This document was written when I was in middle school. I have little or no authority on this topic. Make of this what you will.
In the sea there are many different types of fish, plants, and even climates. There are steaming hot climates around hydro-thermal vents and the deeper the ocean gets, the colder it is. These superheated vents are at the bottom of the ocean and the water around them soars to and above 600 Degrees Farenhite. But the water that’s not superheated around the vents is much, much colder. The water looks like black smoke when it first comes out of the vents. Sea water seeps in to the vents and it is superheated and filled with lots of minerals and metals. Every 10 to 20 million years all of the water goes in to the vents and goes through this process. This is because it is rich with iron, maganese, zinc, copper, nickel, and other metals. These “smoking” vents are nesscary for life and growth in the depths of the ocean.
The vents are nesscary because they provide some of the substances for chemosynthesis. Chemosynthesis is the process in which carbohydrates are produced from carbon dioxide and water using nutrients. The vents provide bacteria with the items, and the bacteria performs the energy-making process and other animals eat it.
The food chain is very interesting with out any light. The only thing that scientists know about the food chain with out light is that at the beginning there are bacteria that metabolize hydrogen sulfide. These bacteria then are eaten by other animals. I would think that it would go on as the smaller ones eat that then get eaten by bigger animals, but I’m not sure.
Many of the creatures that live near the vents are affected by the phenomena of giantism. Giantism is when a creature is larger ones in other areas. An example of this is the tube worms that live in regular areas of the sea are a few inches long, but the ones near the vents grow up to and probably more than 12 feet. Other animals that do this are oarfish, octopus, and squid. They can because of the unlimited energy sources that they are always around.
The food and energy supply is very poor where there aren’t any hydro-thermal or cold hydrocarbon seeps. The bottom of the deep ocean is a muddy and organic ooze area. The life in these areas must survive with the low food supply. The most common fish are rattails (or grenadiers) and the most common invertebrates are echinoderms and there are other animals such as sea anemones and sponges. Another reason of the food shortage is because of zooplankton at the surface decline in population due to surface temperatures increasing. These plankton eats phytoplankton and then other creatures eat the zooplankton. The fish that eat the plankton sometime die and sink to the bottom which is food and fecal droppings also are a source of nutrients. The zooplankton is the bottom of the food chain on the surface and their death starts to deminish the surface life and that affects the bottom of the sea’s food chain.
Now moving up a little from the very deep bottom (which we will get back to later) are lots of different animals. There are far more than all of the species of life found on the areas that aren’t covered by water. This is where there are fish with very distinct bioluminescent lights such as the anglerfish. These creatures that live in this area have to be biologically specialized. Some adaptations are that they have minimal bone structure, and soft bodies. In this area another major species was found, the Archaea. Some scientists believe that this species may represent the earliest forms of life.
Some of the creatures in the deep near the vents are Tube Worms. The larvae of this creature attach themselves to the lava near the vents. They then build long white tubes. In side of the tube is a sac that provides energy for the worm. The mussels of the vents are a golden color. To anchor them selves to the bottom, they shoot out elastic lines that stick to other things and they can migrate by re-shooting another item. The clams get very big due to the energy source. There are tiny shrunken shrimp-like animals that eat the bacteria at the beginning of their food chain. These animals are the source of food for many other animals in the vent area.
I think that the deep sea needs to be explored more and researchers will find many interesting geological formations and chemosynthetic life forms. People need to put more money in to the research of aquatic geothermic sites because there might be cures for certain illnesses people have not found yet due to lack of funding.