To save this word, you'll need to log in.
Definition of hydrothermal vent
: a fissure in the ocean floor especially at or near a mid-ocean ridge from which mineral-rich superheated water issues
Examples of hydrothermal vent in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web But there are several other paths by which iron(II) makes its way to the oceans, including rivers, hydrothermal vents, volcanoes and glacial outwash plains like the one where Kaplan found his sample in Patagonia.
—
Emily Underwood, Smithsonian Magazine, "The Complicated Role of Iron in Ocean Health and Climate Change," 6 Jan. 2020 And in 2017, Japan became the first nation to conduct large-scale experimental mining of a dead hydrothermal vent off the coast of Okinawa, inside Japan's national waters.
—
Warren Cornwall, Science | AAAS, "Mountains hidden in the deep sea are biological hot spots. Will mining ruin them?," 12 Sep. 2019 The hope is that the ISA will protect sensitive areas and even make active hydrothermal vents off limits to mining.
—
Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Deep-Sea Snail Builds Its Own Ironclad Suit of Armor. But Even That Can’t Protect It From Ocean Mining," 26 July 2019 According to the press release, the plumes may form when hydrothermal vents eject material from the moon’s rocky core.
—
Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "New Organic Compounds Found In Plumes From Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus," 4 Oct. 2019 Sometimes super-hot fluids from inside the Earth shoot up through cracks in the ocean floor called hydrothermal vents.
—
Suzanne O'connell, The Conversation, "Curious Kids: How deep is the ocean?," 7 Oct. 2019 Now, seamounts have caught the eye of people interested in using sophisticated machines to mine deep-sea habitats, including hydrothermal vents and abyssal plains, that hold precious minerals.
—
Warren Cornwall, Science | AAAS, "Mountains hidden in the deep sea are biological hot spots. Will mining ruin them?," 12 Sep. 2019 But even temperature and density differences of the water would show up in the images, Crawford adds, so the plume could just be a hot mineral-rich stream, like the roiling waters from hydrothermal vents.
—
National Geographic, "Strange waves rippled around Earth. Now we may know why.," 21 May 2019 Sigwart says that marine biologists are now assessing the status of other deep-ocean creatures living at hydrothermal vent habitats throughout the world.
—
Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Deep-Sea Snail Builds Its Own Ironclad Suit of Armor. But Even That Can’t Protect It From Ocean Mining," 26 July 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hydrothermal vent.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on hydrothermal vent
What made you want to look up hydrothermal vent? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
February 2020 Words of the Day Quiz
- Which is a synonym of probity?
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
Share hydrothermal vent
Time Traveler for hydrothermal vent
The first known use of hydrothermal vent was in 1975
See more words from the same year