Hot vents in an ice-cold ocean:: Indications for phase separation at the southernmost area of hydrothermal activity, Bransfield Strait, Antarctica

During the expeditions ANT-XV/2 with RN Polarstern in 1997/98 and NBP 99-04 with RN IB N.B. Palmer in 1999, the first samples of hydrothermally influenced sediments of Bransfield Strait were obtained at Hook Ridge, a volcanic edifice in the Central Basin of the Strait. The vent sites are characterized by white siliceous crusts on top of the sediment layer and temperatures measured immediately on deck are up to 48.5 degreesC. The shallow depth of these vent sites (1050 m) particularly controls the chemistry of the pore fluids that are enriched in silica and sulfide and show low pH values. Chloride is depleted up to 20% and the calculated hydrothermal endmember concentration is in the range of 1-84 mM. Since other mechanisms for Cl depletion can be ruled out clearly, the composition of this fluid is attributed to phase separation. While the Cl-depleted fluid is emanating at Hook Ridge, a Cl-enriched fluid can be identified in the adjacent King George Basin. Using a p,x diagram the two corresponding endmember concentrations reveal that the phase separation takes place at subcritical conditions (total depth: similar to 2500 m), probably along the whole volcanic edifice. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.