Vent Fields

Welcome to the InterRidge Global Database of Active Submarine Hydrothermal Vent Fields (the “InterRidge Vents Database”).
To sort the list of Vent Fields, click on a column header.
To view details for a specific Vent Field, click on the Name ID.
To view the subset of Vent Fields that contain a specific category, click on the category (for example, "active, confirmed" in the "Activity" column).

Vent Field Name ID Activity Tectonic Setting Regionsort descending Latitude Longitude Maximum or Single Reported Depth Year and How Discovered
Squid Forest inactive mid-ocean ridge Kolbeinsey Ridge 68.0000 -17.5000 900 1999 ROV Aglantha
Paramushir Island inactive arc volcano Kuril Arc 50.3300 155.5000 800 NotProvided
Kraternaya Bight, Ushishir Volcano active, confirmed arc volcano Kuril Arc 47.5167 152.8000 60 1985 SCUBA
Hot Beach, Mendeleev Volcano active, confirmed arc volcano Kuril Arc 43.9760 145.7360 1 1990 or earlier, from the beach
Vai Lili active, confirmed back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -22.2151 -176.6083 1764 1989 submersible Nautile
White Church active, confirmed back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -21.9612 -176.5234 1960 1989 submersible Nautile; 2004 plume survey
NWLSC, Central Caldera active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -15.8000 -177.2666 2200 2008 plume and dredge only
ELSC3 active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -21.1667 -176.3333 2140 2009 plume only
NELSC, T08C12 active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -15.2179 -174.1788 2000 2008 plume only
Lobster active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -15.3330 -176.2830 1500 2008 plume and dredge only
C-ELSC, plume 17 active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -20.9900 -176.2530 2270 2004 plume only
NELSC, T08C09 and T08C18 active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -15.4030 -174.2630 1800 2008 plume only
Tahi Moana 2 active, confirmed back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -21.9200 -176.5330 1870 1989 submersible Nautile (need reference to check if activity confirmed); 2004 plume only; 2008 commercial ROV (report does not confirm activity)
Tafu active, confirmed back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -15.3833 -174.2500 1400 2008 or 2009 commercial ROV; 2008 plume only; 2009 ROV Jason II
Maka active, confirmed back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -15.4217 -174.2850 1660 2008 commercial ROV; 2004 plume only; 2006 plume and chimney samples
C-ELSC, plume 18 active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -20.9500 -176.2390 2230 2004 plume only
FRSC, 14b, 16.31 S active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -16.3110 -174.5550 2380 2008 plume only
Dugong submarine volcano active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -15.4500 -175.7000 1170 2008 plume only
Tahi Moana 7 active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -15.3300 -174.2500 1940 2004 plume only; 2008 plume only; 2009 video camera tow (activity not confirmed)
Mariner active, confirmed back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -22.1800 -176.6017 1910 2003 plume and camera tow; 2004 submersible Shinkai 6500
MTJ, T08C05 active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -15.5134 -174.7407 2100 2008 plume only
Hine Hina active, confirmed back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -22.5300 -176.6970 1900 1989 submersible Nautile
VFR, ELSC7 active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -22.8833 -176.7500 2050 2009 plume and dredge only
FRSC, 14b, 16.11 S active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -16.1150 -174.5680 2250 2008 plume only
Tahi Moana 1 active, confirmed back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -20.6900 -176.1800 2256 2008 commercial ROV; 2004 plume only
Peggy Ridge active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -16.9233 -176.8250 1900 1975 or earlier rock samples only; inactive in systematic survey on Arculus cruise SS07/2008
Kilo Moana active, confirmed back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -20.0532 -176.1336 2620 2004 AUV ABE; 2004 plume only on previous cruise
MTJ, T08C03 and T08C04 active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -15.6100 -174.8200 2300 2008 plume only
FRSC, Central active, inferred back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -16.4917 -174.5417 2419 2004 plume only
CLSC, A3 active, confirmed back-arc spreading center Lau Basin -18.6000 -176.4500 2500 1990 submersible Mir

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