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Seafloor hydrothermal activity and polymetallic sulfide exploration on the southwest Indian ridge

  • Invited Review
  • Oceanology
  • Published:
Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Polymetallic sulfides have attracted more attentions, which are regarded as one of the potential seabed mineral resources for their high grade of precious metal elements such as Cu, Zn, Pb, Au, and Ag. Since 2007, there are four China dayang cruises (CDCs) with eight legs totally, which have been carried out to investigate polymetallic sulfides on the southwest Indian ridge (SWIR), and eight hydrothermal vents have been found. In 2011, the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association (COMRA) and International Seabed Authority (ISA) signed a 15-year contract for exploration for polymetallic sulfides located on the SWIR between 46°S and 53°S. The area allocated to the COMRA is approximately 10,000 km2. In this paper, we review the recent research advances about hydrothermal activity of the SWIR by the CDCs. As for the sulfides exploration in the future, some aspects should be emphasized, such as the controlling factors of sulfide mineralization on the SWIR, prospecting methods of inactive and buried sulfide deposits, sulfides resources assessment method, and the near-bottom sulfides exploration technology systems.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the COMRA Program (DY125-11-R-01,05), the National Basic Research Program of China (2012CB417305), the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province Program (LY12D06006), and the Scientific Research Fund of the Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration (JG1203). We thank the science parties of CDC 19 Leg 2&3, CDC 20 Leg 4–7, and CDC 21 Leg 5–7, who contributed to the success of the project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Submarine Geosciences, Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou, 310012, China

    Chunhui Tao, Huaiming Li, Xiaobing Jin, Jianping Zhou, Tao Wu, Yonghua He, Xianming Deng, Chunhua Gu, Guoyin Zhang & Weiyong Liu

  2. Faculty of Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Jianping Zhou

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  1. Chunhui Tao
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  2. Huaiming Li
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Correspondence to Huaiming Li.

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Tao, C., Li, H., Jin, X. et al. Seafloor hydrothermal activity and polymetallic sulfide exploration on the southwest Indian ridge. Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 2266–2276 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0182-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0182-0

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