> Plate Tectonics Theory
> Underwater Chimneys!
Underwater Chimneys!
The geological features of vents are just as bizarre as their biology. Some are topped with chimneys of various shapes, sizes, and colors. Chimneys are formed when the dissolved metals in the hot, acidic, salty vent water precipitate out in the cold, less saline, less acidic seawater.
Two photos of hydrothermal vent smokers!
Black smokers precipitate zinc, copper and iron atoms that combine with sulfur in seawater to form sulfide minerals. Some sulfides in chimneys are radioactive. Cooler white smokers often contain elements such as barium, calcium and silica.
Geologists have discovered a new mineral, magnesium hydrosulphate hydrate, in chimneys. It is called, appropriately enough, caminite, from the Latin word for chimney.
The influence of vent fauna on vent mineralization and vice versa is only beginning to be understood. Marine geologist Debra Stakes of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and her former graduate student, Terri Cook, believe that tube and other types of worms help build templates for black-smoker chimneys with barite molds of their bodies.
Chimneys grow quickly-- up to 9 m (30 feet) in 18 months. Geologically speaking, this is phenomenally quick growth. Godzilla, a chimney off the Oregon coast, was as tall as a 15-story building before its top two-thirds collapsed. Marine geologist Veronique Robigou of the University of Washington has been monitoring Godzilla since 1993. Despite its collapse, she reports that Godzilla is still "actively venting and rebuilding."
Scientific rendering of the vent known as Godzilla prior to its partial collapse.
Note the relative size of the Alvin on the bottom left.
Courtesy of Veronique Robigou and REVEL.
For a closer look at the exciting, multidisciplined vent research going on at the Juan de Fuca Ridge and elsewhere under the auspices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's VENTS program, check the VENTS program Website at <http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/>.
We will not take a sample of the chimneys for analysis.
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