Hydrothermal processes at seafloor spreading centers,

Conference · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:5346624

Sleep, N H

This chapter discusses the initial entry of hydrothermal seawater into deep levels of the oceanic crust, the effectiveness of hydrothermal circulation in cooling the crust, the geometry of hydrothermal circulation, the relationship between the hydrothermal circulation and the magma chamber, the reaction of the oceanic crust with the seawater, and the identification of the hydrothermal fluid which alters a rock sample. Topics considered include the crack front, observation relevant to the crack front, the limitations of the crack front hypothesis, the observed pattern of hydrothermal alteration, the nature of the hydrothermal fluid, the physics of large scale convection, and convection through crack zones. Knowledge of hydrothermal circulation at the ridge axis is based on sampling of the hydrothermal fluid, indirect geophysical measurements of the oceanic crust, and studies of rocks which are believed to have undergone hydrothermal alteration at the ridge axis. Includes 2 drawings.

• Research Organization: Stanford Univ.
• OSTI ID: 5346624
• Report Number(s): CONF-8204163-
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150201* -- Geology & Hydrology of Geothermal Systems-- USA-- (-1989)
CONVECTION
COOLING
CRACK PROPAGATION
DEPTH
DIMENSIONS
EARTH CRUST
ENERGY SYSTEMS
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUIDS
GEOMETRY
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
GEOTHERMAL FLUIDS
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
HEAT TRANSFER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION
HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEMS
MAGMA
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICS
OCEANIC CRUST
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
ROCK-FLUID INTERACTIONS
SAMPLING
SEA-FLOOR SPREADING
SEAWATER
SURVEYS
WATER