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A three-dimensional view of dissolved iron across the South Pacific Ocean. 3D graphics created by Reiner Schlitzer, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany.
Resing, J. A., P. N. Sedwick, et al. (2015). "Basin-scale transport of hydrothermal dissolved metals across the South Pacific Ocean." Nature 523(7559): 200-203, doi:10.1038/nature14577
The results of a recent NSF-funded U.S. GEOTRACES research expedition were published in the latest issue of Nature. In this study, lead author and NOAA/PMEL and University of Washington/JISAO scientist Joseph Resing and colleagues unequivocally demonstrate the importance of submarine hot springs (hydrothermal vents) as a source of iron to the ocean interior. Iron is a trace nutrient that is critical to primary production in the ocean. Until recently, the scientific... more »
Lupton, J., K.H. Rubin, R. Arculus, M. Lilley, D. Butterfield, J. Resing, E. Baker, and R. Embley (2015): Helium isotope, C/3He, and Ba-Nb-Ti signatures in the northern Lau Basin: Distinguishing arc, back-arc, and hotspot affinities. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 16(4), 1133–1155, doi: 10.1002/2014GC005625.
The northern Lau Basin hosts a complicated pattern of volcanism, including Tofua Arc volcanoes, several back-arc spreading centers, and individual ‘‘rear-arc’’ volcanoes not associated with these structures. Elevated 3He/4He ratios in lavas of the NW Lau Spreading Center suggest the influence of a mantle plume, possibly from Samoa. We show that lavas from mid-ocean ridges, volcanic arcs, and hotspots occupy distinct, nonoverlapping fields in a 3He/4He versus C/3He plot. Applied to the northern Lau Basin, this approach shows that most of Lau back-arc spreading systems have mid-ocean ridge... more »
Hammond, S.R., R.W. Embley, and E.T. Baker. 2015. The NOAA Vents Program 1983 to 2013: Thirty years of ocean exploration and research. Oceanography 28(1):160–173, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2015.17.
Two seminal advances in the late 1970s in science and technology spurred the establishment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Vents Program: the unexpected discovery of seafloor vents and chemosynthetic ecosystems on the Galápagos Spreading Center (GSC), and civilian access to a previously classified multibeam mapping sonar system. A small team of NOAA scientists immediately embarked on an effort to apply the new mapping technology to the discovery of vents, animal communities, and polymetallic sulfide deposits on spreading ridges in the Northeast Pacific Ocean.... more »
Chadwick, Jr., W.W., S.G. Merle, N.J. Buck, J.W. Lavelle, J.A. Resing, and V. Ferrini (2014): Imaging of CO2 bubble plumes above an erupting submarine volcano, NW Rota-1, Mariana Arc. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 15(11), 4325–4342, doi: 10.1002/2014GC005543.
NW Rota-1 is a submarine volcano in the Mariana volcanic arc located ∼100 km north of Guam. Underwater explosive eruptions driven by magmatic gases were first witnessed there in 2004 and continued until at least 2010. During a March 2010 expedition, visual observations documented continuous but variable eruptive activity at multiple vents at ∼560 m depth. Some vents released CO2 bubbles passively and continuously, while others released CO2 during stronger but intermittent explosive bursts. Plumes of CO2 bubbles in the water column over the volcano were... more »
Embley, R.W., S.G. Merle, E.T. Baker, K.H. Rubin, J.E. Lupton, J.A. Resing, R.P. Dziak, M.D. Lilley, W.W. Chadwick, Jr., T. Shank, R. Greene, S.L. Walker, J. Haxel, E. Olson, and T. Baumberger (2014): Eruptive modes and hiatus of volcanism at West Mata seamount:, NE Lau basin: 1996–2012. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 15(10), 4093–4115, doi: 10.1002/2014GC005387.
We present multiple lines of evidence for years to decade-long changes in the location and character of volcanic activity at West Mata seamount in the NE Lau basin over a 16 year period, and a hiatus in summit eruptions from early 2011 to at least September 2012. Boninite lava and pyroclasts were observed erupting from its summit in 2009, and hydroacoustic data from a succession of hydrophones moored nearby show near-continuous eruptive activity from January 2009 to early 2011. Successive differencing of seven multibeam bathymetric surveys of the volcano made in the 1996–2012 period... more »