| Themes > Science > Earth Sciences > Oceanography > Habitats > Hydrothermal Vents > Humans & the Environment |
If hydrothermal vents were closer to the surface, mining copper, manganese, and even gold from them could be quite profitable, but they are far too deep in the ocean for this to be profitable. Even if it were, such activities would destroy this unique habitat. Bacteria discovered around these vents has already begun helping break down dangerous hydrogen sulfide waste from industrial processes, and treatment with sulfer-eating microbes is allowing gold to be extracted from some rocks more easily. Some scientists have suggested that life actually began millions of years ago around hydrothermal vents. These hydrothermal vent fields exist far from the normal activities of humans, in areas so difficult to get to that the vents were completely unknown until 1977. At the present time only a handful of extremely expensive exploration submarines can even reach them. Even with all of the valuable metals that can be found around these vents, it is still too expensive to make mining them worthwhile. |
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