ABSTRACT

Introduction One of the most exciting developments since the beginning of the study of oceanography was the discovery in the late 1970s of submarine hydrothermal vents, associated with the volcanically active zone at the crest of the mid-ocean ridge system. Hydrothermal activity at mid-ocean ridges represents one of the fundamental processes that control the exchange of thermal energy and materials from the earth’s interior to the oceans. Thus, hydrothermal interactions profoundly influence the composition of the ocean crust and sea water. In addition, hydrothermal vent areas support diverse and unique biological populations by means of microbiological communities, which link the transfer of thermal and chemical energy from the earth to the production of organic carbon.