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Hydrothermal Vents

All articles tagged with #hydrothermal vents

science4 days ago•4 min saved

New Study Challenges Alkaline Hydrothermal Vent Theory for Life's Origin

A new paper by Benjamin Tutolo of the University of Calgary challenges the prevailing theory that life originated at alkaline hydrothermal vents. Tutolo argues that the necessary chemical reactions could not have occurred because the environment only became alkaline after cooling, and reduced sulfur was likely scarce. This development prompts a re-evaluation of alternative hypotheses, including Darwin's warm pond theory, tidal flat cycles, and even panspermia, highlighting the critical need to understand Earth's biological origins to search for life elsewhere.

via Big Think|

#astrobiology #chemical-evolution #hydrothermal-vents

science-and-tech10 days ago•28 min saved

Atlantic’s ‘Lost City’ Hydrothermal Field Offers Clues to Alien Life

A unique hydrothermal field in the Atlantic, known as the 'Lost City,' features towering carbonate structures and supports life without sunlight. Discovered in 2000, it is the longest-lived venting environment on Earth. While it offers insights into potential life on other planets, it faces threats from deep-sea mining rights granted to Poland in 2018. Conservationists are calling for World Heritage status to protect the site.

via Indy100 | News|

#astrobiology #atlantic-ocean #deep-sea-mining

science1 month ago•15 min saved

California’s Octopus Garden Reveals 20,000 Nests, the Largest Octopus Nursery on Earth

Researchers mapping a deep-sea site off Central California describe the Octopus Garden, near the Davidson Seamount, as the planet’s largest known octopus nursery with an estimated 20,000 Muusoctopus robustus across a 333-hectare area, including 5,718 individuals documented in 2.5 hectares. The octopuses congregate to mate and nest at depths around 3,200 meters where hydrothermal vents warm crevices to about 11°C, accelerating egg incubation to under two years. Females brood eggs and typically die after reproduction, while the site also sustains the local ecosystem by providing substantial biomass for other species, highlighting a remarkable deep-sea biodiversity hotspot.

via The Times of India|

#biodiversity #deep-sea #hydrothermal-vents

science1 month ago•8 min saved

Beneath Crater Lake: A Submerged World of Fire, Ice, and Life

Crater Lake in Oregon is the deepest US lake at 1,949 feet, occupying Mount Mazama’s caldera formed after a massive eruption 7,700 years ago; with no inlet or outlet, its level is set by evaporation and seepage. Its bottom features submerged cones, a major landslide deposit, ancient lava plains, and active hydrothermal vents that harbor chemolithoautotrophic bacteria, while Wizard Island rises above the lake as a post-eruption cone. The lake’s depth and floor map were built over more than a century of measurements, from lead-line soundings to modern multibeam sonar in 2000, and ongoing caldera activity may produce future underwater eruptions that remain hidden beneath the water.

via WorldAtlas|

#crater-lake #deep-lake-ecology #geology

science1 month ago•14 min saved

One Genetic Code, Two Beginnings: A Fresh Take on Life’s Origins

A Science Advances study argues bacteria and archaea inherited one ancient genetic code but independently completed cellular metabolism, effectively yielding one origin of the genetic code and two origins of life. The model suggests LUCA relied on environmental chemistry and metals to drive core reactions, with each lineage later filling in missing metabolism with its own enzymes. Five cases of convergent, structurally distinct enzymes underlie these separate paths. The idea is provocative and tentative, contingent on more archaeal genomes and experiments, and does not imply two abiogenesis events—merely two autonomous metabolic completions after a shared genetic root.

via Space Daily|

#convergent-evolution #hydrothermal-vents #luca

environment2 months ago•3 min saved

Microplastics Reach Deep-Sea Vents; Indian Ocean Species Harbor 14.7× More Particles

A KRIBB-KIOST study analyzed deep-sea snails and mussels from hydrothermal vents in the North Fiji Basin (Pacific) and Central Indian Ridge, finding microplastics in 92% of the animals (average 3.42 particles per specimen). Polystyrene was most common; grazing snails concentrated plastics in digestive organs, while mussels showed a more even distribution. After adjusting for body weight, Indian Ocean specimens had up to 14.7× higher microplastic concentrations than Pacific specimens, likely due to differences in human activity, river inputs, and circulation. The researchers emphasize that surface plastic pollution has reached remote deep-sea ecosystems and advocate for monitoring and conservation policies.

via The Times of India|

#deep-sea #environment #hydrothermal-vents

environment2 months ago•13 min saved

Deep-sea vents show microplastics infiltration, study finds

A KRIBB–KIOST study found microplastics contaminating over 90% of deep-sea molluscs living on hydrothermal vents deeper than 2,000 metres, with Indian Ocean samples nearly 15 times more polluted than those from the southwestern Pacific; most plastics were polystyrene, suggesting coastal pollution and riverine inputs are delivering microplastics even to Earth's deepest ecosystems and underscoring the need for deep-sea monitoring and conservation policies.

via Oceanographic Magazine|

#deep-sea #environment #hydrothermal-vents

science2 months ago•4 min saved

Deep Atlantic Drilling Reveals Hidden Hot Water Source Fueling Sunless Ocean Life

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.

via The Times of India|

#chemosynthesis #hydrothermal-vents #lost-city

earth-science2 months ago•16 min saved

Real Gold Lurks Inside Fool’s Gold at Deep-Sea Vents

Japanese scientists aboard the Shinsei Maru found real gold embedded in pyrite near Higashi‑Aogashima Knoll’s hydrothermal vents, with concentrations up to 1.9% by weight—far higher than other deep‑sea deposits—trapped in colloform pyrite formed by vent fluids and arsenic-rich minerals; detected using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). This “invisible gold” could guide future deep‑sea exploration and mining.

via Gizmodo|

#deep-sea-mining #earth-science #hydrothermal-vents

space3 months ago•10 min saved

Enceladus’ plumes reveal a hydrogen-powered hidden ocean

Saturn’s moon Enceladus vents a subsurface ocean through its south-pole tiger stripes, and Cassini measurements show hydrogen in the plume, likely produced by water-rock reactions in the ocean (serpentinisation) that energy-hungry microbes could exploit as in Earth's hydrothermal vents. New analyses find a broader suite of organic compounds and phosphates in plume grains, bringing five of the six bio-essential elements to the scene, but no life is detected and sulfur remains elusive. The results strengthen the case for habitability and set the stage for a future mission to search for signs of biology rather than a new discovery of life itself.

via Space Daily|

#enceladus #hydrogen #hydrothermal-vents

science3 months ago•4 min saved

Atlantic Doldrums Reveal First Hydrothermal Vents, Stoking Awe for Deep-Sea Life

Researchers using the ROV SuBastian uncovered two hydrothermal vent fields in the Doldrums Megatransform and Fracture Zone off Brazil, including a 24‑acre area with 23 vents and 13 active black smokers at about 280°C. The vents host life from anemones to Rimicaris shrimp, powered by chemical energy from vent fluids. The discovery, aided by serpentinisation, shows the Atlantic’s deep ecosystems are more diverse than thought and could offer clues about life on other worlds.

via BBC Wildlife Magazine|

#deep-sea #doldrums-megatransform #hydrothermal-vents

science3 months ago•5 min saved

Japan Seafloor Gold Hits Record Levels, Sparking Deep-Sea Mining Debate

Researchers analyzing Higashi-Aogashima hydrothermal vents off Japan found extremely high concentrations of gold trapped inside pyrite nanoparticles, the highest ever recorded, suggesting a potential new source for underwater mining but also raising environmental and feasibility concerns; the findings, published in Scientific Reports, come amid ongoing debate and moratoriums on deep-sea mining, with no commercial mine in operation yet.

via ScienceAlert|

#deep-sea-mining #gold #hydrothermal-vents

science3 months ago•5 min saved

Remote Atlantic Abyss Reveals Hidden Vents and Rare Deep-Sea Life

Scientists spent 35 days mapping a remote Atlantic region along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, discovering two new hydrothermal vent fields about 4,000 meters deep and documenting vent-dwelling communities. The mission captured first live footage of a barreleye in its natural habitat, plus an isopod carrying sunken seaweed and the deepest-dwelling bigfin squid, highlighting chemosynthesis-based ecosystems that could inform the search for life on other worlds.

via PetaPixel|

#barreleye #bigfin-squid #deep-sea

science3 months ago•6 min saved

Atlantic Deep Reveals First In-Situ Footage of Rare Barreleye and Serpentinization Vents

Researchers using the ROV SuBastian and AUV The Childlike Empress aboard the Falkor captured the first in-situ footage of the twilight-zone barreleye Winteria telescopa at 710 m depth in the Atlantic's Doldrums region, and documented two new serpentinization-linked hydrothermal fields around 4,000 m, revealing active deep-sea life and offering clues about life in extreme environments and on other worlds; findings to be published.

via ScienceAlert|

#barreleye #deep-sea-exploration #hydrothermal-vents

science4 months ago•19 min saved

Hidden Cities of the Deep: life around vents and the race to mine the ocean floor

A sweeping look at Earth’s deep ocean—from twilight mid-water zones to hydrothermal vents—reveals an enormous, little-understood ecosystem that fuels global climate and hosts bizarre life forms powered by chemical energy. It traces a century of exploration (Challenger, Alvin) and explains how mid-water migrations drive major carbon transport, while warning that growing seabed‑mining interests, especially for manganese nodules in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone, threaten fragile, slow‑growing communities and untapped biotechnologies. The piece argues for protecting these environments even as they hold clues to life’s origins and future innovations.

via The Guardian|

#biodiversity #carbon-cycle #deep-sea