High-Resolution Geologic Mapping in the Eastern Manus Basin

AUV-based microbathymetry combined with ROV video data was used to create the first high-resolution geologic maps of two hydrothermal active areas in the eastern Manus Basin: North Su volcano and PACManus hydrothermal field on Pual Ridge. The data were recorded in 2006 and 2011 during the research cruises Magellan-06 operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and BAMBUS (SO-216) operated by MARUM / University Bremen. High accuracy underwater navigation transponder-based and Posidonia systems allowed us to combine video data with bathymetry. The navigation on both cruises was very precise (m-scale) and navigation offsets were less than 10 m. We conducted detailed geologic mapping and sampling to identify the seafloor volcanic and hydrothermal features and created highly detailed maps that provide a comprehensive picture of the seafloor and vent distribution in the eastern Manus Basin. Several different types of dacite lava morphology were mapped, including pillow lava, lobate flows and massive block lava. We have compiled all available information on rock chemistry, fluid and temperature measurements, video data, bathymetry and navigation data into a GIS database. We find that, in contrast to the tectonic control on vent distribution at slow spreading mid-ocean ridges, the pathways of upwelling hydrothermal vent fluids at PACManus are dominated by volcanic features, such as lava domes and thick, massive block lava flows. Vent fields are developed preferentially along the margins of major flow units, probably because the cores of these units are impermeable to fluid flow, while the autobrecciated outer parts of the flows are not. In the North Su area, a comparison of seafloor maps from 2006 and 2011 reveals recent volcanic activity, which has strongly modified the bathymetry and hydrothermal vent distribution on the southern flank of the volcano. An ash cone with multiple small craters on the SW flank of the North-Su volcano that didn't exist in 2006 was mapped in 2011. Also, magmatic degassing was much more vigorous in 2011, with large accumulations of liquid sulfur (from disproportionation of magmatic SO2) as well as extensive bubbling of supercritical and liquid CO2.