Chapter 28, Problem 2CT

Summary Introduction

To review:

The production of sulfur from hydrothermal vents and whether the production is enough and harvesting this sulfur would harm the ecosystem.

Introduction:

A hydrothermal vent is a fissure in the planet’s surface, which spewed out the geothermally heated water. This warm water is laden with the minerals. They are most commonly found near the volcanically active areas. Different types of microbes are present in the surroundings that under anaerobic conditions can utilize the sulfur by oxidizing it.

An entrepreneur decides to harvest the sulfur from the Pacific Ocean from the microorganism. One group of microbiologist disagrees as they think that this will damage the fragile ecosystem by depleting the usable sulfur but another group believes that vent produces sulfur in much more amount than it is required by the clams and tube worms.