Investigating the geochemical and physical response to fluid rock reaction beneath an active hydrothermal system in an arc environment.

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What goes on beneath active and extinct hydrothernal vent sites forming within the caldera of a submarine volcano? Establishing the processes active beneath the vent sites is crucial to our understanding of how these vent systems work. Moreover, such systems effectively represent a natural laboratories, which provide insights into the processes widely considered to be responsible for massive sulphide, copper, lead, zinc and gold, mineral resources we find, and presently exploit, from within the geological record. The Brothers volcano is of particular interest, as submarine arc volcanoes differ substantially from those in mid-ocean spreading environments in that they commonly contain a large component of fluid, likley to have derived from the magma chamber below. These magmatic fluids generate contrasting fluid rock reactions which influence the composition and the ore mineral forming potential of the hydrothermal fluids. In addition, these fluids are anticipated to alter the surrounding rocks in a manner not encountered in other environments and which may prove to be distinct signatures that can utimately aid exploration for resources in both submarine and terrestrial environments.