Speaker: Chris Galley, Post Doc uOttawa and Memorial Univ.
Title: A multi-scale analysis of hydrothermal systems through potential field modelling
iMAGE-CREATE member Dr. Chris Galley will present his research at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in May. WHOI is one of the world’s leading, independent non-profit organizations dedicated to ocean research, exploration, and education.
Abstract: Hydrothermal circulation occurs in the upper crust within submarine environments, where shallow heat sources drive seawater/hydrothermal fluid convection. At the seafloor these convective cells manifest as hydrothermal vent fields, but it is challenging to understand their sub-seafloor geometries. Luckily, the crustal architecture of the rifted environments that host most hydrothermal systems and their hydrothermal alteration create sub-surface petrophysical anomalies that can be modelled.
This presentation discusses a collection of three-dimensional magnetic and gravity inversion models, from sites such as the TAG active mound, Solwara 1, Rose Garden, Central Hill in the Escanaba Trough, and the Lau Basin, which together aim to better our understanding of hydrothermal convective systems and their crustal environments.
Bio: Chris Galley is a geophysicist whose work has focused on the study of ancient and modern hydrothermal systems and their associated mineralization. Through the modelling of magnetic data, he has resolved the geometry of subseafloor hydrothermal convective systems and their near surface alteration and is presently modelling the structure of sediment hosted seafloor massive sulfide deposits off the East coast of the USA. His present studies also include crustal thickness modelling of the Lau Basin (a modern back-arc basin) and the Abitibi Greenstone Belt (an ancient back-arc basin) through gravity data inversion to determine the regional controls on volcanogenic massive sulfide mineralization. Chris presently holds postdoctoral positions at the University of Ottawa and Memorial University of Newfoundland. He received his PhD in Geophysics from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2022, and his BSc. in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Victoria in 2015.