It turns out that a completely unknown ecosystem spreads under the ``hydrothermal vent'' where high-temperature water spouts from the seabed
Humans have explored various places on the earth so far, but there are still places that have not been explored, and it is believed that
Scientists Discover New Ecosystem Underneath Hydrothermal Vents - Schmidt Ocean Institute
https://schmidtocean.org/scientists-discover-new-ecosystem-underneath-hydrothermal-vents/
Life Has Been Found Beneath Hydrothermal Vents For The First Time |
https://www.iflscience.com/life-has-been-found-beneath-hydrothermal-vents-for-the-first-time-70178
Scientists Find A Whole New Ecosystem Hiding Beneath Earth's Seafloor : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-find-a-whole-new-ecosystem-hiding-beneath-earths-seafloor
International research teams such as Austria, the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Costa Rica, Slovenia, etc., who boarded the research ship of the Schmidt Ocean Research Institute, conducted a 30-day expedition to explore the East Pacific off the coast of Central America. During the seafloor exploration, the research team turned over the crust of the hydrothermal vent with an underwater robot and discovered an ecosystem that exists ``under the hydrothermal vent''.
Hydrothermal vents are fissures found in volcanically active ocean floors, from which seawater that has entered the crust and is heated by magma is ejecting. The spouting hot water sometimes reaches several hundred degrees Celsius, but the water is rich in chemical substances such as heavy metals and hydrogen sulfide, and the surroundings of the hydrothermal vents are ecologically rich in these nutrients. system is known to exist. Researchers have been investigating the microbes living in and around hydrothermal vents for the past 46 years, but it seems that there has been no attempt to examine the bottom of hydrothermal vents.
According to the research team, there was a cave under the hydrothermal vent, and a large amount of tubeworms , snails, chemosynthetic bacteria, etc. that depended on minerals instead of sunlight as an energy source lived there. Jyotika Virmani , executive director of the Schmidt Oceanographic Institute, said, 'It has long been known that there are animals that live in underground cavities on land and in sand and mud in the ocean, but we are the first to do so. We searched for animals that live beneath hydrothermal vents, and the truly amazing discovery of new ecosystems hidden beneath one ecosystem meant that life existed in places we would never have believed possible. We provide new evidence that
Furthermore, the research team thought, ``Is the tube worm found in the hydrothermal vent moving through the seawater flowing underground?'' I was. The following video explains what kind of experiment the research team conducted.
A variety of organisms live around hydrothermal vents.
The seawater spouting out from the hydrothermal vents seeps into the underground space through cracks and is heated by magma. The research team conducted experiments using actual hydrothermal vents to investigate whether tube worms move through this underground waterway.
The experiment devised by the research team is called 'mesh box dyeing gadget'.
First, a section of the seabed is cleaned to remove animals, and a mesh box is placed on top of it. In addition, the gap between the mesh box and the seabed is closed to prevent animals that have moved on the seabed from entering.
Furthermore, the outside of the mesh box is covered with a staining box, and nontoxic chromosomes that stain animals are injected inside.
This will stain animals that have previously been in this area. On the other hand, animals newly entering this area through underground hydrothermal vent channels are unstained and can be identified.
As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that tubeworms migrate along hydrothermal channels and settle in new habitats. It is possible that juvenile tubeworms are rarely seen at the top of hydrothermal vents because they grow in underground channels.
Wendy Schmidt, co-founder of the Schmidt Oceanographic Institute, said: 'The findings of each Schmidt Oceanographic Institute expedition highlight the importance of fully exploring the ocean to find out what's in the deep ocean. The discovery of new creatures, landscapes, and entirely new ecosystems reminds us of how important it is to protect what we have yet to discover about the ocean, and what we do not yet know or understand. I am emphasizing that,' he said. The research team plans to publish a series of findings in the coming months.
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