WHAT ARE BLACK SMOKERS?

HOW ARE BLACK SMOKERS FORMED?

WHERE WOULD YOU FIND A BLACK
SMOKER?
WHY IS RESEARCH SO IMPORTANT?
EXAMPLES OF BLACK SMOKERS?

WHAT ARE BLACK SMOKERS?

Black Smokers are chimney like structures and are given
their name due to the soot like appearance of ejected
material. The black smoke that appears to be bubbling
from the hydrothermal vent actually sulfur-rich mineral
precipiting out of chimney. They occur under the oceans
within mid ocean ridge volcanoes, such as the many found
beneath the Mid Atlantic Ridge. These so called Black
Smokers are actually deep sea hydrothermal (hot water)
vents

HOW ARE BLACK SMOKERS FORMED

The chimney like structures are composed of sulfur bearing minerals of sulfides
that come from deep beneath the earth crust. These minerals have been dissolved
in hot water (350OC) under great pressure and temperatures. When the water
flows out through the volcanic lava on a mid ocean ridge volcano and out onto the
ocean floor. Sulfide minerals grow or crystallize from the hot water directly onto
the volcanic rocks surrounding the hydrothermal vent. This crystallization process
forms a hollow, chimney like sulfide structure through which the hot water
continous to flow. As this extremely hot sulfide rich water pours out of the vent
and comes into contact with the relatively cold sea water, the dissolved minerals
precipitate out as tiny particles that make the vent water appear black in colour.

HOW ARE BLACK SMOKERS FORMED

The chimney like structures are composed of sulfur bearing minerals of sulfides
that come from deep beneath the earth crust. These minerals have been dissolved
in hot water (350OC) under great pressure and temperatures. When the water
flows out through the volcanic lava on a mid ocean ridge volcano and out onto the
ocean floor. Sulfide minerals grow or crystallize from the hot water directly onto
the volcanic rocks surrounding the hydrothermal vent. This crystallization process
forms a hollow, chimney like sulfide structure through which the hot water
continous to flow. As this extremely hot sulfide rich water pours out of the vent
and comes into contact with the relatively cold sea water, the dissolved minerals
precipitate out as tiny particles that make the vent water appear black in colour.

WHERE WOULD YOU FIND A BLACK SMOKER?

They occur under the oceans within mid ocean ridge volcanoes. The oceans are
relatively unexplored, only a small portion of the 50,000 Km of MOR have been
studied, so very few sites for Black Smokers have been observed. Scientist have
found that not every ridge has a deep-sea hydrothermal vent site and at the
moment they do not have an answer. To solve this mystery an expedition is
underway in the research of both ocean basins and investigation of the process
that causes deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Currently we talk about Black Smokers
and hydrothermal vents in general as if they had beem discovered degades ago.
Acvtually it was hardly 25 years or so ago when these structures were first viewed
under the sea. The first site was found in 1977 near the Galapagos Islands by
earth scientists in the small research submarine ALVIN. This discovery provided
important evidence to support the notions of sea floor spreading, plate tectonics
and continental drift.

WHY IS RESEARCH SO IMPORTANT?

The processes that occur within hydrothermal vants give us an in sight into the processes
that occur beneath the earth.Also large amount of heat and chemical mass are transferred
through deep-sea hydrothermal vents. This process, in part, controls the chemistry of ocean
water, therefore understanding how these Black Smokers work is crucial in the
understanding of the dynamic way in which the planet work as a whole. These Black
Smokers not only represent an importance in the understanding then geology of beneath
the oceans, but also in biology side of it as well. Deep sea hydrothermal vents support an
extraordinary array of life deep beneath the surface of the oceans. The ecosystems present
are the only communities on Earth whose intermediate energy source is not sunlight. A
unique type of bacteria harnesses energy from metabolizing the large amount of sulfur
present. This may be how environments on earth and other planets may have formed. Life
forms include tube worms, giant clams and long necked barnacles. An economical interest is
also present The life forms that are at the base of the food chain at these deep-sea
hydrothermal vents also participate in the formation of the minerals that make up the
surface chimney structures. If we can understand this bochemical mineral formation in this
scenario, then it may help us in the understanding of other mineral formation of economical
interest. As so much material is ejected from hydrothermal vents, they have been
responsible for many of the world,s ricchest ore deposits, such as the copper ores mined on
the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. However, due to the remote locations of

HYPOTHESIS
A black smoker is a hydrothermal vent or
crack in the ocean crust, near mid-ocean
ridges at the bottom of the ocean.
Seawater circulates through these fractures
in the crust. Where the water rises from
these crack, it is extremely hot, and laden
with metals and ions containing sulfur. As
the hot water comes in contact with the
cold water of the ocean, metal sulfides
precipitate, causing the water to appear
black. Black smokers could have provided
ideal conditions for the development of
live. Urey and Miller Experiment said that
the energy is required for the beginning of
life. In the Black Smoker hypothesis, the
enormous heat from the interior of the
earth is the provider of the energy, similar
to the electricity in the Urey-Miller
Experiment.

The first organic molecules may have

formed in the black smoker during the process of
water movement, as follows:
Under the crust, due to the extreme heat, the
water reaches temperatures of 1000O C. It
cannot turn into a gas due to the extreme
pressure. While this super heated water beneath
the crust, it reacts with the surrounding rock,
and causes minerals to dissolve. This hot water,
laden with sulfur and minerals, provides and
energy source for chrmosynthesis and could
result in the formation of organic compounds
following the process discovered in the Urey
Miller Experiment.
As the water gradually returns to the surface, these organic molecules begin to
cool. Pyrite grains and other minerals in the water act to concentrate the organic
compounds by adsorption on their surfaces. Many of the mineral grains have
layered structure, similar to mica. The planes of atoms in the minerals include
metallic ions. These together with other ions in the minerals, provide positive and
negative charges on the sutrface of each mineras layer. The ions attract organic
compounds and cause them to line up in an orderly array. Once aligned like this,
the organic compounds combine, forming amino acids and larger organic

Black Smoker are named for the soot- like appearance of the
ejected material billowing out of the chimneys.This substance is
super -heated water with very high concentrations of dissolved
minerals precipitate out and settle onto rock around them. This
causes the chimney to grow in height over time

CHIMNEY AND HYDROTHERMAL VENT COMMUNITY AT

MARIANA TROUGH, 3600 M DEEP

CHIMNEY AND HYDROTHERMAL VENT COMMUNITY AT

SUIYO SEAMOUNT, IZU-OGASAWARA (BONIN) ISLAND 1400
M DEEP

CHIMNEY AND HYDROTHERMAL VENT COMMUNITY AT

IHEYA RIDGE, OKINAWA TROUGH, 1400 M DEEP

BABY CHIMNEY AT MARIANA PACMAN SEAMOUNT, 3600 M

DEEP