SGER: A Seafloor Camera System for Flow Rate Measurements in Black Smoker Vents

PI已经申请资金来开发和测试一种海底摄像系统，该系统可以使用视频图像分析来测量通过黑色烟雾热液喷口的流体流动。流经黑烟喷口的流体在洋壳和海洋之间的热量和化学物质交换中起着重要作用。这种流动将能量输送到不同的海底生态系统，并将构造和岩浆过程与化学和生物过程联系起来。测量这些系统中的流体流量对于测量通量和了解复杂的系统联系是必不可少的。尽管测量流体流量很重要，但目前还没有能够在黑烟喷口获得长期流量测量的仪器。高温、低pH值和矿物沉淀使入侵技术变得不可行。为了解决这个问题，PI建议开发一种非侵入性的基于图像的仪器来获取黑色吸烟者通风口的流量。该相机系统将采用一种测量黑烟气流的新技术，称为光学羽流测速仪(OPV)，该技术已在实验室开发，并已被证明在模拟黑烟气流上工作良好。更广泛的影响这项研究将开发一种工具，提高我们了解海洋热液系统的水文学和各种相关过程的能力，包括地质力学过程和其他过程之间的相互作用，如热和化学运输和生物生产力。这项技术的开发和现场试验将在大洋中脊的许多喷口领域开辟广泛的可能实验。这项工作还将支持一位青年科学家的工作。克龙在通过媒体进行公众宣传方面有着良好的记录，并将他的成果传达给科学和普通观众。

The PI has requested funding to develop and test a seafloor camera system that can measure fluid flow through black smoker hydrothermal vents using video image analysis. Fluid flow through black smoker vents plays a significant role in the exchange of heat and chemicals between the oceanic crust and the ocean. This flow delivers energy to a diverse subseafloor ecosystem and serves to link tectonic and magmatic processes to chemical and biological processes. Measurements of fluid flow in these systems are essential for measuring fluxes and understanding complex systematic linkages. Despite the importance of measuring fluid flow rates, there is currently no instrument capable of obtaining long term flow measurements in black smoker vents. High temperatures, low pH, and mineral precipitation make invasive techniques infeasible. To address this problem, The PI proposes to develop a non-invasive image-based instrument to obtain flow rates in black smoker vents. This camera system will employ a new technique for measuring black smoker flow, called Optical Plume Velocimetry (OPV), which has been developed in the laboratory and has been shown to work well on simulated black smoker flows. Broader ImpactsThis study will develop an instrument that will increase our ability to understand the hydrology of marine hydrothermal systems and a variety of related processes, including the interactions between geomechanical processes and other processes such as heat and chemical transport and biological productivity. The development and field test of this technology will open up a wide range of possible experiments at many vent fields on the mid-ocean ridge. This work will also support the work of a young scientist. Crone has a strong record of public outreach through the media, and communicating his results to scientific and general audiences.