Hot Springs of Deep Sea Vents

Hot Springs of Deep Sea Vents Surprise the Aquatic World

Do natural water-boiling systems affect organisms under the sea?

Deep sea vents (DSV) are located inside a vast, deep ocean and have been heralded as seven underwater wonders*. In this chapter, we will experience the Hot Springs of DSVs, which surprise the aquatic world.

For the first time, humans discovered such vents in the deep sea near the Galapagos Islands in 1977.

Surprisingly, deep sea vents are cracks in the ocean where extremely hot water emerges. These cracks are also called hypothermal vents.

Deep sea vents or Vast fissures releasing boiling water are found in the Pacific and Atlanta oceans at an average depth of 2100 meters.

How does such natural hot water come out?

We know that only the outer surface of our Earth is cold-covered, but the deeper crust is as hot as depth.

Therefore, when water penetrates deep inside the Earth through various cracks in the sea, the seawater becomes very hot due to its heat. As a result, the volume of water increases, and it evaporates again from inside the ocean to the upper surface.

In this way, boiling water is released by mixing various minerals with the cold water of the sea and becomes more mineralized, creating a unique black color.

When such water is mixed with soluble minerals from the Earth’s crust, these minerals typically contain various sulfides that crystallize the water, creating a dramatic chimney-like ring around each crack or vent.

Thus, the structures formed around these hydrothermal vents are unique and strange. They are also rich in iron, copper, zinc, and other metals.

Such deep-sea vents are often found in places where tectonic plates are connected under the Earth because there can be significant oceanic rifts where the water has a chance to heat up with the magma inside the Earth.

Hot Springs of Deep Sea Vents
Photo by ny_sonseca on Pixabay

How much does Deep Sea Vents’ hot water affect marine life?

A central question here is the condition of the marine life in the area where the superheated water is coming from.

We know that most marine life and plants can be found in the ocean as far as the sun’s rays can reach. After that, the dark and cold areas are not suitable for all animals or plants.

However, the remarkable fact is that the environment around the area with hydrothermal vents has been found to sustain some life even without sunlight. Tube worms, sea cucumbers, sponges, brittle stars, and various mollusk species are found there.

Most animals cannot withstand temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. Microorganisms that can tolerate very high temperatures have been found very close to such hot springs. These organisms can survive at temperatures up to 120 degrees Celsius.

In the 1980s, the Pompeii worm ( Alvinella Pompejana ) was identified as a fantastic creature living near a vent chimney. It is considered one of Earth’s most heat-resistant multicellular animals, able to withstand temperatures of more than 80 degrees Celsius.

yellow fish swimming underwater, Deep Sea Vents Surprise the Aquatic World
Photo by Delbert Pagayona on Unsplash

How hot is the water from the DSV natural thermal plant?

Temperatures at these unique deep-sea vents in the sea reach up to 700 degrees Fahrenheit (371 degrees centigrade). No matter how hot it is, such water does not seem to boil at the bottom of the ocean because the water pressure inside that deep ocean is very high.

Beneath the ocean floor, magma heats seawater and then emits white and black “smoke” or steam. After mixing with cold water, the surrounding seawater does not remain warm for long. However, it can significantly impact the survival of nearby organisms and plants.

These strange natural thermal systems are also unique and exciting gifts on our planet. So, Deep Sea Vents Surprise the Aquatic World.

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