1. Hydrothermal Vents By Tim Malloy and Alex Reinicker

2. Characteristics Hydrothermal vents are formed where two oceanic plates pull apart and erupting lava replaces the sea floor. In these areas, extremely hot, mineral-rich fluid flows out from underneath the ocean floor's surface. The hot fluid flows into very cold water, and cools down quickly. The cooled minerals in the fluid settle around the vent opening creating chimney-like formations. Some chimneys have been known to grow as tall as 6 kilometers Water temperature coming from the vent as been recorded over 750 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Global Location The first hydrothermal vent was discovered near the Galapagos Islands, at the Galapagos Rift, on the seafloor. They can be found anywhere along expansion faults on the bottom of the oceans.

4. Continuing threats: dumping, land- base contamination, fossil fuel extraction. Future threats: seabed mining, methane hydrate extraction, and carbon sequestration

5. Interesting Facts Some scientists have suggested that life actually began millions of years ago around hydrothermal vents. As the vent water bursts out into the ocean, its temperature may be as high as 750°F. Yet this water does not boil because it is under so much pressure from the tremendous weight of the ocean above. “Godzilla," a vent chimney in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Oregon, reached the height of a 15-story building before it toppled. Mining of manganese nodules from these vents served as a cover story for the elaborate attempt by the CIA to raise the sunken Soviet Submarine K-129

6. Primary Producer Symbiotic Bacteria bacteria living in symbiosis with another organism For Example: Zoamastogopera, which lives in the stomach of some insects.

7. Primary Consumer Pompeii Worm (Alvinella pompejana) is endemic to the hydrothermal vents of the Pacific Ocean. Pompeii worms are among the most heat- tolerant complex animals known.

8. Secondary Consumer Galtheid Crab Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class:Malacostraca Order: Decapoda Family:Portunidae Genus:Callinectes Species: Sapidus Role in Ecosystem- They are the "ecosystem engineers" that create new habitats and change the availability and quality of food, shelter and refuge for other constituent species in hydrothermal vent ecosystems Interesting Facts- If a crab losses its claw it grows back Reproudiction- Sexually

9. Vent BacteriaSymbiotic Bacteria Vent Zooplankton Vent Amphipod Vent Shrimp Vent Clam Riftia Worm Vent Mussel Pompeii Worm Galtheid Crabs Dandelion Siphonophores Tube-dwelling Anemones Zoarcid Fish Vent RatfishBlind CrabsVent Octopus Food Web

10. Pictures