Personnel
Dr. Brandy Toner, Professor
Dr. Sarick Matzen, Post-Doctoral Researcher
Dr. Tucker Ely, NASA Post-Doctoral Program Fellow
Adrian Wackett (now at Stanford University)
Project Description
Exploring Ocean Worlds is a collaborative, multi-disciplinary project funded by NASA to bring oceanographers and planetary scientists together to understand how to observe and interpret data from ocean worlds.
Toner Group's Role: In Earth's oceans, marine particles capture "packets" of information that can be examined to reveal insights into both the physical and chemical processes of, and the life within, the oceans that host them. By analogy, if particles were discernible within the ocean waters expressed at the surface of other ocean worlds they might provide insights into the processes active below. In Earth’s oceans, unique biogeochemical signatures, in the form of dissolved and particulate species, are created by deep-sea hydrothermal venting. Some of these signatures are transported 100s to 1000s of km away from their vent source. Part of our role in the Exploring Ocean Worlds program is to summarize the past decade of sample-return studies of deep-sea hydrothermal plume particles on Earth, and evaluate the potential strengths/limitations of particles as biogeochemical tracers of hydrothermal processes on other ocean worlds. The primary data types for this meta-analysis are synchrotron microprobe X-ray absorption spectroscopy and diffraction, as well as X-ray and electron microscopy. The findings for three vent fields (East Pacific Rise 9N and 15S, and Eastern Lau Spreading Center) will be interpreted within the context of new data from Earth’s deepest explored hydrothermal field (Beebe Vents, Piccard hydrothermal field), as well as ultramafic sites of the Mid-Cayman Rise (Von Damm) and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Rainbow). Our current efforts frame what is currently known about plume particles, focused specifically on identifying the unique characteristics arising across gradients in depth, fluid temperature, and lithology (basaltic-, ultramafic-, and andesite-hosted). We are also evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the analytical approaches applied previously. Overall, this meta analysis constitutes an essential step toward defining the source characteristics of plume particles in the Earth system, and supports current theoretical and future mission-based work with particles on icy ocean worlds.
Learn More: Network for Ocean Worlds