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Chimney Sweep

December 8, 2014

This bucket of recovered samples included slices of hydrothermal vent chimneys brought up from the undersea East Pacific Rise (EPR) by the remotely operated vehicle Jason. Chimneys are formed when chemical-rich fluids spew from volcanic areas of the seafloor. Minerals dissolved in the hot fluids precipitate upon contact with cold seawater, forming a cylinder around the jet. Some of the chemicals in hydrothermal vent fluids are also used by microbes for energy. A WHOI-led expedition returned to the EPR recently to investigate the chemosynthetic microbes that sustain lush communities of deep-sea life in the absence of sunlight.(Photo by David Levin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)