Quantitative Surface Evolution of Hydrothermal Edifices at the Endeavour Segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge

Monday, 30 January 2017
Marina/Gretel (Hobart Function and Conference Centre)
Tom Kwasnitschka, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany, Kim Juniper, University of Victoria, Ocean Networks Canada, Victoria, BC, Canada and Deborah S Kelley, University of Washington Seattle Campus, Seattle, WA, United States
Abstract:
The power of quantitative visual observations has yet to be brought to bear on most aspects of seafloor volcanic studies. Yet changes in volume, appearance and colonisation of magmatic and hydrothermal constructs (vents, flows, chimneys, microbial mats etc.) are direct consequences of changes in the magmatic system and can provide quantitative estimates of heat and material transport not available through more localized observation or sampling.

Photogrammetric techniques applied to dedicated ROV imagery allow the reconstruction of a centimeter-scale, fully three dimensional model of seafloor features. On E/V Nautilus Leg 069/2 during the summer of 2015, this method was applied to major vents of the Mothra, Main Endeavour and High Rise sites at the Endeavour Segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge. Together with previous surveys at Mothra a) in 1997 (Yoerger et al., 2000) and b) in 2014 (see graphical abstract) as well as imagery collected during the annual Ocean Networks Canada servicing dives at all sites, we are able to construct a time series of vent development including sulfide buildup, erosion and changes in the habitat. For the first time, this can be done on the grounds of a fully georeferenced, quantitative model.

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