How Salty are Endeavour Segment Vents?

Measuring Salt Content in Vent Fluids

A very special instrument that we will deploy into at least one of the hydrothermal vents is a temperature-resistivity probe (resistivity is a proxy for salinity). This probe makes continuous measurements of the salt content of fluids (along with temperature) and will give us a measure of chemical fluctuations in a time base of 15-minute sampling. Here in the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge we have seen correlations between chemical content and tides.