1. Hydrothermal Vent Notes

2. What is a hydrothermal vent?
A geyser on the seafloor. It continuously gushes super-hot (400oC), mineral-rich water that supports a diverse community of organisms.

3. Formation of a Hydrothermal Vent
Step 1 – Sea water seeps into cracks in the sea
floor around mid-ocean ridges.
Step 2 – Water gets super-heated by molten rock
in the asthenosphere.

4. Step 3 – Super-heated water becomes saturated
with minerals from rock in the asthenosphere.
Step 4 – Super-heated water is forced upward by heat & pressure & spews from the ocean floor.

5. Step 5 – Minerals precipitate out of the cooled
water & steep chimneys are produced.

6. Chemosynthesis
Process where bacteria converts chemicals from the vents into energy

7. Hydrothermal Vent Communities
Vast “extremophiles” grow near hydrothermal vents where chemosynthetic bacteria are the base of the food chain. Check em out…