Stirring
the Oceanic Incubator
SCIENCE May 24 2002: 1406-1407
Robert P. Dziak and H. Paul Johnson
Abstract:
Earthquakes may affect hydrothermal systems hundreds of
miles away. But as Dziak and Johnson explain in their Perspective,
the effects differ widely between terrestrial and oceanic
systems.
Recent studies have shown that changes in fluid temperature
and
flow rate at seafloor hydrothermal vents may be delayed by
several
days after the earthquake, whereas in terrestrial systems
the change
is usually instantaneous. Biological communities are also
affected
differently, depending on their reliance on geothermal versus
photosynthetic energy.
SCIENCE
site:
http://www.sciencemag.org/misc/e-perspectives.shtml
|