Does all life on Earth require sunshine?
In different sense, every organism needs the heat provided by the sun because then the entire Earth would be too cold for any life to exist. So not every organism needs the energy of the sun for food, but all living things need the heat of the sun to survive.
Can deep sea fish live in shallow water?
An important think to realize about deep sea fish is that they cannot survive in shallow water. So the way their bodies work is based on surviving high pressure so they will not survive low pressure. The main way these fish are adapted to high pressure is having different cell membranes.
What happens to deep sea fish when brought to the surface?
Pressure is decreased as the fish is brought to the surface allowing these gasses to expand. The dissolved gasses in the tissues will come out of solution and form small bubbles. These bubbles can be seen in the eyes and scales of many fish.
How are deep sea vents teeming with life?
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.
What lives near deep sea vents?
Animals such as scaly-foot gastropods (Chrysomallon squamiferum) and yeti crabs (Kiwa species) have only been recorded at hydrothermal vents. Large colonies of vent mussels and tube worms can also be found living there.
What are bacteria living in deep sea vents called?
Bacterial Diversity. The most abundant bacteria in hydrothermal vents are chemolithotrophs. These bacteria use reduced chemical species, most often sulfur, as sources of energy to reduce carbon dioxide to organic carbon.
Can bacteria live in volcanoes?
Bacteria found at volcanic vents on the ocean floor are capable of living and multiplying at temperatures as high as 482 degrees Fahrenheit, more than twice as hot as conditions in which life had previously been known to be possible, according to a report published yesterday by two American biologists.
How did deep sea vents create life?
Summary: By creating protocells in hot, alkaline seawater, a research team has added to evidence that the origin of life could have been in deep-sea hydrothermal vents rather than shallow pools.
Is there oxygen in deep sea vents?
Hydrothermal vent communities can inhabit sulfide-rich habitats because of evolution of detoxification mechanism that often involve microbial symbionts. At the base of their tubes, hydrothermal fluid is enriched in H2S and CO2, but is devoid of oxygen.
Is there life in hydrothermal vents?
Compared to the surrounding sea floor, however, hydrothermal vent zones have a density of organisms 10,000 to 100,000 times greater. Hydrothermal vent communities are able to sustain such vast amounts of life because vent organisms depend on chemosynthetic bacteria for food.
Does chemosynthesis produce oxygen?
In the deep ocean, however, there is no light and thus there are no plants; so instead of sunlight being the primary form of energy, chemical energy is produced via chemosynthesis. All photosynthetic organisms use solar energy to turn carbon dioxide and water into sugar (food) and oxygen: 6CO2 + 6H2O -> C6H12O6 + 6O2.
How do animals survive near hydrothermal vents?
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.