Wildlife
Hydrothermal vents - black smokers, white smokers and warm water vents - are areas on the sea floor where water heated by volcanic activity under the seabed gushes out. Unusually, the animal communities down here don't use the sun to get their energy. Instead, chemicals in the hot waters form the basis of the food chain. Hydrothermal vent communities do, however, still rely on oxygen produced by photosynthesis in the sunlit zones.
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Black smokers
Volcanoes in the deep Pacific support creatures that don't need the sun.
Volcanoes in the deep Pacific support creatures that don't need the sun.
Deep surprises
The planet's extremes confound the nature of life on earth.
Pompeii worms have been found to thrive at temperatures of up to 80°C around hydrothermal vents, making them the most heat-tolerant complex animal known to science after the tardigrades (or water bears), which are able to survive temperatures over 150°C. In this sequence, a specialised deep sea submersible allowed the audience a privileged view of the inaccessible deep ocean. Stunning images from this relatively unexplored world told the story of the scientific findings made in recent years that have changed the fundamental rules about the nature of life on Earth. (Courtesy of WHOI.)
Dragon vent lobsters
Unique communities of bacteria grazers live on isolated deep water vents.
These first ever HD pictures from 3km below the surface of the ocean were accomplished through a unique collaboration between Japanese broadcasters NHK and marine research institute, JAMSTEC. One of several trips using deep sea ROVs was to the Dragon Vent where the crew agreed that the population of crustaceans resembled bristling Samurai warriors.
A hydrothermal vent is a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspots. Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both geologically active and has large amounts of water on its surface and within its crust. Common land types include hot springs, fumaroles and geysers. Under the sea, hydrothermal vents may form features called black smokers. Relative to the majority of the deep sea, the areas around submarine hydrothermal vents are biologically more productive, often hosting complex communities fueled by the chemicals dissolved in the vent fluids. Chemosynthetic bacteria and archaea form the base of the food chain, supporting diverse organisms, including giant tube worms, clams, limpets and shrimp. Active hydrothermal vents are believed to exist on Jupiter's moon Europa, and ancient hydrothermal vents have been speculated to exist on Mars.
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Useful behaviours for this habitat
Ecozones where this habitat is found
Other Marine habitats
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Giant tube worm
Pompeii worm