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Both hydrogen and methane are consistently discharged in large quantities in hydrothermal fluids issued from ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal fields discovered along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Considering the vast number of these fields discovered or inferred, hydrothermal fluxes represent a significant input of H-2 and CH4 to the ocean. Although there are lines of evidence of their abiogenic formation from stable C and H isotope results, laboratory experiments, and thermodynamic data, neither their origin nor the reaction pathways generating these gases have been fully constrained yet. Organic compounds detected in the fluids may also be derived from abiotic reactions. Although thermodynamics are favorable and extensive experimental work has been done on Fischer-Tropsch-type reactions, for instance, nothing is clear yet about their origin and formation mechanism from actual data. Since chemolithotrophic microbial communities commonly colonize hydrothermal vents, biogenic and thermogenic processes are likely to contribute to the production of H-2, CH4, and other organic compounds. There seems to be a consensus toward a mixed origin (both sources and processes) that is consistent with the ambiguous nature of the isotopic data. But the question that remains is, to what proportions? More systematic experiments as well as integrated geochemical approaches are needed to disentangle hydrothermal geochemistry. This understanding is of prime importance considering the implications of hydrothermal H-2, CH4, and organic compounds for the ocean global budget, global cycles, and the origin of life.

Experiments on hydrothermal degradation of Pyrococcus abyssi biomass were conducted at elevated pressure (40 MPa) over a 200–450 °C temperature range in sapphire reaction cells. Few organic compounds could be detected in the 200 °C experiment. This lack was attributed to an incomplete degradation of P. abyssi cells. On the contrary, a wide range of soluble organic molecules were generated at temperatures ≥350 °C including toluene, styrene, C8–C16 alkyl-benzenes, naphthalene, C11–C16 alkyl-naphthalenes, even carbon number C12–C18 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, C15–C18 alkyl-phenanthrenes and C8:0–C16:0 n-carboxylic acids. The effect of time on the final organic composition of the degraded P. abyssi solutions at 350 °C was also investigated. For that purpose the biomass was exposed for 10, 20, 60, 90, 270 and 720 min at 350 °C. We observed a similar effect of temperature and time on the chemical diversity obtained. In addition, temperature and time increased the degree of alkylation of alkyl-benzenes. This study offers additional evidence that a portion of the aliphatic hydrocarbons present in the fluids from the Rainbow ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal field may be abiogenic whereas a portion of the aromatic hydrocarbons and n-carboxylic acids may have a biogenic origin. We suggest that aromatic hydrocarbons and linear fatty acids at the Rainbow site may be derived directly from thermogenic alteration of material from the sub-seafloor biosphere. Yet we infer that the formation and dissolution of carboxylic acids in hydrothermal fluids may be controlled by other processes than in our experiments., MOMARNET

The origin of the cold fluid venting from a Giant Pockmark within the Lower Congo Basin has been elucidated based upon results of precise mapping, submersible dives, gravity coring and isotopic analyses realized under a TOTAL-IFREMER cooperative project (ZAIANGO and BIOZAIRE projects). During four dives of the IFREMER ROV-Victor 6000, the bottom was filmed, hard and soft samples were lifted from the sediment, and water samples were collected with a CTD-rosette system. The detailed dip map shows that the 800 m wide Giant Pockmark is a composite feature due to the coalescence of multiple 100 m wide depressions that displays a broad range of biological, mineralogical and chemical features on the seafloor, leading to a seafloor anomaly recorded on the multibeam imagery. Methane-rich fluids migrating through the sedimentary column from a buried palaeochannel clearly react with the sulphate-rich circulating sea water to produce hydrogen sulphide and bicarbonate ions. This situation leads to a concentrical arrangement of the sedimentary facies, with methane-related features in the centre and sulphide-related features at the periphery. This organization is correlated with high levels of methane (up to 20 μmol/l) measured in the centre of the Giant Pockmark, responsible for the crystallization of gas hydrates at the bottom. In this model, the concentrical organization of mineralogical and biological features reflects a geochemical partitioning related to the peripheral progressive mixing of the methane flux.

A giant, 800-m wide pockmark, called Regab, was discovered along the Equatorial African margin at 3160-m water depth and was explored by remote operated vehicle (ROV) as part of the Zaiango (1998–2000) and Biozaire (2001–2003) projects carried out conjointly by TOTAL and a number of French research institutes. A microbathymetric map obtained using the ROV sensors shows that the pockmark actually consists of a cluster of smaller pockmarks aligned N70 along a 15-m deep depression. Methane was recorded all over the pockmark, the highest values along the axis of the depression where massive carbonate crusts and dense seep communities were also found. Several faunal species belong to the Vesicomyidae and Mytilidae bivalve families, as well as to Siboglinidae (Vestimentifera) tubeworms. Preliminary analyses confirm their association with symbiotic bacteria, thus documenting their dependence on fluid seeps. The pockmark appears to be related to an infilled channel, visible on the seismic data 300 m below the seafloor, which may act as a reservoir for biogenic fluids supplied to the trap from the surrounding sediments.

IN 1989, the submersible Nautile discovered one of the most active hydrothermal fields on the modern ocean floor, in the Lau back-arc basin (Fig. 1). The field contains high-temperature white and black smokers, and as we report here, its characteristics contrast strongly with those of the hydrothermal fields found at normal mid-ocean ridges. The main differences are the acidity (pH as low as 2), chemistry and temperature (up to 400 °C) of the hydrothermal fluids, the composition of the ore deposits, and the volcanic and tectonic environments. The fluids also have very high concentrations of trace metals, and primary gold is present in the accompanying mineral deposits. Our data show that these back-arc deposits in the Lau Basin are intermediate between typical mid-ocean-ridge mineralization and massive sulphide deposits of the Kuroko type.