.
-The vents are located about 10,000 feet below the ocean surface
- The vents are similar to chimneys and can be as high as 3 feet that spew out fluids as hot as 572 degrees Fahrenheit
-Scientists on the German research vessel Meteor found the vents by using an echosounder that allows the imaging of the water columns above the ocean floor
-Before their discovery, scientists thought that sunlight was essential to life. The creatures living around the vents proved them wrong, as they relied on the nutrients coming out of the vents.