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For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, check out our Privacy Policy Advertisement IFLScience Home IFLScience logo * trendingTrending * bookMost Read * Latest * Humans * Health & Medicine * Nature * Space & Physics * Technology * Multimedia + Videos + Podcasts + eBooks * News * Features * Opinion * Learn with IFLS * Company * Advertise With Us The IFLScience Home IFLScience logoNewsletter Sign up today to get weekly science coverage direct to your inbox Subscribe Today (c) 2023 IFLScience. All Rights Reserved IFLScience Home IFLScience logo * trendingTrending * bookMost Read The IFLScience Home IFLScience logoNewsletter Sign up today to get weekly science coverage direct to your inbox Subscribe Today (c) 2023 IFLScience. All Rights Reserved More * Latest * News * Features * Opinion * Learn with IFLS * Company IFLScience Home IFLScience logo search * Latest * Trending * Humans * Health & Medicine * Nature * Space & Physics * Technology * Multimedia + Videos + Podcasts + eBooks Newsletters in your inbox! Subscribe Subscribe today for our Weekly Newsletter in your inbox! Subscribe Today natureNaturenatureanimals clockPUBLISHED Life Has Been Found Beneath Hydrothermal Vents For The First Time The discovery represents a whole new ecosystem. author Rachael Funnell author Rachael Funnell Digital Content Producer * * Rachael is a writer and digital content producer at IFLScience with a Zoology degree from the University of Southampton, UK, and a nose for novelty animal stories. View full profile --------------------------------------------------------------------- Read IFLScience Editorial Policy Digital Content Producer share88Shares life beneath deep sea vents ROV SuBastian gathered geologic samples at a depth of 2,500 meters to test the theory that species were dispersing through cracks in the Earth's crust. Image credit: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute, CC BY-NC-SA An astonishing new ecosystem has just been announced following a discovery inside volcanic caves off Central America. It took the Schmidt Ocean Institute's (SOI) research vessel Falkor (too) 30 days to complete its expedition, and brought home one of the biggest discoveries in 46 years of studying hydrothermal vents. Here, on the East Pacific Rise, an underwater robot was able to turn over sections of volcanic crust to reveal a new-to-science ecosystem teeming with worms, snails, and chemosynthetic bacteria that are seemingly thriving despite living in 25degC (75degF) water. It changes the way we now view hydrothermal vents, adding a whole new dimension with ecosystems existing both on their surface and underneath. Advertisement "On land, we have long known of animals living in caves underground, and in the ocean of animals living in sand and mud, but for the first time, scientists have looked beneath hydrothermal vents," said SOI's Executive Director, Dr Jyotika Virmani, in a statement sent to IFlScience. "This truly remarkable discovery of a new ecosystem, hidden beneath another ecosystem, provides fresh evidence that life exists in incredible places." hydrothermal vent life The underside of a section of volcanic crust reveals some of the species living under the surface of hydrothermal vents. Image credit: Monika Naranjo-Shepherd / Schmidt Ocean Institute, CC BY-NC-SA It's the first time life has been found underneath hydrothermal vents, which are hot volcanic springs found along the seabed. The team also found evidence that surface species like tubeworms can travel underneath from the surface using vent fluid, enabling them to expand their range. boook svg Related Stories Antarctica May Lose Its Cooling Effect On Our Planet Amid Climate Crisisarrow Is It Too Late To Save The Northern White Rhino From Extinction?arrow Giant Testicles Inspired The First Name Ever Given In Print For A Dinosaur Bonearrow New hydrothermal vents can appear when tectonic activity sees the plates on Earth's crust shift and crack. These cracks fill with seawater that gets heated by the magma, making it rise back to the seafloor. We've long understood how new hydrothermal vents appear, but what had people scratching their heads was how the ecosystems that live on them emerge so rapidly. One of the foundational animals of these ecosystems is the tubeworm, but we've rarely found its young on hydrothermal vent surfaces. Advertisement This new and pivotal discovery about how tubeworms can travel beneath the hydrothermal vent surface goes some way to explaining how they colonize new habitats. They were able to reach their conclusions with the aid of the underwater robot, ROV SuBastian, which glued boxes over cracks in the Earth's crust and was able to collect some of the animals living below the surface. life beneath hydrothermal vents Experiments code-named "Mesh Box Staining Gadgets" were sealed to the seafloor at the Tica Vent to see what, if any, life was beneath. Image credit: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute, CC BY-NC-SA "Our understanding of animal life at deep-sea hydrothermal vents has greatly expanded with this discovery, " said expedition lead Dr Monika Bright of the University of Vienna. "Two dynamic vent habitats exist. Vent animals above and below the surface thrive together in unison, depending on vent fluid from below and oxygen in the seawater from above." The discovery of a new ecosystem is always an exciting one, but it also represents a new consideration in the ongoing debate over the safety of deep-sea mining. Some argue that the sea bed is the path of least destruction when it comes to mining the planet for the metals needed to supply the green battery revolution, but others warn we have a long way to go before we can establish the possible harms of digging in the deep sea. "The discoveries made on each Schmidt Ocean Institute expedition reinforce the urgency of fully exploring our ocean so we know what exists in the deep sea," said Wendy Schmidt, president and co-founder of Schmidt Ocean Institute. "The discovery of new creatures, landscapes, and now, an entirely new ecosystem underscores just how much we have yet to discover about our Ocean -and how important it is to protect what we don't yet know or understand." Advertisement After all, as anyone who's watched Underwater knows, drilling beneath deep-sea vents can end very badly. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARTICLE POSTED IN natureNaturenatureanimals * tag * animals, * deep sea, * hydrothermal vent, * deep sea animals commentsDiscuss (0 CommentS)FOLLOW ONNEWSGoogele News nature More Nature Stories Antarctica May Lose Its Cooling Effect On Our Planet Amid Climate CrisisGentoo penguins couple in Antarctica watching the sunrise natureclimate Antarctica May Lose Its Cooling Effect On Our Planet Amid Climate Crisis clock6 hours ago share63 Is It Too Late To Save The Northern White Rhino From Extinction?Side profile of the head of a northern white rhino in a grass paddock natureanimals Is It Too Late To Save The Northern White Rhino From Extinction? clock6 hours ago share67 Giant Testicles Inspired The First Name Ever Given In Print For A Dinosaur Bonescrotum humanum natureanimals Giant Testicles Inspired The First Name Ever Given In Print For A Dinosaur Bone clock6 hours ago share13 Advertisement (*)( ) * trendingTrending * bookMost Read Why Do You Never Hear About Crop Circles Anymore?A crop circle carved into a green field against a sun set background. 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