Such that it can fuel and provide nutrients for very large, robust, active animals in this particular environment. Another issue that I am very interested in is what kinds of microhabitats animals seek out and how they manage to exploit them. This is a kind of a perfect scenario here, in that the worms anchor themselves in the rocks where the hydrothermal vent fluid is issuing out into the sea floor, so at the base of their tube hydrothermal fluid is entering into the environment. It's enriched in hydrogen sulfide and CO2, but is devoid of oxygen. Temperatures are fairly elevated right here, but there is a gradient across the animal which is of interest physiologically, as well.
Temperature is a big player in metabolism.
So it's essential for these animals to seek out the interface between the hydrothermal fluids and the ambient bottom water. So they seek that interface and they're restricted to an area where there is a combination of both of these characteristics. Then these metabolites are taken up by the plume and transported to the interior region of the animal for metabolism. That's what you'll find, that generally all these animals have interesting stories, that have some similarities, but everybody has a new little spin on it. So these guys basically position themselves, as I mentioned, in cracks in the pillow lava.