Black smokers

Hydrothermal vents form in volcanically active submarine regions, especially at the mid-ocean ridges where lava wells up from inside the earth. There, ocean water circulates through cracks and crevices where the Earth’s new crust is being formed. It is super-heated up to 400° C, dissolving minerals from the rock and emerging as a hydrothermal solution. As it mixes with 2°C seawater, the suspended minerals are precipitated and form chimney-like structures, known as black smokers.