Constraints on Ocean Floor Permeability from Hydrothermal Modelling

S. Titarenko[1], A. McCaig[1]
[1]School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Published in 2014

The Atlantis massif is a domal submarine seamount close to the mid-Atlantic Ridge at 30 °N. Close to the crest of the Massif, the Lost City hydrothermal field (LCHF) has been active for at least 120,000 years, venting fluids with a temperature of 40-90 °C. 5 km north of Lost City, a temperature profile has been measured in IODP Hole 1309D, with a near-conductive thermal gradient of ~100 °C/km down to 1415m depth, indicating a very different regime.

2-D and 3-D models of conductive and convective heat transfer in the Massif have been compared. We can place tight constraints on both the permeability structure of the Massif and the heat flow into it.