Preliminary characterisation of a shallow water hydrothermal sulphide deposit recovered by scientific divers (Aeolian Islands, Southern Tyrrhenian Sea).

Active hydrothermal vents, mainly occurring along the mid-ocean ridges, are also found in shallow-water environments in volcanic areas. This paper presents data for a shallow-water vent and associated sulphide hydrothermal deposits located east of the volcanic island of Panarea (Aeolian Archipelago, southern Tyrrhenian Sea). The vent lies at a depth of 25m on the seafloor in an exhalative area characterised by the presence of several vents (Caramanna et al., 2003, 2005; Anzidei et al., 2005; Esposito et al., 2006). Samples of the hydrothermal deposits were collected by scientific divers in January 2007. The ore mineralogy components of the deposits, mostly Pb-As sulfosalt, Zn-Pb sulphide and barium sulphates, reveal a genetic analogy with late-stage, low-temperature products of Kuroko-type mineralisations in subduction-related tectonic settings.