As the vent minerals cool and solidify into mineral deposits, they form different types of hydrothermal vent structures. The hot, mineral-rich waters then exit the oceanic crust and mix with the cool seawater above. As pressure builds and the seawater warms, it begins to dissolve minerals and rise toward the surface of the crust. Seawater circulates deep in the ocean’s crust and becomes superheated by hot magma. Along mid-ocean ridges where tectonic plates spread apart, magma rises and cools to form new crust and volcanic mountain chains. Hydrothermal vents are like geysers, or hot springs, on the ocean floor. Scientists later realized that bacteria were converting the toxic vent minerals into usable forms of energy through a process called chemosynthesis, providing food for other vent organisms. Despite the extreme temperatures and pressures, toxic minerals, and lack of sunlight that characterized the deep-sea vent ecosystem, the species living there were thriving. They also realized that an entirely unique ecosystem, including hundreds of new species, existed around the vents. ![]() ![]() The scientists had made a fascinating discovery-deep-sea hydrothermal vents. They wondered how deep-ocean temperatures could change so drastically-from near freezing to 400 ☌ (750 ☏)-in such a short distance. ![]() In 1977, scientists exploring the Galápagos Rift along the mid-ocean ridge in the eastern Pacific noticed a series of temperature spikes in their data.
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