![]() ![]() Instead, these complex ecosystems run on chemosynthesis – energy from chemical reactions between bacteria and the water.īacteria that lived in the vents use chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide for energy to make carbohydrates. Sunlight doesn’t reach deep enough in the ocean to serve as an energy source for these communities as it does for ecosystems on land. Some were tens or hundreds of feet high.Įven in these cold, dark zones, the vents were home to all kinds of living organisms, including giant tube worms, clams, crabs and other species. And it was full of dissolved minerals.Īs the hot water spilled onto the seafloor, where the water around it was much colder – just 36 F (2 C) – it quickly cooled, and the minerals solidified into stacks that looked like chimneys. Some of the water was as hot as 750 degrees Fahrenheit (400 degrees Celsius) – more than twice as hot as the oven when you bake a cake. The researchers found spots where hot water jetted upward through cracks in the seafloor, like geysers on land. Then they found them, at spots called hydrothermal vents – first with underwater cameras and thermometers, next by sending humans down in Alvin, an underwater vehicle. Black and white smokersįifty years ago, no one imagined that entire biologic communities were thriving in extreme darkness under the crushing pressures of the deep sea. Biologists don’t know how many species live in the ocean, but they estimate that fewer than 10% have been described. The ocean is thousands of feet deep in many areas and offers millions of opportunities for life to thrive. ![]() Every ocean life form has to find a way to gather nourishment, reproduce and contribute to an ecological community. In the ocean, creatures live at many different depths, just as animals and birds live at different heights in a forest. There are many locations like that in the ocean, which covers more than 70% of our planet. Imagine going to a place on Earth where no one has ever been. ![]() Is there life in the sea that hasn’t been discovered? – Haven W., age 12, McKinney, Texas ![]()
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