Sea Floor Vent Life

A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seafloor from which geothermally heated water issues.

Sea floor vent life.

Along mid ocean ridges where tectonic plates spread apart magma rises and cools to form new crust and volcanic mountain chains. Plate tectonics theory which was finally accepted by the scientific community in the 1950s and 60s had predicted the existence of hydrothermal vents deep sea hot springs that form when cold seawater seeps into magma emitting cracks on the ocean floor heats up and rises. Sea water seeps down into the cracks and fissures created by the spreading of the sea floor sometimes as much as two or three miles into the earth s crust. These huge plates in the earth s crust move and create cracks in the ocean floor.

New species are discovered in the ocean each year by marine biologists and other ocean scientists. The hydrothermal vents which are essentially geysers on the sea floor support exotic chemical based ecosystems. Some scientists think the vents are modern day examples of environments where life began on earth billions of years ago. Hydrothermal deposits are rocks and mineral ore deposits formed by the action of hydrothermal vents.

As the water comes into contact with the veins and channels of superheated molten magma the sea water is superheated. This water which can reach temperatures of 400 c eventually rises back through the. Deep sea hydrothermal vents form as a result of volcanic activity on the ocean floor. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at spreading centers ocean basins and hotspots.

In fact alvin the sub originally used by ballard and his team in the 1970s is still one of the most effective ways scientists investigate the geological chemical and biological characteristics of ocean vents. November 4 2019 source. Deep sea vents had ideal conditions for origin of life date. Water seeps through cracks in the earth s crust dissolving metals and minerals as it becomes super heated from nearby magma.

Once a vent field is located oceanographers use both rovs and manned vehicles to study ocean vents up close and personal. Most vents are far too deep under far too much pressure. By creating protocells in hot alkaline seawater a research team has added. Hydrothermal vents located in the deep sea host a wide variety of marine life.

Ocean water enters the cracks is heated up by the earth s magma and then released through the hydrothermal vents along with minerals such as hydrogen sulfide which end up. Hydrothermal vents are like geysers or hot springs on the ocean floor. And the vents might also hold clues to life on other planets. Seawater circulates deep in the ocean s crust and becomes super heated by hot magma.

A hydrothermal vent is a lot like an underwater geyser.