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Underwater Geyser

December 13, 2010

A black smoker chimney releases hot hydrothermal vent fluid filled with mineral particles that make it look like smoke. Diving in Alvin in 1993, scientists Holger Jannasch and Cindy Van Dover found this black smoker on a vent site called “Snake Pit” on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This image is one of the twelve featured in the 2011 WHOI wall calendar now available online.

(Image courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)