Seafloor permeability of the axial valley of the Juan de Fuca Ridge

What is it about?

A new method of deriving a photomosaic from seafloor video obtained using the ROV Jason II was developed and utilized to estimate relative surface permeability in an active hydrothermal area on the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The mosaic resolves seafloor geology of the axial valley seafloor at sub-meter resolution over an area greater than 1 square km. Results indicate that the valley walls and basal talus slope are topographically rugged and unsedimented, providing minimal resistance to fluid transmission. Elsewhere, the axial valley floor is capped by an unbroken blanket of low-permeability sediment, resisting fluid exchange with the subsurface reservoir. Active fluid emission sites were restricted to the high-permeability zone at the base of the western wall. A series of inactive fossil hydrothermal structures form a linear trend along the western bounding wall, oriented orthogonal to the spreading axis. High-temperature vent locations appear to have migrated over 100 m along-ridge-strike over the decade between surveys. While initially an expression of subsurface faulting, this spatial pattern suggests that increases in seafloor permeability from sedimentation may be at least a secondary contributing factor in regulating fluid flow across the seafloor interface.

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Why is it important?

One paper of a comprehensive set of experiments to determine the patterns of fluid circulation beneath very young oceanic crust.