Black Smokers

The temperatures in black smokers approach degrees Farenheit, hot enough to melt steel. Although researchers expected to find hydrothermal vents, they were surprised to find such diverse life forms living nearby. It was long believed that the sea floor, where there is virtually no light or heat, would support few life forms.

Since , further explorations with submarines have revealed that there are several vent systems scattered throughout the ocean floor, ranging from to meters in depth.

How to Build a Black Smoker Chimney : Oceanus Magazine

Each hydrothermal vent system seems to have an ecologically similar set of dominant species though the actual array of species differs from system to system. Creatures found in these ecosystems include large clams, mussels, snails, and a variety of polychaete worms. One reason for the uniqueness of these ecosystems is that they contain elements and compounds that are toxic in most other environments, such as hydrogen sulfide.

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Carvings Middle left bottom group: Life without sunlight Scientists had long believed that nothing could live at the great pressures found on the ocean floors and that all life on our planet required sunlight to thrive. Both of these theories were proved incorrect in when the first hydrothermal vents were discovered.

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Bacteria are the basis of the food chain Giant tube worms, long necked barnacles, giant clams all lived in communities around the smokers. Since their discovery it has been found that a unique type of bacteria is able to metabolize large amounts sulfur that is found in the superheated water that flows out of the vents. The bacteria are the basis of the food chain because no sunlight reaches these areas that are often over a mile deep. Newly discovered black smokers Since the discovery of the vents scientists have found many more of these hydrothermal fields that range in size from 4 square meters 43 square feet to the size of a tennis court.

The fields are typically about 10 meters in diameter.

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Today scientists are studying three areas around the globe looking for hydrothermal fields. Only a small portion of the ocean floor has been studied and it is expected that many more black smokers will be found in future years. Rich deposits of minerals Many of the richest deposits of minerals found on are planet were created around hydrothermal vents. Copper ores mined on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea were once the site of hydrothermal vents before they were uplifted to form the island of Cyprus.

Today research is being conducted to see if active vents can also be mined for their rich mineral deposits.

At the present time the fields are too small and too far below sea level to make mining the minerals profitable. The water that covers our planet is essential to life on our planet. From space the Earth looks like a blue ball partly covered with white wispy clouds. The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia are one of the seven great wonders of the natural world.

Find out more about this World Heritage Site. The Mid Atlantic Ridge is a divergent plate boundary where continental plates are moving apart down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.