Arctic hydrothermal vents

Seafloor hot springs were first discovered in the late 1970’s and about 600 hydrothermal vents have been discovered since. Previous work by our group has shown that hydrothermal activity at ultra-slow spreading ridges is much more abundant than previously believed, and four active venting sites have been identified so far in the Norwegian-Greenland sea.

Our research group focuses on the monitoring and sampling of hydrothermal vents on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge to understand the diversity and functioning of such sites on ultra-slow spreading ridges. We perform long-term monitoring of seismic activity and fluid temperatures to better understand subsurface processes and constrain fluid fluxes. In addition, we sample hydrothermal fluid using isobaric gas tight samplers and analyze their geochemistry in on board and on land laboratories. 

 This research is done under Work Package 2 of the K.G. Jebsen Centre for Deep Sea Research “Diversity and functioning of hydrothermal systems”