NW Eifuku Vent

Latitude: 21.486^οN              Longitude: 144.043^οE             Depth: 1551 m bsl

NW Eifuku is a small volcanic cone (Lupton et al., 2006) in the Northern Seamount Province of the Mariana arc. Venting on this seamount is unique in that its summit vents CO₂ rich fluid and cold liquid droplets of CO_2. (Lupton et al., 2006).  Lupton et al. (2006) estimate that the high CO₂ flux at the Champagne site is about 0.1% of the global MOR carbon flux. Water column chemistry indicates that the vent fluids are enriched in ³He, CO₂, CH₄, Fe, Mn, suspended particles with a high pH and Eh anomaly. Biological communities including shrimp, crabs, mussels and limpets were also associated with this seamount (Lupton et al., 2006).

Table 1: Operations history for NW Eifuku vent

Ship/ Platform	Operation	Year	Dive Number	References
MGLN02MV R/V Melville/ ROV Jason-2	CTD tow-yo;  CTD vertical cast; XBT;	2006April– May	J2-196	Submarine Ring of Fire, 2006
RR1413 R/V Roger Revelle/ Jason	CTD, EM122 multibeam logging, Plankton Net Cast	2014	J2-798; J2-799	Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman
TN-153 R/V T. G. Thompson	EM 300 multibeam; CTD tow-yo	2003 February – March	Not found	Submarine Ring of Fire 2003
TN-167 R/V T. G. Thompson	CTD tow-yo; ROPOS	2004March- April	R791- R793	Submarine Ring of Fire 2004

Table 2: Table 2: Vent activity and host rocks

Activity and host rocks	References
Activity	Active	Baker et al., 2008Embley et al., 2004
Host Rocks	Basalt	Stern et al., 2004Resing et al., 2009

Table 3: Vent fluid characteristics

Vent Fluids	References
Temperature (οC)	47 οC -108 οC   (Champagne fluid)<4 οC   (liquid CO2 droplets)Low temperature	Lupton et al., 2008Lupton et al., 2006Resing et al., 2009
pH	16.7-7.4	Pala., 2009Shitashima, 2009
ΔpH	-0.305	Resing et al., 2009
Composition	Plume was enriched in total dissolved Fe, Mn, CO2, H2S, He	Resing et al., 2009
CO2 (mM)	76-2711	Lupton et al., 2008
ΔCO2 (mM)	110	Resing et al., 2009
H2 (mM)	0.00011-0.108	Lupton et al., 2008
Particulate Fe (nmol/kg)	4	Resing et al., 2009
TDMn (nM)	27	Resing et al., 2009
TDFe (nM)	400	Resing et al., 2009
Δ3He (fM)	7.3	Resing et al., 2009
3He (μM)	0.072-6.99	Lupton et al., 2008
CH4 (mM)	0.00016-0.0138	Lupton et al., 2008

* ΔpH, ΔCO₂ – Measured relative to the regional background; Δ³He – Measured above the background.

Table 4: Vent Biology

General name	Phylum	Class/ Order	Family	Species	References
Iron mats -Bacteria	Proteobacteria	Zetaproteobacteria			Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman
Chemosynthetic mussels	Mollusca	Bivalvia	Mytilidae	Bathymodiolus brevior	Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman
Sea Snails (False Limpet)	Mollusca	Gastropoda	Phenacolepadidae	Shinkailepas sp.	Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman
Scaleworms	Annelida				Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman
Shrimp	Arthropoda	Malacostraca	Alvinocarididae	Opaepele loihi	Stevens et al., 2008
Shrimp	Arthropoda	Malacostraca	Alvinocarididae	Alvinocaris sp.M	Stevens et al., 2008
Snails	Mollusca				Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman
Squat lobsters	Arthropoda				Submarine Ring of Fire 2014-Ironman

Images:

1. At NW Eifuku volcano, mussels are so dense in some places that they obscure the bottom. The mussels are ~18 cm (7 in) long. The white galatheid crabs are ~6 cm (2.5 in) long.
2. White chimneys at Champagne vent site, NW Eifuku volcano. The chimneys are ~20 cm (8 in) across and ~50 cm (20 in) high, venting fluids at 103ºC (217ºF). Notice the droplets in the upper left portion of the image.
3. Settlement plates that were deployed on our first dive at NW Eifuku are recovered to see what animals may have settled on them since then.
4. Jason recovers two shrimp traps that were deployed during our first dive at NW Eifuku. 
5. A basaltic andesite rock at NW Eifuku is covered with Shinkailepas limpets and thousands of their tiny egg capsules (white dots).  One side note about these limpets: like the mussels at NW Eifuku, these limpets had paper thin shells!
6. Jason takes a sample of with the BioMat sampler at a location on NW Eifuku called Yellow Cone.
7. The Jason manipulator arms use a Scoop sampler to collect iron-oxidizing microbial mat at NW Eifuku.
8. The Jason manipulator arm uses a scoop bag to collect mussels at NW Eifuku.
9. The Champagne vent field at NW Eifuku seamount emits droplets of liquid CO₂from the area around these white-smoker hydrothermal vents.
10. These mussels, shrimp, and limpets living at NW EIfuku seamount all depend on the chemical energy in hydrothermal vents for survival.

Video links:

1. The Limpets of Northwest Eifuku (note: search “the limpets of”)
2. NW Eifuku Final Dive (note: search “final dive”)
3. Microbes Spinning (note: search “zetapro”)
4. A mountain of mussels (note: search “paradox”)
5. First dive (note: search “first dive”)
6. Champagne hydrothermal vent (note: search “Champagne hydrothermal vent”)
7. Diffuse areas of NW Eifuku (note: search “In some diffuse vent areas”)

References:

1. 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.
2. Bloomer, S. H., Stern, R. J., Fisk, E., Geschwind, C. H., 1989. Shoshonitic Volcanism in the Northern Mariana Arc. 1. Mineralogic and Major and Trace Element Characteristics. Journal of Geophysical Research 94 (B4), 4469-4496.
3. Bloomer, S. H., Stern, R. J., Smoot, N. C., 1989. Physical volcanology of the submarine Mariana and Volcano arcs. Bull Volc 51, 210-224.
4. Dziak, R. P., Baker, E. T., Shaw, A. M., Bohnenstiehl, D. R.,Chadwick, Jr. W. W., Haxel, J. H., Matsumoto, H., Walker, S. L., 2012. Flux measurements of explosive degassing using a yearlong hydroacoustic record at an erupting submarine volcano. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 13, Q0AF07, doi:10.1029/2012GC004211.
5. Embley, R. W., Baker, E. T., Chadwick, W. W. JR., Lupton, J. E., Resing, J. A., Massoth, G. J., Nakamura, K., 2004. Explorations of Mariana Arc. Eos 85 (4), 37-44.
6. Konno, U., Tsunogai, U., Nakagawa, F., Nakaseama, M., Ishibashi, J.-i., Nunoura, T., Nakamura, K., 2006. Liquid CO₂ venting on the seafloor: Yonaguni Knoll IV hydrothermal system, Okinawa Trough. Geophysical Research Letters 33 (16), 1-5.
7. Lin, P. N., Stern, R. J., Morris, J., Bloomer, S. H., 1990. Nd- and Sr-isotopic compositions of lavas from the northern Mariana and southern Volcano arcs: implications for the origin of island arc melts. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 105, 381-392.
8. Lupton, J., Butterfield, D., Lilley, M., Evans, L., Nakamura, K.-i., Chadwick, W., Resing, J., Embley, R., Olson, E., Proskurowski, G., Baker, E., de Ronde, C., Roe, K., Greene, R., Lebon, G., Young, C., 2006. Submarine venting of liquid carbon dioxide on a Mariana Arc volcano. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 7 (8), 1-20.
9. Resing, J. A., Baker, E. T., Lupton, J. E., Walker, S. L., Butterfield, D. A., Massoth, G. J., Nakamura, K., 2009. Chemistry of hydrothermal plumes above submarine volcanoes of the Mariana Arc. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 10 (2), 1-23.
10. Shitashima, K., 2009. Natural analogue of low pH/high CO₂ environment in the ocean at hydrothermal vents. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 73.13S: A1214.
11. Shitashima, K., Maeda, Y., and Ohsumi, T., 2013. Development of detection and monitoring techniques of CO₂ leakage from seafloor in sub-seabed CO₂ Applied Geochemistry 30, 114-124.
12. Stern, R. J., N. Basu, E. Kohut, J. Hein, and R. W. Embley., 2004. Petrology and geochemistry of igneous rocks collected in association with ROV investigations of three hydrothermal sites in the Mariana Arc: NW Rota-1, E Diamante, and NW Eifuku, Eos Trans. AGU, 85(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract V43F-07.
13. Stevens, C. J., Limén, H., Pond, D. W., Gélinas, Y., Juniper, S. K., 2008. Ontogenetic shifts in the trophic ecology of two alvinocaridid shrimp species at hydrothermal vents on the Mariana Arc, western Pacific Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 356, 225–237.
14. Watanabe, H., Fujikura, K., Kojima, S., Miyazaki, J., Fujiwara, Y., 2010. Japan: Vents and Seeps in Close Proximity. In: Kiel, S., (Ed.), The Vent and Seep Biota. Springer Netherlands, 33, 379-401.

Website References:

15. Submarine Ring of Fire 2003 http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03fire/logs/summary/marianas_cruisereport.pdf (accessed 11/25/2015)
16. Submarine Ring of Fire 2004 http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/04fire/logs/summary/media/marianas2004cruisereport.pdf (accessed 11/25/2015)
17. Submarine Ring of Fire 2006 http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06fire/logs/summary/media/srof06_cruisereport_final.pdf (accessed 11/25/2015)
18. Submarine Ring of Fire 2014 http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/14fire/background/microbio/media/SRoF04_eifuku_mat_640.wmv (accessed 11/25/2015)