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Milos
Vent Sites:
Adamas Bay (includes Airport and Cape Boubarda)
Rivari
Palaeochori Bay
East of Spathi Point
Voudia Bay
Kiriaki Bay
Activity:
Maximum Temperature:
123
Latitude:
36.6667
Longitude:
24.5167
Location on map:
Ocean:
Region:
National Jurisdiction:
Maximum or Single Reported Depth (mbsl):
200
Minimum Depth (mbsl):
0
Tectonic setting:
Volcano Number (if applicable):
Host Rock:
felsic-volcanic and volcanoclastic rocks
Deposit Type:
LTH, Fe oxide, silica, native sulfur
Notes on Vent Field Description:
venting sites in Adamas Bay [Airport (1-2 m depth) and Cape Boubarda (60-110 m depth)], Palaeochori Bay (0-40 m depth), east of Spathi Point (90-220 m depth), Voudia Bay (10-30 m depth); hydrothermal discharge (123°C) off shores of volcano with precipitates of Fe oxides, amorphous silica, and native sulfur; http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06greece/background/geology/geology.html; fluids high in arsenic (Price et al. 2009); Dando et al. (2000): "To the S, SE and E of Milos, the strongly degassing vents were heterogenously scattered and were most probably concentrated at intensively fractured regions. For example, high venting activity was recorded along a graben-like structure E of Milos. Similarly, in Palaeochori Bay, the vent shapes delineated by white fluffy deposits were clearly related to fault lines."; Email from P. Dando 2010: "Milos (Hellenic Arc) can be regarded as having 5 separated vent fields: 1. Milos Bay (the central cauldera), 2. N. of the island at the cauldera entrance, 3. Boudia Bay (NE side of island), 4. East of Island (NE of Spathi Point), 5. SE of Island (Palaeochori Bay-Kiriaki Bay)", "deep vents in Adamas (Milos) Bay are off Cape Boubarda and in the area shown in the first paper describing the Milos vents (Dando et al 1995). We used SCUBA and an ROV to observe the sites and collect samples. The shallow sites were known for a long time by local fishermen"
Notes Relevant to Biology:
gastropods, echiurians, polychaetes, nematodes, eubacteria and archaea; Dando et al. (2000): "No obligate vent species were noted at Milos in the epifauna, in agreement with previous observations on the infauna"
Year and How Discovered (if active, visual confirmation is listed first):
1987 or earlier, likely by SCUBA; 1992 Minirover ROV deeper sites
Discovery References (text):
Dando et al., Cont. Shelf Res., 15, 913-929, 1995, Gas venting rates from submarine hydrothermal areas around the island of Milos, Hellenic Volcanic Arc, doi:10.1016/0278-4343(95)80002-U.
Other References (text):
[Dando, PR, and Leahy, Y., 1993, Hydrothermal activity off Milos, Hellenic Volcanic Arc: BRIDGE Newsletter, v. 5, p. 20–21]
Fitzsimons et al., Mar. Chem., 57, 325-340, 1997, Submarine hydrothermal brine seeps off Milos, Greece. Observations and geochemistry
Dando et al. (1999) Hydrothermalism in the Mediterranean Sea. Progr. Oceanogr. 44: 333-367
Varnavas and Cronan (2005) Submarine hydrothermal activity off Santorini and Milos in the Central Hellenic Volcanic Arc: A synthesis. Chemical Geology 224: 40-54
Price et al. (2009) Elevated concentrations of arsenic, predominance of thioarsenates, and orpiment precipitation on the seafloor at the marine shallow-water hydrothermal system off Milos Island, Greece. AGU Fall Meeting ID# B23E-0416.
Dando, P. R. (2010) Biological communities at marine shallow-water vent and seep sites. In: Kiel, S. (Ed.) The vent and seep biota – from microbes to ecosystems. Topics in Geobiology 33: 33-378. Springer.
Gilhooly, W.P. et al (2011). Sulfur isotopes of microbial mats in shallow-sea hydrothermal vents, Milos Island, Greece. Poster abstract B51G-0478 presented at the American Geophysical Union 2011 fall meeting, December 5–9, 2011, San Francisco, CA.
RDF link: