Hydrothermal circulation (evidenced by hot springs) at mid-ocean ridges supports exotic chemosynthetic biological communities and causes a chemical exchange that affects the chemistry of both the crust and the ocean. One significant consequence of this process is mineralization of the crust. Most of the world?s economic copper deposits, for example, formed in the way. Understanding ridge hydrothermal processes is thus an important scientific objective. A spepfic objective of the Ridge2000 Program (R2K) is to model the hydrothermal systems and processes at three Integrated Studies Sites (ISS), one in the Lau Basin in the western Pacific, one on the equatorial East Pacific Rise, and one on the Juan de Fuca Ridge off the west coast of the U.S. A particularly important constraint on such models is observed heat flow. Measured heat flow values are needed to constrain these models, but few such data are available in part because conventional methods cannot be used. The UW heat flow blanket was developed and field-tested to solve this problem, but the data have not been analyzed, and the method thus remains unproven. Analysis of the thermal blanket data will immediately provide useful heat flow data for the Endeavour Site, and, once proven, the thermal blanket technique can be used to acquire heat flow data at the EPR and Lau sites as well. This project will also provide an opportunity for at least one undergraduate student to participate in basic research.
