The deep sea, the largest biome on Earth, has a series of characteristics that make this
environment both distinct from other marine and land ecosystems and unique for the entire …

Although initially viewed as oases within a barren deep ocean, hydrothermal vents and
methane seep chemosynthetic communities are now recognized to interact with surrounding …

Whales are the giants of the ocean, with the eight largest cetacean species attaining body
weights of 30 t to 160 t (Lockyer 1976). A sunken whale carcass provides a massive food fall …

Seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposits form in a suite of hydrothermal settings across a
range of depths. Many deposits are of a tonnage and mineral grade comparable to land …

Hydrocarbon seeps and hydrothermal vents are now known to be common at continental
margins and oceanic spreading centers worldwide, exuding fluids rich in CH4 and H2S, and …

▪ Abstract The recent recognition of a potentially vast, unexplored hot microbial biosphere
associated with active volcanism along the global mid-ocean ridge network has …

Pioneering deep-sea surveys established that the fauna of the continental margins is zoned
in the sense that individual species and assemblages occupy restricted depth bands. It has …

Seamounts comprise a unique deep-sea environment, characterized by substantially
enhanced currents and a fauna that is dominated by suspension feeders, such as corals …

Hydrothermal vent communities from 76 areas lying at depths from 0 to 4100 m were split
into two groups—“deep” and “shallow-water”, based on the occurrence of vent obligate …

Deep‐sea hydrothermal vents provide ephemeral habitats for animal communities that
depend on chemosynthetic primary production. Sporadic volcanic and tectonic events …