Without the sun’s energy, an overwhelming majority of life would no longer be able to exist. The earth’s surface would be completely barren; neither plant nor animal would be able to withstand the brutal environment. Even the sea would be permeated with the carcasses of dead fish. However, on the ocean floor, species have evolved without any help from the sun’s energy whatsoever. These evolutionary wonders thrive in communities whose sole energy source is the hydrothermal vents found over 7,000 feet below sea level (Brooks). Hundreds of unique species exist only at these hotspots, living on the minerals spewed by the vents.
Hydrothermal vents are formed when tectonic plates move apart from one another, leaving a gap between the two. Magma then rises to the surface and heats the seawater. Were the vents at sea level, the seawater would boil immediately, but because of the immense pressure at that depth, it can reach temperatures of over 700 degrees Fahrenheit and not boil (Hydrothermal). Minerals from the earth’s crust dissolve into the hot water which then flows upwards and merges with the cooler water above. This allows the minerals to solidify once more and form deposits; some growing as tall as 15 story buildings (Brooks)! Different types of mineral deposits means different types of vents. The two most common ones are known as black smokers and white smokers. When the minerals spewed by the vents consist of sulfide and iron, they produce black smoke, hence the name. Black smokers are generally hotter than their counterpart. White smokers do not contain many sulfides or irons, so their smoke is much whiter, and they don’t become quite as large.
With a pH of as low as 2.8, it doesn’t seem plausible that anything should be abl...
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..., life has managed to adapt so that the area becomes ideal. The incredible ability of species such as the giant tube worm and the Pompeii worm is so scientifically fascinating, and gives courage that, even if we were to fall, somewhere something on this little planet would carry on.
Works consulted
Brooks, David. "Hydrothermal Vent." Hydrothermal Vent. Tropical MArine Ecology, 5
June 2006. Web. 06 May 2014.
Day, Trevor. Oceans. New York, NY: Facts On File, 1999. 41-42. Print.
"Giant Tube Worm (Riftia Pachyptila)." Giant Tube Worm Videos, Photos and Facts.
WIldscreen, 2013. Web. 06 May 2014.
"A Hydrothermal Vent Forms When Seawater Meets Hot Magma." What Is
Hydrothermal Vent? National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 11 Jan.
2013. Web. 05 May2014.
"Pompeii Worm, Alvinella Pompejana." - Miscellaneous Reference Library. Red Orbit,
2014. Web. 06 May 2014.
Before this breakthrough no one could have thought that life occurred so amazingly early, that Earth was inhabited by a huge array of tiny life forms throughout the first four-fifths of it’s existence, and no one deduced that evolution itself evolved over geologic time. All of geological time, the total history of the earth, is divided into major eras and eons. The Precambrian eon marks the approximate age of the earth and spans a time of 4.6 billion years ago to 523 million years ago. This era is known to include approximately 90% of geologic time and covers 4 billion years of Earth history. The time period is not extremely well known or completely understood because rocks from this era are poorly exposed, many rocks have been eroded or metamorphosed, most are buried deep beneath younger rocks and fossils from this time period and are seldom found.
Audesirk, Teresa, Gerald Audesirk, and Bruce E. Byers. Biology: Life on Earth with Physiology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2011. 268-69. Print.
The eradication of species numbers average at a toll close to one hundred percent of earths total living creatures. “It is the Earth's most severe known extinction event, with up to 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species becoming extinct” (Sahney, and Benton 759). Not only where marine and terrestrial species effected but this catastrophic event is the only recogni...
...ledge about the history of our planet and its lifeforms calls for an approach in which the examination of countless possible alternatives plays an essential part.
These organisms need temperatures to be at least 113°F for reproduction. There are organisms that require even hotter temperatures, as hot as 176° F. These organisms are referred to as hyperthermophiles. No multicellular animal or plants have been found to tolerate these types of conditions. These discoveries were made in the late 1960’s. Extremeophiles can be found on volcanic hydrothermal vents located on the bottom of the ocean floor. The most heat resistant of these microbes, Pyrolous fumarii, grow in the walls of the hydrothermal vents, also known as black
Audesirk, T. (2003). Life on Earth. In (Ed.), (3rd ed., pp. 581-620). New York: Pearson Custom Publishing - Prentice Hall, Inc..
The deep sea is one of the most hostile environments in the world, which a living organism is subjected to. As you progress from the surface (the epipelagic zone) through to the abyssopelagic zone near the basin of the ocean; the environmental characteristics begin to alter dramatically. Light, pressure, oxygen, temperature and food are abiotic factors that have all led to the fascinating adaptations of deep sea life. Pressure alone increases by 1 atmosphere for each 10m in depth which is an astonishing rate. The deep sea temperature remains between 2-4°c, which is just another factor inhabitants must overcome in order to survive, along with a reduced quantity and accessibility of essential factor’s like ;oxygen, food and light[3].
From looking at the results I can conclude that when the pH was 3 and
Super volcanoes are formed when magma rises from the mantle to create a scorching reservoir in the Earth's
I decided to experiment with pHs within the range pH 2 to pH7, as I
Geothermal energy is one of the oldest sources of energy. It is simply using and reusing (reusable energy) heat from the inside of the earth. Most of the geothermal energy comes from magma, molten or partially molten rock. Which is why most geothermal resources come from regions where there are active volcanoes. Hot springs, geysers, pools of boiling mud, and fumaroles are the most easily exploited sources. The ancient Romans used hot springs to heat baths and homes, and similar uses are still found in Iceland, Turkey, and Japan. The true source of geothermal energy is believed to come from radioactive decay occurring deep within the earth.
Igneous rocks are formed from the ejection of earth’s volcanoes. Deep down inside earth’s mantle there lies hot magma. Magma is molten rock that is kept below the surface. This mixture is usually made up of four parts: a hot liquid substance which is called the melt; minerals that have been crystallized by the melt; solid rocks that have made themselves tangled in the melt because of loose materials, and finally gases that have become liquid. Magma is created by an increase in temperatures, pressure change, and a alter in composition. When this magma is ejected from earth’s crust it earns a new name called lava. The lava hardens and becomes an Igneous rock.
Biosphere 2 is a supersealed “greenhouse” enclosing an area of 3.15 acres. Exit and entry is through a double airlock. It consists of several different ecosystems within the “greenhouse.” It houses a tropical rainforest, savannah, scrub forest, desert, fresh- and salt-water marshes and a miniocean that even contains a coral reef. This biosphere is inhabited by over 4000 species in all.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬The Earth is a large and mysterious planet that we are just beginning to understand. There are many cycles and forces that go hand in hand in creating different environments on Earth. In this essay we will go over the five major cycles, the Atmosphere, Sun, Water/Ocean, Wind, and Earth cycles. We will also go over how the cycles interact and work together to form one of the most bio diverse planets in our galaxy.
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion(OTEC) is the utilization of the energy stored in the world's oceans by the thermal gradient created. The thermal gradient is the difference of the surface temperature of the ocean that is heated via solar energy and the water at depths of significantly colder temperatures. This thermal gradient is the energy source that is converted to usable energy by OTEC plants. The idea for using the oceans thermal energy is credited to several visionaries including Jacques D'Arsonval, a French Engineer, in 1881. The temperature difference needed for an OTEC plant is about 36 deg F (20 deg C). Temperature differences of this amount are readily available in many locations in the world. The areas depicted in red on the above map produce the best areas for OTEC sites due to the stablility of warm weather throughout t...