A
hydrothermal vent is a
fissureA fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure or simply fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive activity. The vent is usually a few meters wide and may be many kilometers long. Fissure vents can cause large flood basalts and lava channels...
in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated
waterWater is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near
volcanically2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and
hotspotsThe places known as hotspots or hot spots in geology are volcanic regions thought to be fed by underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the mantle elsewhere. They may be on, near to, or far from tectonic plate boundaries. There are two hypotheses to explain them...
. Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both geologically active and has large amounts of water on its surface and within its crust. Common land types include
hot springA hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...
s,
fumaroleA fumarole is an opening in a planet's crust, often in the neighborhood of volcanoes, which emits steam and gases such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrochloric acid, and hydrogen sulfide. The steam is created when superheated water turns to steam as its pressure drops when it emerges from...
s and
geyserA geyser is a spring characterized by intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by a vapour phase . The word geyser comes from Geysir, the name of an erupting spring at Haukadalur, Iceland; that name, in turn, comes from the Icelandic verb geysa, "to gush", the verb...
s. Under the sea, hydrothermal vents may form features called black smokers. Relative to the majority of the deep sea, the areas around submarine hydrothermal vents are biologically more productive, often hosting complex communities fueled by the chemicals dissolved in the vent fluids.
ChemosyntheticIn biochemistry, chemosynthesis is the biological conversion of one or more carbon molecules and nutrients into organic matter using the oxidation of inorganic molecules or methane as a source of energy, rather than sunlight, as in photosynthesis...
archaeaThe Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon...
form the base of the food chain, supporting diverse organisms, including
giant tube wormGiant tube worms, Riftia pachyptila, are marine invertebrates in the phylum Annelida related to tube worms commonly found in the intertidal and pelagic zones...
s,
clamThe word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...
s,
limpetLimpet is a common name for a number of different kinds of saltwater and freshwater snails ; it is applied to those snails that have a simple shell which is more or less conical in shape, and either is not spirally coiled, or appears not to be coiled in the adult snails.The name limpet is most...
s and
shrimpShrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
. Active hydrothermal vents are believed to exist on
JupiterJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
's moon
EuropaEuropa Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and probably has an iron core. It has a tenuous atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is composed of ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. This surface is striated by cracks and...
, and ancient hydrothermal vents have been speculated to exist on
MarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
.
Physical properties
Hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean typically form along the
Mid-ocean ridgeA mid-ocean ridge is a general term for an underwater mountain system that consists of various mountain ranges , typically having a valley known as a rift running along its spine, formed by plate tectonics. This type of oceanic ridge is characteristic of what is known as an oceanic spreading...
s, such as the
East Pacific RiseThe East Pacific Rise is a mid-oceanic ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Pacific Plate to the west from the North American Plate, the Rivera Plate, the Cocos Plate, the Nazca Plate, and the Antarctic Plate...
and the
Mid-Atlantic RidgeThe Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. It separates the Eurasian Plate and North American Plate in the North Atlantic, and the African Plate from the South...
. These are locations where two tectonic plates are diverging and new crust is being formed.
The water that issues from seafloor hydrothermal vents consists mostly of sea water drawn into the hydrothermal system close to the volcanic edifice through faults and porous sediments or volcanic strata, plus some magmatic water released by the upwelling
magmaMagma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...
. In terrestrial hydrothermal systems the majority of water circulated within the
fumaroleA fumarole is an opening in a planet's crust, often in the neighborhood of volcanoes, which emits steam and gases such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrochloric acid, and hydrogen sulfide. The steam is created when superheated water turns to steam as its pressure drops when it emerges from...
and
geyserA geyser is a spring characterized by intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by a vapour phase . The word geyser comes from Geysir, the name of an erupting spring at Haukadalur, Iceland; that name, in turn, comes from the Icelandic verb geysa, "to gush", the verb...
systems is
meteoric waterMeteoric water is a hydrologic term of long standing for water in the ground which originates from precipitation. This includes water from lakes, rivers, and icemelts, which all originate from precipitation indirectly.- Overview :...
plus ground water that has percolated down into the thermal system from the surface, but it also commonly contains some portion of metamorphic water,
magmatic waterMagmatic water or juvenile water is water which exists within and in equilibrium with a magma or water rich volatile fluids which are derived from a magma. This magmatic water is released to the atmosphere during a volcanic eruption...
, and sedimentary formational
brineBrine is water, saturated or nearly saturated with salt .Brine is used to preserve vegetables, fruit, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses, or for pickling foodstuffs, as a means of preserving them...
that is released by the magma. The proportion of each varies from location to location.
In contrast to the approximately 2 °C ambient water temperature at these depths, water emerges from these vents at temperatures ranging from 60 °C up to as high as 464 °C. Due to the high hydrostatic pressure at these depths, water may exist in either its liquid form or as a
supercritical fluidA supercritical fluid is any substance at a temperature and pressure above its critical point, where distinct liquid and gas phases do not exist. It can effuse through solids like a gas, and dissolve materials like a liquid...
at such temperatures. At a pressure of 218
atmospheresThe standard atmosphere is an international reference pressure defined as 101325 Pa and formerly used as unit of pressure. For practical purposes it has been replaced by the bar which is 105 Pa...
, the
critical pointIn physical chemistry, thermodynamics, chemistry and condensed matter physics, a critical point, also called a critical state, specifies the conditions at which a phase boundary ceases to exist...
of (pure) water is 375 °C. At a depth of 3,000 meters, the hydrostatic pressure of sea water is more than 300 atmospheres (as salt water is
denserThe mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ . In some cases , density is also defined as its weight per unit volume; although, this quantity is more properly called specific weight...
than fresh water). At this depth and pressure, seawater becomes supercritical at a temperature of 407 °C (
see image). However the increase in salinity at this depth pushes the water closer to its critical point. Thus, water emerging from the hottest parts of some hydrothermal vents can be a supercritical fluid, possessing physical properties between those of a
gasGas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
and those of a
liquidLiquid is one of the three classical states of matter . Like a gas, a liquid is able to flow and take the shape of a container. Some liquids resist compression, while others can be compressed. Unlike a gas, a liquid does not disperse to fill every space of a container, and maintains a fairly...
. Besides being superheated, the water is also extremely
acidAn acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
ic, often having a
pHIn chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
value as low as 2.8 — approximately that of
vinegarVinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
.
Sister Peak (Comfortless Cove Hydrothermal Field, 4°48′S 12°22′W, elevation -2996 m),
Shrimp Farm and
Mephisto (Red Lion Hydrothermal Field, 4°48′S 12°23′W, elevation -3047 m), are three hydrothermal vents of the black smoker category, located on the
Mid-Atlantic RidgeThe Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. It separates the Eurasian Plate and North American Plate in the North Atlantic, and the African Plate from the South...
near
Ascension IslandAscension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America, which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa...
. They are presumed to have been active since an earthquake shook the region in 2002. These vents have been observed to vent
phase-separatedA phase transition is the transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase or state of matter to another.A phase of a thermodynamic system and the states of matter have uniform physical properties....
, vapor-type fluids. In 2008, sustained exit temperatures of up to 407 °C were recorded at one of these vents, with a peak recorded temperature of up to 464 °C. These
thermodynamicThermodynamics is a physical science that studies the effects on material bodies, and on radiation in regions of space, of transfer of heat and of work done on or by the bodies or radiation...
conditions exceed the critical point of seawater, and are the highest temperatures recorded to date from the seafloor. This is the first reported evidence for direct
magmaMagma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...
tic-
hydrothermalHydrothermal circulation in its most general sense is the circulation of hot water; 'hydros' in the Greek meaning water and 'thermos' meaning heat. Hydrothermal circulation occurs most often in the vicinity of sources of heat within the Earth's crust...
interaction on a slow-spreading mid-ocean ridge.
The initial stages of a vent chimney begin with the deposition of the mineral
anhydriteAnhydrite is a mineral – anhydrous calcium sulfate, CaSO4. It is in the orthorhombic crystal system, with three directions of perfect cleavage parallel to the three planes of symmetry. It is not isomorphous with the orthorhombic barium and strontium sulfates, as might be expected from the...
.
SulfidesThe sulfide minerals are a class of minerals containing sulfide as the major anion. Some sulfide minerals are economically important as metal ores. The sulfide class also includes the selenides, the tellurides, the arsenides, the antimonides, the bismuthinides, the sulfarsenides and the sulfosalts...
of
copperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
,
ironIron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
and
zincZinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
then precipitate in the chimney gaps, making it less
porousPorosity or void fraction is a measure of the void spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0–1, or as a percentage between 0–100%...
over the course of time. Vent growths on the order of 30 cm per day have been recorded. An April 2007 exploration of the deep-sea vents off the coast of
FijiFiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
found those vents to be a significant source of dissolved iron.
Black smokers and white smokers
Some hydrothermal vents form roughly cylindrical chimney structures. These form from minerals that are dissolved in the vent fluid. When the super-heated water contacts the near-freezing sea water, the minerals precipitate out to form particles which add to the height of the stacks. Some of these chimney structures can reach heights of 60 m. An example of such a towering vent was "Godzilla", a structure in the Pacific Ocean near
OregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
that rose to 40 m before it fell over.
A
black smoker or
sea vent is a type of hydrothermal vent found on the
seabedThe seabed is the bottom of the ocean.- Ocean structure :Most of the oceans have a common structure, created by common physical phenomena, mainly from tectonic movement, and sediment from various sources...
, typically in the abyssal and hadal zones. They appear as black chimney-like structures that emit a cloud of black material. The black smokers typically emit particles with high levels of sulfur-bearing minerals, or sulfides. Black smokers are formed in fields hundreds of meters wide when
superheatedIn physics, superheating is the phenomenon in which a liquid is heated to a temperature higher than its boiling point, without boiling...
water from below
EarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
's
crustIn geology, the crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet or natural satellite, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle...
comes through the ocean floor. This water is rich in dissolved
mineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
s from the crust, most notably
sulfideA sulfide is an anion of sulfur in its lowest oxidation state of 2-. Sulfide is also a slightly archaic term for thioethers, a common type of organosulfur compound that are well known for their bad odors.- Properties :...
s. When it comes in contact with cold ocean water, many minerals precipitate, forming a black chimney-like structure around each vent. The metal sulfides that are deposited can become
massive sulfide ore depositsVolcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits are a type of metal sulfide ore deposit, mainly Cu-Zn-Pb which are associated with and created by volcanic-associated hydrothermal events in submarine environments....
in time.
Black smokers were first discovered in 1977 on the
East Pacific RiseThe East Pacific Rise is a mid-oceanic ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Pacific Plate to the west from the North American Plate, the Rivera Plate, the Cocos Plate, the Nazca Plate, and the Antarctic Plate...
by scientists from
Scripps Institution of OceanographyScripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and earth science research, graduate training, and public service in the world...
. They were observed using a deep submergence vehicle called
AlvinAlvin is a manned deep-ocean research submersible owned by the United States Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The vehicle was built by General Mills' Electronics Group in the same factory used to manufacture breakfast cereal-producing...
belonging to the
Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionThe Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of all aspects of marine science and engineering and to the education of marine researchers. Established in 1930, it is the largest independent oceanographic research...
. Now black smokers are known to exist in the
AtlanticThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
and
PacificThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
Oceans, at an average depth of 2100 metres. The most northerly black smokers are a cluster of five named
Loki's CastleLoki's Castle is a field of five active hydrothermal vents in the mid-Atlantic ocean, located at 73 degrees north on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Greenland and Norway at a depth of . They were discovered in mid-July 2008 and are the most northerly black smokers which have been located...
, discovered in 2008 by scientists from the
University of BergenThe University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...
at
73 degrees northThe 73rd parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 73 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane, in the Arctic. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, Asia, the Arctic Ocean and North America....
, on the
Mid-Atlantic RidgeThe Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. It separates the Eurasian Plate and North American Plate in the North Atlantic, and the African Plate from the South...
between Greenland and Norway. These black smokers are of interest as they are in a more stable area of the Earth's crust, where tectonic forces are less and consequently fields of hydrothermal vents are less common. The world's deepest black smokers are located in the
Cayman TroughThe Cayman Trough, is a complex transform fault zone pull apart basin which contains a small spreading ridge on the floor of the western Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands...
, 5,000 m (3.1 miles) below the ocean's surface.
White smokers are vents that emit lighter-hued minerals, such as those containing barium, calcium, and silicon. These vents also tend to have lower temperature plumes. These alkaline hydrothermal vents also continuously generate acetyl thioesters, providing both the starting point for more complex organic molecules and the energy needed to produce them, Microscopic structures in such alkaline vents "show interconnected compartments that provide an ideal hatchery for the origin of life".
Biological communities
Life has traditionally been seen as driven by energy from the sun, but deep sea organisms have no access to sunlight, so they must depend on nutrients found in the dusty chemical deposits and hydrothermal fluids in which they live. Previously, benthic oceanographers assumed that vent organisms were dependent on
marine snowIn the deep ocean, marine snow is a continuous shower of mostly organic detritus falling from the upper layers of the water column. It is a significant means of exporting energy from the light-rich photic zone to the aphotic zone below. The term was first coined by the explorer William Beebe as he...
, as deep sea organisms are. This would leave them dependent on plant life and thus the sun. Some hydrothermal vent organisms do consume this "rain," but with only such a system, life forms would be very sparse. Compared to the surrounding sea floor, however, hydrothermal vent zones have a density of organisms 10,000 to 100,000 times greater.
Hydrothermal vent communities are able to sustain such vast amounts of life because vent organisms depend on chemosynthetic bacteria for food. The water that comes out of the hydrothermal vent is rich in dissolved minerals and supports a large population of chemo-autotrophic bacteria. These bacteria use sulfur compounds, particularly
hydrogen sulfideHydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
, a chemical highly toxic to most known organisms, to produce organic material through the process of
chemosynthesisIn biochemistry, chemosynthesis is the biological conversion of one or more carbon molecules and nutrients into organic matter using the oxidation of inorganic molecules or methane as a source of energy, rather than sunlight, as in photosynthesis...
.
The ecosystem so formed is reliant upon the continued existence of the hydrothermal vent field as the primary source of energy, which differs from most surface life on Earth which is based on solar energy. However, although it is often said that these communities exist independently of the sun, some of the organisms are actually dependent upon oxygen produced by photosynthetic organisms. Others are anaerobic as was the earliest life.
The chemosynthetic bacteria grow into a thick mat which attracts other organisms such as amphipods and
copepodCopepods are a group of small crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat. Some species are planktonic , some are benthic , and some continental species may live in limno-terrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests,...
s which graze upon the bacteria directly. Larger organisms such as snails,
shrimpShrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
, crabs,
tube wormsSiboglinidae, also known as the beard worms, is a family of polychaete annelid worms whose members made up the former phyla Pogonophora and Vestimentifera. They are composed of about 100 species of vermiform creatures and live in thin tubes buried in sediments at ocean depths from 100 to 10,000 m...
,
fishFish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, and
octopusThe octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
es form a
food chainA food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
of predator and prey relationships above the primary consumers. The main families of organisms found around seafloor vents are
annelidThe annelids , formally called Annelida , are a large phylum of segmented worms, with over 17,000 modern species including ragworms, earthworms and leeches...
s,
pogonophoransSiboglinidae, also known as the beard worms, is a family of polychaete annelid worms whose members made up the former phyla Pogonophora and Vestimentifera. They are composed of about 100 species of vermiform creatures and live in thin tubes buried in sediments at ocean depths from 100 to 10,000 m...
, gastropods, and
crustaceanCrustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, with large bivalves, vestimentiferan worms, and "eyeless" shrimp making up the bulk of non-microbial organisms.
Tube worms form an important part of the community around a hydrothermal vent. They have no mouth or digestive tract, and like parasitic worms, absorb nutrients produced by the bacteria in their tissues. There are approximately 285 billion bacteria per ounce of tubeworm tissue. Tubeworms have red plumes which contain
hemoglobinHemoglobin is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red blood cells of all vertebrates, with the exception of the fish family Channichthyidae, as well as the tissues of some invertebrates...
.
HemoglobinHemoglobin is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red blood cells of all vertebrates, with the exception of the fish family Channichthyidae, as well as the tissues of some invertebrates...
combines hydrogen sulfide and transfers it to the bacteria living inside the worm. In return the bacteria nourish the worm with carbon compounds. The two species that inhabit a hydrothermal vent are
Tevnia jerichonana, and
Riftia pachyptila. One community has been discovered dubbed "
Eel CityEel City is the name of a community of deep-sea eels living amongst hydrothermal vents in the new volcano of Nafanua in American Samoa. It is unique because most hydrothermal vents are predominantly inhabited by invertebrates, whereas there is little invertebrate life in Eel City. However, eels are...
", which consists predominantly of
eelEels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
s. Though eels are not uncommon, as mentioned earlier invertebrates typically dominate hydrothermal vents. Eel City is located near
Nafanua volcanic coneVailulu'u is a volcanic seamount discovered by geophysicist Rockne Johnson in the Samoa Islands on October 18, 1975. The finding of an active, undersea, hotspot volcano is significant for scientists studying the Earth's fundamental processess...
,
American SamoaAmerican Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
.
Other examples of the unique
faunaFauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
who inhabit this ecosystem are
scaly-foot gastropodCrysomallon squamiferum, common name the scaly-foot gastropod, is a species of deep sea hydrothermal vent snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Peltospiridae.- Habitat :...
Crysomallon squamiferum, a species of snail with a foot reinforced by scales made of iron and organic materials, and the
Pompeii WormAlvinella pompejana, , is a species of deep-sea polychaete worm...
Alvinella pompejana, which is capable of withstanding temperatures up to 80°C (176°F).
In 1993 there were already more than 100 gastropod species known to occur in hydrothermal vents. Over 300 new species have been discovered at hydrothermal vents, many of them "sister species" to others found in geographically separated vent areas. It has been proposed that before the
North American plateThe North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland, Cuba, Bahamas, and parts of Siberia, Japan and Iceland. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia. The plate includes both continental and oceanic crust...
overrode the
mid-ocean ridgeA mid-ocean ridge is a general term for an underwater mountain system that consists of various mountain ranges , typically having a valley known as a rift running along its spine, formed by plate tectonics. This type of oceanic ridge is characteristic of what is known as an oceanic spreading...
, there was a single biogeographic vent region found in the eastern Pacific. The subsequent barrier to travel began the evolutionary divergence of species in different locations. The examples of convergent evolution seen between distinct hydrothermal vents is seen as major support for the theory of natural selection and of evolution as a whole.
Although life is very sparse at these depths, black smokers are the center of entire
ecosystemAn ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s. Sunlight is nonexistent, so many organisms — such as
archaeaThe Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon...
and
extremophileAn extremophile is an organism that thrives in physically or geochemically extreme conditions that are detrimental to most life on Earth. In contrast, organisms that live in more moderate environments may be termed mesophiles or neutrophiles...
s — convert the heat,
methaneMethane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
, and
sulfurSulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
compounds provided by black smokers into energy through a process called
chemosynthesisIn biochemistry, chemosynthesis is the biological conversion of one or more carbon molecules and nutrients into organic matter using the oxidation of inorganic molecules or methane as a source of energy, rather than sunlight, as in photosynthesis...
. More complex life forms like
clamThe word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...
s and
tubewormsGiant tube worms, Riftia pachyptila, are marine invertebrates in the phylum Annelida related to tube worms commonly found in the intertidal and pelagic zones...
feed on these organisms. The organisms at the base of the
food chainA food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
also deposit minerals into the base of the black smoker, therefore completing the
life cycleA life cycle is a period involving all different generations of a species succeeding each other through means of reproduction, whether through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction...
.
A species of phototrophic bacterium has been found living near a black smoker off the coast of
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
at a depth of 2500 m (8,202.1 ft). No sunlight penetrates that far into the waters. Instead, the bacteria, part of the
ChlorobiaceaeThe green sulfur bacteria are a family of obligately anaerobic photoautotrophic bacteria. Most closely related to the distant Bacteroidetes, they are accordingly assigned their own phylum....
family, use the faint glow from the black smoker for
photosynthesisPhotosynthesis is a chemical process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of bacteria, but not in archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since they can...
. This is the first organism discovered in nature to exclusively use a light other than sunlight for photosynthesis.
New and unusual species are constantly being discovered in the neighborhood of black smokers. The
Pompeii wormAlvinella pompejana, , is a species of deep-sea polychaete worm...
was found in the 1980s, and a
scaly-foot gastropodCrysomallon squamiferum, common name the scaly-foot gastropod, is a species of deep sea hydrothermal vent snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Peltospiridae.- Habitat :...
in 2001 during an expedition to the
Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
's Kairei hydrothermal vent field. The latter uses iron sulfides (
pyriteThe mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...
and greigite) for the structure of its dermal
sclerites (hardened body parts), instead of
calcium carbonateCalcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the formula CaCO3. It is a common substance found in rocks in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, coal balls, pearls, and eggshells. Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in agricultural lime,...
. The extreme pressure of 2500 m of water (approximately 25 megapascals or 250
atmospheresThe standard atmosphere is an international reference pressure defined as 101325 Pa and formerly used as unit of pressure. For practical purposes it has been replaced by the bar which is 105 Pa...
) is thought to play a role in stabilizing iron sulfide for biological purposes. This armor plating probably serves as a defense against the venomous
radulaThe radula is an anatomical structure that is used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus...
(teeth) of predatory
snailSnail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s in that community.
Biological theories
Although the discovery of hydrothermal vents is a relatively recent event in the history of science, the importance of this discovery has given rise to, and supported, new biological and bio-atmospheric theories.
The deep hot biosphere
At the beginning of his 1992 paper
The Deep Hot Biosphere,
Thomas GoldThomas Gold was an Austrian-born astrophysicist, a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society . Gold was one of three young Cambridge scientists who in the 1950s proposed the now mostly abandoned 'steady...
referred to
ocean vents in support of his theory that the lower levels of the earth are rich in living biological material that finds its way to the surface. He further expanded his ideas in the book The Deep Hot Biosphere.
An article on
abiogenic hydrocarbon production in the February 2008 issue of
Science MagazineScience Magazine was a half-hour television show produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1975 to 1979.The show was hosted by geneticist David Suzuki, who previously hosted the daytime youth programme Suzuki On Science...
used data from experiments at
Lost City (hydrothermal field)Lost City is a field of hydrothermal vents in the mid-Atlantic ocean that differ significantly from the black smoker vents found in the late 1970s. The vents were discovered in December 2000 during a National Science Foundation expedition to the mid-Atlantic. A second expedition mounted in 2003...
to report how the abiotic synthesis of low molecular mass hydrocarbons from mantle derived carbon dioxide may occur in the presence of ultramafic rocks, water, and moderate amounts of heat.
Hydrothermal origin of life
Günter WächtershäuserGünter Wächtershäuser , a German chemist turned patent lawyer, is mainly known for his work on the origin of life, and in particular his iron-sulfur world theory, a theory that life on Earth had hydrothermal origins...
proposed the
Iron-sulfur world theoryThe iron-sulfur world theory is a set of proposals for the origin of life and the early evolution of life advanced by Günter Wächtershäuser, a Munich patent lawyer with a degree in chemistry who had been encouraged and supported by philosopher Karl R. Popper to publish his ideas. The theory...
and suggested that life might have originated at hydrothermal vents. Wächtershäuser proposed that an early form of metabolism predated genetics. By metabolism he meant a cycle of chemical reactions that release energy in a form that can be harnessed by other processes.
It has been proposed that amino-acid synthesis could have occurred deep in the Earth's crust and that these amino-acids were subsequently shot up along with hydrothermal fluids into cooler waters, where lower temperatures and the presence of clay minerals would have fostered the formation of peptides and protocells. This is an attractive hypothesis because of the abundance of CH
4 (
methaneMethane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
) and NH
3 (
ammoniaAmmonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
) present in hydrothermal vent regions, a condition that was not provided by the Earth's primitive atmosphere. A major limitation to this hypothesis is the lack of stability of organic molecules at high temperatures, but some have suggested that life would have originated outside of the zones of highest temperature. There are numerous species of extremophiles and other organisms currently living immediately around deep-sea vents, suggesting that this is indeed a possible scenario.
Exploration
In 1949, a deep water survey reported anomalously hot brines in the central portion of the
Red SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. Later work in the 1960s confirmed the presence of hot, 60 °C (140 °F), saline brines and associated metalliferous muds. The hot solutions were emanating from an active subseafloor rift. The highly saline character of the waters was not hospitable to living organisms. The brines and associated muds are currently under investigation as a source of mineable precious and base metals.
The chemosynthetic ecosystem surrounding submarine hydrothermal vents were discovered along the Galapagos Rift, a spur of the
East Pacific RiseThe East Pacific Rise is a mid-oceanic ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Pacific Plate to the west from the North American Plate, the Rivera Plate, the Cocos Plate, the Nazca Plate, and the Antarctic Plate...
, in 1977 by a group of marine geologists led by
Jack CorlissJohn B. Corliss is a scientist who has worked in the fields of geology, oceanography, and the origins of life.Corliss is a University of California, San Diego Alumnus, receiving his PhD from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the 1960s. As part of his doctoral work under Jerry van Andel, he...
of Oregon State University. In 1979, biologists returned to the rift and used
ALVINAlvin is a male given name.*Alvin Seville, Cartoon singing chipmunk from, "Alvin and the chipmunks "Alvin and the Chipmunks " and "Alvin and the Chipmunks The Squeakquel"*Alvin Adams, early 19th century businessman...
, an
ONRThe Office of Naval Research , headquartered in Arlington, Virginia , is the office within the United States Department of the Navy that coordinates, executes, and promotes the science and technology programs of the U.S...
research submersible from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, to see the hydrothermal vent communities with their own eyes. In that same year, Peter Lonsdale published the first scientific paper on hydrothermal vent life.
In 2005, Neptune Resources NL, a mineral exploration company, applied for and was granted 35,000 km² of exploration rights over the Kermadec Arc in
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's
Exclusive Economic ZoneUnder the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
to explore for
seafloor massive sulfide depositsSeafloor massive sulfide deposits or SMS deposits, are modern equivalents of ancient volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits or VMS deposits. The term has been coined by mineral explorers to differentiate the modern deposit from the ancient....
, a potential new source of
leadLead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
-
zincZinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
-
copperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
sulfides formed from modern hydrothermal vent fields. The discovery of a vent in the Pacific Ocean offshore of
Costa RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, named the Medusa hydrothermal vent field (after the serpent-haired
MedusaIn Greek mythology Medusa , " guardian, protectress") was a Gorgon, a chthonic monster, and a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. The author Hyginus, interposes a generation and gives Medusa another chthonic pair as parents. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone...
of
Greek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
), was announced in April 2007. The Ashadze hydrothermal field (13°N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, elevation -4200 m) was the deepest known high-temperature hydrothermal field until 2010, when the Piccard site (18°33′N 81°43′W, elevation -5000 m) was discovered by a group of scientists from NASA
Jet Propulsion LaboratoryJet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. This site is located on the 110 km long, ultraslow spreading Mid-Cayman Rise within the
Cayman TroughThe Cayman Trough, is a complex transform fault zone pull apart basin which contains a small spreading ridge on the floor of the western Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands...
.
Exploitation
Hydrothermal vents, in some instances, have led to the formation of exploitable mineral resources via deposition of
seafloor massive sulfide depositsSeafloor massive sulfide deposits or SMS deposits, are modern equivalents of ancient volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits or VMS deposits. The term has been coined by mineral explorers to differentiate the modern deposit from the ancient....
. The Mount Isa orebody located in Queensland, Australia, is an excellent example.
Recently, mineral exploration companies, driven by the elevated price activity in the base metals sector during the mid 2000s, have turned their attention to extraction of mineral resources from hydrothermal fields on the seafloor. Significant cost reductions are, in theory, possible. Consider that in the case of the Mount Isa orebody, large amounts of capital are required to sink shafts and associated underground infrastructure, then laboriously drill and blast the ore, crush and process it, to win out the base metals, an activity which requires a large workforce.
The
Marshall hydrothermal recovery systemThe Marshall Hydrothermal Recovery System is the first patented system designed to utilize underwater hydrothermal vents for energy, mining, and water desalination. It was designed by Bruce C. Marshall of California....
is a patented proposal to exploit hydrothermal vents for their energy and minerals. A hydrothermal field, consisting of chimneys and compacted chimney remains, can be reached from the surface via a dynamically positioned ship or platform, using conventional pipe, mined using modified soft rock mining technology (continuous miners), brought to the surface via the pipe, concentrated and dewatered then shipped directly to a smelter. While the concept sounds far-fetched, it uses already proven technology derived from the offshore oil and gas industries, and the soft-rock mining industries.
Two companies are currently engaged in the late stages of commencing to mine seafloor massive sulfides. Nautilus Minerals is in the advanced stages of commencing extraction from its Solwarra deposit, in the
Bismarck ArchipelagoThe Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...
, and Neptune Minerals is at an earlier stage with its Rumble II West deposit, located on the Kermadec Arc, near the
Kermadec IslandsThe Kermadec Islands are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga...
. Both companies are proposing using modified existing technology. Nautilus Minerals, in partnership with
Placer DomePlacer Dome Inc. was a large mining company specializing in gold and other precious metals, with corporate headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada....
(now part of
Barrick GoldBarrick Gold Corporation is the largest pure gold mining company in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America...
), succeeded in 2006 in returning over 10 metric tons of mined SMS to the surface using modified drum cutters mounted on an ROV, a world first. Neptune Minerals in 2007 succeeded in recovering SMS sediment samples using a modified oil industry suction pump mounted on an ROV, also a world first.
Potential seafloor mining has environmental impacts including dust plumes from mining machinery affecting filter feeding organisms, collapsing or reopening vents,
methane clathrateMethane clathrate, also called methane hydrate, hydromethane, methane ice, "fire ice", natural gas hydrate or just gas hydrate, is a solid clathrate compound in which a large amount of methane is trapped within a crystal structure of water, forming a solid similar to ice...
release, or even sub-oceanic land slides. A large amount of work is currently being engaged in by both the above mentioned companies to ensure that potential environmental impacts of seafloor mining are well understood and control measures are implemented, before exploitation commences.
Attempts have been made in the past to exploit minerals from the seafloor. The 1960s and 70s saw a great deal of activity (and expenditure) in the recovery of
manganese nodulePolymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, are rock concretions on the sea bottom formed of concentric layers of iron and manganese hydroxides around a core. The core may be microscopically small and is sometimes completely transformed into manganese minerals by crystallization...
s from the
abyssal plainAn abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3000 and 6000 metres. Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the Earth’s surface. They are among the flattest, smoothest...
s, with varying degrees of success. This does demonstrate however that recovery of minerals from the seafloor is possible, and has been possible for some time. Interestingly, mining of manganese nodules served as a cover story for the elaborate attempt by the CIA to raise the sunken
Soviet submarine K-129Soviet submarine K-129 may refer to one or both of the following submarines of the Soviet Navy:, a Golf-class diesel-electric ballistic missile submarine that sank in March 1968; partially salvaged by the United States Navy with the Glomar Explorer, a Delta III-class nuclear-powered ballistic...
, using the Glomar Explorer, a ship purpose built for the task by
Howard HughesHoward Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
. The operation was known as Project Azorian, and the cover story of seafloor mining of manganese nodules may have served as the impetus to propel other companies to make the attempt.
Conservation
The conservation of Hydrothermal Vents has been the subject of sometimes heated discussion in the Oceanographic Community for the last 20 years. It has been pointed out that it may be that those causing the most damage to these fairly rare habitats are scientists. There have been attempts to forge agreements over the behaviour of scientists investigating vent sites but although there is an agreed code of practice there is as yet no formal international and legally binding agreement.
See also
- Brine pool
Brine pools are large areas of brine on the ocean basin. These pools are bodies of water that have a salinity three to five times greater than the surrounding ocean. For deep-sea brine pools, the source of the salt is the dissolution of large salt deposits through salt tectonics...
- Cold seep
A cold seep is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool...
- Fumarole
A fumarole is an opening in a planet's crust, often in the neighborhood of volcanoes, which emits steam and gases such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrochloric acid, and hydrogen sulfide. The steam is created when superheated water turns to steam as its pressure drops when it emerges from...
- Geyser
A geyser is a spring characterized by intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by a vapour phase . The word geyser comes from Geysir, the name of an erupting spring at Haukadalur, Iceland; that name, in turn, comes from the Icelandic verb geysa, "to gush", the verb...
- Hot springs
Hot Springs may refer to:* Hot Springs, Arkansas** Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas*Hot Springs, California**Hot Springs, Lassen County, California**Hot Springs, Modoc County, California**Hot Springs, Placer County, California...
- Alvin submersible
Alvin is a manned deep-ocean research submersible owned by the United States Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The vehicle was built by General Mills' Electronics Group in the same factory used to manufacture breakfast cereal-producing...
- Lost City (hydrothermal field)
Lost City is a field of hydrothermal vents in the mid-Atlantic ocean that differ significantly from the black smoker vents found in the late 1970s. The vents were discovered in December 2000 during a National Science Foundation expedition to the mid-Atlantic. A second expedition mounted in 2003...
- Loki's Castle (hydrothermal field)
Loki's Castle is a field of five active hydrothermal vents in the mid-Atlantic ocean, located at 73 degrees north on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Greenland and Norway at a depth of . They were discovered in mid-July 2008 and are the most northerly black smokers which have been located...
- Magic Mountain (hydrothermal field)
Magic Mountain is a large long-lived hydrothermal vent field on the Southern Explorer Ridge, located about 150 miles west of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Unlike most hydrothermal systems found in the Pacific Ocean, Magic Mountain is situated outside the Explorer Ridge...
- Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents
The Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents are a group of hydrothermal vents in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, located southwest of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada...
- Origin of life
- Robert Ballard
Robert Duane Ballard is a former United States Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology. He is most famous for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989,...
Further reading
- Glyn Ford and Jonathan Simnett, Silver from the Sea, September/October 1982, Volume 33, Number 5, Saudi Aramco World Accessed 17 October 2005
- Ballard, Robert D., 2000, The Eternal Darkness, Princeton University Press
-Further reading:* "". Artforum International, 2005.-External links:* * * * *...
.
- http://www.botos.com/marine/vents01.html#body_4
- Anaerobic respiration on tellurate and other metalloids in bacteria from hydrothermal vent fields in the eastern pacific ocean
External links
- Ocean Explorer (www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov) - Public outreach site for explorations sponsored by the Office of Ocean Exploration.
- NOAA, Ocean Explorer Gallery, Submarine Ring of Fire 2006 Gallery, Submarine Ring of Fire 2004 Gallery - A rich collection of images, video, audio and podcast.
- NOAA, Ocean Explorer YouTube Channel
- Submarine Ring of Fire, Mariana Arc - Explore the volcanoes of the Mariana Arc, Submarine Ring of Fire.
- Hydrothermal Vent Systems Information from the Deep Ocean Exploration Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of all aspects of marine science and engineering and to the education of marine researchers. Established in 1930, it is the largest independent oceanographic research...
- Hydrothermal Vents Video From the Smithsonian Ocean Portal
- A new type of hydrothermal vent
- Vent geochemistry
- Everything you wanted to know about hydrothermal vents and the deep sea — Provided by New Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
.
- a good overview of hydrothermal vent biology, published in 2006
- Images of Hydrothermal Vents in Indian Ocean- Released by National Science Foundation
- Neptune Minerals Ltd webpage - Exploring SMS deposits
- Nautilus Minerals Ltd webpage
- Ocean Explorer (www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov) - Public outreach site for explorations sponsored by the Office of Ocean Exploration.
- NOAA, Ocean Explorer Gallery, Submarine Ring of Fire 2006 Gallery, Submarine Ring of Fire 2004 Gallery - A rich collection of images, video, audio and podcast.
- NOAA, Ocean Explorer YouTube Channel
- Submarine Ring of Fire, Mariana Arc - Explore the volcanoes of the Mariana Arc, Submarine Ring of Fire.
- Hydrothermal Vent Systems Information from the Deep Ocean Exploration Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of all aspects of marine science and engineering and to the education of marine researchers. Established in 1930, it is the largest independent oceanographic research...
- How to Build a Hydrothermal Vent Chimney
- Giant black smoker retrieved from abyss - a vent chimney retrieved by an Australian CSIRO Research Vessel north of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
in April–May 2000.
- Ancient Black Smoker - Parys Mountain, Anglesey