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Hydrothermal Vents

By: Rachel Toole

Your Journey!

Today you will be zooming around the deep blue ocean, to learn about hydrothermal vents. You will learn the answers to the following questions...

-What are hydrothermal vents?

-How do hydrothermal vents form?

-What types of creatures live in hydrothermal vents?

-How does life survive around hydrothermal vents?

Now hold you breathe because we might be underwater for awhile.

Basics

What types of creatures live around hydrothermal vents?

Hydrothermal vents house many species that were previously unknown to mankind. These species are able to survive in these deep ocean ecosystems, found by underwater volcanic chains. Here are some examples, though there are hundreds more.

Hydrothermal vents were first discovered by geologists while they were exploring a mid-oceanic ridge by the Galapagos islands in 1977.

White Crabs

What are hydrothermal vents?

Red tipped tube worms

How do hydrothermal vents form?

They are openings on the seafloor, where mineral-rich hot water flows.

Fun Facts

Notice the red tube worms here!

Squat Lobster

Dandelion Siphonophores

These vents are produced by divergent boundaries.

1) As magma is produced by seafloor spreading it hardens to form new seafloor. This seafloor will have cracks on its surface.

2) Water then filters down these cracks and meets molten magma, to become heated.

3) After the water heats up, many minerals will dissolve.

4) Soon the solution becomes buoyant, or able to float, because it is hot making it less dense.

5) Then, the solution bursts through the surface.

6) When the hot fluid mixes with the cold ocean water its is unable to carry the minerals and chemicals it was holding, because it is now cold. Those materials leave the vent as small mineral grains.

7) Over time the mineral grains will build up and form chimney-like structures.

Now the Hydrothermal Vent is created!

Now for a short video clip!

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12fire/media/12firestream_playlist.html

  • Hot sea water in hydrothermal vents doesn't boil, due to extreme pressure
  • The microbes that convert chemicals into energy are thought to be the oldest form of life on Earth
  • The hydrothermal vent chimneys grow about 30cm a day
  • The water that is produced by the vents is hot enough to melt lead (350 degrees C)
  • The vents can change the ocean's temperature, chemistry, and circulation pattern.

Quiz Time!!!!

Give one example of an animal that lives around these hydrothermal vents.

How does life survive in these extreme conditions?

Answer: A

Where was the first hydrothermal vent discovered?

A) White Crab

B) Fish Daffodil

C) Purple-Tipped Tube Worms

D) Push-Up Lobster

A) Caribbean Islands

B) Off the coast of California

C) Near the Galapagos Islands

D) In the middle of the Indian Ocean

Answer: C

Hydrothermal vents are produced by which plate boundary(s)?

What is the name of the process that allows life to live around the vents?

Answer: B

A) Photosynthesis

B) Chemosynthesis

C) Chemical Synthesis

D) Biodegresynthesis

A) Transform and Convergent

B) Convergent

C) Divergent

D) Convergent and Divergent

Answer: C

Sources:

These creatures have to survive in environments with no light, high acidity and pressure levels, as well as toxic chemicals. Small microbes are able to live here because of a process known as chemosynthesis. This process is when these organisms convert chemicals from the vents into energy that they can use. Now larger marine species feed off of the microbes, which takes the energy they created, so they can survive as well.

Along with the chemosynthesis they also survive by relying on the vents for warmth.

ocean.si.edu

oceanservice.noaa.gov

indiana.edu

amnh.org

pmel.noaa.gov

Pictures from Google Images

Hydrothermal Vent Food Chain

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