Biogeochemistry of Hydrothermal Systems in the Scotia Sea
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When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES School of Ocean and Earth Sciences Biogeochemistry of Hydrothermal Systems in the Scotia Sea by Catherine Sarah Cole Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2013 ii UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Ocean and Earth Sciences Doctor of Philosophy BIOGEOCHEMISTRY OF HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEMS IN THE SCOTIA SEA by Catherine Sarah Cole Submarine hot springs play an important role in global heat transfer; element cycling; economic ore deposition; and as an energy source for chemosynthetic ecosystems. Almost four decades of deep-sea exploration have revealed hydrothermal venting to be a ubiquitous phenomenon across the global ocean floor, yet these systems have only recently been discovered in Antarctica. Between 1998 and 2012, high-temperature vents were detected and sampled along the East Scotia Ridge (ESR) and within the Kemp Caldera, which forms part of the South Sandwich island arc, during four research cruises to the Scotia Sea. These vent sites are the first discovered south of the polar front, and they have a distinct faunal assemblage that has characterised them as a new biogeographic province. In this thesis, I investigate the controls on hydrothermal fluid chemistry at the ESR and the Kemp Caldera, using the rare earth elements (REEs) as geochemical tracers. I demonstrate that REE distributions in hydrothermal fluids and associated sulphate deposits are variably influenced by reaction with the host rock; temperature and phase separation; fluid composition and magmatic gas injection; and anhydrite precipitation/dissolution. Secondly, I assess tissue bioaccumulation of metals in Kiwa tyleri sp. nov., the dominant macrofaunal species at the ESR vent sites, in response to their environmental exposure. Significant variation in metal burden between tissues reflects both abiotic and biotic controls on metal uptake, including external concentration; trophic position; ecological niche and behavioural traits; in addition to cellular mechanisms of regulation. Finally, I investigate proteomic pathways of metal regulation in the shallow water mussel, Mytilus edulis, and the vent-living mussel, Bathymodiolus sp. I show that both species have strong defence mechanisms against metal toxicity and oxidative stress, which may be important for successful colonisation of hydrothermal systems. This work highlights the diversity in chemical compositions of fluids venting in back-arc and island-arc settings, and provides an insight into metal regulatory mechanisms that may have facilitated faunal colonisation of these extreme habitats. iii iv Contents Abstract iii List of Figures ix List of Tables xv Declaration of Authorship xvii Acknowledgements xviii Definitions and Common Abbreviations xx 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Hydrothermal Vents ........................................................................................ 1 1.1.1 What are hydrothermal vents? ................................................................. 1 1.1.2 Global distribution ................................................................................... 3 1.1.2.1 Mid-ocean ridges .............................................................................. 4 1.1.2.2 Ultra-mafic systems .......................................................................... 5 1.1.2.3 Back-arc spreading centres ............................................................... 6 1.1.2.4 Seamounts ......................................................................................... 7 1.1.2.5 Sedimented systems .......................................................................... 7 1.1.3 Controls on fluid chemistry ...................................................................... 8 1.1.3.1 Phase separation ................................................................................ 9 1.1.3.2 Rock type ........................................................................................ 11 1.1.3.3 Magmatic input ............................................................................... 11 1.1.3.4 Sediment input ................................................................................ 12 1.1.4 Life at hydrothermal vents ..................................................................... 15 1.2 Tracing Hydrothermal Processes: The Rare Earth Elements ........................ 18 1.2.1 Chemical properties of the rare earths ................................................... 18 1.2.2 Hydrothermal fluids ............................................................................... 19 1.2.3 Hydrothermal minerals........................................................................... 22 1.3 Metal Regulation in Vent-Living Fauna........................................................ 25 Contents 1.3.1 Mechanisms of metal uptake .................................................................. 25 1.3.2 Metal stress and mechanisms of detoxification ..................................... 27 1.3.3 Redox proteomics ................................................................................... 28 1.4 Rationale and Project Objectives ................................................................... 30 1.5 Thesis Structure ............................................................................................. 31 2 Study Area: The East Scotia Sea ....................................................................... 33 2.1 Geological Setting ......................................................................................... 33 2.1.1 The East Scotia Ridge ............................................................................ 34 2.1.1.1 Segment E2 ..................................................................................... 35 2.1.1.2 Segment E9 ..................................................................................... 36 2.1.2 South Sandwich Island Arc .................................................................... 36 2.2 Oceanographic Setting ................................................................................... 37 2.3 Hydrothermal Venting ................................................................................... 39 2.3.1 The E2 vent field .................................................................................... 39 2.3.2 The E9 vent field .................................................................................... 41 2.3.3 Kemp Caldera ......................................................................................... 42 2.4 Hydrothermal Fauna ...................................................................................... 46 2.5 Summary ........................................................................................................ 47 3 Rare earth elements as indicators of hydrothermal processes within the East Scotia subduction zone system .................................................................................. 49 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 50 3.2 Materials and methods ................................................................................... 52 3.2.1 Sample collection and preparation ......................................................... 52 3.2.1.1 Focused and diffuse fluids .............................................................. 52 3.2.1.2 Chimney samples ............................................................................ 52 3.2.2 Analytical methods ................................................................................. 53 3.2.2.1 REE concentration of fluids ............................................................ 53 3.2.2.2 REE concentration of anhydrite ...................................................... 53 3.2.2.3 Sr Isotope composition of fluids and anhydrite .............................. 54 3.3 Results ........................................................................................................... 55 3.3.1 REE composition of hydrothermal fluids .............................................. 55 3.3.2 87Sr/86Sr composition of vent fluids ....................................................... 59 3.3.3 REE composition of chimney anhydrites ............................................... 59 3.4 Discussion ...................................................................................................... 64 3.4.1 Host-rock influence ...............................................................................