
Three-dimensional reconstruction of an acoustic image of the lower 40 m
of two buoyant
plumes discharging from adjacent black smoker vents at a depth of 2635 m
on the East
Pacific Rise near 21 deg N, 109 deg W, (5x5x5 m rectilinear grid). The
image was made
from a digital data set of acoustic backscattering information recorded
with a specially
modified submersible-mounted sonar system. The reconstructed image
shows multiple zones
of flow organization, coalescence of two plumes, and bending of the
coalesced plumes in the
direction of the prevailing oceanic current (north). The newly
developed acoustic imaging
technique is providing information on the volume and structure of
hydrothermal plumes on a
time scale suitable for determination of plume dynamics and monitoring.