Quest for Fluid Flow along the Gloria Fault – First results of R/V Meteor expedition 162

Vast areas of the deep ocean floor are still insufficiently explored with respect to tectonic processes, exchange processes between the lithosphere and the ocean, and potential deep chemosynthetic energy sources for life. Transform faults and fracture zones, which are dominant seafloor morphological features in the abyssal ocean, deserve specific attention in this regard as they provide potential pathways for fluid recycling. One of them is the Gloria Fault, a unique feature in the Central North Atlantic. It has been the source of large magnitude earthquakes (namely the 1941, M8.4, the second largest instrumental earthquake on a fracture zone) and is a special case of a plate boundary, corresponding to the transform reactivation of an old oceanic fracture zone. Seismic refraction has shown an anomalous layer between normal lower crust and uppermost mantle, possibly a 4 km thick layer of hydrated mantle. We present first results of RV Meteor cruise M162 (March-April 2020) dedicated to the groundtruthing of potential fluid emanation sites.