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HYDROTHERMAL VENT. CHAPTER 42. Video-Hydrothermal vent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LoiInUoRMQ. Galapagos rift. An area of the Pacific floor where the plates that form Earth’s crust are separating. Vents emitting superheated water, black with sulfur and miners were found by geologists.
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HYDROTHERMAL VENT CHAPTER 42
Video-Hydrothermal vent http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LoiInUoRMQ
Galapagos rift • An area of the Pacific floor where the plates that form Earth’s crust are separating. • Vents emitting superheated water, black with sulfur and miners were found by geologists.
Organisms surrounding the hydrothermal vent Crab and tubeworms Mussel
Role of sulfur bacteria • Sulfur bacteria serve as the primary producers. They harvest energy from hydrogen sulfide discharged from cracks in Earth’s crust. This process is called chemosynthesis. • Animals of the vent communities feed on these bacteria. Some animals consume them directly.
Giant tubeworms • They harbor the bacteria within special organs in their bodies. In this relationship, the bacteria provide high-energy carbon compounds, and the tubeworm provides hydrogen sulfide. • They live for 170- 250 years old.
Bacteria living in the vent • Can survive at high temperatures. • Scientists are investigating as to how the enzymes and other proteins of the bacteria function at temperature that would destroy the proteins in our bodies.