Scientists spy sixth undersea-vent ecology.A group of deep-sea hydrothermal vents hydrothermal vent, crack along a rift or ridge in the deep ocean floor that spews out water heated to high temperatures by the magma under the earth's crust. recently discovered in the Indian Ocean Indian Ocean, third largest ocean, c.28,350,000 sq mi (73,427,000 sq km), extending from S Asia to Antarctica and from E Africa to SE Australia; it is c.4,000 mi (6,400 km) wide at the equator. It constitutes about 20% of the world's total ocean area. is populated pop·u·late tr.v. pop·u·lat·ed, pop·u·lat·ing, pop·u·lates 1. To supply with inhabitants, as by colonization; people. 2. by thriving communities of organisms, most of which have never previously been seen. The vent systems lie about 1,600 kilometers east of Madagascar, an area far from the five previously known hydrothermal hydrothermal, hydrothermic relating to the temperature effects of water, as in hot baths. regions, which are in other oceans. The Indian Ocean vents support ecosystems of crustaceans, mussels, and anemones (top); large snails (bottom, images from videotape); and sulfur-metabolizing bacteria. The most common animal at the Indian Ocean vents, a shrimp species, is almost indistinguishable from one known only from North Atlantic vents. The other species of large organisms at the new sites appear to be closely related to species found at vent fields in the western Pacific. At least 70 percent of the species at these vents are new to scientists, says Cindy L. Van Dover, an oceanographer at the College of William and Mary Noun 1. William and Mary - joint monarchs of England; William III and Mary II in Williamsburg, Va. She and her team report their observations in an upcoming issue of SCIENCE. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion