An international team of scientists led by Dr. Monika Bright from the University of Vienna has discovered a new ecosystem in volcanic cavities beneath hydrothermal vents.
The 30-day expedition was carried out aboard the research vessel Falkor, operated by the Schmidt Ocean Institute.
Hydrothermal vents, like underwater hot springs, form as a result of tectonic activity that causes cracks in the earth's crust. These vents have been studied for more than four decades, with scientists focusing on microbial life underground.
However, this is the first time researchers have looked for animals under these volcanic hot springs. The team used an underwater robot, ROV SuBastian, to flip blocks of volcanic crust, revealing a cave system filled with worms, snails, and synthetic bacteriophages that live in waters as hot as 25 degrees Celsius.
This discovery adds a new dimension to our understanding of hydrothermal vents, showing that their habitat exists both above and below the seafloor.
In addition, scientists have found evidence of vented animals, such as tubeworms, moving on the seafloor through vent fluid to colonize new habitats.
Tubeworms are the predominant animals of hydrothermal vents, but very few of their young are found in the water above hydrothermal vents. This leads Dr. Bright's team to suspect that they move below the earth's surface to create new hydrothermal communities. Dr. Bright said: “Our understanding of animal life in deep-sea hydrothermal vents has expanded dramatically with this discovery. "There are two dynamic vent habitats. Animals in the upper and lower surface vents grow together, depending on the fluid venting from below and the amount of oxygen in the seawater from above."
To confirm whether animals could move through vented fluids, the team conducted experiments by gluing mesh boxes into cracks in the earth's crust. When the boxes were removed after a few days, they discovered animals living below the surface in hydrothermal cavities. The results of these experiments will be studied in the coming months. Dr. Jyotika Virmani, executive director of the Schmidt Ocean Institute, expressed excitement at the discovery. "This truly remarkable discovery of a new ecosystem, hidden beneath another, provides new evidence that life exists in unbelievable places," she said.
Wendy Schmidt, President and Co-Founder of the Schmidt Ocean Institute, emphasizes the importance of exploring our oceans. “The discovery of new creatures, new landscapes, and now a whole new ecosystem shows how much we still have to discover about our oceans and the importance of protecting what we do. don't know or don't understand," she said.
