In toxic, over 500-degree Fahrenheit environments, life thrives.
During a fall 2021 deep sea expedition in Mexico’s Gulf of California, scientists observed wondrous vents spouting superheated fluid over two miles beneath the ocean surface. The trip, aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor, used a sturdy underwater robot to find intriguing life and potentially new-to-science creatures dwelling at these dark depths.
The hot vents in this region, called hydrothermal vents, are especially unique. Deep sea vents, discovered only relatively recently in 1977, often emit dark, chemical-rich fluid into the water. That’s why they’re called “black smokers.” But in this deep Mexican realm, the water is starkly different. It’s clear, owing to different minerals and sediments coming from inside Earth.
As the images below show, sometimes the hot fluid comes out and flows upward like a reverse waterfall, which ultimately builds majestic spires and mounds above the vents.
“The forms that exist there are really special,” David Caress, a chief scientist on the 33-day expedition and a marine researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, said in a phone call.
Calcite spires found above a deep sea vent in the Gulf of California.
Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
Tubeworms flourishing as water flows upward from a hydrothermal vent.
Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
The boiling geologic activity at these depths owes to a boundary between two of Earth’s great tectonic plates, which are colossal slabs of the planet’s crust. In this dynamic region, a fracture in Earth’s crust (known as the Pescadero Fault) results in ocean water percolating down through the seafloor where it’s then superheated by our planet’s hot molten rock (magma). From rocks collected around the seafloor, Caress suspects the plates are moving away from each other, a hugely important planetary process that creates new crust, underwater mountains, and potentially (one distant day) new land.
Life flourishes around these vents. Unlike life at the surface, which relies on sunlight for energy, creatures in the dark depths subsist on chemicals (which is why they’re called chemosynthetic life). “Every one of these vent features hosts a chemosynthetic community of animals,” noted Caress.
At some vents, blue scale worms dominated the scene. At other vents, scientists observed great numbers of white, densely congregated tubeworms. Mats of unique bacteria thrive at the vents, too. The expedition may have found six newly documented animals, including worms, crustaceans, and mollusks.
A white colony of microbes covering tubeworms in the deep sea.
Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
A blue scale worm on a mat of pinkish bacteria seen at over 2 miles beneath the ocean surface.
Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
Beyond understanding this unique life and ensuring that it’s protected from human exploits and potential damage, sleuthing out new microbes is especially vital for humanity. “Systematic searches for new drugs have shown that marine invertebrates produce more antibiotic, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory substances than any group of terrestrial organisms,” says the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The deep sea is relatively little explored. We have better maps of the moon and Mars. But from what we know, it’s a bountiful place, particularly around these hot vents.
“There is a whole hot spring party happening in the deep sea,” wrote Brittany Washington, a science communications intern at the Schmidt Ocean Institute.
