Notes on Vent Field Description:
Levin et al. (2012): "we report on a reducing system that we refer to as a hydrothermal seep", "close-up visual observations made by scientists diving in Alvin were required to detect the shimmering water, the site of water emission, and to make the precise temperature measurements that documented potential hydrothermal activity and diffusive fluid flow at the site originally reported to be a methane seep", "Water temperature measured near the base of a large Lamellibrachia barhami bush ranged from 3.6 C to 5.2 C over two consecutive days; maximum temperatures were elevated nearly 3 C above ambient values of 2.4-2.6 C"; tectonic setting could be arc volcano as described in Fueri et al. (2010)
Notes Relevant to Biology:
Levin et al. (2012): "The largest Lamellibrachia bush (approx. 2.4 m diameter), with hydrothermal fluids venting from its base... Nicknamed The Volkswagen because of its size, the bush-supported bathymodiolin mussels... Mussels and tubeworms bathed in shimmering fluids were heavily covered by lepetodrilid limpets..."
Year and How Discovered (if active, visual confirmation is listed first):
Discovery References (text):
Levin, L.A. et al. (2010) Hydrothermal seeps: the best of both worlds. Abstract, 12th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Levin, L. et al. (2012) A hydrothermal seep on the Costa Rica margin: middle ground in a continuum of reducing ecosystems. Proc. R. Soc. B, 279, doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.0205.
Other References (text):
Fueri, E., et al. (2010) Carbon release from submarine seeps at the Costa Rica fore arc: Implications for the volatile cycle at the Central America convergent margin. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 11, Q04S21, doi:10.1029/2009GC002810.