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Loki's Castle
Name Alias(es):
Lokeslottet
LCHF
Activity:
Maximum Temperature:
320
Latitude:
73.5500
Longitude:
8.1500
Location on map:
Ocean:
Region:
National Jurisdiction:
Maximum or Single Reported Depth (mbsl):
2400
Tectonic setting:
Full Spreading Rate (mm/a):
15.1
Host Rock:
basalt-hosted
Deposit Type:
PMS
Notes on Vent Field Description:
AS OF 2015: MOST NORTHERLY BLACK SMOKERS; Pedersen et al. (2010): "located where the Mohns Ridge passes into the Knipovich Ridge through a sharp northward bend in the direction of the spreading axis. The venting occurs near the summit of an AVR... the vent field is here associated with a 50-100-m deep rift that runs along the crest of the volcano... composed of four active black smoker chimneys, up to 13 m tall, at the top of a mound of hydrothermal sulphide deposits. Venting of 310-320 C black smoker fluids occurs at two sites that are around 150 m apart"; note: extinct field 30 km southwest of Loki's Castle is Mohnskatten (Mohn`s Treasure)
Notes Relevant to Biology:
from press release: "Preliminary observations suggest that the ecosystem around these Arctic vents is diverse and appears to be unique, unlike the vent communities observed elsewhere"; see Pedersen et al. (2010); Spang et al. (2015): "the discovery of ‘Lokiarchaeota’, a novel candidate archaeal phylum", "sampled approximately 15 km north-northwest of the active venting site Loki’s Castle"
Year and How Discovered (if active, visual confirmation is listed first):
2008 ROV Bathysaurus
Discovery References (text):
Rolf Pedersen press release 12 July 2008 (http://www.interridge.org/node/5581).;
Pedersen, R. B. et al. Discovery of a black smoker vent field and vent fauna at the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge. Nat. Commun.. 1, 126 (2010).;
Other References (text):
Baumberger, T. et al. (2008) Carbon and Sulphur Geochemistry of Rift Valley Sediments and Hydrothermal Fluids at the Ultra-Slow Spreading Southern Knipovich Ridge. Eos Trans. AGU, 89(53), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract T42B-08;
Pedersen, R. B., et al. (2010) Hydrothermal Activity at the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridges, in Diversity of Hydrothermal Systems on Slow Spreading Ocean Ridges (eds P. A. Rona, C. W. Devey, J. Dyment and B. J. Murton), American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.. doi: 10.1029/2008GM000783.;
Eickmann, B., et al. (2010) Barite chimneys from two hydrothermal sites along the slow-spreading Arctic Ridge system: Initial isotope and mineralogical results. AGU Fall Meeting Abstract #OS21A-1482.;
Spang, A., et al. (2015) Complex archaea that bridge the gap between prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Nature, 521, 173-179, doi:10.1038/nature14447.;
Stensland, A., et al. (2019) 3He along the ultraslow spreading AMOR in the Norwegian-Greenland Seas. Deep-Sea Res. I, 147, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2019.04.004;
RDF link: