Talk:Beebe Hydrothermal Vent Field

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Implications of supercriticality[edit]

So the fluid is supercritical at the vent orifice. Does that make its appearance any different from that of other black smokers where the fluid is subcritical? 75.163.204.131 (talk) 03:25, 29 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not from a visual perspective, no. Supercritical fluids tend to do weird things with odd elements like lose chlorine, whereas the defining trait of a black smoker is dissolved iron and other metals which eventually precipitate when the plume cools. The Beebe vent field's original plume (Piccard) was detected from some other plume characteristics if I remember correctly, though the plume is particularly buoyant since it is so hot which may give the field the appearance of being "taller" than other black smoker plumes. --Wünderbrot (talk) 20:48, 26 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]