Hydrothermal Vent Simulator (2D)

This 2D side-view simulator models a single deep-sea black-smoker vent: superheated, mineral-rich fluid erupts from a crack in the seafloor and mixes with near-freezing seawater, instantly precipitating dissolved metal sulfides into a growing mineral chimney. Raise the vent temperature or mineral concentration to speed up chimney growth and darken the plume, or increase the bottom current to see the rising smoke bend and cool faster. A live color-coded temperature gradient tracks the mixing front from the scorching vent throat down to background deep-ocean temperature, and toggling tube worms shows the chemosynthetic community that settles at the edge of that gradient to feed on the vent's chemical energy.