mbu FY2015 Annual Report 3.1 Figure 4

Figure 4: Larval transport among vent fields may be similar regardless of dispersal depth, except for regions affected by the Kuroshio Current. (A) Potential larval dispersal of the western Pacific vent fields for a dispersal depth of 500 m (lines and numbers), where PLD is set to the population mean of 43 d. See the legends of Figs. 2 and 3 for details. Close-up views showing unidirectional transport (B) from Okinawa to Izu-Bonin and (C) from Lau to North Fiji, following the Kuroshio Current and the South Equatorial Current, respectively. The overall pattern does not change much from the 1,000-m case (Fig. 3), with the exception of regions affected by the Kuroshio Current. (D) The southwest Pacific vent complex could be completely interconnected with above-average PLD (∼twice the mean), based on mostly westward transport.