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Description
Galapagos 2005 Expedition. The different colors that can be seen in this slicedpiece of hydrothermal vent structure reveal some of the different mineralsthat composed the vent wall. Concentric circles of various mineral zonesform like tree rings in the chimney wall and evolve with changes in thermaland chemical gradients, as well as changes in chimney wall permeability. (Image credit: Image courtesy of UCSB, Univ. S. Carolina, NOAA, WHOI.)