The study area (49.28°E, 37.91°S) is located between the Indomed (46.0°E) and Gallieni (52.2°E) transform faults on the southern flank of segment 29 of the SWIR. Bouguer gravity anomalies indicate residual shallow melt beneath this segment and an enhanced magma supply relative to adjacent areas, plausibly linked to the interaction between the Crozet hotspot and the ridge. This field is located on the terminus of the immature Yuhuang detachment fault, which lacks the characteristic of corrugated surface morphology, at water depths of about 2700 m. Approximately ∼ 4 km to the southeast, on the footwall of the Yuhuang detachment fault, lies the Yuhuang hydrothermal field. Seafloor camera and video observations indicated that this field is hosted by ultramafic rocks, with localized basalt exposures on the north and west. Deep-tow observations found relict sulfide chimneys and hydrothermal sulfide breccias, which include intact, vertically growing edifices as well as weathered chimney remnants. Sulfide mounds are mainly distributed in the eastern, surrounded by Cu-rich and Fe-rich sulfide breccias.

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References