Detecting deep sea hydrothermal vents with a split-beam echosounder

In May 2016, the NOAA Office of Exploration and Research exploration vessel, Okeanos Explorer, conducted a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dive on a series of active `black smoker' hydrothermal vents at 3,300 m depth in the western Pacific Ocean near the Mariana Trench. The ROV system traversed 800 m along the seafloor and detected three distinct vent sites. The vent chimneys ranged in heights from 5 m to 30 m above the seafloor and vent fluid temperatures were measured as high as 337 °C. Immediately following the ROV dive, the Okeanos Explorer mapped the vent field with an 18 kHz split-beam echosounder traditionally used for fishery research and a 30 kHz multibeam echosounder with midwater capability. Six passes were made over the field, transiting at 4-5 knots on various headings. There was a clear and repeatable signal in the split-beam echogram from the venting but less obvious indication in the multibeam data. `Black smokers' have traditionally been detected using repeat conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) `tow-yo' casts. Our field observations suggest an alternative, and potentially more efficient, method of detecting hydrothermal vent plumes within the beamwidth of the split-beam echosounder to inform ROV dive plans. Methods previously applied for locating marine gas seeps on the seafloor with split-beam echosounders can be applied to estimate the hydrothermal vent positions in this dataset and compared to the recorded ROV positions at each site. Additionally, assuming relatively stable venting and ambient conditions, the ROV position and CTD data recorded from the vehicles can be used to better understand the observed midwater acoustic backscatter signatures of the hydrothermal vent plumes.