2023-08-09 18:42:00
It was almost unexpected. During an expedition off the western coasts of Central and South America, scientists discovered “an explosion of sea life” under hydrothermal vents – kinds of marine volcanoes present at around 3,000 meters deep –, reports the New York Times.
These exhaust ports are known to trigger jets of water that can reach 400 degrees Celsius. The New York daily explains that the surfaces and peripheries of these marine volcanoes are known to harbor life there, but that experts had never imagined the existence of animals under these “hellish geysers”.
However, everything changed when the robot used during the exploration overturned a volcanic rock substrate dotted with hydrothermal vents. Barely overturned, the marine support revealed a burst of tube worms, “strange creatures” looking like “sensitive spaghetti”says the Times.
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A repulsive discovery “the limits of the possible”
This discovery surprises the scientific community because it is the “first time animal life was discovered” inside these hydrothermal vents, explains Monika Bright, an ecologist at the University of Vienna.
Microbial life in this “other world” is well known. However, the presence of animals in a vault devoid of light surprises more than one.
“The deeper you go, the hotter it gets, the less oxygen, the more toxic chemicals… It’s very shallow, but it’s still under the earth’s crust,” Monika Bright said.
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Therefore, advances the New York Times, the unusual habitats described below by the scientist remain a mystery. Despite this, the knowledge of these animals of the abyss again pushes “the limits of what scientists consider possible”.
Nevertheless, although these revealed secrets of the sea depths are the subject of almost general amazement, some experts are not surprised. “I think it makes perfect sense,” said Julie Heber, a geologist interviewed by The Times.
The shallow subsoil, where temperatures are probably “cool” enough for animals to survive, is what I consider an “underwater conveyor belt” for microbes, nutrients and, now, animals
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The hydrothermal vents, “metropolises of strange creatures”
It was in 1977 that scientists detected for the first time, not far from the Galápagos Islands, hydrothermal vents during a research mission on the ocean ridge, relates the site Ocean Service.
These underwater vents often rise at or near volcanic fissures called “mid-ocean ridges”. Under the effect of the magmatic heat of the bowels of the Earth, the sea water begins to heat up and is thus projected by the columns in the form of superheated clusters rich in minerals, develops the Times.
Despite their extreme nature, the vents are teeming with “strange creatures”. Moreover, as explained in a publication by Vox, these volcanoes also represent a refuge for certain forms of life to develop there. Indeed, microbes resistant to extreme temperatures absorb hydrogen, sulfur and carbon dioxide and transform them into energy.
Seamounts function as staging posts: ocean outposts where life can seek refuge, refuel, and raise offspring before moving on.
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Among these living beings are the tube worms which emerge as larvae before becoming motionless adults reaching several centimeters in length and fed by bacteria. “sulphur eaters”.
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