The Galapagos Spreading Centre: Bottom-Water Temperatures and the Significance of Geothermal Heating.

摘要

A detailed survey of bottom-water temperatures was conducted over a portion of the Galapagos spreading centre. Despite very detailed temperature measurements 50-200 m above the sea floor, no local temperature anomalies were observed which could be attributed to hydrothermal circulation. However, temperature measurements made less than 10 m from the bottom revealed local temperature anomalies of several hundredths deg C which may have been caused by hydrothermal activity. The high geothermal heat flux associated with the Galapagos spreading centre is an important factor causing bottom-water renewal in the Panama Basin. (Author)