While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- In the 1970s, a team of oceanographers exploring the Pacific Ocean floor off the coast of the Galapagos Islands discovered an unusual ecosystem in a place where they expected to find little, if any, life.
- They found a collection of organisms, including giant tube worms and ghost-like fish, living in the absence of sunlight around hydrothermal vents, which are fissures in the ocean floor that release hot, mineral-rich water.
- This ecosystem relies on a process called chemosynthesis, in which bacteria convert the chemicals from the hydrothermal vents into food.
- This process supports a vibrant food web that includes the giant tube worms, which host the chemosynthetic bacteria and are eaten by the ghost-like fish, among other organisms.