Abstract
In 1983 a combined SeaMARC I, Sea Beam swath mapping expedition traversed the East Pacific Rise from 13°20′ N to 9°50′ N, including most of the Clipperton Transform Fault at 10°15′ N, and a chain of seamounts at 9°50′ N which runs obliquely to both the ridge axis and transform fault trends. We collected temperature, salinity and magnetic data along the same track. These data, combined with Deep-Tow data and French hydrocasts, are used to construct a thermal section of the rise axis from 13°10′ N to 8°20′ N.
Thermal data collected out to 25 km from the rise axis and along the Clipperton Transform Fault indicate that temperatures above the rise axis are uniformly warmer by 0.065°C than bottom water temperatures at equal depths off the axis. The rise axis thermal structure is punctuated by four distinct thermal fields with an average spacing of 155 km. All four of these fields are located on morphologic highs. Three fields are characterized by lenses of warmed water ≈ 20 km in length and ≈ 300 m thick. Additional clues to hydrothermal activity are provided in two cases by high concentrations of CH4, dissolved Mn and 3He in the water column and in another case by concentrations of benthic animals commonly associated with hydrothermal regions.
We use three methods to estimate large-scale heat loss. Heat flow estimates range from 1250 MW to 5600 MW for one thermal field 25 km in length. Total convective heat loss for the four major fields is estimated to lie between 2100 MW and 9450 MW. If we add the amount of heat it takes to warm the rest of the rise axis (489 km in length) by 0.065.°C, then the calculated axial heat loss is from 12,275 to 38,525 MW (19–61% of the total heat theoretically emitted from crust between 0 and 1 m.y. in age).
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Crane, K., Aikman, F. & Foucher, JP. The distribution of geothermal fields along the East Pacific Rise from 13°10′ N to 8°20′ N: Implications for deep seated origins. Mar Geophys Res 9, 211–236 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309974
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309974