Where do hydrothermal vents come from?

Pierre-Marie SARRADIN, chemist and head of the research unit Study of Deep-sea Ecosystems, explain the origin of hydrothermal vents.

The schematic beolw summarizes the functioning of hydrothermal vents from the infiltration of seawater through the fissures to the expulsion of the hot vent fluid at the surface of the oceanic crust.