Geophysical Modelling of Submarine Hydrothermal Sites

Dear Colleagues,

The last twenty years have seen a growth internationally in the demand for raw material and green renewable energy, which has encouraged explorations in the Earth’s oceans for mineral resources, such as the seafloor massive sulphide deposits (SMS). Submarine hydrothermal vent fields are mostly related to the submarine plate boundary, where heat and chemicals are exchanged between mantle, crust, and ocean. Considering that oceans cover approximately 70% of the Earth’s surface, it is assumed that submarine mineral deposits represent the same amount, proportionally, of the world’s mineral resources. Most of them are placed in abyssal areas, buried below the seafloor sedimentary coverage and thus concealed from direct detection. In this context, the most intriguing challenge for ocean exploration would be to define new approaches which enable us to detect hydrothermal vents and provide any adaptive model of ore mineral deposits located below sediment and/or volcanic material.

This Special Issue welcomes original research contributions about geophysical investigation and quantitative modeling of hydrothermal vents and related deposits. We encourage the submission of papers focused on interpretation of bathymetric, magnetic, electromagnetic, gravity, and seismic data. Applications of autonomous and remotely-operated vehicles for geophysical investigation of the seafloor are especially welcome.

Dr. Luca Cocchi
Guest Editor

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• Hydrothermalism
• Magnetic and gravity anomalies
• Inverse and forward modeling
• Seafloor morphology
• Seafloor volcanism
• Autonomous vehicle
• Seafloor massive sulfide deposits