The enormous field of hydrothermal vents could have a substantial effect on the understanding of vent systems, as well as the role they are playing in ocean ecosystems, scientists recently said.

The discovery on the seafloor in the East Pacific Ocean's dark depths, a ScienceAlert report specified, is the hottest, not to mention largest ever found in the region yet.

 

Not only that, even though it is a site, scientists were not expecting to find active vents, never mind the whole system of them, hundreds of meters from the axis of a volcanic ridge.

The field was discovered by a group of scientists through the use of autonomous underwater vehicles to map the seafloor at depths unwelcoming to human explorers.

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Hydrothermal Vents
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/NOAA)
Barnacles at hydrothermal vents


Hydrothermal Vents

In data gathered from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's AUV Sentry, the team discovered a region of massive spires, standing up to three stories in height at depths of more than 8,000 feet underneath the surface, in the silent, perpetually dark bathypelagic depths.

At first, the team thought the vents were extinct, although a closer look showed otherwise. Daniel Fornari, a marine geologist from the WHOI, is astounded that "not only was the field very active," but it is more massive in the area and hotter in origin temperature compared to what has been studied for the last three decades.

A similar MalcolmWinters report said hydrothermal vents are "home to some of the most fascinating ecosystems on Earth." Essentially, they are openings on the seafloor where chemicals and heat are vented from the Earth's crust, typically linked to volcanic activity.

The vent plumes can be scorchingly hot, higher than 750 degrees Fahrenheit, yet life is thriving in their instantaneous proximity.

Pinnacles of Massive Vent Field

Typically, quests for hydrothermal vent systems in the East Pacific are concentrated close to ridge axes, as well as loci of volcanic activity.

Here, a research team led by Jill McDermott from Lehigh University was seeking to map the area better, west and east of the East Pacific Rise axial, using the sonar of Sentry to produce three-dimensional maps of the seafloor.

McDermott explained that the mapping work offers a detailed illustration of the seafloor so that the changes can be monitored and quantified, those that take place when the next volcanic eruption occurs along this part of the East Pacific Rise ridge axis.

During this survey, the team discovered pinnacles of a massive vent field 750 meters east of the ridge axis and from five to seven kilometers north of the nearest known active on-axis vents.

Researchers of this study published in the PNAS journal believe that the vents, detailed in National Geographic, may help in reseeding nearby hydrothermal ecosystems after volcanic eruptions.

Essentially, two eruptions have taken place on the East Pacific Rise in recent decades. One took place from 1991 to 1992, and another eruption occurred from 2005 to 2006. Another one is expected to take place in a few years.

Related information about hydrothermal vents is shown on MBARI's YouTube video below:

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