In a hidden cavity at the bottom of the deep ocean, an oasis created by hydrothermal activity, an entire community of multicellular animals lives their best life in the dark.
The discovery suggests that a much more complex hydrothermal ecosystem than we knew exists in the deep ocean, shrouded in eternal darkness, where overwhelming pressure and intense cold can , creating extremely inhospitable conditions for humans living on the air-filled surface.
“We were surprised because we didn’t know there was a cavity there,” Monica Breit, a marine biologist at the University of Vienna, told ScienceAlert.
“These cavities had been previously described by geologists, but we biologists didn’t know they were there because they had never seen animals, but tubes at the surface After trying to collect rocks to look for worm larvae, the animals found their way into the cavity.
The hydrothermal vent area of the East Pacific Ridge is 2,515 meters (8,250 feet) below sea level, a depth that is difficult for humans to reach. But this volcanically active area of the ocean floor is dotted with holes, through which heat and minerals seep in, providing the chemical synthesis that fuels marine food webs.
These environments are so harsh that they are difficult to study and our understanding of their nature is limited. But in recent years, we are learning its secrets, thanks to advances in remote control technology that allow us to send instruments deep into the ocean while remaining safely on the surface.
Bright and her colleagues conducted just such a mission on a research vessel. Falcor (also)will deploy the remotely operated vehicle SuB-astian to investigate and collect samples to investigate life gathering around the vents of the East Pacific Ridge. They did not expect to break through the ocean floor and find a cavity beneath.
These cavities lie about 10 centimeters (4 inches) below the ocean floor and are filled with water warmed by volcanic activity to temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit), and are home to at least 10 species. species have been recorded. polychaete, sea snailand a giant tubeworm, Liftia Pachyputira.
Some of the same species have also been found on the surface of the earth and in cracks in lava, suggesting a connection to the ocean floor and the cavities below.
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“The fact that we found live large tube worms confirms the hypothesis that larvae can colonize vents from below,” Bright explained. “Some will settle if subsurface conditions are suitable, while others will be flushed out of the subsurface by vent flow and settle on the surface.”
The conditions in some cavities are very similar to those around vents on the ocean floor surface, which may mean that subsurface communities are very widespread. This may imply that the cavity community may be a source of anchorage for submarine vents after a volcanic eruption occurs.
It is currently unknown how common or widespread these cavities are. But the discovery tells us we need to do more to understand the animals that live far beneath the waves and protect them from human activities such as deep-sea mining, the researchers say. say the people.
“We are now thinking about what the next steps will be, for example, whether the ROV will dig deeper into the crust to study vertical extent, or expand horizontally to explore other eruption areas,” Bright said. We will develop tools to investigate.” . ”
This research nature communications.
