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deep-sea vent |
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deep-sea ventHydrothermal (hot-water) vent formed on the ocean floor when seawater circulates through hot volcanic rocks, often located where new oceanic crust is being formed. Vents also occur on submarine volcanoes. In either case, the hot solution emerging into cold seawater precipitates mineral deposits that are rich in iron, copper, zinc, and other metals. Outflow of these heated waters probably accounts for 20% of the Earth's heat loss. Exotic biological communities are now known to exist around the vents; these ecosystems are totally independent of energy from the Sun, depending not on photosynthesis but rather on chemosynthesis by sulfur-fixing bacteria. |
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205) garner most of the public attention given to deep-sea vents, Boetius points out that the biggest share of undiscovered species there are microbial. nbsp;that live on deep-sea vents can stand temperatures that most other animals on Earth won't tolerate. This warm, acidic water will represent a water sample taken from a deep-sea vent. |
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deep-sea vent
