| > Oceanography > Issues > Archive > Volume 19, Number 4 |
2006, Oceanography 19(4):46–57, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2006.04
New Insights into the Hydrogeology of the Oceanic Crust
through Long-Term Monitoring
Authors | First Paragraph | Full Article | Citation
Authors
Miriam Kastner | Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
Keir Becker | Rosenthiel School of Marine Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Earl E. Davis | Geological Survey of Canada, Pacific Geoscience Center, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada
Andrew T. Fisher | Earth Sciences Department, University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Hans W. Jannasch | Biogeochemical Instrumentation and Chemical Oceanography, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
Evan A. Solomon | Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
Geoffrey Wheat | Geological Oceanography, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
First Paragraph
The hydrogeology of the oceanic crust influences numerous global processes and properties, including the thermal evolution of oceanic lithosphere, crustal alteration and the chemistry of crustal fluids, the nature and significance of subseafloor microbial ecosystems, tectonic and volcanic characteristics of active margins, and the creation of hydrate and ore deposits on and below the seafloor. Understanding these processes and properties has been a fundamental goal for scientific ocean drilling for over three decades, but progress has been limited in many cases by a vexing conundrum: drilling into the seafloor often causes open exchange of formation fluids and ocean bottom waters when coring penetrates through sediments and into permeable oceanic basement (e.g., Hyndman et al., 1976; Becker et al., 1983). Such open exchange strongly perturbs in situ conditions and limits validity of borehole measurements to resolve the natural state. These perturbations have greatly limited our ability to quantify fundamental physical, chemical, and microbiological parameters that control and are controlled by fluid flow within the oceanic crust.
Full Article
Citation
Kastner, M., K. Becker, E.E. Davis, A.T. Fisher, H.W. Jannasch, E.A. Solomon, and G. Wheat. 2006. New insights into the hydrogeology of the oceanic crust through long-term monitoring. Oceanography 19(4):46–57, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2006.04.