Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents may be Window into Life on Other Planets

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution recently ran an expedition lead by geochemist Chris German to explore hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. Researchers originally found the vents on an expedition in 2009 aboard the research vessel Atlantis using the ROV Jason. During the expedition samples were collected using specialized sampling equipment in an effort to study biology, chemistry, and geology on the vents. The Mid-Cayman Rise is part of the mid-ocean ridge mountain range. Volcanic eruptions create new oceanic crust that pushed tectonic plates apart. Seafloor spreading can also happen without volcanic eruptions, and in this area are spreading apart along faults allowing one plate to slide under another resulting in a convergent boundary. The group collected a number of specimens from the ecosystem around the vents including crabs, starfish, anemones, fish, shrimp, and snails. The Mid-Cayman Rise is host to both tubeworms and shrimp, a discovery made by German on a 2011 NOAA cruise. This is the only known deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystem known to host both. In the past scientists have found the shrimp to predominately exist on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge with the tubeworms mostly existing in the Pacific and cold water seeps in the Atlantic. In addition geological and water samples were taken on the cruise by NASA scientists who are studying the vents in an effort to develop probes for looking at the possibility of life on other planets. Scientists believe Earth may have originated in the mineral and organically rich fluids at hydrothermal vents. They believe such habitats could exist elsewhere in the solar system. By studying how life adapts in these ecosystems scientists hope to discover how life on Earth adapts to these hydrothermal conditions and through refining investigative techniques scientists can recognize similar environments on other planets. The research was funded by NASA’s Astrobiology Science & Technology for Exploring Planets program, the National Science Foundation, InterRidge, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Natural Environment Research Council of the United Kingdom.