Get the latest tech news

Hydrothermal environment discovered deep beneath the ocean

A stunning new wonderland has been discovered, hidden deep beneath the ocean waves of the Arctic Circle.

Off the coast of Svalbard, in Norway, more than 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) down, a field of hydrothermal vents unfolds along the Knipovich Ridge, an underwater mountain range previously thought to be fairly unremarkable. The overheated water then rises back to the sea floor through cracks and fissures," explains marine geologist Gerhard Bohrmann of the University of Bremen in Germany. The minerals seeping out and dissolving in the water provide the basis for a food web reliant, not on photosynthesis as most life closer to the surface is, but chemosynthesis – harnessing chemical reactions for energy, rather than sunlight.

Get the Android app