[HN Gopher] Hydrothermal environment discovered deep beneath the...
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       Hydrothermal environment discovered deep beneath the ocean
        
       Author : Brajeshwar
       Score  : 65 points
       Date   : 2024-07-01 15:23 UTC (4 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.sciencealert.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.sciencealert.com)
        
       | pfdietz wrote:
       | Nature article:
       | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-60802-3
        
         | svara wrote:
         | *Scientific Reports article
        
         | westurner wrote:
         | "Discovery of the first hydrothermal field along the 500-km-
         | long Knipovich Ridge offshore Svalbard (the Jotul field)"
         | (2024) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-60802-3 :
         | 
         | > _" The newly discovered hydrothermal field, named Jotul
         | hydrothermal field, is associated with the eastern bounding
         | fault of the rift valley rather than with an axial volcanic
         | ridge. Guided by physico-chemical anomalies in the water
         | column,_ ROV investigations on the seafloor showed a wide
         | variety of fluid escape sites, inactive and active mounds with
         | abundant hydrothermal precipitates, and chemosynthetic
         | organisms. _Fluids with temperatures between 8 and 316 degC as
         | well as precipitates were sampled at four vent sites. High
         | methane, carbon dioxide, and ammonium concentrations, as well
         | as high [87 /86] Sr isotope ratios of the vent fluids indicate
         | strong interaction between magma and sediments from the
         | Svalbard continental margin. Such interactions are important
         | for carbon mobilization at the seafloor and the carbon cycle in
         | the ocean_
         | 
         | Does that help confirm or reject thi?s:
         | 
         | "Dehydration melting at the top of the lower mantle" (2014)
         | https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1253358 :
         | 
         | > _They conclude that the mantle transition zone -- 410 to 660
         | km below Earth 's surface -- acts as a large reservoir of
         | water._
        
           | pfdietz wrote:
           | I don't think it has anything to do with that. The water in
           | these zones is seawater convecting down, then up, through the
           | hot rock.
        
             | westurner wrote:
             | So, unknown what's between 410km and these hydrothermal
             | vents at 3km (3020m)?
        
               | pfdietz wrote:
               | I didn't say that, it's just that it isn't relevant.
        
       | pictureofabear wrote:
       | These kind of discoveries make me extremely hopeful that there is
       | life on Europa or Enceladus
        
         | freilanzer wrote:
         | That would be a dream come true for me. Enceladus is
         | fascinating. I'm even writing a scifi short story about it at
         | the moment.
        
         | solardev wrote:
         | You're not the only one!
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_Report?wprov=sfla1
        
       | freilanzer wrote:
       | Warning: Entering ecological dead zone.
        
         | TheCraiggers wrote:
         | I always wondered how that warning made any sense when it was
         | given about 5 seconds before a leviathan attempts to swallow
         | your sub whole. Obviously the huge sea monster didn't get the
         | memo.
        
           | dunefox wrote:
           | Would you have preferred an invisible wall?
        
             | TheCraiggers wrote:
             | Not at all.
             | 
             | But don't tell me I'm entering an ecological dead zone
             | right before some ecology attempts to eat me.
        
               | willy_k wrote:
               | Could it be that the leviathan is the cause of the dead
               | zone?
        
               | solardev wrote:
               | If it ate the entire ecology, how does it itself survive?
               | 
               | Maybe by feeding on players...
        
               | tantalor wrote:
               | Ecology is a system of multiple living things. One living
               | thing does not an ecology make.
        
               | Interloper2099 wrote:
               | "This area meets 5 of the 7 traits for terror in humans,
               | are you sure what you are doing is worth it"
        
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       (page generated 2024-07-05 23:01 UTC)