What is the Rainbow Vent Field marine ecoregion?
Situated in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a giant underwater mountain chain running down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly 2,500 to 3,000 meters deep. Hot vents, called black smokers, release 350 °C mineral-rich fluids. Microbes here make energy from chemicals, a process called chemosynthesis. They support colonies of worms, shrimp, and mussels living in total darkness. Most threatened by Seabed Mining.
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In context
What it is
Situated in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a giant underwater mountain chain running down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly 2,500 to 3,000 meters deep. Hot vents, called black smokers, release 350 °C mineral-rich fluids. Microbes here make energy from chemicals, a process called chemosynthesis. They support colonies of worms, shrimp, and mussels living in total darkness. Most threatened by Seabed Mining.
Why it matters
Rainbow Vent Field is useful for understanding how biodiversity, environmental conditions, and human pressures come together in one marine region.
Ocean Literacy Connections
This resource can be explored through One ocean, many features, Ocean biodiversity and Ocean still unexplored.
- How do different ocean places belong to one connected system?
- How do ocean habitats support so many forms of life and interaction?
- Why is so much of the ocean still unknown, and how do people explore it?
Explore and connect
Open the ecoregions view to compare regional boundaries, biodiversity context, and related ocean systems.
