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Two University of Wyoming researchers led a voyage to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and discovered five previously unknown active hydrothermal vents and a completely new vent site. Crabs, shrimp, snails, Pompeii worms, small fish and bacteria flourish in an environment where sea water, as hot as 370 degrees Centigrade, flows upward through vent chimneys up to 22 meters tall.
This 12-meter-tall hydrothermal vent, named “Medea,” was discovered during the recent Pito Deep cruise made by the U.S. Research Vessel Atlantis.Image credit: Image by Lucas Kavanagh (www.lucaskavanagh.com) courtesy of M.Cheadle, Univ. of Wyoming/NSF/ROV Jason 2017 © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
