Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Klügel, Andreas, Villinger, Heinrich, Römer, Miriam, Kaul, Norbert, Krastel, Sebastian, Lenz, Kai-Frederik, Wintersteller, Paul
Format: Dataset Open Access
Language:en
Published: PANGAEA 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.913552
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867171374214152192
author Klügel, Andreas
Villinger, Heinrich
Römer, Miriam
Kaul, Norbert
Krastel, Sebastian
Lenz, Kai-Frederik
Wintersteller, Paul
author_facet Klügel, Andreas
Villinger, Heinrich
Römer, Miriam
Kaul, Norbert
Krastel, Sebastian
Lenz, Kai-Frederik
Wintersteller, Paul
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents Our knowledge of venting at intraplate seamounts is limited. Almost nothing is known about past hydrothermal activity at seamounts, because indicators are soon blanketed by sediment. This study provides evidence for temporary hydrothermal circulation at Henry Seamount, a re-activated Cretaceous volcano near El Hierro island, close to the current locus of the Canary Island hotspot. In the summit area at around 3000-3200 m water depth, we found areas with dense coverage by shell fragments from vesicomyid clams, a few living chemosymbiotic bivalves, and evidence for sites of weak fluid venting. Our observations suggest pulses of hydrothermal activity since some thousands or tens of thousands years, which is now waning. We also recovered glassy heterolithologic tephra and dispersed basaltic rock fragments from the summit area. Their freshness suggests eruption during the Pleistocene to Holocene, implying minor rejuvenated volcanism at Henry Seamount probably related to the nearby Canary hotspot. Heat flow values determined on the surrounding seafloor (49 ± 7 mW/m2) are close to the expected background for conductively cooled 155 Ma old crust; the proximity to the hotspot did not result in elevated basal heat flow. A weak increase in heat flow towards the southwestern seamount flank likely reflects recent local fluid circulation. We propose that hydrothermal circulation at Henry Seamount was, and still is, driven by heat pulses from weak rejuvenated volcanic activity. Our results suggest that even single eruptions at submarine intraplate volcanoes may give rise to ephemeral hydrothermal systems and generate potentially habitable environments.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_913552
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2020
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Heat flows and chemical composition of volcanic samples from Henry Seamount, Meteor cruise M146
Klügel, Andreas
Villinger, Heinrich
Römer, Miriam
Kaul, Norbert
Krastel, Sebastian
Lenz, Kai-Frederik
Wintersteller, Paul
Atlantic; Canary Islands; Center for Marine Environmental Sciences; heatflow; hydrothermal activity; MARUM; Seamount; vesicomyid clams
Our knowledge of venting at intraplate seamounts is limited. Almost nothing is known about past hydrothermal activity at seamounts, because indicators are soon blanketed by sediment. This study provides evidence for temporary hydrothermal circulation at Henry Seamount, a re-activated Cretaceous volcano near El Hierro island, close to the current locus of the Canary Island hotspot. In the summit area at around 3000-3200 m water depth, we found areas with dense coverage by shell fragments from vesicomyid clams, a few living chemosymbiotic bivalves, and evidence for sites of weak fluid venting. Our observations suggest pulses of hydrothermal activity since some thousands or tens of thousands years, which is now waning. We also recovered glassy heterolithologic tephra and dispersed basaltic rock fragments from the summit area. Their freshness suggests eruption during the Pleistocene to Holocene, implying minor rejuvenated volcanism at Henry Seamount probably related to the nearby Canary hotspot. Heat flow values determined on the surrounding seafloor (49 ± 7 mW/m2) are close to the expected background for conductively cooled 155 Ma old crust; the proximity to the hotspot did not result in elevated basal heat flow. A weak increase in heat flow towards the southwestern seamount flank likely reflects recent local fluid circulation. We propose that hydrothermal circulation at Henry Seamount was, and still is, driven by heat pulses from weak rejuvenated volcanic activity. Our results suggest that even single eruptions at submarine intraplate volcanoes may give rise to ephemeral hydrothermal systems and generate potentially habitable environments.
title Heat flows and chemical composition of volcanic samples from Henry Seamount, Meteor cruise M146
topic Atlantic; Canary Islands; Center for Marine Environmental Sciences; heatflow; hydrothermal activity; MARUM; Seamount; vesicomyid clams
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.913552