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hydrothermal vent

File:Blacksmoker_in_Atlantic_Ocean.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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hydrothermal vent

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Also known as deep sea vent, deep sea vents, deep-sea hydrothermal vent, deep-Sea Vents, deep-sea vents, hydrothermal activity, hydrothermal vent community

fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water issues

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Black smoker in the Atlantic Ocean

Hydrothermal vents are fissures on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspots. The dispersal of hydrothermal fluids throughout the global ocean at active vent sites creates hydrothermal plumes. Hydrothermal deposits are rocks and mineral ore deposits formed by the action of hydrothermal vents.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “hydrothermal vent” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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On the map

2 mapped locations