Hydrothermal mounds

Gamo, T., Sakai, H., Ishibashi, J., Oomori, T., Chiba, H., Shitashima, K., Nakashima, K., Tanaka, Y. and Masuda, H. (1991) Growth mechanism of the hydrothermal mounds at the CLAM site. Mid Okinawa Trough, inferred from their morphological, mineralogical, and chemical characteristics. Proc. JAMSTEC Symp. Deep Sea Res., 1, 113-184 (in Japanese). 

Figure 15 Plots of particulate copper, vanadium, and neodymium concentrations versus particulate iron for suspended particulate material filtered in situ from the TAG hydrothermal mound, MAR, 26° N (data from German et al., 1990, 1991b). Note generally positive correlations with particulate Fe concentration for all three tracers but with additional negative (Cu) or positive (Nd) departure for sulfide-forming and scavenged elements, respectively.

Corliss J. B., Lyle M., and Dymond J. (1978) The chemistry of hydrothermal mounds near the Galapagos rift. Earth Planet Sci. Lett 40, 12-24. 

Petersen S., Herzig P. M., and Hannington M. D. (2000) Third dimension of a presently forming VMS deposit TAG hydrothermal mound, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 26°N. Miner-alium Deposita 35, 233 —259. 

McMurtry G. M., Wang C.-H., and Yeh H.-W. (1983) Chemical and isotopic investigations into the origin of clay minerals from the Galapagos hydrothermal mounds field. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 47, 475-489. 

Teagle DAH, Alt JC, Chiba H, Halhday AN (1998a) Dissecting an active hydrothermal deposit the strontium and oxygen isotopic anatomy of the TAG hydrothermal mound- anhydrite. Proc ODP, Sci Results 158 129-142... 

Fig. 13.5 Surface features and internal structure of an active hydrothermal mound and stockwork complex at an oceanic spreading center.

Our approach to the emergence of life requires an understanding of how energies were captured, stored and used in the generation of stmcture. Most chemical energy was available at a moderate temperature submarine hydrothermal mound due to the potential reaction between marine CO2 and hydrothermal H2. Thermodynamically we expect the reaction to produce methane and water (19,20) ... 

So metabolism was propelled into being on Earth billion years ago by chemical, electrochemical and thermal disequilibria. It emerged at the semi-lithified physical front separating an alkaline hydrothermal mound from the acidulous ocean (72). This is where chemical, redox, pH, and temperature gradients were at their steepest, yet were commensurate with the requirements of metabolic processes. The chemical gradients—CO2 on the outside and H2 on the inside—provided the ultimate chemical potential for their interaction, catalyzed... 

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