Scientists have unearthed a weird and wonderful habitat filled with a variety of strange creatures underneath an undersea volcano.
Found beneath hydrothermal vents on the East Pacific Rise off Central America, the researchers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute, a nonprofit research organization, discovered a new ecosystem teeming with life, including worms and snails., which was exploring hydrothermal vents around 8,200 feet below the surface.
"This truly remarkable discovery of a new ecosystem, hidden beneath another ecosystem, provides fresh evidence that life exists in incredible places."These vents, first discovered in 1977 at the East Pacific Ridge, are underwater hot springs that spew out hot, mineral-rich seawater from tectonically active areas.
This mission marks the first time that life has been found underneath the vents, however. The organisms were uncovered after an underwater robot, ROV SuBastian, dug into the vent, removing a square of the ocean floor and inserting mesh boxes in its place. Later, the researchers saw a whole new ecosystem beneath the boxes, having come from under the sea floor.
Among the species that they found hidden beneath the vent were tube worm larvae, which are rarely seen above the vents during their larval stage. This led the scientists to theorize that this worm's larvae might travel via vent fluid below the ocean floor.
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