Sulfide Flanges: Geological, Chemical and Biological Energetics of Active, Exposed Hydrothermal Systems

海底硫化物矿床的形成与以化学合成为基础的热液食物网的活动是两个能量上相互依赖、空间上重合的过程。大多数重要的反应发生在地下，因此通常无法直接观察。最近在Juan de Fuca山脊的Endeavor喷口区发现了浮力热液的高温池，这些热液被困在悬垂的巨大硫化物法兰下，为记录在温度范围从350℃到环境温度范围内的暴露良好、几乎独立的微型热液系统中发生的物理和化学过程提供了机会。该项目将对这些法兰池系统进行现场、实验室和理论研究。目的是彻底绘制一组选定的法兰内的地质、地球化学、热和生物关系，然后在法兰内、法兰上和法兰周围放置各种仪器，以收集8至10天内温度和通量变化的连续信息。在底部研究的法兰将被回收用于实验室解剖和分析，包括孔隙度、渗透率、矿物学、结构、纹理、流体和微生物分布的三维测绘。

The formation of submarine sulfide deposits and the activities involved in chemosynthetically-based hydrothermal food webs are two processes that are energetically interdependent and spatially coincident. Most of the important reactions occur in the subsurface and are therefore generally inaccessible to direct observation. Recently discovered high-temperature pools of buoyant hydrothermal fluid trapped beneath overhanging massive sulfide flanges in the Endeavor vent field on the Juan de Fuca ridge offer an opportunity to document the physical and chemical processes occurring within well-exposed, nearly self-contained, miniature hydrothermal systems that span the temperature range from 350 C to ambient. The project will mount a combined field, laboratory, and theoretical study of a number of these flange-pool systems. The intent is to map thoroughly the geological, geochemical, thermal, and biological relationships within a selected group of flanges, then place a variety of instruments in, on, and around the flanges to collect continuous information about temperature and flux variations over a period of 8 to 10 days. TLhe flanges studied on the bottom will be retrieved for laboratory dissection and analysis involving 3-D mapping of the porosity, permeability, mineralogy, structure, texture, fluids, and microbial distributions.