Hydrothermal Vents
Newly discovered ocean plume could be major source of iron
Scientists have discovered a vast plume of iron and other micronutrients more than 1,000 km long billowing from hydrothermal vents…
Read MoreDeep-sea Vents Yield New Species
Call it “midnight at the OASES.” Neither permanent darkness nor extreme pressure and heat cause problems for a host of…
Read MoreSearching for Life on the Seafloor
Smaller than a fingernail, like bits of downy red feathers, baby tubeworms cling to a vertical wall towering alongside the…
Read MoreOnce More Unto the Rift
In the beginning, there was the Garden of Eden. It was a lush primordial oasis of life, bursting with exotic…
Read MoreHydrothermal Vents
A Hunt for Unusual Seafloor Animals and Vents
The first expedition to search for deep-sea hydrothermal vents along the Mid-Cayman Rise deep in the Caribbean Sea turned up…
Read MoreLong-Distance Larvae Speed to New Undersea Vent Homes
Working in a rare, ?natural seafloor laboratory? of hydrothermal vents that had just been rocked by a volcanic eruption, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and other institutions have discovered what they believe is an undersea superhighway carrying tiny life forms unprecedented distances to inhabit the post-eruption site.
Read MoreThe Mysterious Movements of Deep-Sea Larvae
The marvelous migrations of fish and whales through the deep sea have been hard enough for us humans to follow.…
Read MoreThe Promise and Perils of Seafloor Mining
A year ago, the Canadian mining company Nautilus Minerals was poised to launch a new industry: mining the deep ocean…
Read MoreGar Secrist
Gar Secrist says that he spent his summer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) working on “sandwiches.” His weren’t ordered…
Read MoreCarbon Acts Like Rustoleum Around Hydrothermal Vents
The cycling of iron throughout the oceans has been an area of intense research for the last two decades. Oceanographers…
Read MoreHydrothermal Vents
WHOI researcher Susan Humphris explains what hydrothermal vents are and why they are important. Originally published online January 1, 2006
Read MoreThe Hunt for Red Hot Hydrothermal Vents
Some Things New Under the Sea
Lost City pumps life-essential chemicals at rates unseen at typical black smokers
Hydrocarbons?molecules critical to life?are routinely generated by the simple interaction of seawater with the rocks under the Lost City hydrothermal vent field in the Atlantic Ocean. The production of such building blocks of life makes Lost City-like vents strong contenders as places where life might have originated on Earth, according to research led by the University of Washington and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Read MoreLost City Pumps Life-essential Chemicals at Rates Unseen at Typical Black Smokers
Hydrocarbons—molecules critical to life—are routinely generated by the simple interaction of seawater with the rocks under the Lost City hydrothermal…
Read MoreSummer Under Arctic Ice
This month, an international team of scientists and engineers are exploring the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean while cruising aboard…
Read MoreExplorers to Use New Robotic Vehicles to Hunt for Life and Hydrothermal Vents on Arctic Seafloor
Researchers will probe the Gakkel Ridge during expedition that begins on July 1.
Read MoreScientists Discover First Seafloor Vents on Ultraslow-Spreading Ridge
Scientists have found one of the largest fields of seafloor vents gushing super-hot, mineral-rich fluids on a mid-ocean ridge that, until now, remained elusive to the ten-year hunt to find them.
Read MoreSeafloor bacteria are multi-tasking with the carbon cycle
Scientists have long known that microorganisms can use one of two different methods to convert carbon dioxide into a form…
Read MoreYoung Pup Teaches an Old Robot New Tricks
Mike Jakuba was still a year away from being born when scientists found vents on the seafloor that gushed hot,…
Read MoreNew Technology for New Exploration of Hydrothermal Vents
Advances in undersea imaging systems, the development of new vehicles and instruments, and improved seafloor mapping capabilities have enabled scientists…
Read MoreDiving to the Rosebud Vents – Galápagos Rift
In 2002, researchers diving in the submersible Alvin returned to the Galápagos Rift, a mid-ocean ridge about 250 miles from…
Read MoreNew Hydrothermal Vents in the Pacific Located and Mapped with Robotic Vehicle
Three new deep-sea hydrothermal vent fields were discovered in September 2004 in the Lau Basin in the western Pacific between…
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