Hydrothermal plume simulation for autonomous hydrothermal vent discovery

This paper presents a three dimension hydrothermal plume simulation model using Gaussian plume models to predict the mean plume concentration. The simulation model is to be used to evaluate the autonomous hydrothermal plume locating and mapping strategies. Hydrothermal vent systems are the plumbing systems of the deep ocean, spewing heat and minerals from Earth's interior. The heat and particle content of hydrothermal plumes are two readily measurable parameters. In our three-dimensional model, we simulated the spread of chemical plumes, ignoring the heat diffusion. The filament-based chemical plume dispersion model developed by Farrell etc. is used in our three dimension model to replicate signature of a chemical plume evolving in a turbulent flow. The flow simulation is obtained by solving the N-S equations with a specific set of time-varying boundary conditions. Computer simulation results show that the simulated plume can reflect the basic characteristics of hydrothermal plumes and can be applied in evaluating the hydrothermal plume locating and mapping strategies.