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Hydrothermal vents were first discovered at a great depth close to the Galapagos islands in 1977. This finding caused a big stir in the science world due to its unique ecosystem.
Minerals precipitate when the hot water from the vents is cooled so the chimneys and other structures are formed, creating a unique and diverse habitat on the otherwise barren seafloor. The ecosystem around these chimneys is also unique in that it is independent of sunlight for energy, but based instead on the micro-organisms that chemo synthesise energy rich compounds from the vents.
Several large and strange looking organisms are only found around these vents, either eating the chemo synthesizing bacteria or living in symbiosis with the bacteria.. Most of these larger organisms are dependent on this ecosystem and have not been found elsewhere. Deep Sea chimneys therefore create a kind of oasis in an otherwise featureless deep sea bottom.
Since 1977 many hydrothermally active sites have been found at various depths in the ocean. Chimney building vent sites have however almost exclusively been found at depths greater than 2000 m. Therefore they have been expensive and difficult to study.
As opposed to deep water vents, shallow water vents have been known to exist for long time. The life around these is however not as spectacular as in deep water vents, hence less attention. Also, with very few exceptions they do not form chimneys or other forms that change the landscape.
Hydrothermal activity is widespread in Iceland and is also well known to occur in many places in the littoral zone. In later years hydrothermal vents have also been found in deeper waters. First close to Kolbeinsey island at around 100 m depth, at Steinhóll hill on the Reykjanes ridge at around 350 m depth and east of Grimsey island at around 400 m depth.
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