Discoveries

May 11, 2023

Fires of the Sea

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Scientists discovered a number of “hydrothermal lost cities” deep in the Atlantic Ocean, where scalding water billows like smoke from the sea floor, the Miami Herald reported.

Located more than 2,200 miles east of Miami, the exploration team came across three new hydrothermal vent fields while mapping an area of about 65 square miles along the volatile Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

They explained that those fields resemble seafloor wildfires that can spew out seawater reaching up to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. Although it looks like the seafloor is ejecting smoke, the team noted that the vents are letting out seawater that has been “chemically altered through water-rock interactions at high temperatures.”

While it might seem dangerous to be close to them, researchers noticed the fields were surrounded by many creatures attracted to the warmth, including “massive swarms of vent shrimp.”

“These are the very real ecosystems around the hydrothermal vents we were lucky enough to explore … Astounding geological structures and remarkable biological diversity,” said the Schmidt Ocean Institute, which participated in the deep-sea expedition.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an almost 10,000-mile-long mountain range that stretches down the center of the Atlantic Ocean, appearing as a massive wall. These hydrothermal vent fields were located at depths ranging from 1.2 to 2.4 miles.

Studying the Ridge and its vent fields could provide scientists with new clues about how life on Earth began.

“While the exact origins of life on Earth are unknown, the process necessitates two things: organic molecules and a stable environment to preserve them,” the institute reported. “The chemical process that creates Lost City-style vents meets both requirements.”

This story originally appeared in the May 11, 2023 newsletter, Family Business.