Expedition to the Lost City.
11. The Field Has Thirty Vents, Both Active And Inactive
Because of the composition of the mineral-enriched water that spews out of the vents, the chimneys that have formed around the vents are composed mostly of calcite, brucite, and aragonite. As a result, the chimneys have a white color.
Some of the vents are active, meaning that they routinely spew heated water from beneath the ocean floor. Some are inactive, meaning that they emitted the heated water in the past but currently do not. However, they may begin doing so again in the future.