Scientists Discover New Deep-Sea Vents in Southern Ocean
17.02.2011 - Water & Oceans, Land & Geology, Flora & Fauna, Antarctic
On their current expedition in the Southern Ocean, University of Southampton scientists have discovered a new set of deep-sea volcanic vents on the ocean floor not far from the South Sandwich Islands. The discovery of the vents, at a depth of 520 metres, is the third made by the research team since 2009, which suggests that deep-sea vents may be more common in our oceans than previously thought.
Deep-sea vents are hot springs on the sea floor, where colonies of microbes and deep-sea creatures feed on the mineral-rich water. Since the discovery of the first vents in the Pacific some thirty years ago, scientists have discovered about 250 more all over the world. However, most of the vents discovered so far have been part of a chain of undersea volcanoes close to mid-ocean ridges, with very few known vents in the Southern Ocean.
The team hopes that an additional study of the newly-discovered vents will provide greater insight into the distribution and evolution of life in the deep ocean as well as the role of deep-sea vents in controlling the chemistry of the oceans and the diversity of microbes that thrive in different conditions beneath the ocean surface.
