Black smoker
Part of Hall of Planet Earth.
Part of Hall of Planet Earth.
Modern black smokers, like ancient black smokers, contain complex mixtures of fine crystals of iron, copper, and zinc sulfides. The images to the left are high-magnification views of the polished surface of a piece of Finn, one of the sulfide chimneys collected for this exhibition.
This PDF download contains more information about black smokers, from their discovery in 1977 to present day.