Langseth Ridge, a seafloor located 80 miles off the central Arctic and 2,000 feet deep, is an oceanic region that is barren and not habitable by any animals. The underwater is not a healthy ecosystem compared to the flourishing oceans around the globe. Only a few nutrients are present due to the thick ice chunks that block the sunlight.
Also, the place was met with polar extremities. Thousand of years ago, the ridge experienced a massive volcanic activity. Sulfur from the geological event sustenance to the endemic tubeworms in the area.
In a closer perspective, the sulfurs actually fed the symbiotic bacteria existing inside the tubeworms. The regulation of energy from sulfurs gave way to the only living organism that thrives on the Langseth Ridge.
Big Sponges of Langseth Ridge Feeds on Fossilized Remains of Tubeworms
Scientists explored how the ridge kept the remaining life underwater and how the previous ecosystem developed before the volcanic event occurred in a new study.
Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research director and co-author of the research Antje Boetius said in a Wired report that the scientific community is still clueless about the organisms living in the giant mounds.
Boetius emphasized that the region is a remote aquatic region, where no animals and plants have been discovered. There were no explorations conducted across the mounds and no imaging was captured.
To piece the puzzle of Langseth Ridge's mystery, the authors utilized a hybrid remotely operated vehicle (HROV) called Nereus.
The examination allowed the team to discover the thriving species on the deep. Instead of the common worms, the ridge is abundant with large sponges three feet wide. The sponges are approximately 300 years old and some are older.
The sponges of the Langseth ridge exhibited the same microbe-based survival approach. The sponges evolved by feeding off the remains of the original worm settlers, which died 2,000 years ago.
Instead of harnessing energies straight from sulfur, the sponges fuel themselves through a fossilized hydrothermal ecosystem that once existed across the mounds.
Arctic Ecosystem Threatened by Melting Ice
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology expert and lead author of the study Teresa Marla Morgan said that the new ecosystem in the ridge is similar to a forest that thrives in the middle of a desert. The method on how the spongers exploited the ancient community is fascinating.
The tiny silica that makes up the sponges' structure, also known as spicules, builds up a dense mat that serves as the primary foundation of Langseth Ridge's ecosystem.
The mat acts as a complex three-dimensional labyrinth for other organisms, such as shrimps, that visit the area. The fossilized tubes are composed of protein and substances used by crustaceans for creating their shells, also known as chitin. According to the authors, the sponge community lives using the biomass left by the previous occupants.
Alongside the fossilized nutrients, the symbionts inside the sponges help them grab food from the water column using the same approach they do when dissolving inorganic carbon. They reproduce through budding, in which they replicate themselves complete with the same genes and symbionts.
The sponges can be considered aquatic engineers since they provide surfaces for other species such as corals but are threatened due to the alarming heat that the Arctic experiences.
British Antarctic Survey biologist Huw Griffiths, who was not part of the study, said that the latest study shows that almost-impossible discoveries are only available due to the decrease of ice.
The habitat in Langseth Ridge is facing a growing threat due to the melting ice that will make them more accessible.
The study titled "Giant sponge grounds of Central Arctic seamounts are associated with extinct seep life" was published in Nature Communications.
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