Image 8-1
Hydrothermal Vents

This image of a hydrothermal vent was taken by NOAA photographers near the Mariana islands in the western Pacific Ocean. White smoky vent fluid can be seen rising out of small sulfur chimneys at the Northwest Eifuku volcano. This area was named Champagne vent because bubbles of liquid carbon dioxide were rising out of the sea floor. Hydrothermal vents like these are home to unique ecosystems that do not depend on photosynthesis from sunlight to function. Instead it uses chemical energy in a process known as chemosynthesis.