The process of chemosynthesis is similar to photosynthesis. Both can be defined as the creation of organic matter from the fixation of inorganic carbon using energy. But what differs is the source of that energy. In parts of the deep sea, primary production is fuelled by chemical energy, rather than energy from the sun. But this can only take place at certain sea-floor environments where the required chemicals are released into the water. The two main examples of such environments are hydrothermal vents, and cold seeps. The former were only discovered in 1977 when scientists were exploring an oceanic spreading ridge near the Galapagos Islands. What they discovered was a hidden world that revolutionised our understanding of how and where life on Earth can exist. Since then, hundreds more vent field have been discovered, often at depths of 2km or more, along Earth’s convergent plate boundaries and at sea-floor spreading regions where the oceanic crust is moving apart.
Part 2 – Cold Seeps: https://youtu.be/y2a9LJ3ZqAM
Part 3 – Wood-falls and Food-falls: https://youtu.be/rLGOtKHy06o
00:00 – An Introduction to Chemosynthetic Oases
02:15 – Primary Production – Hydrothermal Vents
03:54 – Primary Production – Formation of Hydrothermal Vents
05:19 – Primary Production – Types of Hydrothermal Vents
06:00 – Primary Production – Chemosynthesis at Hydrothermal Vents
07:24 – Vent Communities – An Oasis in the Deep Sea
09:09 – Vent Communities – Interspecific Competition
10:12 – Vent Communities – Resource Partitioning
11:07 – Adaptations at Vents – Grazers and Suspension Feeders
11:46 – Adaptations at Vents – Yeti Crabs and Microbial Epibionts
12:17 – Adaptations at Vents – Tubeworm Endosymbiosis
13:06 – Adaptations at Vents – The Pompeii Worm
14:05 – Adaptations at Vents – Predatory Organisms
14:31 – Adaptations at Vents – Deep-sea Skates
14:57 – Adaptations at Vents – Life on the Periphery
15:50 – Adaptations at Vents – Endemism
16:15 – Adaptations at Vents – Origins of Life
17:13 – Conclusion
CHECK OUT MY DEEP SEA WEBSITE: https://naturalworldfacts.com/deep-sea-hub/
Written, Narrated and Edited by Leo Richards
Vent Animation custom made by Fabio Albertelli and Jakub Misiek
I do not own any of the footage. I write the script, narrate, and edit what footage I can find, which is allowed due to YouTube’s ‘Fair Use’ policy as these films are transformative and for educational purposes. Majority of footage is obtained through footage requests to the respective organisations.
Footage used belongs to the incredible marine conservation societies of Ocean Networks Canada, CSSF-ROPOS, Schmidt Ocean Institute, MBARI, WHOI and the Ocean Exploration Institute, along with various other YouTube sources. Most footage is used with explicit permission of the copyright owner. In cases where I cannot contact the owner or have not received a reply, I use certain clips in accordance with the Fair Use policy.
Music Used:
How it Was by Laurel Violet
Inborn by Piotr Hummel
Back Home by Max H
Once Loved by Max H
Escaping Forever by Michael Vignola
One Word (reworked) by Christopher Galovan
Deep Blue Sea (instrumental) by Yehezkel Raz
Autumn Nights by O.B
#deepsea #wildlife #nature #documentary #ocean #marinebiology #science #biology
Bibliography:
Martin, W., Baross, J., Kelley, D. and Russell, M., 2008. Hydrothermal vents and the origin of life. Nature Reviews Microbiology, [online] 6(11), pp.805-814. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro1991
Mullineaux, L., Metaxas, A., Beaulieu, S., Bright, M., Gollner, S., Grupe, B., Herrera, S., Kellner, J., Levin, L., Mitarai, S., Neubert, M., Thurnherr, A., Tunnicliffe, V., Watanabe, H. and Won, Y., 2018. Exploring the Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents in a Metacommunity Framework. Frontiers in Marine Science, [online] 5. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2018.00049/full
Zierenberg, R., Adams, M. and Arp, A., 2000. Life in extreme environments: Hydrothermal vents. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, [online] 97(24), pp.12961-12962. Available at: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.210395997