Tubeworms (red), an eelpout fish, and a crab jockey for space near a hydrothermal vent on the mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Photograph by Emory Kristof, National Geographic Creative
Carbon dioxide bubbles out of the seafloor at the Champagne Vent in the Western Pacific Ocean. The wide range of chemicals that bubble out of hydrothermal vents fuel microbes that form the base of ecosystems unlike those anywhere else.
Photograph by Pacific Ring of Fire 2004 Expedition. NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration; Dr. Bob Embley, NOAA PMEL, Chief Scientist
Microbial mats coat a coral reef in a bizarre overlap of habitats 190 metres (623 feet) down in the Western Pacific Ocean. Chemicals released by a hydrothermal vent power the microbes, while sunlight provides energy for the reef.
Photograph by Pacific Ring of Fire 2004 Expedition. NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration; Dr. Bob Embley, NOAA PMEL, Chief Scientist
Superheated water laden with metals like iron, copper, and zinc sulfide builds up towering chimneys in an image taken in the Western Pacific Ocean's Mariana Arc region. These towers are about 9 metres (30 feet) tall.
Photograph by Pacific Ring of Fire 2004 Expedition. NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration; Dr. Bob Embley, NOAA PMEL, Chief Scientist
White water, which looks like smoke, spews out of small sulphur chimneys in the Western Pacific Ocean. The area was named the Champagne Vent because carbon dioxide bubbles fizz out of the seafloor.
Photograph by Pacific Ring of Fire 2004 Expedition. NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration; Dr. Bob Embley, NOAA PMEL, Chief Scientist
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