Vent ecosystems

Deep sea hydrothermal

vents

Deep sea vent ecosystems

• High biomass and density

• Endemic species specialized for vent life

Seafloor away from vents

What is the source of food and

energy for these ecosystems?

Many vent animals are chemoautotrophic symbioses

• An adaptation to exploit sulfide-rich

environments

• Mutualism with

symbiontssatisfies much or all of the

host’s nutritional needs

Riftia

pachyptila

Calyptogena magnificaLife at the interface between

reduced and oxidized conditions

Symbiosis with bacteria that use chemicals from the vent

Hostile Hostile

environmentenvironment•• Steep and Steep and

variable variable

thermal thermal

gradientsgradients

•• metabolic metabolic

toxins toxins --

HH22S, S,

elevated elevated

COCO22, heavy , heavy

metalsmetals

NE Pacific vents

• Short transit time

• moderate depth

• integrated study site

• cabled observatories

• close to home

Thermal Thermal

tolerances of tolerances of

vent chimney vent chimney

faunafauna

Hot to cool: assemblages I toVI

Sarrazin et al. 1997

Assemblage I Assemblage I -- ParalvinellaParalvinella

sulfincolasulfincola

Sarrazin

Sulfide worms P. sulfincola

Assemblage IIAssemblage II--P. P. sulfincolasulfincola/P. /P.

palmiformispalmiformis

Sarrazin

Assemblage III Assemblage III -- P. P. palmiformispalmiformis, , LepetodrilusLepetodrilus

fucensisfucensis, , DepressigyraDepressigyra globulusglobulus

Sarrazin

Assemblage Assemblage

IV/V IV/V --

RidgeiaRidgeia

piscesaepiscesae

Sarrazin

Assemblage VI Assemblage VI --

Senescent Senescent

RidgeiaRidgeia, ,

detritivoresdetritivores, ,

scavengersscavengers

Sarrazin

Thermal tolerance

High pressure systemHigh pressure system

Investigate temperature and sulfide tolerance

• P. sulfincola type I&II

• P. palmiformis type II, III

• L. fucensis, D. globulus type II,III, IV&V

D. globulus and P. palmiformis

P. sulfincola 42-43 degrees C P. sulfincola at 50-52 degrees C

Can we be sure that 55 C is the thermal maximum for P.

sulfincola

Thermal preference in a gradient

In situ heating experiment

Worm heater

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1 10 19 28 37 46 55 64 73 82 91 100 109 118 127 136

de

gre

es

C

Thermal mapping of the vent

environment

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sensor 7

sensor6

outside sensor 3

sensor3

sensor 5

tide (m)

In situ time-lapse

camera and temperature sensor array

Temperature record over 27 hours

Dive 4528 Ashes

Hand held array on sulfide worm/senescent

Ridgeia

Camera 8 dive 4527 4528

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

1 69 137 205 273 341 409 477 545 613 681 749 817 885

Series1

Neptune Canada

temperature array

camera

temperaturesensors

temperaturearrays

A B

C

Temperature arrays

• Deploy by Neptune Canada

cameras

• Plugged into network

• Stand alone instruments