ng 90 percent of the ridge crest," said German, who is also Chief Scientist of Deep Submergence at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, USA. Vent-related technologies have evolved tremendously in the last three decades, he explained, and finding vents-which used to take months to years-now can be done in a few dives to the bottom with newer submersibles. Still, it's a huge ocean out there, and the ridge-Earth's largest geologic feature-can be as deep and wide as the Grand Canyon in places and as tall as Mount Everest in others, he said.
Roughly 550 vent species have been discovered living in extreme temperature and pressure conditions, and new vent species are discovered at a rate of nearly two per month, Tyler said. "Vent science has dominated the field of deep-sea biology in the last 30 years," he said.
Explorer and author Cindy Van Dover, director of Duke University Marine Lab, USA who will also present a public talk at the event, said, "Strange animals live in the deep sea, animals that have looks and habits unlike those of any creature one might meet at the edge of the sea. There are paradoxes: eyeless shrimp that can see in the dark, beauties: giant worms of exquisite design, and curiosities: snails with plates of armor."
The most well known animal affiliated with vents is the giant tubeworm found around Pacific Ocean vents. The fastest-growing marine invertebrate known, it can grow to six feet, lacks a mouth and digestive system, and survives thanks to a symbiotic relationship with bacteria. "A recent ChEss-related discovery led by a research team from the University of Bremen, Germany, was that of shrimp and other animals living very close to chimneys gushing the hottest fluid recorded in the deep sea (407 C) around vents in the Atlantic Ocean," said Ramirez-Llodra.
Animals similar to those found around vents have been discovered in other chemical-driven environments, such as whale carcasses,
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Contact: Darlene Crist
darlene.crist@cox.net
401-295-1356
Census of Marine Life
21-Jun-2007
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