Insights into fluid flow and environmental conditions present in deep-sea hydrothermal vent deposits from measurements of permeability and porosity

Evolution of permeability-porosity relationships (EPPRs) of different seafloor vent deposit sample types provide crucial information about how fluid flows within the deposits. In this study, we conducted permeability and porosity measurements on a wide range of vent sample types recovered from many different active seafloor vent fields. The sample set includes chalcopyrite-lined black smoker chimneys, Zn-rich diffusing spires (including white smokers), flanges/slabs/crusts (i.e., plate-like deposits that overlie pooled fluid), massive anhydrite, and cores recovered from the sides of vent structures. Using a probe permeameter, permeability measurements were systematically taken of each sample along several orientations. The measured permeability ranges over 6 orders of magnitude from 10-14 to 10-8 m2. Our data indicate that in general massive anhydrite samples are the least permeable with a mean at ~10-13 m2 and the samples from Zn-rich diffusing spires that were actively venting when collected are the most permeable with a mean at ~10-11 m2. With a mean at 10-11.5 m2, permeability data of flanges/slabs/crusts span over 4 orders of magnitude from 10-13 to 10-9 m2, the largest spread among all sample types tested. Permeability values of the outer portions of relict spires, ranging from ~10-13 m2 to 10-9.5 m2, displayed clear anisotropic trends: permeability along the radial directions is higher than that along the axial direction. Black smokers exhibit a strong layered heterogeneity, where inner chalcopyrite linings were significantly less permeable than outermost layers. To conduct porosity and directional permeability measurements, cylindrical cores will be taken from these vent samples. We will examine whether different sample types, or portions of samples, exhibit distinct permeability-porosity relationships, and will then use micro-structural observations of the cores to examine chimney growth processes (e.g., mineral deposition or cracking) that likely result in the observed EPPRs. Identifying the links between specific EPPRs and chimney growth processes will provide better understanding of how environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, pH, flow rate) change over time, which has important consequences for faunal communities residing within and on the exteriors of vent deposits.