Discovering the Apollo Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vent Field at Northern Gorda Ridge, Using Bathymetric Data
Abstract
The Apollo hydrothermal field was discovered at the northern Gorda Ridge in the Pacific Ocean, ~1 km northeast of the Sea Cliff hydrothermal field, as part of the SUBSEA (Systematic Underwater Biogeochemical Science and Exploration Analog) Research Program, aboard the Exploration Vessel Nautilus. The Apollo vent field was identified by assessing the morphological characteristics of the Sea Cliff vent site using 1 m resolution bathymetric data of the northern Gorda Ridge region. The data was assessed using both computational analyses and 3D visualization to identify topographic features that had a similar orientation, shape, rugosity, and distance from large faults as the Sea Cliff vent field. The Apollo vent site was located at ~2,700 m depth, covering an area of approximately 1,500 m2. The Apollo site offers an important comparison to the Sea Cliff hydrothermal site, as both hydrothermal fields emit a clear fluid of ~300 ºC, differing from the familiar "black smoker" hydrothermal systems. Bathymetric analyses of hydrothermal vent fields improve our understanding of how topographic information can aid in the identification of similar hydrothermal vent systems on ocean worlds, such the Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa. Regions with hydrothermal vent fields are regarded as having high habitability potential and are often observed to have unique ecological characteristics in Earth's deep seas. Effective methodologies for hydrothermal vent field identification can contribute to the future of space and ocean exploration by highlighting target regions in the search for life both within Earth's oceans and on ocean worlds.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMOS13C1557S
- Keywords:
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- 3045 Seafloor morphology;
- geology;
- and geophysics;
- MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS;
- 4894 Instruments;
- sensors;
- and techniques;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL;
- 4260 Ocean data assimilation and reanalysis;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL;
- 4262 Ocean observing systems;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL