More Like this

1. Hydrothermal vent temperatures track magmatic inflation and forecast eruptions at the East Pacific Rise, 9°50’N

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2510245122  

   Barreyre, Thibaut; Olive, Jean-Arthur; Fornari, Daniel J; McDermott, Jill M; Parnell-Turner, Ross; Moutard, Kim; Wu, Jyun-Nai; Marjanović, Milena (October 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   MManga (Ed.)

   Hydrothermal vent temperatures fluctuate in response to transient magmatic and tectonic activity at the axis of mid-ocean ridges (MORs) and modulate energy fluxes from the deep Earth to the ocean. Such fluctuations have thus far only been documented on time scales of minutes to years, because of the scarcity of long, continuous observations. Here, we assemble a ~35-year-long time series of exit fluid temperatures from five hydrothermal vents on the East Pacific Rise axis, between 9°46’-51’N. This dataset reveals a steady increase in maximum venting temperatures atop the central part of the axial magma lens (AML), from ~350 °C to ~390 °C between the 1991–92 and 2005–06 eruptions. Temperatures decreased back to ~350 °C shortly after the 2005–06 eruption and have been rising ever since. We interpret the temperature increase as a result of a steady decrease in upflow zone permeability caused by the steady inflation of the AML compressing the oceanic upper crust. Using laboratory-determined pressure–permeability relations, we estimate crustal pressurization rates of 0.38 MPa/y (1992–2005) and 0.33 MPa/y (post-2006), consistent with geodetic observations from 2009–2011. Decadal fluctuations in hydrothermal vent temperatures likely mimic the rate of AML pressurization, yielding valuable new constraints on the dynamics of magmatic replenishment and eruptions at MORs. Notably, this temperature time series underpinned our forecast of the April 2025 eruption at the study site. 

   more » « less
2. Tracking Crustal Permeability and Hydrothermal Response During Seafloor Eruptions at the East Pacific Rise, 9°50’N

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095459  

   Barreyre, T.; Parnell‐Turner, R.; Wu, J. ‐N.; Fornari, D. J. (February 2022, Geophysical Research Letters)

   Abstract Permeability controls energy and matter fluxes in deep‐sea hydrothermal systems fueling a 'deep biosphere' of microorganisms. Here, we indirectly measure changes in sub‐seafloor crustal permeability, based on the tidal response of high‐temperature hydrothermal vents at the East Pacific Rise 9°50’N preceding the last phase of volcanic eruptions during 2005–2006. Ten months before the last phase of the eruptions, permeability decreased, first rapidly, and then steadily as the stress built up, until hydrothermal flow stopped altogether ∼2 weeks prior to the January 2006 eruption phase. This trend was interrupted by abrupt permeability increases, attributable to dike injection during last phase of the eruptions, which released crustal stress, allowing hydrothermal flow to resume. These observations and models suggest that abrupt changes in crustal permeability caused by magmatic intrusion and volcanic eruption can control first‐order hydrothermal circulation processes. This methodology has the potential to aid eruption forecasting along the global mid‐ocean ridge network. 

   more » « less
3. Quantifying widespread hydrothermal chimneys on the East Pacific Rise flanks between 9°43′ and 57′N

   https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adv0788  

   Wu, Jyun-Nai; Parnell-Turner, Ross; Fornari, Daniel J; Barreyre, Thibaut; McDermott, Jill M (November 2025, Science Advances)

   Hydrothermal circulation at mid-ocean ridges drives the exchange of heat and matter from Earth’s interior to the global ocean and supports deep-sea life. Away from the ridge axis, however, the spatial extent of hydrothermal discharge remains enigmatic. Using near-bottom data for a 25-kilometer-long section of the East Pacific Rise between 9°43′N and 9°57′N, we show that considerable hydrothermal flow occurs at variable distances from the ridge axis. Mapping the seafloor and water column along this segment using an autonomous underwater vehicle, we identified 448 candidate hydrothermal chimneys. More than half of them lie outside the axial summit trough, indicating that hydrothermal fluids discharge over a larger area than previously thought. Water column measurements show that >27% of mapped constructs are likely to be venting actively. Our results indicate that widespread active hydrothermal flow occurs over the near-axis region, with important implications for constraining total heat flux along mid-ocean ridges and for identifying previously unexplored benthic habitats. 

   more » « less
4. Laminatubus (Serpulidae, Annelida) from eastern Pacific hydrothermal vents and methane seeps, with description of two new species

   https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4915.1.1  

   ROUSE, GREG W.; KUPRIYANOVA, ELENA K. (January 2021, Zootaxa)

   The bathyal serpulid Laminatubus alvini ten Hove & Zibrowius, 1986 was described from the periphery of hydrothermal vents of the Galapagos Rift and has been recorded from other vent communities of the East Pacific Rise (EPR). Here we assessed the biodiversity of serpulids collected from eastern Pacific hydrothermal vents and methane seeps using DNA sequences and morphology. Laminatubus alvini showed little genetic variation over a wide geographic range from the Alarcon Rise vents in southern Gulf of California (~23°N), to at least a point at 38°S on the EPR. Specimens from several methane seeps off Costa Rica and the Gulf of California (Mexico) differed markedly from those of Laminatubus alvini on DNA sequence data and in having seven thoracic chaetigers and lacking Spirobranchus-type special collar chaetae, thus fitting the diagnosis of Neovermilia. However, phylogenetic analysis of molecular data showed that L. alvini and the seep specimens form a well-supported clade. Moreover, among the seep specimens there was minimally a ~7% distance in mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences between a shallow-water (1000 m) seep clade restricted to Costa Rica and a deep-water clade (1800 m) from Costa Rica to Gulf of California. We describe the seep taxa here as morphologically indistinguishable L. paulbrooksi n. sp. and L. joycebrooksae n. sp. 

   more » « less
5. Parasite diversity at isolated, disturbed hydrothermal vents

   https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.0877  

   Dykman, Lauren N.; Tepolt, Carolyn K.; Kuris, Armand M.; Solow, Andrew R.; Mullineaux, Lauren S. (June 2023, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences)

   Habitat isolation and disturbance are important regulators of biodiversity, yet it remains unclear how these environmental features drive differences in parasite diversity between ecosystems. We test whether the biological communities in an isolated, frequently disturbed marine ecosystem (deep-sea hydrothermal vents) have reduced parasite richness and relatively fewer parasite species with indirect life cycles (ILCs) compared to ecosystems that are less isolated and less disturbed. We surveyed the parasite fauna of the biological community at the 9°50′N hydrothermal vent field on the East Pacific Rise and compared it to similar datasets from a well-connected and moderately disturbed ecosystem (kelp forest) and an isolated and undisturbed ecosystem (atoll sandflat). Parasite richness within host species did not differ significantly between ecosystems, yet total parasite richness in the vent community was much lower due to the low number of predatory fish species. Contrary to expectation, the proportion of ILC parasite species was not lower at vents due to a high richness of trematodes, while other ILC parasite taxa were scarce (nematodes) or absent (cestodes). These results demonstrate the success of diverse parasite taxa in an extreme environment and reinforce the importance of host diversity and food web complexity in governing parasite diversity. 

   more » « less