All articles tagged with #chemosynthesis
In Movile Cave near Mangalia, Romania, an 18‑metre‑deep, sunless chamber sealed for about 5.5 million years hosts 48 species—33 endemic—fed by chemosynthetic bacteria oxidising hydrogen sulfide; the largely eyeless, pigmentless community shows life can thrive on chemical energy without sunlight and informs astrobiology about potential life on other sunless worlds.
Chinese researchers aboard the Fendouzhe submersible documented dense beds of tubeworms and white clams on trench floors down to 9,533 metres, sustained by chemosynthesis from methane and hydrogen sulfide. This marks the deepest known animal ecosystem and suggests a sprawling chemosynthetic life corridor in hadal depths, with potential implications for the deep-sea carbon cycle. The findings come from two Pacific trenches (Kuril–Kamchatka and western Aleutian) and highlight a largely underexplored extreme environment, while raising questions about breadth across trenches and the sub-seafloor microbial ecosystem fueling it.
Scientists drilled 1.3 km beneath the Atlantic seabed near the Lost City hydrothermal field and found superheated, hydrogen-rich water with a chemical fingerprint matching the vent fluids, implying a hidden deep source feeding the sunless ecosystem. The water’s chemistry indicates past temperatures of at least 300°C, highlighting how chemical energy from rock–water reactions supports life without sunlight and offering clues about life on icy ocean worlds; however, samples were mixed with seawater and drilling fluids, and a direct underground connection to the chimneys remains unproven, so further expeditions are planned.
In Morocco’s Dadès Valley, researchers found wrinkle-like textures preserved on 180-million-year-old deep-water turbidites. Rather than photosynthetic algae, these textures appear to be created by chemosynthetic microbial mats that thrived below the photic zone. Evidence included carbon enrichment beneath the wrinkles and modern deep-sea observations of chemo-mats. The finding suggests such wrinkle structures can form in aphotic environments, broadening where scientists search for ancient microbial life and prompting a reevaluation of early-life indicators in the rock record.
When a whale sinks to the abyssal seafloor, it creates a whale fall that can host up to 190 species around a single skeleton. Bone‑eating Osedax worms feed on the bones for up to a decade, while bacteria release hydrogen sulfide to sustain chemosynthetic communities. These processes create a long-lasting deep-sea ecosystem observed at depths of about 4,000–6,800 meters, though the total number of active whale falls globally remains unknown.
Researchers aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Falkor, with the ROV SuBastian, discovered the largest Bathelia candida reef to date off Argentina, roughly 0.4 sq km, a vibrant deep-sea ecosystem powered by chemosynthesis near cold seeps and a whale fall, housing diverse life and potentially 28 new species across a 900‑km survey.
An ROV exploring the Beebe Vent Field at the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre nearly 5,000 meters below the sea uncovered a thriving hydrothermal-vent ecosystem around black-smoker chimneys. Vent fluids can reach around 401°C, but surrounding water stays cool enough to support life because of the immense pressure; energy comes from chemosynthesis instead of sunlight, sustaining organisms such as eelpouts, anemones, squat lobsters, and eyeless shrimp with dorsal light-sensing organs. This discovery highlights life’s resilience in extreme, sunless environments.
A deep-sea ROV explored the Cayman Trough and found the Beebe Vent Field, the deepest hydrothermal vents at about 4,968 meters. The vents spew near-boiling fluids that remain liquid under high pressure; life thrives via chemosynthesis, with organisms like eelpout fish, anemones, squat lobsters, and shrimp with light-sensing organs inhabiting the black-smoker environment.
A 10.7-meter Antarctic minke whale skeleton found at 1,444 meters near the South Sandwich Islands marks the first natural whale fall observed in Antarctic waters. In the sulfophilic stage, bacteria on decomposing bones generate chemical energy that sustains a new deep-sea community, including nine previously unknown species and bone-eating Osedax worms, with colonization linked to bone lipid content via the oil-gradient hypothesis. The ecosystem is powered by chemosynthesis rather than sunlight, and decomposition can take years to decades; researchers also note unresolved questions on how such isolated prey sources are located in the vast ocean and how whale falls connect to hydrothermal-vent habitats in polar regions.
When a whale carcass sinks to the deep ocean, it becomes a long-lasting, multi-stage feast: initial scavengers strip flesh, bone‑eating worms (Osedax) and bone‑eating snot‑flowers bore into bone, and later sulphur‑loving chemoautotrophs sustain a thriving community for decades, turning a single whale into a whole new ecosystem and aiding the dispersal of specialized deep‑sea life.
British researchers have discovered Hook Ridge, a cold, irregular hydrothermal vent off Antarctica that emits a low-temperature plume rather than the hot fluids typical of vents, and shows no current life due to its irregular activity; a relict mineral chimney reveals past hydrothermal activity and warmth. The finding suggests unusual vents can still influence deep-sea biology and may act as stepping stones for genetic material across the oceans.
Scientists found wrinkle-like fossil imprints in 180-million-year-old turbidites in Morocco's Central High Atlas, likely formed by ancient chemosynthetic microbial communities rather than photosynthetic life, suggesting deep-water habitats preserved in rocks may hold clues to early life and expanding where researchers search for oldest microbial life.
Geologists report wrinkle-like textures in 180-million-year-old deep-sea turbidites in Morocco that are biotic, formed by chemosynthetic microbial mats in sunless, low-oxygen waters. Carbon-rich layers beneath the wrinkles and modern deep-sea analogs support a biotic origin, suggesting such textures can record ancient life in deep-water settings and may widen where researchers search for early Earth life.
Scientists propose that radioactive elements seeping from Europa's rocks into its subsurface ocean could generate enough energy to support microbial life, offering an alternative to internal heat as a source of habitability. The upcoming NASA Europa Clipper mission may test this theory, which is inspired by Earth's chemosynthetic ecosystems.
Researchers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute discovered a hidden network of underwater caves off the Eastern Pacific, home to giant tube worms that survive through chemosynthesis, revealing a new, stable environment that could harbor more undiscovered marine life in extreme conditions.