Dave Butterfield

David A. Butterfield

  • Principal Research Scientist
  • Earth Ocean Interactions Group Leader
  • Affiliate Professor, Oceanography

Interdisciplinary studies of submarine volcanoes, hydrothermal systems, and cold seeps. Investigating methane flux to the atmosphere from continental margins and estuaries. Importance of seawater reaction with the ocean crust in global geochemical cycles, including carbon dioxide removal and storage. Using fluid chemistry to understand physical, chemical, and biological processes. Developing sampling and sensing instrumentation for deep-sea environments.

Selected publications

Fortunato, C.S., D.A. Butterfield, B. Larson, N. Lawrence-Slavas, C.K. Algar, L. Zeigler Allen, J.F. Holden, G. Proskurowski, E. Reddington, L.C. Stewart, B.D. Topçuoglu, J.J. Vallino, and J.A. Huber (2020): Seafloor incubation experiment with deep-sea hydrothermal vent fluid reveals effect of pressure and lag time on autotrophic microbial communities. ISME J.

Chadwick, Jr., W.W., S.G. Merle, E.T. Baker, S.L. Walker, J.A. Resing, D.A. Butterfield, M.O. Anderson, T. Baumberger, and A.M. Bobbitt (2018): A recent volcanic eruption discovered on the central Mariana back-arc spreading center. Front. Earth Sci., 6, 172, doi: 10.3389/feart.2018.00172.

Grandy, J., Onat, B., Tunnicliffe, V., Butterfield, D.A., Pawliszyn, J. (2020) Unique Solid Phase Microextraction Sampler Reveals Distinctive Biogeochemical Profiles among Various Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents, Scientific Reports 10, 1360.

Stewart, L.C., C.K. Algar, C.S. Fortunato, B.I. Larson, J. Vallino, J.A. Huber, D.A. Butterfield, and J.F. Holden (2019): Fluid geochemistry, local hydrology, and metabolic activity define methanogen community size and composition in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. ISME J., 13, 1711–1721, doi: 10.1038/s41396-019-0382-3

Trembath-Reichert, E., D.A. Butterfield, and J.A. Huber (2019): Active subseafloor microbial communities from Mariana back-arc venting fluids share metabolic strategies across different thermal niches and taxa. ISME J., 13, 2264-2279, doi: 10.1038/s41396-019-0431-y

Spietz, R.L., D.A. Butterfield, N.J. Buck, B.I. Larson, W.W. Chadwick, Jr., S.L. Walker, D.S. Kelley, and R.M. Morris (2018): Deep-sea volcanic eruptions create unique chemical and biological linkages between the subsurface lithosphere and oceanic hydrosphere. Oceanography, 31(1), 128–135, doi: 10.5670/oceanog.2018.120.

Baker, E.T., S.L. Walker, W.W. Chadwick, Jr., D.A. Butterfield, N.J. Buck, and J.A. Resing (2018): Post-eruption enhancement of hydrothermal activity: A 33-year, multi-eruption time series at Axial Seamount (Juan de Fuca Ridge). Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 20(2), 814−828, doi: 10.1029/2018GC007802

Butterfield, D.A., K. Nakamura, B. Takano, M.D. Lilley, J.E. Lupton, J.A. Resing, and K.K. Roe (2011) High SO2 flux, sulfur accumulation, and gas fractionation at an erupting submarine volcano. Geology. Doi: 10.1130/G31901.1