Tidally modulated temperature observed atop a drillsite at the Noho
hydrothermal site, mid-Okinawa Trough
Abstract
We observed temperature variations over 10 months within a Kuroko ore
(hydrothermal sulfide) cultivation apparatus installed atop a 50-m-deep
borehole drilled in the Noho hydrothermal system in the mid-Okinawa
Trough, southwestern Japan, for monitoring of hydrothermal fluids and in
situ mineral precipitation experiments. Temperature and pressure in the
apparatus fluctuated with the tidal period immediately after its
installation. Initially, the average temperature was 75–76 °C and the
amplitude of the semi-diurnal tidal temperature modulation was
~0.3 °C. Four months later, the amplitude of tidal
temperature modulation had gradually increased to 4 °C in synchrony with
an average temperature decrease to ~40 °C. Numerical
modeling showed that both the increase in tidal amplitude and the
decrease in average temperature were attributable to a gradual decrease
in inflow to the apparatus, which promoted conductive cooling through
the pipe wall. The reduced inflow was probably caused by clogging inside
the apparatus, but we cannot rule out a natural cause, because the
drilling would have significantly decreased the volume of hot fluid in
the reservoir. The temperature fluctuation phase lagged the pressure
fluctuation phase by ~150°. Assuming that the
fluctuations originated from inflow from the reservoir, we conducted 2-D
numerical hydrothermal modeling for a poroelastic medium. To generate
the 150° phase lag, the permeability in the reservoir needed to exceed
that in the ambient formation by ~3 orders of magnitude.
The tidal variation phase can be a useful tool for assessing the
hydrological state and response of a hydrothermal system.