Adaption |
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Ocean trenches lead to complex and unique ecosystems with organisms being able to form biochemical adaptions to the harsh environmental conditions. Scientists believe if we are able to learn how these organisms managed to evolve to live in ocean vent environments, this can help us find out more about life evolution and also life on other planets.Biological communities depend on chemicals produced by the connection between the seawater and hot magma that comes from the underwater volcanoes. As the fluids flow out of ocean trenches and into the seawater, chemical reactions occur. This causes sulfurs and other minerals to form metal rich towers and deposits onto the ocean floor.This abundance of minerals feed the organisms at the bottom of the food web such as bacteria and microbes. Another adaption is that these organisms at the bottom of the food web can live without relying on photosynthesis so instead they rely on other chemicals to provide an energy source. This in turn enables many microbes and bacteria to thrive in the ocean depths to ultimately end up being food sources for other organisms such as tube worms, mussel, and shrimp. In addition to this food source, any food debris left over from organisms at the top of the ocean will drift down to the trenches. To withstand the high pressures of the deep, organisms are made with piezolytes, small molecules that protect proteins from pressure.
Although scientists discovered most of the reasons how animals adapted to forming lives around ocean trenches, there is still much more to learn. This is because the organisms here are so deep and the trenches are the least explored environment on earth. Also only recently has technology advanced so much to allow us to explore more of the depths. Yet we know that a unique array of animals call ocean trenches home and that it took millions of years for organisms to adapt to the environment.
Although scientists discovered most of the reasons how animals adapted to forming lives around ocean trenches, there is still much more to learn. This is because the organisms here are so deep and the trenches are the least explored environment on earth. Also only recently has technology advanced so much to allow us to explore more of the depths. Yet we know that a unique array of animals call ocean trenches home and that it took millions of years for organisms to adapt to the environment.
Organisms
An endless amount of organisms thrive in the depths of ocean trenches. The same species can exist in different trenches too and have different adaptions. Some trenches have the same organisms and some don’t. Many of organisms are singled-celled and microscopic foraminifera, singled celled protists that construct shells, and are similar to algae. These organisms are thought to be the worlds earliest lifeforms. Yet many more organisms live in the depths such as sea cumcumbers, different types of fish, squids, isopods, and much more. A few of the organisms that exist in ocean trenches include: