The Remarkable Diversity of Seafloor Vents: Explorations reveal an increasing variety of hydrothermal vents

• Published in: Oceanus (Woods Hole) Vol. 42; no. 2
• Main Author: Tivey, M K
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-01-2004
• ISSN: 0029-8182

In late summer of 1984, I anxiously awaited my first trip to the seafloor in the submersible Alvin. There was a delay in launching the sub, but I resisted the urge to have a drink, anticipating one final trip to the bathroom before crawling into Alvin's three-person, 6-foot sphere for eight hours. I was excited not only about my first chance to dive, but about visiting the home of the seafloor rocks I had long been studying for my master's thesis. Since 1982, I had spent most of my waking hours examining pieces of seafloor vent deposits that had been recovered during a routine dredging operation along the Juan de Fuca Ridge off the Pacific Northwest coast. Expecting to find common seafloor rocks called basalts, scientists were surprised to pull up fragments and boulders of massive sulfide covered with small tubeworms. They had discovered the fourth and, at the time, newest site of hydrothermal venting on the seafloor, a place now known as the Main Endeavour Field. These rocks helped launch my scientific career.