Beebe Hydrothermal Vent Field
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The Beebe Hydrothermal Vent Field (also known as the Piccard Vent Field) is located just south of
Grand Cayman Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territory's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles (121 km) southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles ( ...
in the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
, on the north side of the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre in the
Cayman Trough __NOTOC__ The Cayman Trough (also known as the Cayman Trench, Bartlett Deep and Bartlett Trough) is a complex transform fault zone pull-apart basin which contains a small spreading ridge, the Mid-Cayman Rise, on the floor of the western Caribbea ...
. Approximately south of Beebe is the
Von Damm Vent Field The Von Damm Hydrothermal Field is a field of hydrothermal vents located just south of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, on the Mid-Cayman Rise in the Cayman Trough. It is approximately south of the Beebe Vent Field. The vent field is named in ...
. At nearly below sea level, Beebe is the world's deepest known
hydrothermal vent A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...
site, and one of the few known in the
abyssopelagic The abyssal zone or abyssopelagic zone is a layer of the pelagic zone of the ocean. "Abyss" derives from the Greek word , meaning bottomless. At depths of , this zone remains in perpetual darkness. It covers 83% of the total area of the ocean ...
. The hydrothermal plume nicknamed "Piccard" was detected in 2010, and the Beebe site was confirmed later that year. The combined depth and vent fluid temperature make it a popular site for studying aqueous
thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of the ...
, high-pressure biology, and
geochemistry Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the e ...
.


Expedition history

The Beebe vent field was initially detected in October 2009 by CTD, Eh, and optical backscatter anomalies in the water column above the Mid-Cayman Rise aboard the R/V ''Cape Hatteras''. The team deployed HROV ''
Nereus In Greek mythology, Nereus ( ; ) was the eldest son of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia (the Earth), with Pontus himself being a son of Gaia. Nereus and Doris became the parents of 50 daughters (the Nereids) and a son ( Nerites), with whom Nereus liv ...
'' to conduct surveys which identified a double hydrothermal plume at and deep and subsequently nicknamed it "Piccard". From collected plume samples, the team were able to predict the approximate location of the vent field at a depth of approximately deep, usurping the Ashadze vent field (
Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North Ame ...
, ) as the deepest known hydrothermal field. In 2010, the ''
RRS James Cook The RRS ''James Cook'' is a British Royal Research Ship operated by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). She was built in 2006 to replace the ageing RRS ''Charles Darwin'' with funds from Britain's NERC and the DTI's Large Scientifi ...
s 44th voyage returned to the Mid-Cayman Rise to survey the areas predicted to host hydrothermal sites in 2009. The team deployed the AUV ''Autosub6000'' to map anomalies and RUV ''HyBIS'' to collect video, visually confirming the site named "Beebe" after
William Beebe Charles William Beebe ( ; July 29, 1877 – June 4, 1962) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, marine biologist, entomologist, explorer, and author. He is remembered for the numerous expeditions he conducted for the New York Zoological ...
at a depth of . The vent field was further explored by the NOAAS ''Okeanos Explorer'' in 2011, R/V ''Falkor'' cruise FK008 and R/V ''Yokosuka'' cruise YK13-05 in 2013, and cruises AT18-16 and AT42-22 of the R/V ''Atlantis'' in 2012 and 2020 resepctively.


Geography

The Beebe vent field is in the
Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
, at the northern end of the
Mid-Cayman Rise The Mid-Cayman Rise or Mid-Cayman Spreading Center is a relatively short (110 km long) divergent plate boundary in the middle of the Cayman Trough. It forms part of a dominantly transform boundary that is part of the southern margin to the ...
on the segments closest to the
Septentrional-Oriente fault zone The Septentrional-Orient fault zone (SOFZ) is a system of active coaxial left lateral-moving strike slip faults that runs along the northern side of the island of Hispaniola where Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located and continues along ...
. The Beebe vent field consists of 7
sulfide Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to chemical compounds lar ...
mounds on the western side of the spreading center, the majority of which are inactive. Central to the field are the main
endmember An endmember (also end-member or end member) in mineralogy is a mineral that is at the extreme end of a mineral series in terms of purity of its chemical composition. Minerals often can be described as solid solutions with varying compositions of ...
vents, known as Beebe 1 - 5 which branch from the same mound. Surrounding these endmember vents are Hot Chimlet to the north, Beebe Sea to the East, and Beebe Woods to the South. The series of mounds continue to the northeast of the field, where high-temperature hydrothermal activity used to take place, as evidenced by extinct chimneys. The vent field is in the
territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...
of the
Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...
, which is a self-governing
British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...
.


Geology

The Beebe vent field is located in the very near vicinity of the spreading center, which has been described as an ultraslow ridge at a rate of to per year. The area is primarily
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
, with metal-sulfide mounds and talus sourced from hydrothermal activity. Unlike the Von Damm Vent Field, there is little sediment cover at Beebe.


Chimneys

Beebe vents 1 - 5 form a branching complex consisting of
pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...
,
pyrrhotite Pyrrhotite is an iron sulfide mineral with the formula Fe(1-x)S (x = 0 to 0.2). It is a nonstoichiometric variant of FeS, the mineral known as troilite. Pyrrhotite is also called magnetic pyrite, because the color is similar to pyrite and it is ...
, and other oxidized metal-sulfides. These chimneys emit the hottest fluids of anywhere within the field, up to . Beebe Woods to the south has a similar geological composition, though temperatures are cooled slightly (). These temperatures are hot enough that
iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
and other metals have not yet precipitated, giving the chimneys a distinctive black-smoker appearance. These metal-sulfide chimneys are conductive of precious and semi-precious mineral precipitation, such as gold, silver, and copper. Hot Chimlet to the north features venting at a significantly lower temperature (), such that the fluids are clear and devoid of metals. Residing on the slope of the mound, the Hot Chimlet site has a light dusting of sulfide materials likely sourced from the center of the field. Hot Chimlet also does not have the impressive chimney structures as at the center of the field, and requires the use of dive markers to identify quickly. Shrimp Gulley, similarly, is a location within the Beebe Sea which is distinguished by abundant biology. The Gulley reaches temperatures around , with markers also required to find the exact locations of diffuse flow.


Chemistry

As with many
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
-hosted systems, Beebe has endmember fluids that are highly acidic in association with basalt dissolution reactions. Such reactions with basalt can be favorable in forming hydrothermal ore deposits. Concentrations of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are elevated relative to deep sea water, attributed to origin in the mantle. The vent field hosts two main areas of
black smoker A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...
venting, with a fluid at temperatures of over 400 °C and a low salinity of about 2.3 wt% NaCl. Under these conditions, the venting fluids surpass the supercritical threshold of seawater at 407 °C and 298 bar, and is one of few vent sites shown to host sustained supercritical venting. These hot, acidic conditions make precipitation of metal-sulfide chimneys possible, also giving the hottest vents their characteristic black-smoker appearance from high concentrations of dissolved metals. Measurements of iron and manganese at Beebe suggest subsurface temperatures of 452 °C or higher.


Organic compounds

High temperatures acting on seawater can cause
diagenesis Diagenesis () is the process that describes physical and chemical changes in sediments first caused by water-rock interactions, microbial activity, and compaction after their deposition. Increased pressure and temperature only start to play a ...
or
pyrolysis The pyrolysis (or devolatilization) process is the thermal decomposition of materials at elevated temperatures, often in an inert atmosphere. It involves a change of chemical composition. The word is coined from the Greek-derived elements ''py ...
of organic compounds, such that they break up into smaller compounds or alter bond configurations. Small quantities of
alkane In organic chemistry, an alkane, or paraffin (a historical trivial name that also has other meanings), is an acyclic saturated hydrocarbon. In other words, an alkane consists of hydrogen and carbon atoms arranged in a tree structure in which ...
s have been detected, likely derived from hydrothermally-altered compounds of deep seawater. At cooler venting areas, formate and other
organic acid An organic acid is an organic compound with acidic properties. The most common organic acids are the carboxylic acids, whose acidity is associated with their carboxyl group –COOH. Sulfonic acids, containing the group –SO2OH, are rel ...
s have been detected in low concentrations, as high concentrations of carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas may thermodynamically favor abiotic organic acid synthesis. With abundant iron in the venting plume, there have been many models examining the potential of
ligand In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule (functional group) that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's electr ...
s binding to iron when mixing begins with seawater. These ligands prevent the precipitation of iron in mineral phases, potentially making them
bioavailable In pharmacology, bioavailability is a subcategory of absorption and is the fraction (%) of an administered drug that reaches the systemic circulation. By definition, when a medication is administered intravenously, its bioavailability is 100%. Ho ...
.


Biology

Beebe has an abundance of shrimp present at venting orifices, particularly those of ''Rimicaris hybisae'', belonging to the family of '' Alvinocarididae'', and are almost completely blind. These shrimp have eyes as juveniles but lose them as they age, developing a light-sensing organ that they can use to detect the infrared glow of hot, venting locations. The shrimp at the Beebe vent field are unique from those found at the Von Damm field in that they are a slightly more brown color due to the high concentrations of iron pumped out by the vents. Observations of shrimp behavior suggests that, when in dense congregations, shrimp ascertain
carbohydrates In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or may ...
from chemosynthetic bacteria. Though not directly observed, shrimp may predate on other organisms or exhibit
cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...
when more sparsely distributed. There is also an abundance of deep sea anemones, '' Provannid'' gastropods, and
squat lobster Squat lobsters are dorsoventrally flattened crustaceans with long tails held curled beneath the cephalothorax. They are found in the two superfamilies Galatheoidea and Chirostyloidea, which form part of the decapod infraorder Anomura, alongsi ...
s. As with other vent fields, it is possible for deepwater sharks or roaming fishes such as grenadiers to appear around the field.


Microbiology

From a microbial standpoint, there are visible mats of microbial activity at both the Beebe and Von Damm vent systems. Exposed rocks have shown filamentous bacteria and orange sediments around the field, where microorganisms such as '' Beggiatoa'' are suggested to utilize hydrogen sulfide in venting fluids to metabolize chemosynthetically. Some of these microorganisms are present on or within vent crustaceans, being routinely grazed or taking up roles as symbiotic organisms. At lower-temperature venting locations, ''
Sulfurovum ''Sulfurovum'' is a genus within the ''Campylobacterota Campylobacterota are a phylum of bacteria. All species of this phylum are Gram-negative. The Campylobacterota consist of few known genera, mainly the curved to spirilloid ''Wolinella'' s ...
'' have been identified as a dominant bacteria whereas '' Methanothermacoccus'' is an abundant archaea. Geochemical calculations suggest that multiple metabolisms other than hydrogen consumption are favorable in these conditions.


Naming

The hydrothermal system was suggested to exist on an American-led oceanographic cruise in 2009 on the R/V ''Cape Hatteras'', with 3 hydrothermal plumes detected in the water column: Piccard, Walsh, and Europa. Beebe was visually confirmed in early 2010 on a British-led expedition with the
RRS James Cook The RRS ''James Cook'' is a British Royal Research Ship operated by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). She was built in 2006 to replace the ageing RRS ''Charles Darwin'' with funds from Britain's NERC and the DTI's Large Scientifi ...
, though the Piccard plume could not be found, so the vent field was named Beebe. Americans returned to the vent field in 2011 on the
Okeanos Explorer NOAAS ''Okeanos Explorer'' (R 337) is a converted United States Navy ship (formerly ), now an exploratory vessel for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), officially launched in 2010. Starting in 2010, NOAA entered into a fi ...
prior to scientific publications from the previous mission, and named the vent field Piccard, therefore creating a second name for the vent field. Th
Interridge Database
lists the vent field as Beebe, though many American journals publish results under the name of Piccard. The original name for the detected plume, Piccard, comes from
Jacques Piccard Jacques Piccard (28 July 19221 November 2008) was a Swiss oceanographer and engineer, known for having developed underwater submarines for studying ocean currents. In the Challenger Deep, he and Lt. Don Walsh of the United States Navy were the ...
, a Swiss oceanographer that dove with
Don Walsh Don Walsh (born November 2, 1931) is an American oceanographer, explorer and marine policy specialist. He and Jacques Piccard were aboard the bathyscaphe ''Trieste'' when it made a record maximum descent into the Challenger Deep on January 2 ...
to the
Challenger Deep The Challenger Deep is the deepest-known point of the seabed of Earth, with a depth of by direct measurement from deep-diving submersibles, remotely operated underwater vehicles and benthic landers, and (sometimes) slightly more by sonar bathym ...
. The subsequent naming of the field to Beebe is after the American naturalist
William Beebe Charles William Beebe ( ; July 29, 1877 – June 4, 1962) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, marine biologist, entomologist, explorer, and author. He is remembered for the numerous expeditions he conducted for the New York Zoological ...
who frequently dove in the
Bathysphere The Bathysphere (Greek: , , "deep" and , , "sphere") was a unique spherical deep-sea submersible which was unpowered and lowered into the ocean on a cable, and was used to conduct a series of dives off the coast of Bermuda from 1930 to 1934. The ...
prior to powered submersibles.


Human impacts

The Beebe vent field has been explored many times by scientists since 2010, to collect samples and video. Common ecosystem disruptions during hydrothermal expeditions, such as rock collections and artificial illumination, may be particularly detrimental at Beebe where organism photoreceptors may be damaged. In 2013, cruise YK-13-05 by the
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
(JAMSTEC) was undertaken to sample and live stream dives of the ''
DSV Shinkai 6500 The ''Shinkai 6500'' (しんかい) is a crewed research submersible that can dive up to a depth of . It was completed in 1990 and had the greatest depth range of any crewed research vehicle in the world until June 19, 2012, when its record wa ...
''. However, the fiber optical cable was broken during spooling multiple times and was not fully recovered.R/V Yokosuka & DSV Shinkai 6500 Cruise Report YK13-05. ''Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology''. 2013. http://www.godac.jamstec.go.jp/catalog/data/doc_catalog/media/YK13-05_all.pdf Uncertainty in cable presence is a potential hazard for human-operated submersibles such as the ''
DSV Alvin ''Alvin'' (DSV-2) is a crewed deep-ocean research submersible owned by the United States Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The vehicle was built by General Mills' Electronics Grou ...
'', which cannot dive at Beebe due to safety concerns. Beebe's metal sulfides are rich in gold and other useful industrial elements, which could make deep-sea mining a concern.


External links


The blog of the British expedition from 2010.

Beebe vent site in the Interridge Database


References

{{reflist Hydrothermal vents Caribbean Sea