Hydrothermal Activity in the Northern Guaymas Basin

Rift-related magmatism in the Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California induces hydrothermal activity within the basin sediments. Mobilized fluids migrate to the seafloor where they are emitted into the water column changing ocean chemistry and fuelling chemosynthetic ecosystems. New seismic and geochemical data from the northern rift arm of the Guaymas Basin document the variety of fluid expulsion phenomena from large-scale subsurface sediment mobilization related to contact metamorphosis to focused small-scale structures. The geochemical composition of emitted fluids depends largely on the age of the fluid escape structures with respect to the underlying intrusions. Whereas, old structures are dominated by methane emission, young vent sites are characterized by hot fluids that carry a wide range of minerals in solution. The overall high geothermal gradient within the basin (mainly between 160 and 260 °C/km) leads to a thin gas hydrate stability zone. Thus, deep hydrothermal fluid advection affects the gas hydrate system and makes it more dynamic than in colder sedimentary basins.