Shallow Water Hydrothermal Activities

Dear Colleagues,

The discovery of marine hydrothermal vents has greatly advanced our understanding of extreme physical, geological, and toxic environments. Research even touches upon issues related to the origin of life as well as biological/microbial survival strategies across dramatic physical, chemical, and biological gradients. However, research on seafloor hydrothermal activities has focused primarily on deep-sea systems since their discovery in 1977; and submarine hydrothermal activities are not confined to deep water environments. To date, around 50 marine shallow water hydrothermal systems, generally at a water depth less than 200 m, have been discovered. These systems reflect regional fluid–rock interaction, magma degassing, the release of heat, and vigorous elemental reactions.

Further, shallow water hydrothermal vent ecosystems are distinctly different from deep-sea vents, as in addition to geothermal energy, sunlight also provides a primary source of energy that supports a unique set of biological/microbial communities. Hydrothermal fluids originate from deep magmatic sources that mix with meteoric water and seawater as they rise to the surface. Along the steep physical and geochemical gradients between the lightless, reduced hydrothermal fluids and the sunlit oxidized seawater, microbial chemolithoautotrophy and photoautotrophy occur simultaneously and drive a series of biogeochemical processes, with coupled carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles.

For this Special Issue, we encourage both original research articles and reviews highlighting diverse advances in the field of the shallow water hydrothermal vent ecosystems, taking up one or several of the following topics, including but not limited to physical, chemical, biological, and geological features; magma degassing; fluid–rock interaction; the removal/enrichment process of elements; and the physical and chemical responses of seawater, sediment, and life.

Prof. Dr. Chen-Tung Arthur Chen
Prof. Dr. Yao Zhang
Prof. Dr. Zhigang Zeng
Prof. Dr. George Burr
Guest Editors

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