Hydrothermal vents- active and dormant
Two hydrothermal vents at Axial Seamount visited by the ROV ROPOS during the OOI Cabled Array O&M cruise show the difference between an active “black smoker” vent hosting chemosynthetic life and a dormant vent covered mostly in white bacterial mats.
![](https://www2.whoi.edu/site/ooi-expedition/wp-content/uploads/sites/143/2022/08/RCA-Hydrothermal-FaP0QJGUsAAQAhR.jpeg)
Credit: OOI-NSF/UW/CSSF/V22.
![](https://www2.whoi.edu/site/ooi-expedition/wp-content/uploads/sites/143/2022/08/RCA-hydrothermal-2-FaP0QJDUYAA332-.jpeg)
Credit: OOI-NSF/UW/CSSF/V22.