Trace Metal Dynamics in Shallow Hydrothermal Plumes at the Kermadec Arc

Abstract

Hydrothermal vents are a source of many trace metals to the oceans. Compared to mid-ocean ridges, hydrothermal vent systems at arcs occur in shallower water depth and are much more diverse in fluid composition, resulting in highly variable water column trace metal concentrations. However, only few studies have focused on trace metal dynamics in hydrothermal plumes at volcanic arcs. During R/V Sonne cruise SO253 in 2016/2017, hydrothermal plumes from two hydrothermally active submarine volcanoes along the Kermadec arc in the Southwest Pacific Ocean were sampled: (1) Macauley, a magmatic dominated vent site located in water depths between 300 and 680 m, and (2) Brothers, located between 1,200 and 1,600 m water depth, where hydrothermalism influenced by water rock interactions and magmatically influenced vent sites occur near each other. Surface currents estimated from satellite-altimeter derived currents and direct measurements at the sites using lowered acoustic Doppler current profilers indicate the oceanic regime is dominated by mesoscale eddies. At both volcanoes, results indicated strong plumes of dissolved trace metals, notably Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, La, and Pb, some of which are essential micronutrients. Dissolved metal concentrations commonly decreased with distance from the vents, as to be expected, however, certain element/Fe ratios increased, suggesting a higher solubility of these elements and/or their stronger stabilization (e.g., for Zn compared to Fe). Our data indicate that at the magmatically influenced Macauley and Brothers cone sites, the transport of trace metals is strongly controlled by sulfide nanoparticles, while at the Brothers NW caldera wall site iron oxyhydroxides seem to dominate the trace metal transport over sulfides. Solution stabilization of trace metals by organic complexation appears to compete with particle adsorption processes. As well as extending the generally sparse data set for hydrothermal plumes at volcanic arc systems, our study presents the first data on several dissolved trace metals in the Macauley system, and extends the existing plume dataset of Brothers volcano. Our data further indicate that chemical signatures and processes at arc volcanoes are highly diverse, even on small scales.

SANTORY: SANTORini’s Seafloor Volcanic ObservatorY

“…(e.g., El Hierro) (Fraile-Nuez et al, 2012). Hydrothermal plume sampling protocols and analytical methods are detailed in Kleint et al (2022).…”

Chromium stable isotope distributions in the southwest Pacific Ocean and constraints on hydrothermal input from the Kermadec Arc

“…Samples presented here are from the northwest side of the caldera and the caldera upper wall, as well as the northward-propagating plume from this end of the caldera (Kleint et al, 2019(Kleint et al, , 2022Neuholz et al, 2020). Vents at this site are characterized by high temperatures ($300 °C), low pH (pH % 3) and high Fe:H 2 S ratios (up to >10) (Kleint et al, 2019(Kleint et al, , 2022. The neutrally buoyant plume is diluted with ambient seawater > 10 2 times within days (Neuholz et al, 2020).…”

“…However, this site is much shallower than the observed [Fe] plume along the GP13 transect and, given the high degree of heterogeneity along the southern Kermadec Arc, may differ chemically from the source of the [Fe] plume seen along GP13. While still considerably variable, hightemperature vent fluids from volcanoes at > 1000 m depth along the southern Kermadec Arc generally show [Fe] > [H 2 S], and total dissolved Fe > [Fe(II)] ( Kleint et al, 2019Kleint et al, , 2022, with Fe(III) oxides important at some sites for metal transport within the plume (Kleint et al, 2022).…”

“…The Brothers Volcano site is composed of multiple distinct venting environments (de Ronde et al, 2001;Kleint et al, 2019Kleint et al, , 2022Neuholz et al, 2020). Samples presented here are from the northwest side of the caldera and the caldera upper wall, as well as the northward-propagating plume from this end of the caldera (Kleint et al, 2019(Kleint et al, , 2022Neuholz et al, 2020). Vents at this site are characterized by high temperatures ($300 °C), low pH (pH % 3) and high Fe:H 2 S ratios (up to >10) (Kleint et al, 2019(Kleint et al, , 2022.…”

Diversity of magmatism, hydrothermal processes and microbial interactions at mid-ocean ridges

“…Modelling has shown that upwelling of hydrothermal Fe might be responsible for 15-30% of the primary production in this region, thus linking the global biogeochemical cycles of iron and carbon. Iron from shallow hydrothermal plumes at the Tonga-Kermadec Arc is an important component of increased nitrogen fixation and primary production in that region 224,225 .…”