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Hydrothermal Vents
By Tim Malloy and Alex
Reinicker
Characteristics
• Hydrothermal vents are formed where two oceanic
plates pull apart and erupting lava replaces the sea floor.
• In these areas, extremely hot, mineral-rich fluid flows out
from underneath the ocean floor's surface.
• The hot fluid flows into very cold water, and cools down
quickly. The cooled minerals in the fluid settle around the
vent opening creating chimney-like formations. Some
chimneys have been known to grow as tall as 6
kilometers
• Water temperature coming from the vent as been
recorded over 750 degrees Fahrenheit.
Global Location
• The first hydrothermal vent was
discovered near the Galapagos Islands, at
the Galapagos Rift, on the seafloor.
• They can be found anywhere along
expansion faults on the bottom of the
oceans.
Continuing threats: dumping, landbase contamination, fossil fuel
extraction.
Future threats: seabed mining,
methane hydrate extraction, and
carbon sequestration
Interesting Facts
• Some scientists have suggested that life actually began
millions of years ago around hydrothermal vents.
• As the vent water bursts out into the ocean, its
temperature may be as high as 750°F. Yet this water
does not boil because it is under so much pressure from
the tremendous weight of the ocean above.
• “Godzilla," a vent chimney in the Pacific Ocean off the
coast of Oregon, reached the height of a 15-story
building before it toppled.
• Mining of manganese nodules from these vents served
as a cover story for the elaborate attempt by the CIA to
raise the sunken Soviet Submarine K-129
Primary Producer
• Symbiotic Bacteria
bacteria living in
symbiosis with another
organism
For Example:
Zoamastogopera,
which lives in the
stomach of some
insects.
Primary Consumer
• Pompeii Worm
• (Alvinella pompejana) is endemic to the
hydrothermal vents of the Pacific Ocean.
Pompeii worms are among the most heattolerant complex animals known.
Secondary Consumer
• Galtheid Crab
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class:Malacostraca Order:
Decapoda Family:Portunidae Genus:Callinectes Species: Sapidus
Role in Ecosystem- They are the "ecosystem engineers" that create new
habitats and change the availability and quality of food, shelter and refuge
for other constituent species in hydrothermal vent ecosystems
Interesting Facts- If a crab losses its claw
it grows back
Reproudiction- Sexually
Food Web
Vent Ratfish
Galtheid
Crabs
Blind Crabs
Dandelion
Siphonophores
Vent
Vent
Vent
Amphipod
Zooplankton
Shrimp
Vent Bacteria
Vent
Clam
Vent Octopus
Tube-dwelling
Anemones
Riftia
Worm
Vent
Mussel
Symbiotic Bacteria
Zoarcid Fish
Pompeii
Worm
Pictures