Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vents

Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vents



When life took hold on the planet around four billion years ago, there was a vast network of hydrothermal vents, perhaps providing the geochemical energy to spawn and support life. There is now evidence that Earth was bombarded my meteors and asteroids; and the safest place to live may have been in the deep ocean. A deep sea mountain range, over 46,000 miles long known as the Mid-Ocean ridge system, marks where the great plates of the Earth's crust are spreading apart. All along this vast network, volcanic eruptions give birth to new ocean floor. Molten rock, deep under the sea bed, creates the scalding black smokers that stream from vents and chimneys. The both of a chimney starts when molten rock, deep below the sea beds, heats up water circulating through the cracks. The hot water rises, carrying dissolved metals such as iron, copper and zinc from deep within the crust. When this hot acidic fluid hits near freezing sea water, the metals come out of solution, creating the rocky walls of the chimney. Some of these chimneys are up to fifteen stories tall. The geology and chemistry of the vents have changed little. Although sunlight never reaches them, they are blanketed with life. Tiny single celled bacteria called microbes are able to produce food using hydrogen sulfide and other chemicals floating around the chimney. Like plants of the surface use the energy of sunlight, microbes use energy stored in chemicals to grow and multiply. Giant spider crabs, snails, sea stars, octopus and fish are all dependent on single-celled organisms, along with the volcanic fluids that flow from the rocks. This is a world where the energy for life springs not from the sun, but off the geothermal forces of the Earth itself. Within the chimneys, we may be able to find clues to how life itself was originated.

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