Nature & Environment
Scientists Discover World's Deepest Undersea Volcanic Vents in the Caribbean (Video)
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Feb 27, 2013 03:29 PM EST
It's said that one of the last great frontiers left for mankind is the deep sea. Now, an expedition conducted by British scientists has found out a bit more about the unknown depths. The researchers have discovered the world's deepest undersea volcanic vents and may discover new life to go along with them.
Found 3.1 miles beneath the surface, these newly discovered vents are known as "black smokers." Spewing superheated water from the ocean floor, the vents are actually undersea springs. The water itself is hot enough to melt lead, and yet these structures still support massive colonies of deep-sea creatures that thrive in the harsh conditions, such as giant red tubeworms and lobsters.
In order to journey so far under the sea, the scientists employed a robot submarine called Autosub6000, developed by engineers at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC). This submarine was launched from a nearby ship and explored the Cayman Trough, surveying the seafloor. The team then launched another deep-sea vehicle called HyBIS in order to film the vents for the first time.
"Seeing the world's deepest black-smoker vents looming out of the darkness was awe-inspiring, said Jon Copely, one of the members of the team, in a press release. "Superheated water was gushing out of their two-story high mineral spires, more than three miles beneath the waves."
The Cayman Trough is the world's deepest undersea volcanic rift, running across the seafloor of the Caribbean. The pressure at the bottom of this trough is about 500 times the normal atmospheric pressure that we experience.
"It was like wandering across the surface of another world," said Bramley Murton of the NOC, who piloted the HyBis, in a press release. "The rainbow hues of the mineral spires and the fluorescent blues of the microbial mats covering them were like nothing I had ever seen before."
The researchers aren't done yet, either. The expedition will continued to explore the Cayman Trough until April 20th. They're currently posting updates of their findings on their website. Now, in 2013, the researchers have collected samples that they will now be analyzing in the lab. They hope that the samples will reveal new life forms that have never been before discovered.
Want to see the sea vent for yourself? Check out the video here.
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First Posted: Feb 27, 2013 03:29 PM EST
It's said that one of the last great frontiers left for mankind is the deep sea. Now, an expedition conducted by British scientists has found out a bit more about the unknown depths. The researchers have discovered the world's deepest undersea volcanic vents and may discover new life to go along with them.
Found 3.1 miles beneath the surface, these newly discovered vents are known as "black smokers." Spewing superheated water from the ocean floor, the vents are actually undersea springs. The water itself is hot enough to melt lead, and yet these structures still support massive colonies of deep-sea creatures that thrive in the harsh conditions, such as giant red tubeworms and lobsters.
In order to journey so far under the sea, the scientists employed a robot submarine called Autosub6000, developed by engineers at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC). This submarine was launched from a nearby ship and explored the Cayman Trough, surveying the seafloor. The team then launched another deep-sea vehicle called HyBIS in order to film the vents for the first time.
"Seeing the world's deepest black-smoker vents looming out of the darkness was awe-inspiring, said Jon Copely, one of the members of the team, in a press release. "Superheated water was gushing out of their two-story high mineral spires, more than three miles beneath the waves."
The Cayman Trough is the world's deepest undersea volcanic rift, running across the seafloor of the Caribbean. The pressure at the bottom of this trough is about 500 times the normal atmospheric pressure that we experience.
"It was like wandering across the surface of another world," said Bramley Murton of the NOC, who piloted the HyBis, in a press release. "The rainbow hues of the mineral spires and the fluorescent blues of the microbial mats covering them were like nothing I had ever seen before."
The researchers aren't done yet, either. The expedition will continued to explore the Cayman Trough until April 20th. They're currently posting updates of their findings on their website. Now, in 2013, the researchers have collected samples that they will now be analyzing in the lab. They hope that the samples will reveal new life forms that have never been before discovered.
Want to see the sea vent for yourself? Check out the video here.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone