GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Hydrothermal vents are home to many kinds of animals, including tubeworms, crabs, mussels, and zoarcid fish. The octopus is one of the top predators in hydrothermal vent ecosystems. Most hydrothermal vents on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge don’t have tubeworms, but they do have shrimp, many of which host symbiotic bacteria.

Detailed explanation-2: -Hydrothermal vents support unique ecosystems and their communities of organisms in the deep ocean. They help regulate ocean chemistry and circulation. They also provide a laboratory in which scientists can study changes to the ocean and how life on Earth could have begun.

Detailed explanation-3: -Since hydrothermal vents were first discovered in 1977, scientists have identified over 300 animal species living at them.

Detailed explanation-4: -Organisms that live around hydrothermal vents don’t rely on sunlight and photosynthesis. Instead, bacteria and archaea use a process called chemosynthesis to convert minerals and other chemicals in the water into energy.