Hydrothermal vents are fissures on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspots. The dispersal of hydrothermal fluids throughout the global ocean at active vent sites creates hydrothermal plumes. Hydrothermal deposits are rocks and mineral ore deposits formed by the action of hydrothermal vents.
A cold seep is an area of the ocean floor where seepage of fluids rich in hydrogen sulfide, methane, and other hydrocarbons occurs, often in the form of a brine pool. Cold does not mean that the temperature of the seepage is lower than that of the surrounding sea water; on the contrary, its temperature is often slightly higher. The "cold" is relative to the very warm conditions of a hydrothermal vent. Cold seeps constitute a biome supporting several endemic species.
An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3,000 and 6,000 metres. Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the Earth's surface. They are among the flattest, smoothest, and least explored regions on Earth. Abyssal plains are key geologic elements of oceanic basins.
A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of about 2,600 meters (8,500 ft) and rises about 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) above the deepest portion of an ocean basin. This feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a divergent plate boundary. The rate of seafloor spreading determines the morphology of the crest of the mid-ocean ridge and its width in an ocean basin.
Mirocaris is a genus of shrimp associated with hydrothermal vents. Sometimes considered the only genus of the family Mirocarididae, Mirocaris is usually placed in the broader family Alvinocarididae. Mirocaris is characterized by a dorsoventrally flattened, non-dentate rostrum, as well as the possession of episodes on the third maxilliped through to the fourth pteropod. The genus contains two species, M. fortunata and M. indica. The two species are found in different oceans, and can be distinguished by the pattern of setation on the claw of the first pereiopod.
The Romanche Trench, also called the Romanche Furrow or Romanche Gap, is the third-deepest of the major trenches of the Atlantic Ocean, after the Puerto Rico Trench and the South Sandwich Trench. It bisects the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) just north of the equator at the narrowest part of the Atlantic between Brazil and West Africa, extending from 2°N to 2°S and from 16°W to 20°W. The trench has been formed by the actions of the Romanche Fracture Zone, a portion of which is an active transform boundary offsetting sections of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Chrysomallon squamiferum, commonly known as the scaly-foot gastropod, scaly-foot snail, sea pangolin, or volcano snail is a species of deep-sea hydrothermal-vent snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Peltospiridae. This vent-endemic gastropod is known only from deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean, where it has been found at depths of about 2,400–2,900 m (1.5–1.8 mi). C. squamiferum differs greatly from other deep-sea gastropods, even the closely related neomphalines. In 2019, it was declared endangered on the IUCN Red List, the first species to be listed as such due to risks from deep-sea mining of its vent habitat.
The hydrothermal vents and seamounts of the Azores are a series of Atlantic seamounts and hydrothermal vents that are part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge system, giving rise to the archipelago and bathymetric region of the Azores. These geological structures, formed from masses of basalt, are of a geomorphological interest due to their rich deposits of ore. In addition it fosters a rich ecosystem of diverse subaquatic plant and animal life. There are food chains within this environment, for example, that are purely chemosynthetic, and do not need sunlight for photosynthesis.
The PERISCOP is a pressurized recovery device designed for retrieving deep-sea marine life at depths exceeding 2,000 metres. The device was designed by Bruce Shillito and Gerard Hamel at the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie. The name is an acronym for the French phrase Projet d’Enceinte de Remontée Isobare Servant la Capture d’Organismes Profonds.
The Beebe Hydrothermal Vent Field is the world's deepest known hydrothermal vent site and is located just south of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, on the north side of the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre in the Cayman Trough. Approximately 24 kilometres (15 mi) south of Beebe is the Von Damm Vent Field.
Luckia is a genus of amphipod crustaceans in the family Pontogeneiidae, with the sole species Luckia striki. It is found in hydrothermal vents in the Atlantic Ocean.
Foundation Seamounts are a series of seamounts in the southern Pacific Ocean. Discovered in 1992, these seamounts form a 1,350 kilometres (840 mi) long chain which starts from the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge. Some of these seamounts may have once emerged from the ocean.
Monowai Seamount is a volcanic seamount to the north of New Zealand. It is formed by a large caldera and a volcanic cone just south-southeast from the caldera. The volcanic cone rises to depths of up to 100 metres (330 ft) but its depth varies with ongoing volcanic activity, including sector collapses and the growth of lava domes. The seamount and its volcanism were discovered after 1877, but only in 1980 was it named "Monowai" after a research ship of the same name.
NW Rota-1 is a seamount in the Mariana Islands, northwest of Rota, which was discovered through its hydrothermal activity in 2003. The volcano has been observed to be erupting underwater, the first time that submarine explosive eruptions have been directly witnessed.
The Von Damm Hydrothermal Field is a field of hydrothermal vents located just south of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, on the Mid-Cayman Rise in the Cayman Trough. It is approximately 24 kilometres (15 mi) south of the Beebe Vent Field. The vent field is named in commemoration of geochemical oceanographer Karen Von Damm, who died in 2008.
Eifuku and NW Eifuku (北西永福) are two seamounts in the Pacific Ocean. The better known one is NW Eifuku, where an unusual hydrothermal vent called "Champagne" produced droplets of liquid CO
2. Both seamounts are located in the Northern Marianas and are volcanoes, part of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc. NW Eifuku rises to 1,535 metres (5,036 ft) depth below sea level and is a 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) wide volcanic cone.
The Kairei vent field is a hydrothermal vent field located in the Indian Ocean at a depth of 2,460 metres (8,070 ft). It is just north of the Rodrigues Triple Junction, approximately 2,200 kilometres (1,400 mi) east from Madagascar. It is the first hydrothermal field discovered in the Indian Ocean and the first of the series of known vents along the Central Indian Ridge.
Alvinocaris alexander is a species of hydrothermal vent shrimp in the family Alvinocarididae, and was first described in 2009 by Shane Ahyong, from specimens found off the Kermadec Islands. A. alexander closely resembles A. williamsi from the Menez Gwen site on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Rimicaris kairei is a species of hydrothermal vent shrimp originally discovered in August 2000 with the ROV Kaiko on the R/V Kairei. They are named for the R/V Kairei and the Kairei hydrothermal vent field on which they were first discovered. They get energy from chemosynthetic symbiotic bacteria that live in their gut. They reproduce sexually and have a larval stage in which they consume photosynthetic material. Rimicaris kairei lives on four different hydrothermal vent sites on the Central Indian Ridge in the Indian Ocean. They are the most populous invertebrate on these vents. The species is differentiated from other species of Rimicaris Shrimp by a lack of setae, longer flagellar antennae, and less robust pereopods.
Rimicaris exoculata, commonly known as the 'blind shrimp', is a species of shrimp. It thrives on active hydrothermal edifices at deep-sea vents of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This species belongs to the Alvinocarididae family of shrimp, named after DSV Alvin, the vessel that collected the original samples described by M. L. Christoffersen in 1986. The name Rimicaris is derived from the Latin word 'rima', which means rift or fissure, in reference to the Mid Atlantic Ridge, and the Greek word 'karis', meaning shrimp. The species epithet 'exoculata' is derived from the Latin term 'exoculo', meaning deprived of eyes, referring to the highly modified, non-image-forming eyes.
