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They form when hot solutions heated by igneous magma escape from the earth's crust in the deep sea and encounter cold seawater: Hydrothermal plumes are enriched in many compounds, supplying the oceans with nutrients and metals. In an area not far from the Azores in Portugal, Researchers at Jacobs University Bremen want to investigate exactly which geochemical processes take place within these clouds in a detailed study.
The three-member team is led by Andrea Koschinsky, Professor of Geosciences at Jacobs University. Also on board the research vessel "Meteor" is bachelor student Vignesh Menon, who will be taking samples and blogging about the cruise together with PhD student Lukas Klose and postdoctoral researcher Sandra Pöhle.
The target of the expedition is a hydrothermal field named "Rainbow", which is located south of the Azores region in Portugal at a water depth of 2,300 meters in the middle of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The submarine mountain range divides the Atlantic Ocean into an eastern and a western half. The heat source for the underwater plume is located in a valley; it rises upwards in the water, drifting with the ocean currents while it mixes with the surrounding seawater. Complex bio-geochemical processes occur as it does so. "We will follow this plume along the valley for 60 kilometers, all the way to the border of the Azores Exclusive Economic Zone," said Koschinsky.
Hydrothermal vents and the plumes they produce are of major importance for biological cycles in oceans. They provide supplies of iron, manganese, copper, zinc and other essential elements that are often found thousands of kilometers away from the original source. "The plumes are highly productive regions where quite a lot happens," Koschinsky explained.
The scientists are not only investigating the concentration of individual substances within the plume: "We are particularly interested in the chemical and physical forms in which they occur," Koschinsky emphasized. For example, dissolved iron can be quickly taken up by organisms, but it can also oxidize quickly in the oxygen-rich ocean water, bind to the small particles, and sink to the ocean floor. It is then no longer bioavailable. The Jacobs University team will filter and preserve water samples in a multi-stage process in order to find out in which form the iron and other trace metals are transported within the water. In the end, even ions and molecules smaller than three nanometers can be separated and examined using ultrafiltration. Chemical analysis of the samples will then take place in the home laboratory.
Andrea Koschinsky’s research group has long been conducting research on material cycles in marine mixing zones, such as hydrothermal plumes or estuaries within the ocean. Research expeditions have taken them to the Kermadec Arc in the southwest Pacific, one of the most active eruption zones in the world, and to the Amazon River estuary. The current expedition aboard the Meteor, which is led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, is taking place under pandemic conditions. The journey starts and finishes in the north German city of Emden from the end of August until the beginning of October. Only international waters may be visited; stopovers in ports of other countries are not possible.
To follow the journey aboard the Meteor, the expedition blog will be available in German and in English under the following links:
https://www.jacobs-university.de/blog-forschungsfahrt-m1762
https://www.jacobs-university.de/blog-posts-research-cruise-m1762
About Jacobs University Bremen:
Studying in an international community, obtaining the qualification to work on responsible tasks in a digitized and globalized society, learning, researching and teaching across academic disciplines and countries, strengthening people and markets with innovative solutions and advanced training programs: This is what Jacobs University Bremen stands for. Established as a private, English-medium campus university in Germany in 2001, it is continuously achieving top results in national and international university rankings. Its more than 1,500 students come from more than 110 countries with around 80% having relocated to Germany for their studies. Jacobs University’s research projects are funded by the German Research Foundation or the EU Research and Innovation program as well as by globally leading companies.
For more information: www.jacobs-university.de
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Prof. Dr. Andrea Koschinsky
Professor of Geocsciences
Tel: +49 421 200-3567
Email: a.koschinsky@jacobs-university.de
The research team is being led by Andrea Koschinksy, Professor of Geosciences at Jacobs University.
Jonas Ginter
The research team is scheduled to begin it’s voyage aboard the FS Meteor in Emden at the end of August and will return in October.
Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
Journalisten, Lehrer/Schüler, Wissenschaftler
Biologie, Chemie, Geowissenschaften, Meer / Klima
überregional
Forschungsprojekte, Wissenschaftliche Publikationen
Englisch
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