Black Smoker Chimney

Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea. 2004.

The completely dark environment of black and white smokers in the deep sea, which were discovered only in 1978 by the deep sea submergence vehicle Alvin, has turned out to be a diverse ecosystem.

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Up to 400° C hot water, rich in minerals, emerges through the ocean floor at depths of two to three thousand meters, where it encounters cold water at 2° C. This causes minerals, heavy metals, and hydrogen sulphide to precipitate and form chimney-like structures up to 20 meters high around the vents. Anhydrite, gypsum or silicon oxide concentrations cause the white sediment plumes of white smokers. Iron salts give the “smoke plumes” of black smokers their dark color. This piece of a black smoker on display comes from the Bismarck Sea near Papua New Guinea. It was a gift to the NHM in 2004 and still smells of sulphur. Ore deposits from 2,800 meters deep, worm tunnels and the residues of other living creates can be clearly seen. Even scientists were amazed at the wide array of species and the number of organisms that form a unique ecosystem around hot deep sea geysers, in a world without light and in the most extreme environmental conditions. Bacteria that use the hydrogen sulphide emitted by the geysers as a source of energy procreate extremely rapidly here and in turn serve as a source of energy for tubeworms, vent snails, and vent clams. In the showcase to the left, the typical fauna found around a black smoker is depicted – with real tubeworms and clam shells, all collected during several dives of the submarine Alvin.
Deep-sea geysers are active for only about 20 years. The chimneys then become plugged, the geysers peter out, and the fauna around the vents is doomed to die. How life keeps springing up at new hot deep-sea vents is the subject of current research.