Chemiosynthesis In The Ocean Floor

Hydrothermal vents are like geysers or hot springs on the ocean floor.

Chemiosynthesis in the ocean floor.

Back in 1977 a very interesting discovery was made on the deep ocean floor where no light penetrates. A hydrothermal vent is like a geyser on the ocean s floor. Photosynthesis gives off oxygen gas as a byproduct while chemosynthesis. Chemosynthesis is the process by which certain microbes create energy by mediating chemical reactions.

Far below the ocean floor scientists have discovered a microbial community away from undersea vents beyond the reach of the sun beneath the seafloor there is an ecosystem of microbes living in. An entire ecosystem living without light or oxygen chemosynthesis flourishes beneath the ocean floor. Chemosynthesis occurs around the hydrothermal vents at deep levels of the ocean. Scientists later realized that bacteria were converting the toxic vent minerals into usable forms of energy through a process called chemosynthesis providing food for other vent organisms.

Our knowledge of chemosynthetic communities is relatively new brought to light by ocean exploration when humans first observed a vent on the deep ocean floor in 1977 and found a thriving community where there was no light. This graphic shows several ocean floor features on a scale from 0 35 000 feet below sea level. Communities of creatures have adapted to survive in these inhospitable conditions and continue to thrive through the process of chemosynthesis. 6co 2 6h 2 o 3 h 2 s c 6 h 12 o 6 3h 2 so 4 instead of photosynthesis vent ecosystems derive their energy from chemicals in a process called chemosynthesis both methods involve an energy source 1 carbon dioxide 2 and water to produce sugars 3.

Chemosynthesis occurs around hydrothermal vents and methane seeps in the deep sea where sunlight is absent. However at hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean a unique ecosystem has evolved in the absence of sunlight and its source of energy is completely different. Continental shelf 300 feet continental slope 300 10 000 feet abyssal plain 10 000 feet abyssal hill 3 000 feet up from the abyssal plain seamount 6 000 feet.