Scientists have announced a surprising new ecosystem after a discovery in volcanic caves near Central America. It also took 30 days for the Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) research vessel Falkor to complete the expedition and bring home one of the biggest expeditions in 46 years of studying hydrothermal vents.

Here, in the East Pacific Rise, an underwater robot has managed to flip sections of volcanic crust to reveal a new science-in-the-science ecosystem of worms, snails, and chemosynthetic bacteria that seem to thrive despite living at 25°C (75°C). F) water. It changes our view of hydrothermal vents and adds a whole new dimension with ecosystems that exist both above and below them.

“We’ve known for a long time that animals live on land, in underground caves, and animals that live in sand and mud in the ocean, but this is the first time scientists have looked under hydrothermal vents,” said the SOI Executive Director. Jyotika Virmani. “This truly remarkable discovery of a new ecosystem hidden beneath another ecosystem provides new evidence that life exists in incredible places.”

This is the first time life has been discovered under hydrothermal vents, which are hot volcanic springs found on the seafloor. The team also found evidence that surface species such as pipefish allow them to expand their range by traveling below the surface using vent fluid.

New hydrothermal vents can appear when tectonic activity causes the earth’s crust to shift and crack. These cracks fill with seawater heated by magma, forcing it to rise back to the seafloor.

We’ve long understood how new hydrothermal vents appear, but people have been puzzled over how the ecosystems that live on them emerged so quickly. One of the main animals of these ecosystems is the trumpeter, but we rarely find their offspring on the surfaces of hydrothermal springs,” the scientists said.

This important new discovery of how tubeworms are able to travel below the surface of hydrothermal vents finds a way to explain how they colonize new habitats. They were able to draw conclusions with the help of the underwater robot ROV SuBastian, which sticks boxes into cracks in the Earth’s crust and can collect some animals living below the surface.

Discovery leader of the University of Vienna, Dr. “Our understanding of animal life in deep-sea hydrothermal vents has been greatly expanded by this discovery,” said Monika Bright. “Existence has two dynamic sources. The vent animals above and below the surface thrive together in harmony, depending on the source fluid below and the oxygen in the seawater above.”

The discovery of a new ecosystem is always exciting, but it is also a new topic in the ongoing debate about the safety of deep-sea mining. Some argue that the seafloor is the least destructive route when it comes to mining the metals needed to power the green battery revolution, but others warn that we still have a long way to go before we can identify the potential harm from seabed mining.

“The discoveries made by the Schmidt Ocean Institute expedition highlight the need to fully explore our ocean to know what’s in the deep sea,” said Wendy Schmidt, president and co-founder of the Schmidt Ocean Institute. “The discovery of new creatures, landscapes, and now a whole new ecosystem highlights how much more we need to discover about our ocean and how important it is to preserve what we don’t yet know or understand.”

After all, as anyone who’s watched “Underwater” knows, deep water drilling can end badly.