Plate tectonic history and hot vent biogeography

Since the 1977 discovery of hydrothermal vents and their extraordinary fauna, vents have been discovered along mid-ocean ridges in the eastern Pacific, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and on the spreading centres behind western Pacific subduction zones. The dependence of these habitats on plate activity suggests that plate history may play a strong role in their evolution. As few of the species known from vents are found in other marine habitats, an …