Latitude: 14.958οN Longitude: 145.246οE Depth: 54 m bsl
(note: location matches with the “Esmerelda Crater and East Flank” of Okeanos Explorer 2016)
Esmeralda Bank is one of the active submarine volcanoes in the Southern Seamount Province of the Mariana arc. The active hydrothermalism was observed and sampled in 1990 where the vent waters have minimum temperature of 78.5~C (Stϋben et al., 1992). Fluids also have elevated levels of TDFe, TDMn, CO2, 3He, CH4, and ΔpH. Fe was found entirely in the particulate phase while Mn was 100% dissolved. No H2S was detected in samples from Esmeralda (Resing et al., 2009).
Table 1: Operations history for Esmeralda vent
| Ship/ Platform | Operation | Year | Dive Number | References |
| MGLN02MV R/V Melville/ ROV Jason-2 | Not found | 2006 April | J2-190 | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: ROV JASON/MEDEA: Operations Summary (note: click “Files- operations summary”) |
| NT 0517 R/V Natsushima/ Hyper-dolphin | Not found | 2005 October | HPD#0487 | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: ROV JASON/MEDEA: Operations Summary (note: click “Files- operations summary”) |
| EX1605/Deep Discoverer | CTD, Scanning sonar | 2016 May (Leg 1) | 19 | Okeanos Explorer 2016 dive summary |
Table 2: Vent activity and host rocks
| Activity and host rocks | References | |
| Activity | Active | Stϋben et al., 1992; Baker et al., 2008; Embley et al., 2004 |
| Host Rocks | Basalt-AndesiteBasaltic and basaltic andesite | Embley et al., 2007Stern et al., 1984 |
Table 3: Vent fluid characteristics
| Vent Fluids | References | |
| Temperature (οC) | Low T (< ~100°C)50°C -78.5°C | Embley et al., 2007;Turkay et al., 1995 |
| ΔpH | -0.1000 | Resing et al., 2009 |
| Composition | CO2 and HCO3– rich fluidsCO2 and Alkalinity, Fe | Resing et al., 2009 |
| ΔCO2 (mM) | 64 | Resing et al., 2009 |
| Particulate Fe (nmol/kg) | 1048 | Resing et al., 2009 |
| TDMn (nM) | 78 | Resing et al., 2009 |
| TDFe (nM) | 1270 | Resing et al., 2009 |
| Δ3He (fM) | 4.3 | Resing et al., 2009 |
| CH4 (nM) | 20 | Resing et al., 2009 |
* 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 |
| Arthropoda | Arthropoda | Decapoda | Xenograpsidae | Xenograpsus novaeinsularis | Turkay et al., 1995 |
| Arthropoda | Decapoda | Callianassidae | Paraglypturus calderus | Turkay et al., 1995 | |
| Crinoids | Echinodermata | Crinoidea | JAMSTEC E-library of Deep-sea Images (JEDI) (note search “Esmeralda”) |
Images:
- JAMSTEC E-library of Deep-sea Images (JEDI) (note search “Esmeralda”)
- A cluster of sea urchins
Video Links:
- JAMSTEC E-library of Deep-sea Images (JEDI) (note search “Esmeralda”)
- Small octopus was spotted amongst a field of stalked crinoids
- Octopus was spotted at Esmeralda Seamount
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.
- 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.
- Embley, R. W., Baker, E. T., Butterfield, D. A., Chadwick, W. W. Jr., Lupton, J. E., Resing, J. A., de Ronde, C. E. J., Nakamura, K., Tunnicliffe, V., Dower, J. F., Merle, S. G., 2007. Exploring the submarine ring of fire: Mariana Arc- Western Pacific, Oceanography 20, 68–79.
- Resing, J. A., Baker, E. T., Lupton, J. E., Walker, S. L., Butterfield, D. A., Massoth, G. J., and Nakamura, K., 2009, Chemistry of hydrothermal plumes above submarine volcanoes of the Mariana Arc: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 10 (2), doi:10.1029/2008GC002141.
- Stern, R. J., Bibee, L. d., 1984. Esmeralda Bank: Geochemistry of an active submarine volcano in the Mariana Island Arc. Contrib Mineral Petrol. 86, 159 169.
- Stϋben, D., Bloomer, S.H., Taibi, N.E., Th. Neumann., Bendel, V., Pϋschel, U., Barone, A., Lange, A., Shiying, Wu., Cuizhor, Li, Deyu, Zhang., 1992. First results of study of Sulphur-rich hydrothermal activity from an island-arc environment: Esmeralda Bank in the Mariana Arc Marine Geology, 103, 521-528.
- Türkay, M., Sakai, K. A. T. S. U. S. H. I., 1995. Decapod crustaceans from a volcanic hot spring in the Marianas. Senckenbergiana maritima, 26(1), 25-36.
Website References:
- JAMSTEC E-library of Deep-sea Images (JEDI) http://www.godac.jamstec.go.jp/jedi/public/Sec101.jsf (11/26/2015)
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: ROV JASON/MEDEA: Operations Summary http://www.whoi.edu/main/jason/operations-summary (11/26/2015)
Website References:
- NOAA Okeanos Explorer, 2016 https://docs.lib.noaa.gov/OEDV/Okeanos_Explorer_2016_EX1605/Leg_1/doc/rov_dive_summaries/EX1605l1_Dive19_Summary_20160509_FINAL.pdf (11/26/2015)