REMP project - InterRidge Global Database of Active Submarine Hydrothermal Vent Fields

The purpose of the InterRidge Global Database of Active Submarine Hydrothermal Vent Fields, hereafter referred to as the "InterRidge Vents Database," is to provide a comprehensive list of active submarine hydrothermal vent fields for use in academic research, education, and marine policy. This dataset includes a data table (flat file) and a map representing the InterRidge Vents Database Version 3.4. Version 3.4 was completed on 25 March 2020 with a total of 721 vent fields, with 666 confirmed or inferred active and 55 inactive (please note: the database is not comprehensive for inactive vent fields). The number of known active vent fields increased by 134 in the past decade since the publication of InterRidge Vents Database Version 2.1 (Beaulieu et al., 2013, doi:10.1002/2013GC004998). The contents of the InterRidge Vents Database were derived principally from the open literature. The database includes a vocabulary of vent field names and information that may be useful in mapping, including position (latitude, longitude), depth, region, tectonic setting, national jurisdiction, and ocean. Additional information includes names of individual vent sites within vent fields, spreading rate for those vent fields at spreading centers, maximum temperature or temperature category (high or low) for confirmed active vent fields, notes on site description and biology for some of the vent fields, year discovered, and references. This data set has been used as one of the data inputs in the Atlantic REMP project. This project, funded by the European Union, worked together with stakeholders to produce a draft Regional Environmental Management Plan (REMP) for the Area in the North Atlantic, with a focus on the polymetallic sulphide deposits of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which are of interest for deep-sea mining. There was close collaboration with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and a consortium of scientific organisations. Marine data from multiple data services underpinned the environmental management plan development. A selection of the data sets is included in EMODnet Ingestion for wider distribution.