title: The quantum event of oceanic crustal accretion: impacts of diking at mid-ocean ridges.
abstract: Seafloor diking-eruptive events represent the irreducible, quantum events of upper oceanic crustal accretion. They record events by which a large portion of the oceanic crust has formed through geological history. Since 1993, the U.S. Navy's real-time Sound Surveillance System has allowed location of ongoing acoustic signatures of dike emplacement and basalt eruptions at ridge crests in the northeast Pacific. These diking-eruptive events trigger a sequence of related, rapidly evolving physical, chemical, and biological processes. Magmatic volatiles released during these events may provide nutrients for communities of subsea-floor microorganisms, some of which thrive in high-temperature anaerobic environments. Many of the organisms identified from these systems are Archaea. If microorganisms can thrive in the water-saturated pores and cracks within deep, volcanically active portions of our planet, other hydrothermally active planets may harbor similar life forms.
authors.affiliation: School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Delaney
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kelley
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Lilley
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Butterfield
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Baross
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Wilcock
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Embley
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Summit
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea; D018534:Earth, Planet; D019419:Evolution, Planetary; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D005844:Geology; D006371:Helium; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007554:Isotopes; D008386:Marine Biology; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology; D018707:Volcanic Eruptions; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D007554:Isotopes; D006371:Helium