NW Eifuku Vent
Latitude: 21.486οN Longitude: 144.043οE Depth: 1551 m bsl
NW Eifuku is a small volcanic cone (Lupton et al., 2006) in the Northern Seamount Province of the Mariana arc. Venting on this seamount is unique in that its summit vents CO2 rich fluid and cold liquid droplets of CO2. (Lupton et al., 2006). Lupton et al. (2006) estimate that the high CO2 flux at the Champagne site is about 0.1% of the global MOR carbon flux. Water column chemistry indicates that the vent fluids are enriched in 3He, CO2, CH4, Fe, Mn, suspended particles with a high pH and Eh anomaly. Biological communities including shrimp, crabs, mussels and limpets were also associated with this seamount (Lupton et al., 2006).
Table 1: Operations history for NW Eifuku vent
| Ship/ Platform | Operation | Year | Dive Number | References |
| MGLN02MV R/V Melville/ ROV Jason-2 | CTD tow-yo; CTD vertical cast; XBT; | 2006
April– May |
J2-196 | Submarine Ring of Fire, 2006 |
| RR1413 R/V Roger Revelle/ Jason | CTD, EM122 multibeam logging, Plankton Net Cast | 2014 | J2-798; J2-799 | Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman |
| TN-153 R/V T. G. Thompson | EM 300 multibeam; CTD tow-yo | 2003 February – March | Not found | Submarine Ring of Fire 2003 |
| TN-167 R/V T. G. Thompson | CTD tow-yo; ROPOS |
2004 March- April |
R791- R793 | Submarine Ring of Fire 2004 |
Table 2: Table 2: Vent activity and host rocks
| Activity and host rocks | References | |
| Activity | Active |
Baker et al., 2008 Embley et al., 2004 |
| Host Rocks | Basalt |
Stern et al., 2004 Resing et al., 2009 |
Table 3: Vent fluid characteristics
| Vent Fluids | References | |
| Temperature (οC) | 47 οC -108 οC (Champagne fluid)
<4 οC (liquid CO2 droplets) Low temperature |
Lupton et al., 2008
Lupton et al., 2006 Resing et al., 2009 |
| pH | 1
6.7-7.4 |
Pala., 2009
Shitashima, 2009 |
| ΔpH | -0.305 | Resing et al., 2009 |
| Composition | Plume was enriched in total dissolved Fe, Mn, CO2, H2S, He | Resing et al., 2009 |
| CO2 (mM) | 76-2711 | Lupton et al., 2008 |
| ΔCO2 (mM) | 110 | Resing et al., 2009 |
| H2 (mM) | 0.00011-0.108 | Lupton et al., 2008 |
| Particulate Fe (nmol/kg) | 4 | Resing et al., 2009 |
| TDMn (nM) | 27 | Resing et al., 2009 |
| TDFe (nM) | 400 | Resing et al., 2009 |
| Δ3He (fM) | 7.3 | Resing et al., 2009 |
| 3He (μM) | 0.072-6.99 | Lupton et al., 2008 |
| CH4 (mM) | 0.00016-0.0138 | Lupton et al., 2008 |
* ΔpH, ΔCO2 – Measured relative to the regional background; Δ3He – Measured above the background.
Table 4: Vent Biology
| General name | Phylum | Class/ Order | Family | Species | References |
| Iron mats -Bacteria | Proteobacteria | Zetaproteobacteria | Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman | ||
| Chemosynthetic mussels | Mollusca | Bivalvia | Mytilidae | Bathymodiolus brevior | Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman |
| Sea Snails (False Limpet) | Mollusca | Gastropoda | Phenacolepadidae | Shinkailepas sp. | Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman |
| Scaleworms | Annelida | Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman | |||
| Shrimp | Arthropoda | Malacostraca | Alvinocarididae | Opaepele loihi | Stevens et al., 2008 |
| Shrimp | Arthropoda | Malacostraca | Alvinocarididae | Alvinocaris sp.M | Stevens et al., 2008 |
| Snails | Mollusca | Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman | |||
| Squat lobsters | Arthropoda | Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman |
Images:
- At NW Eifuku volcano, mussels are so dense in some places that they obscure the bottom. The mussels are ~18 cm (7 in) long. The white galatheid crabs are ~6 cm (2.5 in) long.
- White chimneys at Champagne vent site, NW Eifuku volcano. The chimneys are ~20 cm (8 in) across and ~50 cm (20 in) high, venting fluids at 103ºC (217ºF). Notice the droplets in the upper left portion of the image.
- Settlement plates that were deployed on our first dive at NW Eifuku are recovered to see what animals may have settled on them since then.
- Jason recovers two shrimp traps that were deployed during our first dive at NW Eifuku.
- A basaltic andesite rock at NW Eifuku is covered with Shinkailepas limpets and thousands of their tiny egg capsules (white dots). One side note about these limpets: like the mussels at NW Eifuku, these limpets had paper thin shells!
- Jason takes a sample of with the BioMat sampler at a location on NW Eifuku called Yellow Cone.
- The Jason manipulator arms use a Scoop sampler to collect iron-oxidizing microbial mat at NW Eifuku.
- The Jason manipulator arm uses a scoop bag to collect mussels at NW Eifuku.
- The Champagne vent field at NW Eifuku seamount emits droplets of liquid CO2from the area around these white-smoker hydrothermal vents.
- These mussels, shrimp, and limpets living at NW EIfuku seamount all depend on the chemical energy in hydrothermal vents for survival.
Video links:
- The Limpets of Northwest Eifuku (note: search “the limpets of”)
- NW Eifuku Final Dive (note: search “final dive”)
- Microbes Spinning (note: search “zetapro”)
- A mountain of mussels (note: search “paradox”)
- First dive (note: search “first dive”)
- Champagne hydrothermal vent (note: search “Champagne hydrothermal vent”)
- Diffuse areas of NW Eifuku (note: search “In some diffuse vent areas”)
References:
- Baker, E. T., Embley, R. W., Walker, S. L., Resing, J. A., Lupton, J. E., Nakamura, K., de Ronde, C. E. J., Massoth, G. J., 2008. Hydrothermal activity and volcano distribution along the Mariana arc: Journal of Geophysical Research 113 (B8), 1-16.
- Bloomer, S. H., Stern, R. J., Fisk, E., Geschwind, C. H., 1989. Shoshonitic Volcanism in the Northern Mariana Arc. 1. Mineralogic and Major and Trace Element Characteristics. Journal of Geophysical Research 94 (B4), 4469-4496.
- Bloomer, S. H., Stern, R. J., Smoot, N. C., 1989. Physical volcanology of the submarine Mariana and Volcano arcs. Bull Volc 51, 210-224.
- Dziak, R. P., Baker, E. T., Shaw, A. M., Bohnenstiehl, D. R.,Chadwick, Jr. W. W., Haxel, J. H., Matsumoto, H., Walker, S. L., 2012. Flux measurements of explosive degassing using a yearlong hydroacoustic record at an erupting submarine volcano. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 13, Q0AF07, doi:10.1029/2012GC004211.
- Embley, R. W., Baker, E. T., Chadwick, W. W. JR., Lupton, J. E., Resing, J. A., Massoth, G. J., Nakamura, K., 2004. Explorations of Mariana Arc. Eos 85 (4), 37-44.
- Konno, U., Tsunogai, U., Nakagawa, F., Nakaseama, M., Ishibashi, J.-i., Nunoura, T., Nakamura, K., 2006. Liquid CO2 venting on the seafloor: Yonaguni Knoll IV hydrothermal system, Okinawa Trough. Geophysical Research Letters 33 (16), 1-5.
- Lin, P. N., Stern, R. J., Morris, J., Bloomer, S. H., 1990. Nd- and Sr-isotopic compositions of lavas from the northern Mariana and southern Volcano arcs: implications for the origin of island arc melts. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 105, 381-392.
- Lupton, J., Butterfield, D., Lilley, M., Evans, L., Nakamura, K.-i., Chadwick, W., Resing, J., Embley, R., Olson, E., Proskurowski, G., Baker, E., de Ronde, C., Roe, K., Greene, R., Lebon, G., Young, C., 2006. Submarine venting of liquid carbon dioxide on a Mariana Arc volcano. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 7 (8), 1-20.
- Resing, J. A., Baker, E. T., Lupton, J. E., Walker, S. L., Butterfield, D. A., Massoth, G. J., Nakamura, K., 2009. Chemistry of hydrothermal plumes above submarine volcanoes of the Mariana Arc. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 10 (2), 1-23.
- Shitashima, K., 2009. Natural analogue of low pH/high CO2 environment in the ocean at hydrothermal vents. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 73.13S: A1214.
- Shitashima, K., Maeda, Y., and Ohsumi, T., 2013. Development of detection and monitoring techniques of CO2 leakage from seafloor in sub-seabed CO2 Applied Geochemistry 30, 114-124.
- Stern, R. J., N. Basu, E. Kohut, J. Hein, and R. W. Embley., 2004. Petrology and geochemistry of igneous rocks collected in association with ROV investigations of three hydrothermal sites in the Mariana Arc: NW Rota-1, E Diamante, and NW Eifuku, Eos Trans. AGU, 85(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract V43F-07.
- Stevens, C. J., Limén, H., Pond, D. W., Gélinas, Y., Juniper, S. K., 2008. Ontogenetic shifts in the trophic ecology of two alvinocaridid shrimp species at hydrothermal vents on the Mariana Arc, western Pacific Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 356, 225–237.
- Watanabe, H., Fujikura, K., Kojima, S., Miyazaki, J., Fujiwara, Y., 2010. Japan: Vents and Seeps in Close Proximity. In: Kiel, S., (Ed.), The Vent and Seep Biota. Springer Netherlands, 33, 379-401.
Website References:
- Submarine Ring of Fire 2003 http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03fire/logs/summary/marianas_cruisereport.pdf (accessed 11/25/2015)
- Submarine Ring of Fire 2004 http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/04fire/logs/summary/media/marianas2004cruisereport.pdf (accessed 11/25/2015)
- Submarine Ring of Fire 2006 http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06fire/logs/summary/media/srof06_cruisereport_final.pdf (accessed 11/25/2015)
- Submarine Ring of Fire 2014 http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/14fire/background/microbio/media/SRoF04_eifuku_mat_640.wmv (accessed 11/25/2015)