Hydrothermal PMS and Related Deposits

New discoveries of deep-sea hydrothermal deposits on the East Pacific Rise proceeded rapidly in the early 1980s, followed by similar discoveries in the Western Pacific in the mid-to-late 1980s and 1990s. Similar work commenced in the late 1980s in the Indian Ocean with the first PMS deposits being found on the Central Indian Ocean Ridge in 1994. In the Atlantic Ocean, early indications of hydrothermal activity on the MAR at 26 N were confirmed with the finding of PMS deposits there in 1985. Work on PMS and other hydrothermal deposits continued in all three oceans into the 1990s. Important discoveries in the southwestern Pacific were the SOLWARA field in the Bismarck Sea, and several hydrothermal fields in the Lau Basin and North Fiji Basin. Additional hydrothermal discoveries were made on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and work on these and other PMS deposits continued into the twenty-first century.