skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


  • NSF Public Access
  • Search Results
  • Chimney Identification Tool for Automated Detection of Hydrothermal Chimneys from High-Resolution Bathymetry Using Machine Learning
Title: Chimney Identification Tool for Automated Detection of Hydrothermal Chimneys from High-Resolution Bathymetry Using Machine Learning
Identifying the locations of hydrothermal chimneys across mapped areas of seafloor spreading ridges unlocks the ability to research questions about their correlations to geology, the cooling of the lithosphere, and deep-sea biogeography. We developed a Chimney Identification Tool (CIT) that utilizes a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to classify 1 m gridded AUV bathymetry and identify the locations of hydrothermal vent chimneys. A CNN is a type of Machine-Learning model that is able to classify raster data based on the shapes and textures in the input, making it ideal for this task. The criteria that have been used in previous manual classifications of chimneys have focused on the round base and spire shape of the features, and are not easily quantifiable. Machine-Learning techniques have previously been implemented with sonar data to classify seafloor geology, but this is the first application of these methods to hydrothermal systems. In developing the CIT, we compiled the bathymetry data from two rasters from the Endeavor Ridge—each gridded at a 1 m resolution—containing 34 locations of known hydrothermal chimneys, and from the 92° W segment of the Galapagos Spreading Center (GSC) containing 14. The CIT produced a primary group of outputs with 96% agreement with the manual classification; moreover, it correctly caught 29 of the 34 known chimneys from Endeavor and 10 of the 14 from the GSC. The CIT is trained to identify features with the characteristic shape of a hydrothermal vent chimney; therefore, it is susceptible to the misclassification of unusually shaped cases, given the limited training data. As a result, to provide the option of having a more inclusive application, the CIT also produced a secondary group of output locations with 61% agreement with the manual classification; moreover, it caught three of the four additional known chimneys from the GSC and four of the five from Endeavor. The CIT will be used in future investigations where an inventory of individual chimneys is important, such as the cataloguing of off-axis hydrothermal venting and the investigation of chimney distribution in connection to seafloor eruptions.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2006265
PAR ID:
10400899
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Geosciences
Volume:
12
Issue:
4
ISSN:
2076-3263
Page Range / eLocation ID:
176
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. (, US NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative)
    The ASHES hydrothermal field is located near the base of the western caldera wall of Axial Seamount at a water depth of 1,552 meters. It hosts numerous active hydrothermal sulfide chimneys, myriad lower temperature diffuse flow sites, and abundant vent biota. The focused study area is at the ~4 m tall, actively-venting sulfide chimney called “Mushroom” and a diffuse flow site adjacent to the base of the chimney. Instrumentation at this site is focused on understanding linkages between local and far-field seismic events on fluid chemistry and temperature, chimney evolution, and impacts on vent biota. Seafloor instruments at the ASHES site are attached to a Medium-Power junction box (MJ03B) through a series of electro-optical cables. A ~4 km long extension cable from Primary Node PN03B provides significant power (375 V) and bandwidth (1 Gbs) to operate the instruments and transmit data to shore. In addition to geophysical and temperature monitoring instrumentation attached to MJ03B, the site also hosts a high-definition video camera linked to shore via a separate cable that provides 10 Gb bandwidth from PN03B. This allows full-resolution video to be transferred in real-time to shore, along with communications for the lights and pan-and-tilt capabilities. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; (, Applied and Environmental Microbiology)
    Parales, Rebecca E (Ed.)
    Primitive forms of life may have originated around hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ancient ocean. The Lost City hydrothermal vent field, fueled by just rock and water, provides an analog for not only primitive ecosystems but also potential extraterrestrial rock-powered ecosystems. The microscopic life covering the towering chimney structures at the Lost City has been previously documented, yet little is known about the carbon cycling in this ecosystem. These results provide a better understanding of how carbon from the deep subsurface can fuel rich microbial ecosystems on the seafloor. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; (, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems)
    Abstract Although the serpentinite‐hosted Lost City hydrothermal field (LCHF) was discovered more than 20 years ago, it remains unclear whether and how the presence of microbes affects the mineralogy and textures of the hydrothermal chimney structures. Most chimneys have flow textures comprised of mineral walls bounding paleo‐channels, which are preserved in inactive vent structures to a varying degree. Brucite lines the internal part of these channels, while aragonite dominates the exterior. Calcite is also present locally, mostly associated with brucite. Based on a combination of microscopic and geochemical analyses, we interpret brucite, calcite, and aragonite as primary minerals that precipitate abiotically from mixing seawater and hydrothermal fluids. We also observed local brucite precipitation on microbial filaments and, in some cases, microbial filaments may affect the growth direction of brucite crystals. Brucite is more fluorescent than carbonate minerals, possibly indicating the presence of organic compounds. Our results point to brucite as an important substrate for microbial life in alkaline hydrothermal systems. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; (, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems)
    Abstract Carbonate‐brucite chimneys are a characteristic of low‐ to moderate‐temperature, ultramafic‐hosted alkaline hydrothermal systems, such as the Lost City hydrothermal field located on the Atlantis Massif at 30°N near the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge. These chimneys form as a result of mixing between warm, serpentinization‐derived vent fluids and cold seawater. Previous work has documented the evolution in mineralogy and geochemistry associated with the aging of the chimneys as hydrothermal activity wanes. However, little is known about spatial heterogeneities within and among actively venting chimneys. New mineralogical and geochemical data (87Sr/86Sr and stable C, O, and clumped isotopes) indicate that the brucite and calcite precipitate at elevated temperatures in vent fluid‐dominated domains in the interior of chimneys. Exterior zones dominated by seawater are brucite‐poor and aragonite is the main carbonate mineral. Carbonates record mostly out of equilibrium oxygen and clumped isotope signatures due to rapid precipitation upon vent fluid‐seawater mixing. On the other hand, the carbonates precipitate closer to carbon isotope equilibrium, with dissolved inorganic carbon in seawater as the dominant carbon source and have δ13C values within the range of marine carbonates. Our data suggest that calcite is a primary mineral in the active hydrothermal chimneys and does not exclusively form as a replacement of aragonite during later alteration with seawater. Elevated formation temperatures and lower87Sr/86Sr relative to aragonite in the same sample suggest that calcite may be the first carbonate mineral to precipitate. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; (, Geology)
    Abstract The Von Damm vent field (VDVF) on the Mid-Cayman Rise in the Caribbean Sea is unique among modern hydrothermal systems in that the chimneys and mounds are almost entirely composed of talc. We analyzed samples collected in 2020 and report that in addition to disordered talc of variable crystallinity, carbonates are a major class of mineral at VDVF. The carbonate minerals include aragonite, calcite, magnesium-rich calcite, and dolomite. Talc and carbonate mineral textures indicate that, rather than replacing volcanic host rock, they precipitate from the mixing of hydrothermal fluids and seawater at the seafloor, occurring in chimneys and surrounding rubble. Alternating precipitation of this mineral assemblage is pervasive, with carbonate minerals typically being succeeded by talc, and with indications that in some cases talc and carbonate minerals replace one another. Stable carbon isotopic data indicate the carbonate minerals originate from the mixing of seawater and hydrothermal fluid, which is supported by U-Th data. Radiocarbon calcite ages and talc 234U-230Th isochron ages indicate mineral ages spanning over thousands to tens of thousands of years. Analyses of these samples illustrate a dynamic system that transitions from carbonate-dominated to Mg-silicate–dominated precipitation over time scales of thousands of years. Our observations raise questions regarding the eventual fate of seafloor precipitates and whether carbonate and silicate minerals in such settings are sequestered and represented in the rock record. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email