HYDROTHERMAL VENT
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.
HYDROTHERMAL VENT
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Presentation Transcript
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.
