Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge: One of the Most Remarkable Places on Earth

Abstract

Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge is one of three Integrated Study Sites for the Ridge 2000 Program. It is a remarkable, dynamic environment hosting five major hydrothermal fields, numerous smaller fields, and myriad diffuse-flow sites; magma chambers underlie all fields. Over 800 individual extinct and active chimneys have been documented within the central ~ 15 km portion of the ridge, with some edifices reaching 50 m across and up to 45 m tall. Fluid flow is focused along faults within the rift zone, and seismically active faults along the western axial valley wall have been used by both magmas and upwelling hydrothermal fluids. There is significant chemical heterogeneity in basalt compositions within the axial rift valley, with the greatest diversity occurring near the base of the western axial valley wall where normal, transitional, and enriched type mid-ocean ridge basalts occur within tens of meters of each other. Endeavour is the only site where seismic intensity has been linked directly to heat flux at the individual vent field scale. Installation of the world's first high-power and high-bandwidth cabled observatory at Endeavour via NEPTUNE Canada ensures that new discoveries along the Juan de Fuca Ridge will continue into the future.

Keywords

• Ridge 2000
• mid-ocean ridges
• spreading centers
• Integrated Study Sites
• Endeavour Segment
• Juan de Fuca Ridge
• hydrothermal vents