Latitude: 13.392οN Longitude: 143.920οE Depth: 1500 m bsl
Vent Sites: Bart, Snail Scrum, Homer, Marge (InterRidge Vent Database Ver.3.3)
Forecast seamount is located in the southern Mariana Trough and it is a sediment starved arc type, active hydrothermal vent site (Gamo et al., 1997b). The fluid temperature is around 200°C (Submarine Ring of Fire, 2006) and are rich in CO2 (Gamo et al., 1997b). Forecast biology consists of Epsilonproteobacterias, shrimp, limpets, crabs, sulfide worms, scale worms as well as snails. These animals are more similar to those at Alice Springs in back-arc than they are to Seamount X, NW Rota-1 in the arc (Submarine Ring of Fire, 2006).
Table 1: Operations history for Forecast vent
| Ship/ Platform | Year | Dive Number | References |
| MGLN02MV R/V Melville/ ROV Jason-2 | 2006 April | J2-185 | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: ROV JASON/MEDEA: Operations Summary (note: click “Files- operations summary”) |
| Shinkai 6500 | 1992 | Not found | Gamo et al., 2004 |
| Shinkai 6500 | 1996 November | 353 | Tsuchida et al., 2000 |
Table 2: Vent activity and host rocks
| Activity and host rocks | References | |
| Activity | Active | Submarine Ring of Fire 2006 |
| Host Rocks | Basalt | Gamo et al., 1997 |
Table 3: Vent fluid characteristics
| Vent Fluids | References | |
| Temperature (οC) | 220οC – 196οC | Baker et al., 2008; Gamo et al., 1997, Gamo et al., 1995; Huber et al., 2010; Iwaida et al., 2005 |
| pH | 6.23-6.56 | Huber et al., 2010 |
| Composition | Clear fluids with high temperature and high CO2 content | Gamo et al., 1997 |
| CO2 (mM) | 42.1 | Gamo et al., 1995 |
| Mn (μM) | 300 | Gamo et al., 1995 |
| Fe (μmol/kg) | 11 | Gamo et al., 1995 |
| 3He (μM) | 0.4 | Gamo et al., 1995 |
Table 4: Vent biology
| General name | Phylum | Order/ Class | Family | Species | References |
| Bacteria | Proteobacteria | Epsilonproteobacteria | Huber et al., 2010 | ||
| Crabs | Arthropoda | Submarine Ring of Fire, 2006 | |||
| Limpets | Arthropoda | Submarine Ring of Fire, 2006 | |||
| Scale worms | Submarine Ring of Fire, 2006 | ||||
| Squat lobster | Arthropoda | Decapoda | Galatheidae | Munidopsis gracilissp. | Cubelio et al., 2007 |
| Snail | Mollusca | Gastropoda | Provannidae | AlviniconchaHessleri | Gamo et al., 2004 |
| Sulfide worms | Submarine Ring of Fire, 2006 |
Images:
Video Links:
References:
- Baker, E. T., Embley, R. W., Walker, S. L., Resing, J. A., Lupton, J. E., Nakamura, K., de Ronde, C. E. J., Massoth, G. J., 2008. Hydrothermal activity and volcano distribution along the Mariana arc: Journal of Geophysical Research 113 (B8), 1-16.
- Cubelio, S. S., Tsuchida, S., Watanabe, S., 2008. New species of Munidopsis (Decapoda: Anomura: Galatheidae) from hydrothermal vent areas of Indian and Pacific Oceans. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 88 (1), 111-117.
- Gamo, T., 1995. Wide variation of chemical characteristics of submarine hydrothermal fluids due to secondary modification processes after high temperature water-rock interaction: a review. In. Sakai. H., Nozaki, Y., (Eds.), Biogeochemical processes and Ocean Flux in the Western Pacific. Terra Scientific Publishing Company (TERRAPUB) Tokyo, Japan, 425-451.
- Gamo, T., Tsunogai, U., Ishibashi, J., Masuda,H., Chiba, H., 1997. Chemical characteristics of hydrothermal fluids from the Mariana Trough. Deep-Sea Res. Spec. Volume: Deep Sea Research in Subduction Zones, Spreading Centers and Backarc Basins, 69-74.
- Gamo, T., Masuda, H., Yamanaka, T., Okamura, K., Ishibashi, J., Nakayama, E., Obata, H., Shitashima, K., Nishio, Y., Hasumoto, H., Watanabe, M., Mitsuzawa, K., Seama, N., Tsunogai, U., Kouzuma, F., Sano, Y., 2004. Discovery of a new hydrothermal venting site in the southernmost Mariana Arc. Geochemical Journal 38, 527-534.
- Huber, J. A., Cantin, H. V., Huse, S. M., Welch, D. B., Sogin, M. L., Butterfield, D. A., 2010. Isolated communities of Epsilonproteobacteria in hydrothermal vent fluids of the Mariana Arc seamounts: FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 73 (3), 538-549.
- Iwaida, C., Ueno, H., 2005. Ore and gangue minerals of seafloor hydrothermal deposits in the Mariana Trough. JAMSTEC Report of Research and Development 1, 1–12.
Website References:
- International cooperation in ridge-crest studies: InterRidge Vents Database Version 3; http://vents-data.interridge.org/ventfield/forecast (accessed 11/19/2015)
- Submarine Ring of Fire, 2006 http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06fire/logs/april21/april21.html (accessed 11/19/2015)
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: ROV JASON/MEDEA: Operations Summary http://www.whoi.edu/main/jason/operations-summary (accessed 11/19/2015)
Cruise Reports:
- Submarine Ring of Fire, 2006 http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06fire/logs/summary/media/srof06_cruisereport_final.pdf (accessed 11/19/2015)