The quantum event of oceanic crustal accretion: impacts of diking at mid-ocean ridges
Delaney JR, Kelley DS, Lilley MD, Butterfield DA, Baross JA, Wilcock WS, Embley RW, Summit M. 1998. The quantum event of oceanic crustal accretion: impacts of diking at mid-ocean ridges. Science. 281(5374):222-230
Seafloor diking-eruptive events represent the irreducible, quantum events of upper oceanic crustal accretion. They record events by which a large portion of the oceanic crust has formed through geological history. Since 1993, the U.S. Navy's real-time Sound Surveillance System has allowed location of ongoing acoustic signatures of dike emplacement and basalt eruptions at ridge crests in the northeast Pacific. These diking-eruptive events trigger a sequence of related, rapidly evolving physical, chemical, and biological processes. Magmatic volatiles released during these events may provide nutrients for communities of subseafloor microorganisms, some of which thrive in high-temperature anaerobic environments. Many of the organisms identified from these systems are Archaea. If microorganisms can thrive in the water-saturated pores and cracks within deep, volcanically active portions of our planet, other hydrothermally active planets may harbor similar life forms.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Delaney, J; Kelley, D; Lilley, M; Butterfield, D; Baross, J; Wilcock, W; Embley, R; Summit, M
- Units
- HAVO
- Keywords
- 1996, Biology, Geochemistry, Hydrothermal fluid, Loihi, Submarine