plate, from the spreading ridge to subduction zone. The principal objective of EMRIDGE was to use natural sources of EM induction to investigate the processes of ridge accretion. Magnetotelluric (MT) sounding and Geomagnetic Depth Sounding (GDS) are well suited to the study of the migration and accumulation of melt, hydrothermal circulation, and the thermal evolution of dry lithosphere. Eleven magnetometers and two electrometers were deployed on the seafloor for a period of three months. Simultaneous land-based data were made available from the Victoria Magnetic Observatory, B.C., Canada and from a magnetometer sited in Oregon, U.S.A.Changes in seafloor bathymetry have a major influence on seafloor EM observations as shown by the orientation of the real GDS induction arrows away from the ridge axis and towards the deep ocean. Three-dimensional (3D) modelling, using a thin-sheet algorithm, shows that the observed EM signature of the Juan de Fuca Ridge and Blanco Fracture Zone is primarily due to nonuniform EM induction within the ocean, associated with changes in ocean depth. Furthermore, if the influence of the bathymetry is removed from the observations, then no significant conductivity anomaly is required at the ridge axis. The lack of a major anomaly is significant in the light of evidence for almost continuous hydrothermal venting along the neo-volcanic zone of the southern Juan de Fuca Ridge: such magmatic activity may be expected to have a distinct electrical conductivity signature, from high temperatures, hydrothermal fluids and possible melt accumulation in the crust.Estimates of seafloor electrical conductivity are made by the MT method, using electric field records at a site 35 km east of the ridge axis, on lithosphere of age 1.2 Ma, and magnetic field records at other seafloor sites. On rotating the MT impedance tensor to the principal axis orientation, significant anisotropy between the major (TE) and minor (TM) apparent resistivities is evident. Phase angles also differ between the principal axis polarisations, and TM phase are greater than 90° at short periods. Thin-sheet modelling suggests that bathymetric changes accounts for some of the observed 3D induction, but two-dimensional (2D) electrical conductivity structure in the crust and upper mantle, aligned with the ridge axis, may also be present. A one-dimensional (1D) inversion of the MT data suggests that the top 50 km of Earth is electrically resistive, and that there is a rise in conductivity at approximately 300 km. A high conductivity layer at 100 km depth is also a feature of the 1D inversion, but its presence is less well constrained.     

过渡族金属元素同位素在海底热液活动研究中的应用

过渡族金属元素(Fe、Cu、Zn等)同位素的地球化学特征研究是近年来新兴起的研究方向,在沉积地球化学、宇宙化学、成矿过程、岩浆作用和生物科学等多个领域都取得了重要进展。主要介绍了过渡族金属元素同位素在现代海底热液活动研究中的应用以及取得的重要成果,指出利用过渡族金属元素同位素研究现代海底热液活动具有广阔的发展前景。在分析总结已有研究工作的基础上,探讨了该领域的研究发展方向,包括:(1)丰富过渡族金属元素同位素组成的分析数据;(2)加强模拟实验工作;(3)探讨海底热液活动对过渡族金属元素在大洋内循环和平衡的作用。     

可浮动自锁式深海气密采水器的研制

深海海水中气体的含量可以在一定程度上标识深海资源蕴藏量,因而实现对深海海水的气密采样意义重大.为此设计了一种可浮动的自锁装置,并采用压力自适应平衡原理,实现了对深海海水的气密采样.实验室和海上试验结果均表明深海气密采水器在装上可浮动自锁装置后耐压能力和气密性都得到了有效的提高,对初始压强为1.208 MPa的N2气保压2 h,压力损失不到1.2%,并成功地实现了对960 m深的海水样品的气密采样.此样品中CH4浓度为5.44 nmol/dm^3,CO2浓度为140.6nmol/dm^3.该可浮动自锁式深海气密采水器的研制为深海资源勘探分析提供了必要的技术支持.     

Multiple resolution seismic imaging of a shallow hydrocarbon plumbing system,Woolsey Mound,Northern Gulf of Mexico

The northern Gulf of Mexico is dominated by salt tectonics, resulting fracturing and numerous seafloor seeps and vents. Woolsey Mound, site of the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research Consortium's seafloor observatory, has been investigated extensively via surveys, direct sampling and seafloor instrument systems. This study presents an innovative approach to seismic data interpretation, integrating three different resolution datasets and maximizing seismic coverage of the complex natural hydrocarbon plumbing system at Woolsey Mound.3D industry seismic data reveal the presence of a salt body at in the shallow subsurface that has generated an extended network of faults, some extending from the salt body to the seafloor (master faults). Higher resolution seismic data show acoustic wipe-out zones along the master faults with expulsion features – seafloor pockmarks and craters – located immediately above them and associated, in the subsurface, with high-amplitude, negative anomalies at constant depth of 0.2 s TWTT b.s.f., interpreted as free gas. Since pockmarks and craters provide pathways for hydrocarbons to escape from depth into the water column, related sub-surface seismic anomalies may indicate free gas at the base of the gas hydrates stability zone (GHSZ). Fluid flow and gas hydrates formation are segmented laterally along faults. Gas hydrates formation and dissociation vary temporally in the vicinity of active faults, and can temporarily seal them as conduits for thermogenic fluids. Periodic migrations of gases and other fluids may perturb the GHSZ in terms of temperature and pressure, producing the observed lack of classical BSRs.     

Study on the high precision acoustic measurement techniques for determining temperature field around seafloor hydrothermal vent

This paper presents the basis of acoustic method used for temperature field measurement of seafloor hydrothermal vent and two techniques of the parabolic interpolation and the bending compensation of propagation paths of acoustic signal are introduced. Experimental research is performed to exactly rebuild the temperature field around hot springs on the floor of Qiezishan Lake, Yunnan, China. The accuracy of the travel time estimation has been improved based on the aforementioned technique and method. At the same time, by comparison of the results of temperature field with different means, the max absolute error, the maximum relative error and the root mean square error are given. It shows that the technique and the method presented in the paper can be applied to the temperature field measurement detector around the seafloor hydrothermal vent. It also has a good accuracy.