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Science 10 July 1998:
Vol. 281. no. 5374, pp. 222 - 230
DOI: 10.1126/science.281.5374.222
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Review

The Quantum Event of Oceanic Crustal Accretion: Impacts of Diking at Mid-Ocean Ridges

J. R. Delaney, D. S. Kelley, M. D. Lilley, D. A. Butterfield, J. A. Baross, W. S. D. Wilcock, R. W. Embley, M. Summit

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 subseafloor 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.

J. R. Delaney, D. S. Kelley, M. D. Lilley, J. A. Baross, W. S. D. Wilcock, and M. Summit are at the School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. D. A. Butterfield is at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Seattle, WA 98115, USA. R. W. Embley is at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA, Newport, OR 97365, USA.

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