How many hydrothermal vent fields have been discovered since 1979?  Is
"hundreds" correct?

Hello svbluemoose-ga,

Hydrothermal vents were first discovered in 1977. Subsequent research
showed that these vents form along the edges of crustal plates where
tectonic plates join to form ridges. There are over 50,000 miles of
ocean ridges and only a very small percentage of them have been
explored. So far several dozen hydrothermal vents have been discovered
but the probability is that there are hundreds. The links I?ve
collected will provide you with some maps so you can get a good
impression of where vents have already been discovered and where
further exploration is likely to lead to identifying many more. In
addition, the links will offer you a wealth of information about this
very interesting area of research in the field of oceanography.

Enjoy! 

~ czh ~


http://www.botos.com/marine/vents01.html
Hydrothermal Vent Communities

What is a hydrothermal vent?
Hydrothermal vents are cracks in the ocean floor that emit jets of hot
water loaded with minerals and bacteria. The vents range in diameter
from less than an inch to mare than six feet. They are usually found
at least a mile deep long the mid-ocean ridges. So far, several dozen
vent fields have been discovered.

The first hydrothermal vent was discovered in 1977 by geologists on a
research expedition in the Galapagos Rift off the coast of South
America. The Galapagos Rift is part of the mid-ocean ridge system. To
understand vents it is helpful to first have an understanding of these
ridges and how new sea floor is formed.

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http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/expeditions/blacksmokers/black_smokers.html
Where Are They?

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents occur along the midocean ridges. Several
different vents have been discovered since the first site was found in
1977 near the Galapagos Islands by earth scientists in the small
research submersible ALVIN. One reason that relatively few sites have
been observed is that scientists have explored only a small portion of
the 50,000 kilometers of midocean ridges. So it is likely that as
scientists explore more of the midocean ridges they will discover more
deep-sea hydrothermal vent sites. In fact, scientists also have found
that not every ridge has a deep-sea hydrothermal vent site. Scientists
don't know exactly why some ridges have deep-sea hydrothermal vents
and others don't.

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http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/infomods/vents/
Ocean Vents Around the World -- Map

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http://www.resa.net/nasa/ocean_hydrothermal.htm
Hydrothermal Environments on the Ocean Floor

http://www.resa.net/nasa/images/ocean/plates.jpg
Crustal Plates

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http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/index.html
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Vents Program

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http://www.odp.usyd.edu.au/odp_CD/volcis/viindex.html
Hydrothermal Systems - Vents

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http://www.lib.washington.edu/fish/subjects/vents.html
Resources on Hydrothermal Vents


SEARCH STRATEGY
Hydrothermal vents
"there are" hydrothermal vent fields

I'm writing a brochure on a new hydrothermal vent research program and
I needed clarification on how many actually had been discovered.  I
received just what I needed, plus additional URLs.

Hello svbluemoose-ga,

I'm glad the answer was useful. Thank you for the five stars and the
very generous tip.

~ czh ~