M146

R/V METEOR cruise M146

Recife (Brazil) - Las Palmas (Gran Canaria, Spain)
17.03.2018 - 16.04.2018

Fluid venting sites at Henry Seamount, an extinct Cretaceous volcano near El Hierro

The R/V METEOR-cruise M146 will be carried out at Henry Seamount, an extinct volcano located ca. 40 km southeast of El Hierro, Canary Islands. The objective of this cruise is to discover sites of hydrothermal circulation of seawater, which is globally important for cooling of the lithosphere, chemical exchange between crust and ocean, and marine ecosystems. This circulation requires basement outcrops that form pathways through impermeable sediment. Data acquired during previous cruise M66/1 show that Henry Seamount may provide such outcrops. Our methods to find them include 1) high-resolution mapping by AUV; 2) high-resolution seismic reflection profiling to survey thickness and internal structure of sediment layers on and around the seamount; 3) determination of local heat flows to detect heat sinks and sources; 4) TV-sled surveys; and 5) local sampling.

Chief scientist:

PD Dr. Andreas Klügel
Phone: +49 421 218-65402
Mail: [Bitte aktivieren Sie Javascript]