Lost City Hydrothermal Field Discovered 2,300 Feet Beneath Ocean's Surface

A lost city was found underwater, unlike anything one had ever seen.

Lost City Hydrothermal Field Appears Ghostly Blue in Remotely Operated Vehicle Light

The Lost City was discovered near the summit of an underwater mountain west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Its creamy carbonate walls and columns look ghostly blue in the light of the remotely operated vehicle sent to explore the area, Science Alert reported.

It features tiny stacks the size of toadstools to a 60-meter grand monolith.

The Lost City Hydrothermal Field was discovered by scientists in 2000, over 700 meters (2,300 feet) beneath the surface water. It is the longest-lived venting environment in the ocean. There was nothing like it.

Its upthrusting mantle is estimated to be around at least 120,000 years and has reacted with seawater to puff hydrogen, methane and other dissolved gases.

Hydrocarbons feed the microbial community found in the cracks and crevices of the field without oxygen.

Chimneys spewing gases as hot as 40 degrees Celsius serve as home to snails and crustaceans, which are very abundant in the area. Larger animals like crabs, shrimps, eels and sea urchins are rare.

The Lost City produced hydrocarbons that were not formed from atmospheric carbon dioxide or sunlight but through the chemical reactions on the deep seafloor. Since hydrocarbons are life's building blocks, the discovery opens the possibility that life may have originated in a habitat like the one in the Lost City.

Hydrothermal fields like the one in the Lost City could exist elsewhere in the oceans or outside planet Earth.

Microbiologist William Brazelton told The Smithsonian in 2018 that Lost City Hydrothermal Field is an example of an ecosystem that could be active on Enceladus or Europa, referring to the moons of Saturn and Jupiter.

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More About the Lost City

The National Science Foundation and the NOAA Ocean Exploration program have been investigating the area. Lost City is located 20 km west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It is characterized by an extreme environment that was never before observed in a marine environment.

It's the longest-lived of any known venting environment on the ocean floor, with ongoing activity for at least 120,000. It has oxygen-free, interior zones of chimneys have biofilms of a single type of archaea called Lost City Methanoscarcinales that utilizes methane in its metabolism.

It has a high surface area, offering a huge space for faunal habitats. There were also many invertebrates recovered in the channel. Although the biomass is low within the field, it supports a diverse species. The complex environment hosts peridotites and other ultramafic rocks.

However, the most significant part of the discovery of the Lost City is the realization that life may have originated from such a dynamic environment.