Diversity of hydrothermal systems on slow spreading ocean ridges: Introduction
Abstract
Emerging findings reveal that hydrothermal systems at slow to ultraslow spreading ocean ridges (full spreading rate ≤ 3 cm a-1) exhibit greater diversity than that at intermediate to fast spreading ridges, related to geological diversity of the lithosphere that hosts the systems. This volume presents studies of hydrothermal systems on slow spreading ocean ridges that convey our present knowledge of their diversity. Rona [this volume] places them in the perspective of the development of seafloor hydrothermal research. Lowell [this volume] reviews the various heat sources and heat transfer processes at slow spreading ridges, including mantle heat flux, mining of crustal heat, the role of exothermal chemical reactions as the principal heat sources in low-temperature hydrothermal fields, and replenishing magmatic heat sources as the principal heat sources in high-temperature hydrothermal fields. Edmonds [this volume] synthesizes the compositional variation of low- and high-temperature fluids discharged from hydrothermal systems hosted in the various lithologies on slow spreading ridges. Tivey and Dyment [this volume] explain the use of different magnetic signatures to infer the nature of hydrothermal alteration associated with the diverse geologic settings on slow spreading ocean ridges and the potential application of these signatures for future off-axis exploration.