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Von Damm Vent Field
The Von Damm Hydrothermal Field is a field of hydrothermal vents located just south of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, on the Mid-Cayman Rise in the Cayman Trough. It is approximately south of the Beebe Vent Field. The vent field is named in commemoration of geochemical oceanographer Karen Von Damm, who died in 2008. Von Damm is situated a depth of approximately below sea level, situating it within the Bathyal zone with the majority of other hydrothermal vent fields. The hydrothermal plume "Von Damm" was detected in 2010, with the site being visually confirmed later that year. Von Damm is of particular interest due to its location atop an ocean core complex associated with the Mid-Cayman spreading center. This exposes potential ultramafic rocks to seawater, hosting geochemical reactions unique to those of Beebe nearby and potentially similar to those of the Lost City Field. By some, Von Damm is considered a new class of hydrothermal system (deviating from black smoker and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mid-Cayman Rise
The Mid-Cayman Rise or Mid-Cayman Spreading Center is a relatively short (110 km long) divergent plate boundary in the middle of the Cayman Trough. It forms part of a dominantly transform boundary that is part of the southern margin to the North American Plate. It is an ultra-slow spreading center with an opening rate of 15–17 mm per year. Formation The Mid-Cayman Rise developed during the Eocene when the northern part of the Caribbean Plate collided with the Bahamas Platform, forcing the southern boundary to propagate southwards. This boundary initially formed as two strike-slip faults with a large left-stepping offset between them, generating a pull-apart basin. Continuing movement on the boundary and extension within the pull-apart led to the formation of an area of oceanic crust containing a north-south trending spreading center that remains active to the present day. When the spreading center formed, all the displacement on the Swan Islands Transform Fault w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gabbro
Gabbro () is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is chemically equivalent to rapid-cooling, fine-grained basalt. Much of the Earth's oceanic crust is made of gabbro, formed at mid-ocean ridges. Gabbro is also found as plutons associated with continental volcanism. Due to its variant nature, the term ''gabbro'' may be applied loosely to a wide range of intrusive rocks, many of which are merely "gabbroic". By rough analogy, gabbro is to basalt as granite is to rhyolite. Etymology The term "gabbro" was used in the 1760s to name a set of rock types that were found in the ophiolites of the Apennine Mountains in Italy. It was named after Gabbro, a hamlet near Rosignano Marittimo in Tuscany. Then, in 1809, the German geologist Christian Leopold von Buch used the term more restrictively in his descri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RV Okeanos Explorer
USNS ''Capable'' (T-AGOS-16) was a ''Stalwart''-class modified tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship of the United States Navy in service from 1989 to 2004. In 2008, she was commissioned into service in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the oceanographic research ship NOAAS ''Okeanos Explorer'' (R 337). Construction ''Capable'' was laid down by VT Halter Marine, Inc., at Moss Point, Mississippi, on 17 October 1987. She was launched on 28 October 1988 and delivered to the U.S. Navy on 9 June 1989. U.S. Navy service The U.S. Navy placed the ship upon delivery in non-commissioned service with the Military Sealift Command as the United States Naval Ship USNS ''Capable'' (T-AGOS-16). Designed to collect underwater acoustical data in support of anti-submarine warfare operations, ''Capable'' spent the final years of the Cold War towing Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS) sonar equipment to hunt for Soviet Navy submarines. She operat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlantis Massif
The Atlantis Massif is a prominent undersea massif in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a dome-shaped region approximately across and rising about from the sea floor. It is located at approximately 30°8′N latitude 42°8′W longitude; just east of the intersection of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge with the Atlantis Transform Fault. The highest point of the massif is around beneath the surface. Description It is believed that the massif was formed underneath the nearby Mid-Atlantic Ridge, but pulled from underneath the ridge during the movement of the plates, about 1.5 to 2 million years ago. Geologic studies of the massif have indicated that it is not composed of the black basalt typical of the ocean floor, but rather of dense green peridotite usually found in the mantle. The central dome is corrugated and striated in a way that is representative of an exposed ultramafic oceanic core complex. An expedition to the area in 1996 made an important advance in the study of the ocean fl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Methanothermococcus
In taxonomy, ''Methanothermococcus'' is a genus of the Methanococcaceae. The cells are shaped like irregular bars and tend to be Gram-negative. They are mobile via polar flagella. They require acetate An acetate is a salt (chemistry), salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. Alkali metal, alkaline, Alkaline earth metal, earthy, Transition metal, metallic, nonmetallic or radical Radical (chemistry), base). "Acetate" als ... to grow. References Further reading Scientific journals * * Scientific books * Scientific databases External links Archaea genera Euryarchaeota {{Euryarchaeota-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sulfurovum
''Sulfurovum'' is a genus within the ''Campylobacterota Campylobacterota are a phylum of bacteria. All species of this phylum are Gram-negative. The Campylobacterota consist of few known genera, mainly the curved to spirilloid ''Wolinella'' spp., ''Helicobacter'' spp., and ''Campylobacter'' spp. Most ...'' which was first described in 2004 with the isolation and description of the type species ''Sulfurovum lithotrophicum'' from Okinawa trough hydrothermal sediments. Named for their ability to oxidize sulfur and their egg-like shape, cells are gram-negative, coccoid to short rods. Mesophilic chemolithoautotrophic growth occurs by oxidation of sulfur compounds coupled to the reduction of nitrate or molecular oxygen. References Bacteria genera Campylobacterota {{Campylobacterota-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grenadiers (fish)
Grenadiers or rattails are generally large, brown to black gadiform marine fish of the subfamily Macrourinae, the largest subfamily of the family Macrouridae. Found at great depths from the Arctic to Antarctic, members of this subfamily are amongst the most abundant of the deep-sea fish. The macrourins form a large and diverse family with 28 extant genera recognized (well over half of the total species are contained in just three genera, '' Coelorinchus'', '' Coryphaenoides'', and '' Nezumia''). They range in length from about in ''Hymenogadus gracilis'' to in ''Albatrossia pectoralis''. Several attempts have been made to establish a commercial fishery for the most common larger species, such as the giant grenadier, but the fish is considered unpalatable, and attempts thus far have proven unsuccessful. The subfamily as a whole may represent up to 15% of the deep-sea fish population. Rattails, characterized by large heads with large mouths and eyes, have slender bodies that tap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold Seep
A cold seep (sometimes called a cold vent) is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool. ''Cold'' does not mean that the temperature of the seepage is lower than that of the surrounding sea water. On the contrary, its temperature is often slightly higher. The "cold" is relative to the very warm (at least ) conditions of a hydrothermal vent. Cold seeps constitute a biome supporting several endemic species. Cold seeps develop unique topography over time, where reactions between methane and seawater create carbonate rock formations and reefs. These reactions may also be dependent on bacterial activity. Ikaite, a hydrous calcium carbonate, can be associated with oxidizing methane at cold seeps. Types Types of cold seeps can be distinguished according to the depth, as shallow cold seeps and deep cold seeps. Cold seeps can also be distinguished in detail, as follows: * oil/gas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tube Worm
A tubeworm is any worm-like sessile invertebrate that anchors its tail to an underwater surface and secretes around its body a mineral tube, into which it can withdraw its entire body. Tubeworms are found among the following taxa: * Annelida, the phylum containing segmented worms ** Polychaetea, the class containing bristle worms *** Canalipalpata, the order containing bristle-footed annelids or fan-head worms **** Siboglinidae, the family of beard worms ***** ''Riftia pachyptila'', a species known as giant tube worms ***** Lamellibrachia, a genus **** Serpulidae, a family **** Sabellidae, the family containing feather duster worms * Phoronida, the phylum containing horseshoe worms * Microconchida, an order of extinct tubeworms * ''Kuphus polythalamia ''Kuphus polythalamius'' is a species of shipworm, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Teredinidae. Description The tube of ''Kuphus polythalamius'' is known as a crypt and is a calcareous secretion designed to enable the animal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formate
Formate (IUPAC name: methanoate) is the conjugate base of formic acid. Formate is an anion () or its derivatives such as ester of formic acid. The salts and esters are generally colorless.Werner Reutemann and Heinz Kieczka "Formic Acid" in ''Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry'' 2002, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. Fundamentals When dissolved in water, formic acid converts to formate: : Formate is a planar anion. The two oxygen atoms are equivalent and bear a partial negative charge. The remaining C-H bond is not acidic. Biochemistry : Formate is a common C-1 source in living systems. It is formed from many precursors including choline, serine, and sarcosine. It provides a C-1 source in the biosynthesis of some nucleic acids. Formate (or formic acid) is ina leaving group in the demethylation of some sterols.. These conversions are catalyzed by aromatase enzymes using O2 as the oxidant. Specific conversions include testosterone to estradiol and androstenedione to estrone ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydrogen Sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The underground mine gas term for foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide-rich gas mixtures is ''stinkdamp''. Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele is credited with having discovered the chemical composition of purified hydrogen sulfide in 1777. The British English spelling of this compound is hydrogen sulphide, a spelling no longer recommended by the Royal Society of Chemistry or the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Hydrogen sulfide is toxic to humans and most other animals by inhibiting cellular respiration in a manner similar to hydrogen cyanide. When it is inhaled or it or its salts are ingested in high amounts, damage to organs occurs rapidly with symptoms ranging from breathing difficulties to convulsions and death. Despite this, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Earth makes it an economically attractive fuel, although capturing and storing it poses technical challenges due to its gaseous state under normal conditions for temperature and pressure. Naturally occurring methane is found both below ground and under the seafloor and is formed by both geological and biological processes. The largest reservoir of methane is under the seafloor in the form of methane clathrates. When methane reaches the surface and the atmosphere, it is known as atmospheric methane. The Earth's atmospheric methane concentration has increased by about 150% since 1750, and it accounts for 20% of the total radiative forcing from all of the long-lived and globally mixed greenhouse gases. It has also been detected on other plane ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
