Deborah Kelley

About

Deborah Kelley is a marine geologist who studies how submarine volcanoes support life in the absence of sunlight. She has dived in the submersible Alvin more than 50 times, reaching depths of 4000 meters beneath the ocean's surface, and routinely uses robotic vehicles to study some of the most extreme environments on Earth, such as submarine underwater hot springs. Her fieldwork takes her to volcanoes and hot springs off the Washington and Oregon coasts, the Lost City hydrothermal field on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and to the island of Cyprus. She is the Director for Science for the cabled component of the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative, a project that utilizes high-power and high-bandwidth submarine fiber-optic cables to bring the Internet into the Pacific Ocean and onto the seafloor, providing high-quality, real-time data from more than 100 instruments including high-definition video, seismicity, ocean acidity, and oxygen levels.

Research topics

• Paleontology
• Geology
• Geomorphology
• Earth science
• Seismology
• Oceanography
• Geochemistry
• Chemistry
• Environmental chemistry
• Ecology

Selected publications

• Diversity of magmatism, hydrothermal processes and microbial interactions at mid-ocean ridges

  Nature Reviews Earth & Environment · 2022 · 87 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Integrating Multidisciplinary Observations in Vent Environments (IMOVE): Decadal Progress in Deep-Sea Observatories at Hydrothermal Vents

  Frontiers in Marine Science · 2022-05-13 · 21 citations

  articleOpen access

  The unique ecosystems and biodiversity associated with mid-ocean ridge (MOR) hydrothermal vent systems contrast sharply with surrounding deep-sea habitats, however both may be increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activity (e.g., mining activities at massive sulphide deposits). Climate change can alter the deep-sea through increased bottom temperatures, loss of oxygen, and modifications to deep water circulation. Despite the potential of these profound impacts, the mechanisms enabling these s…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Hydrothermal Chimney Distribution on the Endeavour Segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge

  Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems · 2020 · 18 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Abstract The Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge is well known for its abundance of hydrothermal vents and chimneys. One‐meter scale multibeam mapping data collected by an autonomous undersea vehicle revealed 572 chimneys along the central 14 km of the segment, although only 47 are named and known to be active. Hydrothermal deposits are restricted to the axial graben and the near‐rims of the graben above a seismically mapped axial magma lens. The sparse eruptive activity on the segment d…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Variability of Natural Methane Bubble Release at Southern Hydrate Ridge

  Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems · 2021-09-21 · 16 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Current estimations of seabed methane release into the ocean (0.4–48 Tg yr −1 ) are based on short‐term observations and implicitly assume that fluxes are constant over time. However, the intensity of gas seepage varies significantly throughout a seep lifetime. We used instruments operated by the Ocean Observatories Initiative's Regional Cabled Array to monitor variations of gas emissions over the entire Southern Hydrate Ridge summit. We show that bubble plumes emanate from distinct and…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Extensive decentralized hydrogen export from the Atlantis Massif

  Geology · 2021-04-05 · 14 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Hydrogen is an important energy source for subsurface microbial communities, but its availability beyond the flow focused through hydrothermal chimneys is largely unknown. We report the widespread export of H2 across the Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex (30°N, Mid-Atlantic Ridge; up to 44 nM), which is distinct from the circulation system feeding the Lost City Hydrothermal Field (LCHF) on the massif's southern wall. Methane (CH4) abundances are generally low to undetectable (&lt…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Linkages to Microbial Diversity and Their Environment Within Active Submarine Hydrothermal Systems

  NSF · $534k · 2001–2008

• Collaborative: Investigation of a new class of hydrothermal systems: The Lost City Hydrothermal Field: A Peridotite-hosted, Off-axis System at 30 degree N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

  NSF · $1.2M · 2003–2010

• Collaborative Research: Data Synthesis for Examination of Magmatic, Tectonic, and Hydrothermal Acitivity at the Endeavour Segment ISS

  NSF · $193k · 2010–2014

Frequent coauthors

• Gretchen L. Früh‐Green

  ETH Zurich

  96 shared

• Marvin D. Lilley

  University of Washington

  88 shared

• G. Proskurowski

  NeuroMetrix (United States)

  80 shared

• E. J. Olson

  70 shared

• Sean P. Sylva

  Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

  62 shared

• D. A. Butterfield

  University of Washington

  60 shared

• Jeffrey A. Karson

  60 shared

• John A. Baross

  University of Washington

  57 shared

Labs

• OceanographyPI

Similar researchers at University of Washington

• Richard Keilh-53
• Julian Sachsh-48
• Stephen Riserh-48