Brief account of the chemical environment at hydrothermal vent mussel beds on the MAR
Sarradin, P.-M.; Caprais, J.-C.; Riso, R.; Comtet, T.; Aminot, A. (1998). Brief account of the chemical environment at hydrothermal vent mussel beds on the MAR. Cah. Biol. Mar. 39(3-4): 253-254. https://dx.doi.org/10.21411/CBM.A.C23AF611
In: Cahiers de Biologie Marine. Station Biologique de Roscoff: Paris. ISSN 0007-9723; e-ISSN 2262-3094
Also appears in:
(1998). Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Biology: Funchal, Madeira, Portugal 20-24 October 1997. Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 39(3-4). Station Biologique de Roscoff: Roscoff. 219-392 pp., more
Biological communities associated with hydrothermal activity reflect the peculiarities of the sea water composition around the vents. They are functionally dependent on the association between the macro-organisms. their symbiotic chemoautotrophic bacteria, the reduced chemicals present in the fluid (sulphide, methane ... ) and the oxygen of sea (Fisher, 1990). Hydrothermal organisms are present along the mixing zone between the hot hydrotherrnal fluid the cold sea water where both reduced (sulphide, methane) and oxidized (e.g. nitrate) compounds are available. This zone is subject to rapid and large spatio temporal variations of the environmental conditions as has been shown for temperature (Chevaldonné et al., 1991) and sulphide and silicate (Johnson et al., 1988). The chemical composition of the water surrounding the organisms remains yet to be adequately documented. This paper presents a summary of the results obtained on the chemical environment of the mussel clumps occurring at the Lucky Strike Menez Gwen hydrothermal areas, Mid Atlantic Ridge, in order to elucidate the trends governing the functioning of the ecosystem and the interactions between fluid and organisms.
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