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123-453: Grímsvötn is a basaltic volcano which has the highest eruption frequency of all the volcanoes in Iceland. It has a southwest-northeast-trending fissure system. The massive climate-impacting Laki fissure eruption of 1783–1784 took place in a part of the same Grímsvötn-Laki volcanic system. Grímsvötn was erupting at the same time as Laki during 1783, but continued to erupt until 1785. Because most of

246-460: A supercritical fluid at such temperatures. The critical point of (pure) water is 375 °C (707 °F) at a pressure of 218  atmospheres . However, introducing salinity into the fluid raises the critical point to higher temperatures and pressures. The critical point of seawater (3.2 wt. % NaCl) is 407 °C (765 °F) and 298.5 bars, corresponding to a depth of ~2,960 m (9,710 ft) below sea level. Accordingly, if

369-399: A chemical highly toxic to most known organisms, to produce organic material through the process of chemosynthesis . The vents' impact on the living environment goes beyond the organisms that lives around them, as they act as a significant source of iron in the oceans, providing iron for the phytoplankton. The oldest confirmed record of a "modern" biological community related with a vent is

492-432: A constant fog over all Europe, and a great part of North America. This fog was of a permanent nature; it was dry, and the rays of the sun seemed to have little effect towards dissipating it, as they easily do a moist fog, arising from water. They were indeed rendered so faint in passing through it, that when collected in the focus of a burning glass they would scarce kindle brown paper. Of course, their summer effect in heating

615-639: A fifth of the island's human population, although some have claimed a quarter. The Laki eruption and its aftermath caused a drop in global temperatures, as 120 million tonnes of sulfur dioxide was spewed into the Northern Hemisphere . This caused crop failures in Europe and may have caused droughts in North Africa and India . On 8 June 1783, a 25 km-long (15.5 mi) fissure of at least 130 vents opened with phreatomagmatic explosions because of

738-467: A host that contains methanotrophic endosymbionts; however, the latter mostly occur in cold seeps as opposed to hydrothermal vents. While chemosynthesis occurring at the deep ocean allows organisms to live without sunlight in the immediate sense, they technically still rely on the sun for survival, since oxygen in the ocean is a byproduct of photosynthesis. However, if the sun were to suddenly disappear and photosynthesis ceased to occur on our planet, life at

861-417: A hydrothermal fluid with a salinity of 3.2 wt. % NaCl vents above 407 °C (765 °F) and 298.5 bars, it is supercritical. Furthermore, the salinity of vent fluids have been shown to vary widely due to phase separation in the crust. The critical point for lower salinity fluids is at lower temperature and pressure conditions than that for seawater, but higher than that for pure water. For example,

984-543: A light other than sunlight for photosynthesis. New and unusual species are constantly being discovered in the neighborhood of black smokers. The Pompeii worm Alvinella pompejana , which is capable of withstanding temperatures up to 80 °C (176 °F), was found in the 1980s, and a scaly-foot gastropod Chrysomallon squamiferum in 2001 during an expedition to the Indian Ocean 's Kairei hydrothermal vent field . The latter uses iron sulfides ( pyrite and greigite) for

1107-650: A net source of metals such as Fe and Mn to the oceans, they can also scavenge other metals and non-metalliferous nutrients such as P from seawater, representing a net sink of these elements. Life has traditionally been seen as driven by energy from the sun, but deep-sea organisms have no access to sunlight, so biological communities around hydrothermal vents must depend on nutrients found in the dusty chemical deposits and hydrothermal fluids in which they live. Previously, benthic oceanographers assumed that vent organisms were dependent on marine snow , as deep-sea organisms are. This would leave them dependent on plant life and thus

1230-686: A thick haze to spread across western Europe, resulting in many thousands of deaths throughout the remainder of 1783 and the winter of 1784. The summer of 1783 was the hottest on record and a rare high-pressure zone over Iceland caused the winds to blow to the south-east. The poisonous cloud drifted to Bergen in Denmark–Norway , then spread to Prague in the Kingdom of Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) by 17 June, Berlin by 18 June, Paris by 20 June, Le Havre by 22 June, and Great Britain by 23 June. The fog

1353-618: A thick mat which attracts other organisms, such as amphipods and copepods , which graze upon the bacteria directly. Larger organisms, such as snails, shrimp, crabs, tube worms , fish (especially eelpout , cutthroat eel , Ophidiiformes and Symphurus thermophilus ), and octopuses (notably Vulcanoctopus hydrothermalis ), form a food chain of predator and prey relationships above the primary consumers. The main families of organisms found around seafloor vents are annelids , pogonophorans , gastropods , and crustaceans, with large bivalves , vestimentiferan worms, and "eyeless" shrimp making up

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1476-871: A tracer of hydrothermal activity is radon . As all naturally occurring isotopes of Rn are radioactive, Rn concentrations in seawater can also provide information on hydrothermal plume ages when combined with He isotope data. The isotope radon-222 is utilized for this purpose as Rn has the longest half-life of all naturally occurring radon isotopes of roughly 3.82 days. Dissolved gases, such as H 2 , H 2 S, and CH 4 , and metals, such as Fe and Mn, present at high concentrations in hydrothermal vent fluids relative to seawater may also be diagnostic of hydrothermal plumes and thus active venting; however, these components are reactive and are thus less suitable as tracers of hydrothermal activity. Hydrothermal plumes represent an important mechanism through which hydrothermal systems influence marine biogeochemistry . Hydrothermal vents emit

1599-510: A type of chemosynthetic based ecosystems (CBE) where primary productivity is fuelled by chemical compounds as energy sources instead of light ( chemoautotrophy ). Hydrothermal vent communities are able to sustain such vast amounts of life because vent organisms depend on chemosynthetic bacteria for food. The water from the hydrothermal vent is rich in dissolved minerals and supports a large population of chemoautotrophic bacteria. These bacteria use sulfur compounds, particularly hydrogen sulfide ,

1722-632: A vent fluid with a 2.24 wt. % NaCl salinity has the critical point at 400 °C (752 °F) and 280.5 bars. Thus, water emerging from the hottest parts of some hydrothermal vents can be a supercritical fluid , possessing physical properties between those of a gas and those of a liquid . Examples of supercritical venting are found at several sites. Sister Peak (Comfortless Cove Hydrothermal Field, 4°48′S 12°22′W  /  4.800°S 12.367°W  / -4.800; -12.367 , depth 2,996 m or 9,829 ft) vents low salinity phase-separated , vapor-type fluids. Sustained venting

1845-467: A wide variety of trace metals into the ocean, including Fe , Mn , Cr , Cu , Zn , Co , Ni , Mo , Cd , V , and W , many of which have biological functions. Numerous physical and chemical processes control the fate of these metals once they are expelled into the water column. Based on thermodynamic theory, Fe and Mn should oxidize in seawater to form insoluble metal (oxy)hydroxide precipitates; however, complexation with organic compounds and

1968-465: Is a mountain that the fissure bisects. Lakagígar is part of a volcanic system centered on the volcano Grímsvötn and including the volcano Þórðarhyrna . It lies between the glaciers of Mýrdalsjökull and Vatnajökull , in an area of fissures that run in a southwest to northeast direction. The system erupted violently over an eight-month period between June 1783 and February 1784 from the Laki fissure and

2091-493: Is a particularly useful tracer of hydrothermal activity. This is because hydrothermal venting releases elevated concentrations of helium-3 relative to seawater, a rare, naturally occurring He isotope derived exclusively from the Earth's interior. Thus, the dispersal of He throughout the oceans via hydrothermal plumes creates anomalous seawater He isotope compositions that signify hydrothermal venting. Another noble gas that can serve as

2214-528: Is first eruption timed to the day. The Laki eruptions which were both effusive and explosive between June 1783 and February 1784, produced the Skaftáreldahraun lava flows, which cover a large part of south-east Iceland. Before this the tip of the Rauðhólar-Eldgígur fissure system was active with the production of the 4550 BCE Botnahraun lava flow which extends beyond the furtherest extent to the south of

2337-841: Is known as the "nonbuoyant plume" phase. Once the plume is neutrally buoyant, it can no longer continue to rise through the water column and instead begins to spread laterally throughout the ocean, potentially over several thousands of kilometers. Chemical reactions occur concurrently with the physical evolution of hydrothermal plumes. While seawater is a relatively oxidizing fluid, hydrothermal vent fluids are typically reducing in nature. Consequently, reduced chemicals such as hydrogen gas , hydrogen sulfide , methane , Fe , and Mn that are common in many vent fluids will react upon mixing with seawater. In fluids with high concentrations of H 2 S, dissolved metal ions such as Fe and Mn readily precipitate as dark-colored metal sulfide minerals (see "black smokers"). Furthermore, Fe and Mn entrained within

2460-466: Is located near Nafanua volcanic cone , American Samoa . In 1993, already more than 100 gastropod species were known to occur in hydrothermal vents. Over 300 new species have been discovered at hydrothermal vents, many of them "sister species" to others found in geographically separated vent areas. It has been proposed that before the North American Plate overrode the mid-ocean ridge , there

2583-417: Is not yet known what significance, if any, supercritical venting has in terms of hydrothermal circulation, mineral deposit formation, geochemical fluxes or biological activity. The initial stages of a vent chimney begin with the deposition of the mineral anhydrite . Sulfides of copper , iron , and zinc then precipitate in the chimney gaps, making it less porous over the course of time. Vent growths on

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2706-584: Is part of the Eastern volcanic zone of Iceland , and is directly over the Iceland mantle plume . The volcanic system has crater rows extending to the south east; the 25 km (16 mi) long Laki–Grímsvötn fissure system and the 30 km (19 mi) long Rauðhólar-Eldgígur fissure system. The Rauðhólar-Eldgígur fissure system has been related by some authors to an alignment with the Thordarhyrna central volcano with

2829-416: Is rapid which then leads to halving of nucleotide concentration, weak nucleotide catalysis of CO 2 fixation promotes little to protocell growth and division. In biochemistry, reactions with CO 2 and H 2 produce precursors to biomolecules that are also produced from the acetyl-CoA pathway and Krebs cycle which would support an origin of life at deep sea alkaline vents. Acetyl phosphate produced from

2952-420: Is released by the magma. The proportion of each varies from location to location. In contrast to the approximately 2 °C (36 °F) ambient water temperature at these depths, water emerges from these vents at temperatures ranging from 60 °C (140 °F) up to as high as 464 °C (867 °F). Due to the high hydrostatic pressure at these depths, water may exist in either its liquid form or as

3075-462: Is speculated that ancient hydrothermal vents once existed on Mars . Hydrothermal vents have been hypothesized to have been a significant factor to starting abiogenesis and the survival of primitive life . The conditions of these vents have been shown to support the synthesis of molecules important to life. Some evidence suggests that certain vents such as alkaline hydrothermal vents or those containing supercritical CO 2 are more conducive to

3198-424: Is where they deal with nutrition and where their endosymbionts are found. They also have a bright red plume, which they use to uptake compounds such as O, H 2 S, and CO 2 , which feed the endosymbionts in their trophosome. Remarkably, the tubeworms hemoglobin (which incidentally is the reason for the bright red color of the plume) is capable of carrying oxygen without interference or inhibition from sulfide, despite

3321-710: The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, at an average depth of 2,100 m (6,900 ft). The most northerly black smokers are a cluster of five named Loki's Castle , discovered in 2008 by scientists from the University of Bergen at 73°N , on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Greenland and Norway . These black smokers are of interest as they are in a more stable area of the Earth's crust, where tectonic forces are less and consequently fields of hydrothermal vents are less common. The world's deepest known black smokers are located in

3444-512: The Cayman Trough , 5,000 m (3.1 miles) below the ocean's surface. White smoker vents emit lighter-hued minerals, such as those containing barium , calcium and silicon . These vents also tend to have lower-temperature plumes probably because they are generally distant from their heat source. Black and white smokers may coexist in the same hydrothermal field, but they generally represent proximal (close) and distal (distant) vents to

3567-642: The Figueroa Sulfide , from the Early Jurassic of California. The ecosystem so formed is reliant upon the continued existence of the hydrothermal vent field as the primary source of energy, which differs from most surface life on Earth, which is based on solar energy . However, although it is often said that these communities exist independently of the sun, some of the organisms are actually dependent upon oxygen produced by photosynthetic organisms, while others are anaerobic . The chemosynthetic bacteria grow into

3690-631: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge are extremely rich in metal content, such as Rainbow with 24,000  μM concentrations of iron . Black smokers were first discovered in 1979 on the East Pacific Rise by scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography during the RISE Project . They were observed using the deep submergence vehicle ALVIN from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution . Now, black smokers are known to exist in

3813-597: The Sahel of Africa, resulting in, among other effects, low flow in the River Nile . The resulting famine that afflicted Egypt in 1784 cost it roughly one-sixth of its population. The eruption was also found to have affected South Arabia and the already ongoing Chalisa famine in India. The Great Tenmei famine of 1782–1788 in Japan may have been worsened by the Laki eruption. In

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3936-695: The Treaty of Paris , which formally ended the American Revolutionary War . A huge snowstorm hit the South ; the Mississippi River froze at New Orleans and there were reports of ice floes in the Gulf of Mexico . Gilbert White recorded his perceptions of the event at Selborne , Hampshire , England: The summer of the year 1783 was an amazing and portentous one, and full of horrible phaenomena; for besides

4059-409: The barley , which was coming into ear, became brown and withered at their extremities, as did the leaves of the oats; the rye had the appearance of being mildewed; so that the farmers were alarmed for those crops. The wheat was not much affected. The larch , Weymouth pine , and hardy Scotch fir , had the tips of their leaves withered. Hydrothermal vent Hydrothermal vents are fissures on

4182-533: The iron-sulfur world theory and suggested that life might have originated at hydrothermal vents. Wächtershäuser proposed that an early form of metabolism predated genetics. By metabolism he meant a cycle of chemical reactions that release energy in a form that can be harnessed by other processes. It has been proposed that amino acid synthesis could have occurred deep in the Earth's crust and that these amino acids were subsequently shot up along with hydrothermal fluids into cooler waters, where lower temperatures and

4305-509: The oldest forms of life on Earth . Putative fossilized microorganisms were discovered in hydrothermal vent precipitates in the Nuvvuagittuq Belt of Quebec, Canada , that may have lived as early as 4.280 billion years ago , not long after the oceans formed 4.4 billion years ago , and not long after the formation of the Earth 4.54 billion years ago. Hydrothermal vent ecosystems have enormous biomass and productivity, but this rests on

4428-409: The seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges , ocean basins, and hotspots . The dispersal of hydrothermal fluids throughout the global ocean at active vent sites creates hydrothermal plumes. Hydrothermal deposits are rocks and mineral ore deposits formed by

4551-506: The seabed , typically in the bathyal zone (with largest frequency in depths from 2,500 to 3,000 m (8,200 to 9,800 ft)), but also in lesser depths as well as deeper in the abyssal zone . They appear as black, chimney-like structures that emit a cloud of black material. Black smokers typically emit particles with high levels of sulfur-bearing minerals, or sulfides. Black smokers are formed in fields hundreds of meters wide when superheated water from below Earth's crust comes through

4674-512: The 1996 as well as a former eruption at Gjálp in the 1930s are thought to have taken place within Grímsvötn Volcanic system. A week-long eruption occurred at Grímsvötn starting on 28 December 1998, but no glacial burst occurred. In November 2004, a week-long eruption occurred. Volcanic ash from the eruption fell as far away as mainland Europe and caused short-term disruption of airline traffic into Iceland, but again no glacial burst followed

4797-456: The Earth was exceedingly diminished. Hence the surface was early frozen. Hence the first snows remained on it unmelted, and received continual additions. Hence the air was more chilled, and the winds more severely cold. Hence perhaps the winter of 1783–84 was more severe than any that had happened for many years. The cause of this universal fog is not yet ascertained ... or whether it was the vast quantity of smoke, long continuing, to issue during

4920-581: The Grímsvötn caldera is monitored very carefully. When a large eruption occurred in 1996, geologists knew well in advance that a glacial burst was imminent. It did not occur until several weeks after the eruption finished, but monitoring ensured that the Icelandic ring road ( Hringvegur ) was closed when the burst occurred. A section of road across the Skeiðará sandur was washed away in the ensuing flood, but no one

5043-496: The Grímsvötn caldera with water, and the pressure may be enough to suddenly lift the ice cap, allowing huge quantities of water to escape rapidly. Earthquakes and seismic tremor may occur. Jökulhlaup can occur independent of eruptions or be followed by eruptions. Jökulhlaup independent of eruptions occurred in November, December 2021 and October 2022. Jökulhlaup which were followed by eruptions occurred in 1922, 1934 and 2004. Consequently,

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5166-460: The Grímsvötn-Laki volcanic system. The compositional separation from nearby systems has been studied in some detail, and is used to assign lava and tephra deposits to the volcanic system. Some of the tephra's erupted have transpired to have mixed compositions with nearby volcanic systems and it is not known if this is due to dual eruptions or intusions crossing magma reserviors. The volcanic system

5289-485: The Icelandic Meteorological Office increased the alert level for Grímsvötn from yellow to orange, after a series of earthquakes was detected. On 7 December, the alert level was lowered back to yellow, after seismic activity decreased and no signs of eruptive activity were detected. On 11 December 2023, a jökulhlaup followed in time, a M w 4.5 earthquake. Tephra studies on soil samples from around

5412-507: The Laki lava field. The Rauðhólar-Eldgígur fissure system also formed the Núpahraun lava flows around 4000 BP that extend from the Vatnajökull glacier towards the south east coast and are covered in part by the northern Laki Skaftáreldahraun lava flow. There are two recent pre-historic but undated Bergvatnsárhraun lava flows just on the south-eastern edge of the Vatnajökull glacier, related to

5535-496: The Laki–Grímsvötn more in alignment with the Grímsvötn central volcano. Eruptives from Grímsvötn and Thordarhyrna are able to be geochemically distinguished between, so it is possible that the two central volcanoes are not one system. Thordarhyrna has rhyolite formations which have not been found at Grímsvötn. Studies indicate that volcanic activity in Iceland rises and falls so that the frequency and size of eruptions in and around

5658-426: The Vatnajökull ice cap varies with time. It is believed that the four eruptions between 1996 and 2011 could mark the beginning of an active period, during which an eruption in Grímsvötn in Vatnajökull may be expected every 2–7 years. Parallel volcanic activity in nearby Bárðarbunga is known to be associated with increased activity in Grímsvötn. Seismic activity has been increasing in the area in recent years, indicating

5781-453: The Vatnajökull ice cap was reported. The water contains elevated levels of dissolved hydrogen sulfide, suggesting increased volcanic activity under the ice. Jökulhlaup (glacial lake flooding) can occur before or after an eruption. On 4 December 2021, a jökulhlaup occurred from Grímsvötn into the Gígjukvísl river, with an average flow of 2,600 m/s (92,000 cu ft/s). Two days later,

5904-414: The Vatnajökull ice-cap, show that the Grímsvötn volcanic system has high activity for Iceland, and had between 4 to 14 explosive eruptions every 100 years (mean about 7 eruptions every 100 years) between 7600 years ago and 870 AD. For technical reasons only the last 10,200 years of explosive eruptions have been characterised locally, and the record gets more inaccurate with time especially prior to 1598, which

6027-409: The action of hydrothermal vents. Hydrothermal vents exist because the Earth is both geologically active and has large amounts of water on its surface and within its crust. Under the sea, they may form features called black smokers or white smokers, which deliver a wide range of elements to the world's oceans, thus contributing to global marine biogeochemistry . Relative to the majority of the deep sea,

6150-431: The adjoining volcano Grímsvötn. It poured out an estimated 42 billion tonnes or 14 km (18 × 10 ^  cu yd) of basalt lava as well as clouds of poisonous hydrofluoric acid and sulfur dioxide compounds that contaminated the soil, leading to the death of over 50% of Iceland's livestock population, and the destruction of the vast majority of all crops. This led to a famine which then killed at least

6273-462: The alarming meteors and tremendous thunder-storms that affrighted and distressed the different counties of this kingdom, the peculiar haze, or smokey fog, that prevailed for many weeks in this island, and in every part of Europe, and even beyond its limits, was a most extraordinary appearance, unlike anything known within the memory of man. By my journal I find that I had noticed this strange occurrence from June 23 to July 20 inclusive, during which period

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6396-631: The animal as opposed to inside the animal. Shrimp found at vents in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge were once thought of as an exception to the necessity of symbiosis for macroinvertebrate survival at vents. That changed in 1988 when they were discovered to carry episymbionts. Since then, other organisms at vents have been found to carry episymbionts as well, such as Lepetodrilis fucensis. Furthermore, while some symbionts reduce sulfur compounds, others are known as " methanotrophs " and reduce carbon compounds, namely methane. Bathmodiolid mussels are an example of

6519-469: The areas around hydrothermal vents are biologically more productive, often hosting complex communities fueled by the chemicals dissolved in the vent fluids. Chemosynthetic bacteria and archaea found around hydrothermal vents form the base of the food chain , supporting diverse organisms including giant tube worms , clams, limpets , and shrimp. Active hydrothermal vents are thought to exist on Jupiter 's moon Europa and Saturn 's moon Enceladus , and it

6642-416: The author describes as the unlikelihood of the formation of machinery which produces energy from the pH gradients found in hydrothermal vents without/before the existence of genetic information. This counterpoint has been responded to by Nick Lane , one of the researchers whose work it focuses on. He argues that the counterpoint largely misinterprets both his work and the work of others. Another reason that

6765-402: The bacteria living inside the worm. In return, the bacteria nourish the worm with carbon compounds. Two of the species that inhabit a hydrothermal vent are Tevnia jerichonana , and Riftia pachyptila . One discovered community, dubbed " Eel City ", consists predominantly of the eel Dysommina rugosa . Though eels are not uncommon, invertebrates typically dominate hydrothermal vents. Eel City

6888-511: The base of the black smoker, therefore completing the life cycle . A species of phototrophic bacterium has been found living near a black smoker off the coast of Mexico at a depth of 2,500 m (8,200 ft). No sunlight penetrates that far into the waters. Instead, the bacteria, part of the Chlorobiaceae family, use the faint glow from the black smoker for photosynthesis . This is the first organism discovered in nature to exclusively use

7011-520: The bulk of nonmicrobial organisms. Siboglinid tube worms , which may grow to over 2 m (6.6 ft) tall in the largest species, often form an important part of the community around a hydrothermal vent. They have no mouth or digestive tract, and like parasitic worms, absorb nutrients produced by the bacteria in their tissues. About 285 billion bacteria are found per ounce of tubeworm tissue. Tubeworms have red plumes which contain hemoglobin . Hemoglobin combines with hydrogen sulfide and transfers it to

7134-407: The centers of entire ecosystems . Sunlight is nonexistent, so many organisms, such as archaea and extremophiles , convert the heat, methane , and sulfur compounds provided by black smokers into energy through a process called chemosynthesis . More complex life forms, such as clams and tubeworms , feed on these organisms. The organisms at the base of the food chain also deposit minerals into

7257-451: The chemoautotrophic bacteria at hydrothermal vents might be responsible for contributing to the diet of suspension-feeding bivalves. Finally, in 1981, it was understood that giant tubeworm nutrition acquisition occurred as a result of chemoautotrophic bacterial endosymbionts. As scientists continued to study life at hydrothermal vents, it was understood that symbiotic relationships between chemoautotrophs and macrofauna invertebrate species

7380-399: The contaminated grass, while humans deaths were mostly from the subsequent famine. The parish minister and provost of Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla , Jón Steingrímsson (1728–1791), grew famous for the eldmessa [ˈɛltˌmɛsːa] ("fire mass ") that he delivered on 20 July 1783. The church farm of Kirkjubæjarklaustur was endangered by a branch of the lava flow that halted not far from

7503-434: The convective eruption column to altitudes of about 15 km (50,000 ft). The eruption continued until 7 February 1784, but most of the lava was ejected in the first five months. One study states that the event "occurred as ten pulses of activity, each starting with a short-lived explosive phase followed by a long-lived period of fire-fountaining". Grímsvötn volcano, from which the Laki fissure extends, also erupted at

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7626-513: The crater. In June 2020, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) issued a warning that an eruption might take place in the coming weeks or months, following scientists reporting high levels of sulfur dioxide , which is indicative of the presence of shallow magma. IMO warned that a glacial flood as a result of melting ice could trigger an eruption. No eruption occurred. In September 2021, an increase in water outflow from under

7749-449: The deep-sea hydrothermal vents could continue for millennia (until the oxygen was depleted). The chemical and thermal dynamics in hydrothermal vents makes such environments highly suitable thermodynamically for chemical evolution processes to take place. Therefore, thermal energy flux is a permanent agent and is hypothesized to have contributed to the evolution of the planet, including prebiotic chemistry. Günter Wächtershäuser proposed

7872-458: The disruption spread to Northern Ireland and to airports in northern England. The cancellation of 900 out of 90,000 European flights in the period 23–25 May was much less widespread than the 2010 disruption after the Eyjafjallajökull eruption. The eruption stopped at 02:40 UTC on 25 May 2011, although there was some explosive activity from the eruptive vents affecting only the area around

7995-399: The dissolved CO 2 in the water. Additionally, the discovery of supercritical CO 2 at some sites has been used to further support the theory of hydrothermal origin of life given that it can increase organic reaction rates. Its high solvation power and diffusion rate allow it to promote amino and formic acid synthesis, as well as the synthesis of other organic compounds, polymers, and

8118-410: The entry of magma. Laki Laki ( Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈlaːcɪ] ) or Lakagígar ( [ˈlaːkaˌciːɣar̥] , Craters of Laki ) is a volcanic fissure in the western part of Vatnajökull National Park , Iceland , not far from the volcanic fissure of Eldgjá and the small village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur . The fissure is properly referred to as Lakagígar, while Laki

8241-463: The environment. Organisms living at the edge of hydrothermal vent fields, such as pectinid scallops, also carry endosymbionts in their gills, and as a result their bacterial density is low relative to organisms living nearer to the vent. However, the scallop's dependence on the microbial endosymbiont for obtaining their nutrition is therefore also lessened. Furthermore, not all host animals have endosymbionts; some have episymbionts—symbionts living on

8364-450: The eruption scale had been larger than that of the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull . The ash cloud from the eruption rose to 20 km (12 mi), and was so far 10 times larger than the 2004 eruption, and the strongest in Grímsvötn in the last 100 years. Disruption to air travel in Iceland commenced on 22 May, followed by Greenland, Scotland, Norway, Svalbard and a small part of Denmark on subsequent days. On 24 May

8487-574: The eruption. Harmonic tremors were recorded twice around Grímsvötn on 2 and 3 October 2010, possibly indicating an impending eruption. At the same time, sudden inflation was measured by GPS in the volcano, indicating magma movement under the caldera. On 1 November 2010 meltwater from the Vatnajökull glacier was flowing into a lake, suggesting that an eruption of the underlying volcano could be imminent. On 21 May 2011 at 19:25 UTC , an eruption began, with 12 km (7 mi) high plumes accompanied by multiple earthquakes , Until 25 May,

8610-504: The fact that oxygen and sulfide are typically very reactive. In 2005, it was discovered that this is possible due to zinc ions that bind the hydrogen sulfide in the tubeworms hemoglobin, therefore preventing the sulfide from reacting with the oxygen. It also reduces the tubeworms tissue from exposure to the sulfide and provides the bacteria with the sulfide to perform chemoautotrophy. It has also been discovered that tubeworms can metabolize CO 2 in two different ways, and can alternate between

8733-534: The farm while the Rev. Jón and his parishioners were worshipping in the church. The spot at which the lava diverted away from the church became known thereafter as Eldmessutangi [ˈɛltˌmɛsːʏˌtʰauɲcɪ] ("Fire Mass Point"). This past week, and the two prior to it, more poison fell from the sky than words can describe: ash, volcanic hairs , rain full of sulfur and saltpeter , all of it mixed with sand. The snouts, nostrils, and feet of livestock grazing or walking on

8856-404: The findings could help identify how to look for life on Mars. There is the potential for mechanical interaction such as dyke propagation between Grímsvötn and Thordarhyrna. Interactions can also occur with the nearby Bárðarbunga volcano, which is part of a separate volcanic system. The volcano erupts predominantly tholeiitic basalt , and a close chemical affinity exists with the other lavas of

8979-601: The formation of colloids and nanoparticles can keep these redox-sensitive elements suspended in solution far from the vent site. Fe and Mn often have the highest concentrations among metals in acidic hydrothermal vent fluids, and both have biological significance, particularly Fe, which is often a limiting nutrient in marine environments. Therefore, far-field transport of Fe and Mn via organic complexation may constitute an important mechanism of ocean metal cycling. Additionally, hydrothermal vents deliver significant concentrations of other biologically important trace metals to

9102-541: The formation of early cells. Meanwhile, proponents of the deep sea hydrothermal vent hypothesis suggest thermophoresis in mineral cavities to be an alternative compartment for polymerization of biopolymers. How thermophoresis within mineral cavities could promote coding and metabolism is unknown. Nick Lane suggests that nucleotide polymerization at high concentrations of nucleotides within self-replicating protocells, where "Molecular crowding and phosphorylation in such confined, high-energy protocells could potentially promote

9225-479: The formation of these organic molecules . However, the origin of life is a widely debated topic, and there are many conflicting viewpoints. Hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean typically form along the mid-ocean ridges , such as the East Pacific Rise and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge . These are locations where two tectonic plates are diverging and new crust is being formed. The water that issues from seafloor hydrothermal vents consists mostly of seawater drawn into

9348-403: The four amino acids: alanine, arginine, aspartic acid, and glycine. In situ experiments have revealed the convergence of high N 2 content and supercritical CO 2 at some sites, as well as evidence for complex organic material (amino acids) within supercritical CO 2 bubbles. Proponents of this theory for the origin of life also propose the presence of supercritical CO 2 as a solution to

9471-445: The grass turned bright yellow and raw. All water went tepid and light blue in color and gravel slides turned grey. All the earth's plants burned, withered and turned grey, one after another, as the fire increased and neared the settlements. There is evidence that the Laki eruption weakened African and Indian monsoon circulations, leading to between 1 and 3 millimetres (0.04 and 0.12 in) less daily precipitation than normal over

9594-474: The groundwater interacting with the rising basalt magma . Over a few days the eruptions became less explosive, Strombolian , and later Hawaiian in character, with high rates of lava effusion . This event is rated as 4 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index , but the eight-month emission of sulfuric aerosols resulted in one of the most important climatic and socially significant natural events of

9717-671: The haze dissipated in the autumn. The winter of 1783–1784 was very severe; the naturalist Gilbert White in Selborne , Hampshire , reported 28 days of continuous frost. The extreme winter is estimated to have caused 8,000 additional deaths in the UK. During the spring thaw, Germany and Central Europe reported severe flood damage. This is considered part of a volcanic winter . The meteorological impact of Laki continued, contributing significantly to several years of extreme weather in Europe. In France,

9840-414: The host provides the symbiont with chemicals required for chemosynthesis, such as carbon, sulfide, and oxygen. In the early stages of studying life at hydrothermal vents, there were differing theories regarding the mechanisms by which multicellular organisms were able to acquire nutrients from these environments, and how they were able to survive in such extreme conditions. In 1977, it was hypothesized that

9963-461: The hydrothermal plume and surrounding seawater generate turbulent flow that facilitates mixing between the two types of fluids, which progressively dilutes the hydrothermal plume with seawater. Eventually, the coupled effects of dilution and rising into progressively warmer (less dense) overlying seawater will cause the hydrothermal plume to become neutrally buoyant at some height above the seafloor; therefore, this stage of hydrothermal plume evolution

10086-695: The hydrothermal plume will eventually oxidize to form insoluble Fe and Mn (oxy)hydroxide minerals . For this reason, the hydrothermal "near field" has been proposed to refer to the hydrothermal plume region undergoing active oxidation of metals while the term "far field" refers to the plume region within which complete metal oxidation has occurred. Several chemical tracers found in hydrothermal plumes are used to locate deep-sea hydrothermal vents during discovery cruises. Useful tracers of hydrothermal activity should be chemically unreactive so that changes in tracer concentration subsequent to venting are due solely to dilution. The noble gas helium fits this criterion and

10209-515: The hydrothermal system close to the volcanic edifice through faults and porous sediments or volcanic strata, plus some magmatic water released by the upwelling magma . In terrestrial hydrothermal systems, the majority of water circulated within the fumarole and geyser systems, is meteoric water plus ground water that has percolated down into the thermal system from the surface, but also commonly contains some portion of metamorphic water , magmatic water , and sedimentary formational brine that

10332-418: The lack of phospholipid bilayer membranes and proton pumps in early organisms, allowing ion gradients to form despite the lack of cellular machinery and components present in modern cells. There is some discourse around this topic. It has been argued that the natural pH gradients of these vents playing a role in the origin of life is actually implausible. The counter argument relies, among other points, on what

10455-545: The lanes and hedges that they rendered the horses half frantic, and riding irksome. The country people began to look, with a superstitious awe, at the red, louring aspect of the sun; ... Benjamin Franklin recorded his observations in America in a 1784 lecture: During several of the summer months of the year 1783, when the effect of the sun's rays to heat the earth in these northern regions should have been greater, there existed

10578-532: The last millennium. The eruption, also known as the Skaftáreldar [ˈskaftˌauːrˌɛltar̥] (" Skaftá fires") or Síðueldur [ˈsiːðʏˌɛltʏr̥] produced an estimated 14 km (18 × 10 ^  cu yd) of basalt lava, and the total volume of tephra emitted was 0.91 km (1.2 × 10 ^  cu yd). Lava fountains were estimated to have reached heights of 800 to 1,400 m (2,600 to 4,600 ft). The gases were carried by

10701-467: The line of the Rauðhólar-Eldgígur fissures. In 2004, a community of bacteria was detected in water of the Grímsvötn lake under the glacier, the first time that bacteria have been found in a subglacial lake. The lakes never freeze because of the volcanic heat. The bacteria can also survive at low concentrations of oxygen . The site is a possible analogue for life on the planet Mars , because there are also traces of volcanism and glaciers on Mars and thus

10824-572: The main upflow zone, respectively. However, white smokers correspond mostly to waning stages of such hydrothermal fields, as magmatic heat sources become progressively more distant from the source (due to magma crystallization) and hydrothermal fluids become dominated by seawater instead of magmatic water. Mineralizing fluids from this type of vent are rich in calcium and they form dominantly sulfate -rich (i.e., barite and anhydrite ) and carbonate deposits. Hydrothermal plumes are fluid entities that manifest where hydrothermal fluids are expelled into

10947-474: The minerals precipitate out to form particles which add to the height of the stacks. Some of these chimney structures can reach heights of 60 m (200 ft). An example of such a towering vent was "Godzilla", a structure on the Pacific Ocean deep seafloor near Oregon that rose to 40 m (130 ft) before it fell over in 1996. A black smoker or deep-sea vent is a type of hydrothermal vent found on

11070-470: The ocean floor (water may attain temperatures above 400 °C (752 °F)). This water is rich in dissolved minerals from the crust, most notably sulfides . When it comes in contact with cold ocean water, many minerals precipitate, forming a black, chimney-like structure around each vent. The deposited metal sulfides can become massive sulfide ore deposits in time. Some black smokers on the Azores portion of

11193-524: The ocean such as Mo, which may have been important in the early chemical evolution of the Earth's oceans and to the origin of life (see "theory of hydrothermal origin of life"). However, Fe and Mn precipitates can also influence ocean biogeochemistry by removing trace metals from the water column. The charged surfaces of iron (oxy)hydroxide minerals effectively adsorb elements such as phosphorus , vanadium , arsenic , and rare earth metals from seawater; therefore, although hydrothermal plumes may represent

11316-466: The ocean. Hydrothermal vent fluids harbor temperatures (~40 to >400 °C) well above that of ocean floor seawater (~4 °C), meaning that hydrothermal fluid is less dense than the surrounding seawater and will rise through the water column due to buoyancy , forming a hydrothermal plume; therefore, the phase during which hydrothermal plumes rise through the water column is known as the "buoyant plume" phase. During this phase, shear forces between

11439-422: The order of 30 cm (1 ft) per day have been recorded. An April 2007 exploration of the deep-sea vents off the coast of Fiji found those vents to be a significant source of dissolved iron (see iron cycle ). Some hydrothermal vents form roughly cylindrical chimney structures. These form from minerals that are dissolved in the vent fluid. When the superheated water contacts the near-freezing sea water,

11562-557: The overlying water column at active hydrothermal vent sites. As hydrothermal fluids typically harbor physical (e.g., temperature , density ) and chemical (e.g., pH , Eh , major ions) properties distinct from seawater , hydrothermal plumes embody physical and chemical gradients that promote several types of chemical reactions, including oxidation-reduction reactions and precipitation reactions . Because of these reactions, hydrothermal plumes are dynamic entities whose physical and chemical properties evolve over both space and time within

11685-489: The polymerization of nucleotides to form RNA". Acetyl phosphate could possibly promote polymerization at mineral surfaces or at low water activity. A computational simulation shows that nucleotide concentration of nucleotide catalysis of "the energy currency pathway is favored, as energy is limiting; favoring this pathway feeds forward into a greater nucleotide synthesis". Fast nucleotide catalysis of CO 2 fixation lowers nucleotide concentration as protocell growth and division

11808-421: The population died in the famine after the fissure eruptions ensued. (Some sources specify a death toll of between 9,000 to 9,500 people.) Approximately 80% of sheep (190,500 head), 50% of cattle (11,500 head) and 50% of horses (28,000 head) died because of dental fluorosis and skeletal fluorosis from the 8 million tons of fluorine that were released. The livestock deaths were primarily caused by eating

11931-481: The presence of clay minerals would have fostered the formation of peptides and protocells . This is an attractive hypothesis because of the abundance of CH 4 ( methane ) and NH 3 ( ammonia ) present in hydrothermal vent regions, a condition that was not provided by the Earth's primitive atmosphere. A major limitation to this hypothesis is the lack of stability of organic molecules at high temperatures, but some have suggested that life would have originated outside of

12054-458: The presence of supercritical CO 2 in Hadean hydrothermal vents played an important role in the origin of life. There is some evidence that links the origin of life to alkaline hydrothermal vents in particular. The pH conditions of these vents may have made them more suitable for emerging life. One current theory is that the naturally occurring proton gradients at these deep sea vents supplemented

12177-683: The reactions are capable of phosphorylating ADP to ATP, with maximum synthesis occurring at high water activity and low concentrations of ions, the Hadean ocean likely had lower concentrations of ions than modern oceans. The concentrations of Mg and Ca at alkaline hydrothermal systems are lower than the at the ocean. The high concentration of potassium within most life forms could be readily explained that protocells might have evolved sodium-hydrogen antiporters to pump out Na as prebiotic lipid membranes are less permeable to Na than H . If cells originated at these environments, they would have been autotrophs with

12300-519: The same year, Mount Asama erupted in Japan ( Tenmei eruption ). The eruption may have affected a drought in eastern China. An estimated 120,000,000 tonnes of sulfur dioxide was emitted, about three times the total annual European industrial output in 2006 (but delivered to higher altitudes, hence its persistence), and equivalent to six times the total 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption . This outpouring of sulfur dioxide during unusual weather conditions caused

12423-563: The sequence of extreme weather events included a failed harvest in 1785 that caused poverty for rural workers, as well as droughts, bad winters and summers. These events contributed significantly to an increase in poverty and famine that may have contributed to the French Revolution in 1789. Laki was only one factor in a decade of climatic disruption, as Grímsvötn was erupting from 1783 to 1785, and there may have been an unusually strong El Niño effect from 1789 to 1793. In North America,

12546-471: The structure of its dermal sclerites (hardened body parts), instead of calcium carbonate . The extreme pressure of 2,500 m of water (approximately 25  megapascals or 250  atmospheres ) is thought to play a role in stabilizing iron sulfide for biological purposes. This armor plating probably serves as a defense against the venomous radula (teeth) of predatory snails in that community. In March 2017, researchers reported evidence of possibly

12669-494: The summer from Hekla in Iceland, and that other volcano which arose out of the sea near that island, which smoke might be spread by various winds, over the northern part of the world, is yet uncertain. According to contemporary records, Hekla did not erupt in 1783; its previous eruption was in 1766. The Laki fissure eruption was 70 km (45 mi) east and the Grímsvötn volcano was erupting about 120 km (75 mi) northeast. Katla , only 50 km (31 mi) southeast,

12792-541: The sun to perform photosynthesis. Instead, the microbial life found at hydrothermal vents is chemosynthetic; they fix carbon by using energy from chemicals such as sulfide, as opposed to light energy from the sun. In other words, the symbiont converts inorganic molecules (H 2 S, CO 2 , O) to organic molecules that the host then uses as nutrition. However, sulfide is an extremely toxic substance to most life on Earth. For this reason, scientists were astounded when they first found hydrothermal vents teeming with life in 1977. What

12915-420: The sun. Some hydrothermal vent organisms do consume this "rain", but with only such a system, life forms would be sparse. Compared to the surrounding sea floor, however, hydrothermal vent zones have a density of organisms 10,000 to 100,000 times greater. These organisms include yeti crabs , which have long hairy arms that they reach out over the vent to collect food with. The hydrothermal vents are recognized as

13038-415: The symbiotic relationships that have evolved at vents. Deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems differ from their shallow-water and terrestrial hydrothermal counterparts due to the symbiosis that occurs between macroinvertebrate hosts and chemoautotrophic microbial symbionts in the former. Since sunlight does not reach deep-sea hydrothermal vents, organisms in deep-sea hydrothermal vents cannot obtain energy from

13161-463: The time, from 1783 until 1785. The outpouring of gases, including an estimated 8 million tonnes of fluorine and an estimated 120 million tonnes of sulfur dioxide , gave rise to what has since become known as the "Laki haze" across Europe. The consequences for Iceland, known as the Móðuharðindin [ˈmouːðʏˌharðɪntɪn] ( mist hardships), were disastrous. An estimated 20–25% of

13284-513: The two as needed as environmental conditions change. In 1988, research confirmed thiotrophic (sulfide-oxidizing) bacteria in Alviniconcha hessleri , a large vent mollusk. In order to circumvent the toxicity of sulfide, mussels first convert it to thiosulfate before carrying it over to the symbionts. In the case of motile organisms such as alvinocarid shrimp, they must track oxic (oxygen-rich) / anoxic (oxygen-poor) environments as they fluctuate in

13407-489: The view of deep sea hydrothermal vents as an ideal environment for the origin of life remains controversial is the absence of wet-dry cycles and exposure to UV light, which promote the formation of membranous vesicles and synthesis of many biomolecules. The ionic concentrations of hydrothermal vents differs from the intracellular fluid within the majority of life. It has instead been suggested that terrestrial freshwater environments are more likely to be an ideal environment for

13530-443: The volcanic system lies underneath Vatnajökull, most of its eruptions have been subglacial and the interaction of magma and meltwater from the ice causes phreatomagmatic explosive activity. Within the Grímsvötn-Laki volcanic system is a second central volcano called Thordarhyrna (Þórðarhyrna). Eruptions in the caldera regularly cause glacial outbursts known as jökulhlaup . Eruptions or geothermal activity, melt enough ice to fill

13653-414: The wind varied to every quarter without making any alteration in the air. The sun, at noon, looked as blank as a clouded moon, and shed a rust-coloured ferruginous light on the ground, and floors of rooms; but was particularly lurid and blood-coloured at rising and setting. All the time the heat was so intense that butchers' meat could hardly be eaten on the day after it was killed; and the flies swarmed so in

13776-631: The winter of 1784 was the longest and one of the coldest on record. It was the longest period of below-zero temperatures in New England , with the largest accumulation of snow in New Jersey , and the longest freezing over of Chesapeake Bay . At the time, the capital of the United States was situated on the Chesapeake at Annapolis, Maryland ; the weather delayed Congressmen who were traveling there to vote for

13899-488: The zones of highest temperature. There are numerous species of extremophiles and other organisms currently living immediately around deep-sea vents, suggesting that this is indeed a possible scenario. Experimental research and computer modeling indicate that the surfaces of mineral particles inside hydrothermal vents have similar catalytic properties to enzymes and are able to create simple organic molecules, such as methanol (CH 3 OH) and formic acid (HCO 2 H), out of

14022-472: The “water paradox” that pervades theories on the origin of life in aquatic settings. This paradox encompasses the fact that water is both required for life and will, in abundance, hydrolyze organic molecules and prevent dehydration synthesis reactions necessary to chemical and biological evolution. Supercritical CO 2 , being hydrophobic, acts as a solvent that facilitates an environment conducive to dehydration synthesis. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that

14145-405: Was a single biogeographic vent region found in the eastern Pacific. The subsequent barrier to travel began the evolutionary divergence of species in different locations. The examples of convergent evolution seen between distinct hydrothermal vents is seen as major support for the theory of natural selection and of evolution as a whole. Although life is very sparse at these depths, black smokers are

14268-548: Was discovered was the ubiquitous symbiosis of chemoautotrophs living in ( endosymbiosis ) the vent animals' gills; the reason why multicellular life is capable to survive the toxicity of vent systems. Scientists are therefore now studying how the microbial symbionts aid in sulfide detoxification (therefore allowing the host to survive the otherwise toxic conditions). Work on microbiome function shows that host-associated microbiomes are also important in host development, nutrition, defense against predators, and detoxification. In return,

14391-570: Was hurt. (See also the main article: 1996 eruption of Gjálp The Gjálp fissure vent eruption in 1996 revealed that an interaction may exist between Bárðarbunga and Grímsvötn. A strong earthquake at Bárðarbunga, about magnitude 5, is believed to have been related to the triggering of the eruption in Gjálp. On the other hand, because the magma erupted showed strong connections to the Grímsvötn Volcanic System according to petrology studies,

14514-439: Was informed by a tenant that finding himself cold in bed, about three o'clock in the morning, he looked out at his window, and to his great surprise saw the ground covered with a white frost: and I was assured that two men at Barton, about three miles (five kilometres) off, saw in some shallow tubs, ice of the thickness of a crown-piece . Sir John goes on to describe the effect of this "frost" on trees and crops: The aristae of

14637-473: Was most affected. The records show that the additional deaths were among outdoor workers; the death rate in Bedfordshire , Lincolnshire , and the east coast was perhaps two or three times the normal rate. It has been estimated that 23,000 British people died from the poisoning. The weather became very hot, causing severe thunderstorms with large hailstones that were reported to have killed cattle , until

14760-605: Was not found to be supercritical but a brief injection of 464 °C (867 °F) was well above supercritical conditions. A nearby site, Turtle Pits, was found to vent low salinity fluid at 407 °C (765 °F), which is above the critical point of the fluid at that salinity. A vent site in the Cayman Trough named Beebe , which is the world's deepest known hydrothermal site at ~5,000 m (16,000 ft) below sea level, has shown sustained supercritical venting at 401 °C (754 °F) and 2.3 wt% NaCl. Although supercritical conditions have been observed at several sites, it

14883-468: Was so thick that ships stayed in port, unable to navigate, and the sun was described as "blood coloured". Inhaling sulfur dioxide gas causes victims to choke as their internal soft tissues swell – the gas reacts with the moisture in the lungs and produces sulfurous acid . The local death rate in Chartres was up by 5% during August and September, with more than 40 dead. In Great Britain, the east of England

15006-523: Was still renowned after its spectacular eruption 28 years earlier in 1755. Sir John Cullum of Bury St Edmunds , Suffolk , England, recorded his observations on 23 June 1783 (the same date on which Gilbert White noted the onset of the unusual atmospheric phenomena), in a letter to Sir Joseph Banks , then President of the Royal Society : ... about six o'clock, that morning, I observed the air very much condensed in my chamber-window; and, upon getting up,

15129-409: Was ubiquitous. For instance, in 1983, clam gill tissue was confirmed to contain bacterial endosymbionts; in 1984 vent bathymodiolid mussels and vesicomyid clams were also found to carry endosymbionts. However, the mechanisms by which organisms acquire their symbionts differ, as do the metabolic relationships. For instance, tubeworms have no mouth and no gut, but they do have a "trophosome", which

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