SGER: Evaluation of Hydrothermal Fluid Crustal Residence Times in the Global Ridge System Using Radium Isotopes

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This research facilitates the collection and analysis of radium isotope ratios in high temperature and pressure hydrothermal submarine vent fluids collected from the seafloor. These measurements will allow the crustal residence times of the fluids to be determined, providing important information on the time scales of fluid movement and water-rock interaction in ridge axis crust. Rock and fluid samples from four major hydrothermal systems (East Pacific Rise, Lau Spreading Center, Juan de Fuca Ridge, and Mid-Atlantic Ridge) on the mid-ocean ridge will be analyzed. Resulting data are critical for the synthesis and integration of rock and biological data for the Ridge 2000 program which focuses on three of the four specified targeted sites. Owing to the rapid decay of radium in hydrothermal fluids, the research to be a time critical study. Broader impacts of the work include augmenting the Ridge 2000 dataset and incorporation of results into undergraduate courses in oceanography at the University of Miami.