Thomas J. Wolery

Hydrothermal Circulation and Geochemical Flux at Mid-Ocean Ridges

The flow rate of sea water through sub-sea-floor hydrothermal systems at mid-ocean ridges has been estimated at

The dissolution kinetics of quartz as a function of pH and time at 70°C

1.3-9 \times 10^{17} g/yr

Geophysical Constraints on the Volume of Hydrothermal Flow at Ridge Axes

by consideration of the rate at which circulating fluid must advect heat out of the spreading plates into the oceans. The rate of hydrothermal heat advection was obtained by computing the difference (

Deliquescence of NaCl–NaNO3, KNO3–NaNO3, and NaCl–KNO3 salt mixtures from 90 to 120°C

40 \pm 4 \times 10^{18} cal/yr

Post emplacement environment of waste packages

) between the theoretical heat production associated with sea-floor spreading and observed heat flow measurements. Effects of exothermic chemical reactions, direct heat loss from flows extruded on the ocean floor, and heat of crystallization of basalt were minor and yielded insignificant contributions to the estimate. The majority of dredged ocean-floor metamorphic rocks appear to represent the products of intensive hydrothermal reaction with hot sea water. The chemical trends (loss of Ca and K, gain of Mg, Na, and