Chemical characteristics of newly discovered black smoker fluids and associated hydrothermal plumes at the Rodriguez Triple Junction, Central Indian Ridge

The chemical characteristics of hydrothermal fluids in the Indian Ocean have been revealed for the first time. A hydrothermal field (called the Kairei field), including active black smoker chimneys, was discovered by ROV Kaiko dives at 25°19.17′S, 70°02.40′E (~ 2450 m depth) on the southwestern flank of an off-axis knoll located ~ 15 miles north of the Rodriguez Triple Junction, Central Indian Ridge, after detailed tow-yo surveys of the hydrothermal plume distribution. The temperature of the fluid expelled from the most active chimney was almost stable (359-360°C) throughout three successive days of fluid sampling. The endmember fluid has a chemical composition similar to the hydrothermal fluids sampled from sediment-starved mid-ocean ridges in the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, suggesting typical interactions between hot fluid and mid-ocean ridge basalts in the subseafloor reaction zone.