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Cold seep
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=== Comparison with other communities === {{Main|Deep sea communities|Hydrothermal vent}} [[File:Expl1771 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg|thumb|right|{{center|''[[Lamellibrachia]]'' tube worms and mussel at a cold seep}}]] Cold seeps and [[hydrothermal vent]]s of deep oceans are communities that do not rely on [[photosynthesis]] for food and energy production.<ref name="Vanreusel 2010" /> These systems are largely driven by [[chemosynthetic]] derived energy.<ref name="Vanreusel 2010" /> Both systems share common characteristics such as the presence of reduced chemical compounds ([[Hydrogen sulfide|H<sub>2</sub>S]] and [[hydrocarbonate]]s), local [[hypoxia (environmental)|hypoxia]] or even [[Anoxic waters|anoxia]], a high abundance and metabolic activity of bacterial populations, and the production of [[wikt:autochthonous|autochthonous]], organic material by [[chemoautotrophic]] bacteria.<ref name="Vanreusel 2010" /> Both hydrothermal vents and cold seeps show highly increased levels of metazoan biomass in association with a low local diversity.<ref name="Vanreusel 2010" /> This is explained through the presence of dense aggregations of foundation species and [[epizoic]] animals living within these aggregations.<ref name="Vanreusel 2010" /> Community-level comparisons reveal that vent, seep, and organic-fall macrofauna are very distinct in terms of composition at the family level, although they share many dominant [[taxa]] among highly sulphidic habitats.<ref name="Bernardino 2012" /> However, hydrothermal vents and cold seeps also differ in many ways. Compared to the more stable cold seeps, vents are characterized by locally-high temperatures, strongly fluctuating temperatures, pH, sulfide and oxygen concentrations, often the absence of sediments, a relatively young age, and often-unpredictable conditions, such as waxing and waning of vent fluids or volcanic eruptions.<ref name="Vanreusel 2010" /> Unlike hydrothermal vents, which are volatile and [[ephemeral]] environments, cold seeps emit at a slow and dependable rate. Likely owing to the cooler temperatures and stability, many cold seep organisms are much longer-lived than those inhabiting hydrothermal vents.
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