Pescadero Basin: Matterhorn Vent Tube Worms- 2017 (Remastered!)
Travel with us back to 2017, when we explored the deepest high-temperature hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean in the Gulf of California’s Pescadero Basin. True to its name, the Matterhorn vent site towers above the seafloor, topped with a coppery crop of Oasisia tube worms. This dense chemosynthetic community was one of several we surveyed during the week-long expedition with research partners at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Dalio Explore Fund.
High-temperature hydrothermal vents at mid-ocean ridges typically produce chimneys dominated by sulfide minerals. In contrast, the Pescadero Basin vents host delicate structures composed of light-colored carbonate minerals. The Pescadero Basin vents also host deep-sea biological communities thriving among carbonate chimney structures, including communities dominated by tubeworms.
Pescadero Basin
In 2015, the deepest high-temperature hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean were discovered in the Pescadero Basin of the Gulf of California. Initial observations revealed enigmatic aspects of this vent system, including unique mineralogical composition and fluid geochemistry, suggesting that there is much to be learned about deep ocean carbon dynamics in this system.
