Applied Science Hydrothermal Vent Geology Test
Name___________________________
Part I : Multiple Choice- Please select the best answer and record it on the answer sheet.
1. Who created the theory of continental drift?
A. Bob Ballard
B.John Corliss
C.Charles Darwin
D.Alfred Wegener
2. Which of the following was supporting evidence to the theory of continental drift?
A. The convection of hydrothermal vents
B. The continents seemed to fit together like puzzle pieces
C. There were hydrothermal vents along the Mid-Ocean ridge
3. It was not until ___________________ was able to combine continental drift and sea floor
spreading that the theory of plate tectonics was formed.
A. Bob Ballard
B.Alfred Wegener
C.J. Tuzo Wilson
4. What was the name of the project from 1968-1983 that collected seafloor sediment
samples from around the globe?
A. Deep Sea Drilling Project
B.Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
C. Alvin submarine
5. What did sea floor rocks help scientists discover?
A. The rocks had cracks like the sea floor
B. The rocks contained warm water from the possible vents
C. The chemical reactions changed the minerals in the rocks and added minerals to the
seawater.
6. When scientists on the expedition with Alvin in March of 1977 discovered what they
were looking for, they also found?
A. Photosynthetic life B. Chemosynthetic life
7. Who was the chief scientist during the expedition in March of 1977?
A. Bob Ballard
B.John Corbin
C.Alfred Wegener
8. The bottom of the ocean is the region named the___________?
A. Pelagic
B.Benthic
C.Hydrothermic
9. The main purpose of the March 1977 Alvin submersible mission was to find?
A. Marine Biology B. Tubeworms C. hydrothermal vents D. Ocean ridges
10. What happens to the age of rock as a submarine moves away from an ocean rift?
A. increases
B. decreases C. remain the same
11. What method of heat transfer is associated with hydrothermal vents?
A.conduction
B.radiation
C. convection
12. What "guiding" force gets reversed every few million years due to differences in rock at the
ridges?
A. mapping directions B. rock color
C. heating D. magnetic polarity
13. What is the smelly inorganic substance coming out of vents that begins the food system?
A. Carbon dioxide
B. hydroxy C. hydrogen sulfide
D. oxygen
14. Continental plates are moving because of which cause?
A. The cooling lithosphere (crust) becomes dense, sinks, and pulls a plate down with it.
B. Plates crack at fault lines.
C. The mantle beneath the plates is a dense fluid more dense than plates moving them.
D. New volcanic rock pushes them toward spreading centers.
15. To find the oldest rocks in the ocean, where should you look?
A. At hydrothermal vents
B. Near ridges
C. On top of mid-ocean ridges
D. Far from mid-ocean ridges
16. Which of these features is not used as evidence of continental drift?
A. Similar rock formations on either side of oceans
B. Similar fossils on either side of oceans
C. Signs of rising sea levels
D. Bands of magnetic anomalies along mid-ocean ridges
Part II: Short answer. Write your answers on answer the sheet.
1. Summarize how geysers work. Beginning with ground water moving through a crack
until eruption. (at least three steps, be concise)
2. Summarize how a hydrothermal vent works. Beginning with water near a crack in the
ocean floor, to eruption from the vent. (at least three steps, be concise)
3. How are the locations where hydrothermal vents occur similar to where geysers occur?
4. Briefly summarize the theory of Plate tectonics.
5. How are the geologic processes for geysers and hydrothermal vents similar?
6. What is one difference between geysers and hydrothermal vents?
7. How would you explain a hydrothermal vent to someone that has never heard of this
before?
8. What is the primary producer of food at a hydrothermal vent?
9. What is chemosynthesis?
10. What Earth processes help create these vents?
Part III: Research article connections: Read the article, answer the comprehension
questions following, and relate your knowledge of hydrothermal vent geology to the article.
Collier, B. and Lilley, Marvin. The Hydrothermal Vent Prospecting Team.
http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/hottopics/plume.html
Hydrothermal vents are often as big as three-story buildings. However, locating them in the
ocean can be tricky. Before scientists can even begin studying the vents and the animals
that live there, oceanographers like Bob Collier and Marvin Lilley must find them.
Collier says that searching for vents is a lot like sniffing out a good smell, like brownies
cooking. First you catch the chocolate scent, then you walk closer to locate the exact
source -- in the oven.
But instead of using their noses to find the vents, the oceanographers explore using a
special sensor for temperature, salinity and water clarity. Specific changes in temperature,
salinity or water clarity are like the stronger chocolate smell. These are the clues that tell
the oceanographers they are coming closer to the vents.
How do Collier and Lilley know where to begin “sniffing” for the vents? Vents are
usually located on mid-ocean ridges where tectonic plates move apart and molten rock
rises from the mantle to create new seafloor.
“We look for heat and unique chemicals introduced by the vent into the cold, constant
background of the deep ocean. The buoyant fluids rise and spread out as a hydrothermal
plume in the ocean currents, similar to a smoke plume in the atmosphere,” Collier says.
They narrow the search by using specific geological data, such as detailed bathymetric maps,
seafloor rock samples, earthquake data, and information from previous hydrothermal vent
explorations. “That will get us closer - perhaps to within a ridge segment,” says Collier.
Next, the researchers use sensitive tools to look for chemical and physical signals from
active hydrothermal vents.
Today, one of the most useful tools for detecting hydrothermal plumes is called a CTD
sensor (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth [Sensor]). It acts like a toy yo-yo as it moves
up and down in the water. Since the CTD is towed behind the ship, scientists nicknamed
this technique a tow-yo.
"We lower the CTD near the seafloor and then raise and lower it using the ship’s winch
through several hundred meters of seawater while we slowly move the ship across targets
mapped by the geologists," says Collier.
The CTD’s job is to measure the salinity, temperature and clarity of the seawater at
various depths. Using the data sent up the conducting cable that connects the CTD to the
ship, scientists map hydrothermal signals detected in the water column above the
seafloor.
Once a hydrothermal plume is detected, they send an electrical pulse down the cable.
That triggers a sample bottle on the CTD frame to collect a water sample.
When the CTD and water sample bottles are hauled back on the ship, the researchers take
the water samples and transfer them to the ship’s laboratory. There, they perform
analyses to identify hydrothermal chemicals such as iron, manganese, methane and
hydrogen.
"Some of these samples tell us how close we are," Collier says. "If significant hydrogen
is detected, we are very close to a high-temperature vent. Most of the iron from vents
rapidly forms particles within the hydrothermal plume. More dissolved iron, compared to
its particulate form, tells us we are very close -- probably within a few hundred meters or
less of the seafloor vent."
"That’s when things start to become exciting," Collier says.
"When we are very close, we can see buoyant fluids that are still rising ... now it’s really
time to put the cameras and ROV over the side!" At this time geologists start mapping the
site and biologists prepare to collect samples.
"And our team can go to bed," says Collier, "until the biologists have sampled what they
need and let us come back to find the next dive target."
Comprehension Questions: Write your answers on the answer sheet.
1. What physical property of water makes higher temperature water rise through cooler
water?
2. How is the water in a hydrothermal plume different than the surrounding ocean water?
3. What are the two most important chemical elements used by oceanographers to find
vents?
4. Why would measuring for temperature changes help the oceanographers find vents?
5. Why would measuring for clarity of water help oceanographers find vents?
6. What role do water samples from deep in the ocean play in finding the vents?
7. Compare finding a hydrothermal vent to a personal experience in searching for something
(cannot be related to smelling food.)
Part IV:
No Author. All Mine? http://library.thinkquest.org/18828/data/ethics.html. No date.
Mining the vents' mineral, metal and creature resources, or even taking samples for study,
has become a controversial issue.
At one extreme, some conservationists urge that vents be left entirely alone. At the other
extreme, mining proponents argue that we must be able to exploit vents, particularly
extinct vents, to replace dwindling resources on the earth's surface.
Those whose opinions range between these extremes suggest that we treat vents with
respect and restraint.

Some would make vents off-limits to mining, development and fishing. They contend
that such intrusive activities would destroy vent communities and upset the oceans'
ecological balance. They would, however, permit continued but controlled research
sampling.

Others propose some system of sanctuaries to preserve and protect vents even
further. The United States has 46,620 sq. km (18,000 sq. miles) of ocean and coastal
water designated as National Marine Sanctuaries. Geochemist Jack Dymond suggests
using the national park system in the US as a model for safeguarding hydrothermal vents.
Marine geologist Rachel Haymon of the University of California-Santa Barbara and
marine ecologist Richard Lutz of Rutgers University advocate going further, making
vents a deep-sea refuge where only non-intrusive, "look, don't-touch" research is
conducted.

Inter-Ridge is an initiative for international cooperation in ridge-crest studies which
favors a world-wide mix of sanctuary vents and research vents. Such a mix, they argue,
would provide opportunities for research as well as protection of vent communities. They
caution that their plan can work only if scientists and governments agree on sites and
work together to uphold the designations. End
Excerpt from Inter-Ridge website section title About Us: http://www.interridge.org/en/about
The event that sparked the birth of InterRidge occurred when two countries using the
same resource- and labor-intensive tools to visit the same place on the ocean floor
realized that it made more sense to share resources than have to find ways to
independently fund their own. It was 1992. More than 15-yrs later, InterRidge remains
anchored by the principle of collaboration: It is an international organization that pools
the resources of its member countries to drive oceanic ridge research forward in a way
that is cost-effective, cooperative and proven to be successful…
InterRidge exists to:
o
o
o
o
o
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Promote interdisciplinary, international studies of the ocean's spreading centers
Coordinate scientific exchange (information, technology, facilities) between national
research groups
Provide a unified voice for ocean ridge researchers worldwide
Encourage the protection and management of the oceanic ridge environment
Promote communication between nonscientists, scientists, educators and policy-makers
Spearhead education outreach efforts to raise awareness of the oceanic ridge environment
Another viewpoint.
David Brooks. Hydrothermal Vents.
http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/fieldcourses06/PapersMarineEcologyArticles/Hydrother
malVent.html June 5, 2006.
If it were not for the extreme depth of the locations of the hydrothermal vents mining
these areas would be very profitable. Copper, magnesium, and even gold can sometimes
be found in a vent community. But because it is so hard to reach it would cost more
money to mine it than you would make if you did. This does not mean that these vent
community cannot serve a purpose to use today. Some of the bacteria extracted from the
vents are being used to help break down dangerous hydrogen sulfide waste create by
some industries.
Your task:
1. Do you think research should continue?
2.Why or Why not?
3. Should mining of vents' mineral and biological resources be permitted?
4. Why or why not?
5. Explain how the pros of YOUR position outweigh the cons.