Elemental mercury at submarine hydrothermal vents in the Bay of Plenty, Taupo volcanic zone, New Zealand

Hot springs in active geothermal areas such as Yellowstone National Park, the Geysers geothermal field in California, and the Taupo volcanic zone in New Zealand are notably enriched in the trace metals Au, Ag, As, Sb, and Hg. Such near-surface hot springs have formed many of the world's importa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 1999-10, Vol.27 (10), p.931-934
Main Authors: Stoffers, P, Hannington, M, Wright, I, Herzig, P, de Ronde, C, Arpe, T, Battershill, C, Botz, R, Britten, K, Browne, P, Cheminée, J. L, Fricke, H. W, Garbe-Schönberg, D, Hékinian, R, Hissman, K, Huber, R, Robertson, J, Schauer, J, Schmitt, M, Scholten, J, Schwarz-Schampera, U, Smith, I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australasia
Bay of Plenty
faults
Geology
geothermal systems
grabens
hydrothermal vents
Marine
marine environment
mercury
metallogeny
Metals
mineral deposits, genesis
native elements
New Zealand
North Island
ocean floors
Oceanography
Oceans
Pacific Ocean
South Pacific
Southwest Pacific
springs
submarine environment
submarine springs
systems
Taupo volcanic zone
thermal waters
trace metals
volcanism
Volcanoes
West Pacific
Whakatane Graben
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Summary:Hot springs in active geothermal areas such as Yellowstone National Park, the Geysers geothermal field in California, and the Taupo volcanic zone in New Zealand are notably enriched in the trace metals Au, Ag, As, Sb, and Hg. Such near-surface hot springs have formed many of the world's important deposits of gold and silver and some of the largest deposits of mercury. The majority of these are associated with continental geothermal systems in subaerial environments. Here we report the discovery of active mercury-depositing hot springs in a submarine setting, at nearly 200 m water depth, within the offshore extension of the Taupo volcanic zone of New Zealand. These vents contain the first documented occurrence of elemental mercury on the sea floor and provide an important link between offshore hydrothermal activity and mercury-depositing geothermal systems on land. The discovery has implications for mercury transport in sea-floor hydrothermal systems and underscores the importance of submarine volcanic and geothermal activity as a source of mercury in the oceans.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0931:EMASHV>2.3.CO;2