Hydrothermalism in the Mediterranean Sea

Hydrothermalism in the Mediterranean Sea results from the collision of the African and European plates, with the subduction of the oceanic part of the African plate below Europe. High heat Rows in the resulting volcanic arcs and back-are extensional areas have set-up hydrothermal convection systems. Most of the known hydrothermal sites are in shallow coastal waters, <200 m depth, so that much of the reported fluid venting is of the gasohydrothermal type. The hydrothermal liquids are of varying salinities, both because of phase separation as a result of seawater boiling at the low pressures and because of significant inputs of rainfall into the hydrothermal reservoirs at some sites, The major component of the vented gas is carbon dioxide, with significant quantities of sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, methane and hydrogen also being released. Acid leaching of the underlying rocks leads to the mobilisation of heavy metals, many of which are deposited sub-surface although there is a conspicuous enrichment of metals in surficial sediments in venting areas. Massive polymetalic sulphides have been reported from some sites. No extant vent-specific fauna have been described from Mediterranean sites. There is a reduced diversity of fauna within the sediments at the vents. In contrast, a high diversity of epifauna has been reported and the vent sites are areas of settlement for exotic thermophilic species. Large numbers of novel prokaryotes, especially hyperthermophilic crenarchaeota, have been isolated from Mediterranean hydrothermal vents. However, their distribution in the subsurface biosphere and their role in the biogeochemistry of the sites has yet to be studied. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All ri hts reserved.