Hjem
Senter for dyphavsforskning

Dynamics of hydrothermal flow and response to crustal forces at the Loki's Castle and East Pacific Rise 9°50' hydrothermal vent fields

PhD-prosjekt: Marie Eide Lien

Hovedinnhold

Prosjekttittel

Dynamics of hydrothermal flow and response to crustal forces at the Loki's Castle and East Pacific Rise 9°50' hydrothermal vent fields

Veileder

Thibaut Barreyre

Prosjektbeskrivelse

The PhD project is directed at the geophysics and sub-surface fluid flow dynamics characterization of hydrothermal systems. Hydrothermal systems are typically conceptualized as steady-state flow environments, field-based observations indicate that flow rates and temperatures are highly variable over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. These observations demonstrate that hydrothermal systems respond to sub-surface processes such as earthquakes, magmatic activity, dissolution/precipitation of hydrothermal minerals, and the poroelastic response to tidal loading.

With this project the aim is to improve our understanding of the sub-surface dynamics of hydrothermal systems by leveraging on a mix of observational work, data analysis, and modeling for ultimately integrating and reconciling complex flow observations into a coherent theoretical framework. A central objective of this project is to unravel the complex mechanisms that perturb – periodically or episodically – fluid flow by changing the thermal and/or stress conditions of the sub-surface crust on short time scales.