Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Related Publications
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Funding

Seawater samples were collected with Niskin bottles on a CTD rosette deployed from the research vessel Thomas Thompson. Hydrothermal fluid samples were collected via ROV JASON II using the PMEL Hydrothermal Fluid and Particulate Sampler into 800 mL Tedlar bags.

Particulates were collected by pumping 2-5 L of hydrothermal vent fluids through combusted GF/F filters (precombusted) using the HFPS in situ. About 10 L of seawater collected with CTD-rosette Niskin bottles were filtered on board ship through combusted GF/F filters.

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) concentrations were measured by high-temperature (720ºC) combustion using a Shimadzu TOC-VCSH analyzer. Two consensus reference materials (CRM, from University of Miami, Dickson et al., 2007), Florida Strait 700 m-deep seawater (DSW) and low carbon water (LCW), were used.

Nitrate-plus-nitrite (N+N) analysis was carried out with a colorimetric flow injection analyzer (Grasshoff et al., 1999).

Ammonium concentrations were measured at the University of Hawaii with a flow injection-fluorometric method (Jones, 1991) and calibrated against gravimetrically prepared standards. The detection limit was 0.1 uM at the setting for measuring low concentrations of ammonium in the vent fluids. The analytical uncertainty was 0.03 uM. 

Silicate was measured by colorimetry (Grasshoff et al., 1999).

Total dissolved iron (1-sigma precision 4%) in vent fluids was measured by atomic absorption at PMEL/Seattle on samples preserved shipboard with ultra-pure HCl (TraceMetal Grade).

The total iron of acidified plume samples was measured by a Ferrozine colorimetry method (Gibbs, 1976; Stookey, 1970).

The pH of was measured shipboard at laboratory temperature in a closed vessel using a glass pH electrode (Ross Sure-Flow) calibrated with NBS-certified buffers (Fisher Scientific). The precision of the measurement is 0.02 pH units.

The POC and particulate nitrogen (PN) and isotopic compositions of acidified (with 1 N HCl) GF/F samples were measured with a CN elemental analyzer (Costech, ECS 4010) connected in-line with an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS; Thermo Finnigan Delta XP) interfaced with a ConFloIV, at the University of Hawaii. The reference materials were extensively characterized with certified reference materials, including NBS 18, NBS 19, NIST 1547, NIST 3, USGS 32, USGS 34, and USGS 35.

BCO-DMO Processing notes:

• Converted date and time columns to 1 datetime column (ISO format)
• Longitude on western hemisphere were converted to negative (-180,180 scale)
• Renamed fields to comply with database requirements

NSF Award Abstract:

This research is a time critical (RAPID) response cruise by a coalition of investigators to examine a newly discovered explosively erupting undersea volcano (Mata) in the Western Pacific Ocean. The discovery of actively erupting undersea volcanoes is a rarity and data that addresses many fundamental geological, hydrothermal, volcanic, and biological issues will be collected. The volcano being investigated is presently erupting unusual lavas of compositions indicative of the initial stages of arc formation. As such they have an unusual chemistry and are thought to be associated with hydrothermal fluids of exotic and extreme compositions. The likelihood that novel and previously undiscovered microbiological life forms associated with these fluids is a study target. Short lived radiogenic isotopes in lava samples from the volcanic vent will be measured to obtain an eruptive timeline. Coexisting hydrothermal fluids and erupted lava samples will be examined to elucidate the relationship between volatile and element partitioning between solid and fluid phases during this type of magmatism. Broader impacts of the work include graduate student training, support of a PI whose gender is under-represented in the sciences, support of PIs from an institution in an EPSCoR state, and public outreach. Outreach to the Tongan people in terms of presentations on research activities and results will also be carried out.