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Dr. Alexander Diehl |
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GEO, 5120 |
Research Fellow in the Cluster of Excellence "The Ocean Floor"
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Project description
Charting hydrothermal transport: A data driven approach to unravel global element fluxes between the ocean crust and the ocean
In this project I work on the quantification of hydrothermal element fluxes from oceanic plate boundaries and their effect on the composition of the ocean. Using statistical methods and vent fluid databases of hot hydrothermal solutions the global element budgets are characterized for divergent and convergent plate boundaries. These investigations help us understanding the role of hydrothermal circulation as interface between the solid oceancrust and the ocean and its variability over geological timescales.
A particular aim of this project is to couple hydrothermal vent fluid compositions with geodynamic models and to evaluate the relationship between tectonic, magmatic and hydrothermal processes in oceanic lithosphere. A particular aim is deciphering how element fluxes develop during the evolution of ocean basins.
With my analytical experiences in the sampling and recovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vent fluids I support the Cluster of Excellence in sea going expeditions to sample newly discovered hydrothermal vent sites and to extend our knowledge on the diversity of hydrothermal vent fluid compositions.
MSM131: Expedition to the Jøtul Vent Field at Knipovic ridge
Expedition MSM131 to the Jøtul hydrothermal field in the Knipovic ridge took place from 18th August - 28th September 2024. In the framework of the Cluster activities we sampled hydrothermal solutions, monitored how they disperse in the water column and investigated the geological framework of this unique setting at an ultra-slow spreading mid-ocean ridge. We deployed gas-tight (IGT- Isobaric-gas-tight) hydrothermal fluid samplers to quantify the contents of dissolved gases in these metal-poor sediment-hosted hydrothermal fluids.
Research vessel Maria S. Merian in the port of Longyerbyen.
(Foto: A. Diehl)
ROV Marum Quest 4000 is being deployed to investigate the Jøtul hydrothermal vent field.
(Foto: A. Diehl)
Gas-tight (IGT sampler) are attached to ROV Quest 4000.
(Foto: A. Diehl)
Peer Reviewed Publications
Diehl, A., Anagnostou, E., Monien, P., Pape, T., Meckel, E.-M., Römer, M., Mezri, L., Bach, W., Monien, D., Hansen, C., Röhler, A., Streuff, K., Palinkas, S. S., Marcon, Y., Barrenechea Angeles, I., Kleint, C., Knutsen, S. M., & Bohrmann, G. (2026). High H2 production in sediment-hosted hydrothermal fluids at an ultraslow spreading mid-ocean ridge. Communications Earth & Environment, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02962-2
Albers, E., Diehl, A., Fitzsimmons, J. N., Jensen, L. T., Klein, F., McDermott, J. M., Purser, A., Seewald, J. S., Walter, M., Wegener, G., Bach, W., Boetius, A., & German, C. R. (2025). Ultramafic-influenced submarine venting on basaltic seafloor at the Polaris site, 87°N, Gakkel Ridge. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2024.119166
Bühring, S. I., Böhnke-Brandt, S., Diehl, A., Gledhill, M., Haffert, L., Kleint, C., Koschinsky, A., Lennartz, S., Perner, M., Sander, S. G., Völker, C., & Ye, Y. (2025). Iron’s irony: speciation, complexation & microbial processing of Fe in hydrothermal plumes. Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02839-4
Diehl, A., & Bach, W. (2025). The Influence of Seawater Mixing on the Element Budgets in Basalt‐Hosted Mid‐Ocean Ridge Hydrothermal Systems. In L. A. Coogan, A. V. Turchyn, A. G. Dunlea, & W. Bach (Eds.), Hydrothermal Circulation and Seawater Chemistry (Vol. 292, pp. 71-89). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394229185.ch4
Walter, M., Türke, A., Diehl, A., German, C. R., Mertens, C., Mette, J., Monien, P., Prause, S., Sültenfuß, J., Bach, W., Schlindwein, V., & Boetius, A. (2025). Properties and Dispersal of a Hydrothermal Plume in a Weakly Stratified Under‐Ice Environment. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 26(8). https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gc012016
Albers, E., Behrendt, N., Diehl, A., Genske, F., Monien, P., Kasemann, S. A., Purser, A., Boetius, A., & Bach, W. (2024). Formation and hydrothermal alteration of a volcanic center: Melt pooling and mass transfers at Langseth Ridge (Gakkel Ridge, Arctic Ocean). Marine Geology, 475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2024.107347
Wegener, G., Molari, M., Purser, A., Diehl, A., Albers, E., Walter, M., Mertens, C., German, C. R., & Boetius, A. (2024). Hydrothermal vents supporting persistent plumes and microbial chemoautotrophy at Gakkel Ridge (Arctic Ocean). Frontiers in Microbiology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1473822
German, C. R., Reeves, E. P., Turke, A., Diehl, A., Albers, E., Bach, W., Purser, A., Ramalho, S. P., Suman, S., Mertens, C., Walter, M., Ramirez-Llodra, E., Schlindwein, V., Bunz, S., & Boetius, A. (2022). Volcanically hosted venting with indications of ultramafic influence at Aurora hydrothermal field on Gakkel Ridge. Nat Commun, 13(1), 6517. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34014-0
Klose, L., Kleint, C., Bach, W., Diehl, A., Wilckens, F., Peters, C., Strauss, H., Haase, K., & Koschinsky, A. (2022). Hydrothermal activity and associated subsurface processes at Niuatahi rear-arc volcano, North East Lau Basin, SW Pacific: Implications from trace elements and stable isotope systematics in vent fluids. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 332, 103-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2022.06.023
Kürzinger, V., Diehl, A., Pereira, S. I., Strauss, H., Bohrmann, G., & Bach, W. (2022). Sulfur formation associated with coexisting sulfide minerals in the Kemp Caldera hydrothermal system, Scotia Sea. Chemical Geology, 606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.120927
Pereira, S. I., Diehl, A., McDermott, J. M., Pape, T., Klose, L., Strauss, H., Bohrmann, G., & Bach, W. (2022). Geochemistry of Hydrothermal Fluids From the E2-Segment of the East Scotia Ridge: Magmatic Input, Reaction Zone Processes, Fluid Mixing Regimes and Bioenergetic Landscapes. Frontiers in Marine Science, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.765648
Wilckens, F. K., Hansen, C. T., Diehl, A., Bach, W., & Kasemann, S. A. (2022). Sources of Mg Enrichments in Vent Fluids From the Kermadec Arc Recorded by Li, B, and Mg Isotopes. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 23(11). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022gc010471
Klose, L., Keith, M., Hafermaas, D., Kleint, C., Bach, W., Diehl, A., Wilckens, F., Peters, C., Strauss, H., Klemd, R., van Geldern, R., Haase, K. M., & Koschinsky, A. (2021). Trace Element and Isotope Systematics in Vent Fluids and Sulphides From Maka Volcano, North Eastern Lau Spreading Centre: Insights Into Three-Component Fluid Mixing. Frontiers in Earth Science, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.776925
Peters, C., Strauss, H., Haase, K., Bach, W., de Ronde, C. E. J., Kleint, C., Stucker, V., & Diehl, A. (2021). SO2 disproportionation impacting hydrothermal sulfur cycling: Insights from multiple sulfur isotopes for hydrothermal fluids from the Tonga-Kermadec intraoceanic arc and the NE Lau Basin. Chemical Geology, 586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120586
Diehl, A., de Ronde, C. E. J., & Bach, W. (2020). Subcritical Phase Separation and Occurrence of Deep-Seated Brines at the NW Caldera Vent Field, Brothers Volcano: Evidence from Fluid Inclusions in Hydrothermal Precipitates. Geofluids, 2020, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8868259
Diehl, A., & Bach, W. (2020). MARHYS (MARine HYdrothermal Solutions) Database: A Global Compilation of Marine Hydrothermal Vent Fluid, End Member, and Seawater Compositions. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 21(12). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1029/2020gc009385
Reysenbach, A. L., St John, E., Meneghin, J., Flores, G. E., Podar, M., Dombrowski, N., Spang, A., L'Haridon, S., Humphris, S. E., de Ronde, C. E. J., Caratori Tontini, F., Tivey, M., Stucker, V. K., Stewart, L. C., Diehl, A., & Bach, W. (2020). Complex subsurface hydrothermal fluid mixing at a submarine arc volcano supports distinct and highly diverse microbial communities. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 117(51), 32627-32638. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2019021117
Böhnke, S., Sass, K., Gonnella, G., Diehl, A., Kleint, C., Bach, W., Zitoun, R., Koschinsky, A., Indenbirken, D., Sander, S. G., Kurtz, S., & Perner, M. (2019). Parameters Governing the Community Structure and Element Turnover in Kermadec Volcanic Ash and Hydrothermal Fluids as Monitored by Inorganic Electron Donor Consumption, Autotrophic CO2 Fixation and 16S Tags of the Transcriptome in Incubation Experiments. Front Microbiol, 10, 2296. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02296
Kleint, C., Bach, W., Diehl, A., Fröhberg, N., Garbe-Schönberg, D., Hartmann, J. F., de Ronde, C. E. J., Sander, S. G., Strauss, H., Stucker, V. K., Thal, J., Zitoun, R., & Koschinsky, A. (2019). Geochemical characterization of highly diverse hydrothermal fluids from volcanic vent systems of the Kermadec intraoceanic arc. Chemical Geology, 528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.119289
Bieseler, B., Diehl, A., Jöns, N., Lucassen, F., & Bach, W. (2018). Constraints on Cooling of the Lower Ocean Crust From Epidote Veins in the Wadi Gideah Section, Oman Ophiolite. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 19(11), 4195-4217. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gc007679
Dziadek, R., Gohl, K., Diehl, A., & Kaul, N. (2017). Geothermal heat flux in the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica: New insights from temperature measurements, depth to the bottom of the magnetic source estimation, and thermal modeling. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 18(7), 2657-2672. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016gc006755
Longpre, M. A., Klugel, A., Diehl, A., & Stix, J. (2014). Mixing in mantle magma reservoirs prior to and during the 2011-2012 eruption at El Hierro, Canary Islands. Geology, 42(4), 315-318. https://doi.org/10.1130/g35165.1