Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:
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Researchers believe the earliest forms of life on Earth began in hydrothermal vents—cracks in the sea floor that release hot, mineral-rich water.
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A team of scientists just discovered a hydrothermal system that’s 100 times larger than the famously massive Lost City system in the Atlantic Ocean.
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The study suggests that the newly-discovered field—named the Kunlun system—may bring scientists one step closer to understanding the formula for life.
The ocean covers about 70% of Earth’s surface, yet less than 30% of the sea floor has been explored and mapped. So, it isn’t surprising that scientists are frequently making new discoveries deep beneath the waves. This time, researchers discovered a vast hydrothermal system that they have since dubbed the Kunlun system. Published in the journal Science Advances, their recent study details just how extraordinary the newly-discovered deep sea network really is.
The Kunlun hydrothermal field is a tectonically active site in the Pacific Ocean. It sits roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of the Mussau Trench on the Caroline Plate, located just north of New Guinea. A crewed submersible explored the area and discovered that the system consists of 20 circular craters in the sea floor, with some exceeding one kilometer (half a mile) in diameter. The entire field spans a whopping 4.3 square miles (11.1 square kilometers).
In the ocean, hydrothermal systems occur when seawater seeps down through cracks in oceanic crust and rapidly heats as it nears Earth’s mantle. And while they are often associated with the briny depths of our oceans, hydrothermal vents aren’t exclusive to the sea. In fact, one of the most well-known hydrothermal systems is the network of geysers at Yellowstone National Park. Each geyser is a small piece of (or a feature in) the larger system.
So, why should we care about nature’s jacuzzis jets? According to some scientists, they could be key to understanding how life began on Earth. Deep sea hydrothermal vents are surrounded by water that is rich in hydrogen—an element that serves as a building block for the organic molecules that make up life as we know it. But just because you have flour and water doesn’t mean you’ll end up with a loaf of bread. The conditions surrounding hydrothermal systems give scientists the perfect natural laboratory to research what that precise recipe for life was when it began millions of years ago.
Not only is the Kunlun hydrothermal field exciting because it’s newly-discovered, but it also isn’t your average hydrothermal system—according to Sun Weidong, corresponding author on the study, the field has several abnormal characteristics.
“The Kunlun system stands out for its exceptionally high hydrogen flux, scale, and unique geological setting,” he explained in a press release.
Researchers say that the location of the field in particular is “challenging long-held assumptions,” as it shows that hydrogen generation—and extremely rich generation, at that—can occur far from mid-ocean ridges.
The Kunlun system’s discovery comes years after researchers found the “Lost City” system in the Atlantic Ocean. While the Lost City hydrothermal field is no lost city of Atlantis, it’s still remarkable—in fact, it may be the longest-lived venting environment in history. But what the Lost City has in years, the Kunlun system has in size. The newly-discovered field is over 100 times larger than the Lost City and, according to the research team, the Kunlun system may get us even closer to confirming how and where life began.
“Compared to the carbonate towers formed in the Lost City,” the paper reads, “these pipes/pits provide a more sustained and stable evolutionary time frame, offering a potentially more suitable environment for the evolution of early life.”
Scientists spend a lot of time researching what life must have looked like around hydrothermal vents in their earliest days, but that doesn’t mean the deep sea systems are devoid of residents now. In fact, the Kunlun system is crawling with enough creatures that it could be considered the next “lost city.”
“What’s particularly intriguing is its ecological potential,” Sun said in the press release. “We observed diverse deep-sea life thriving here—shrimp, squat lobsters, anemones, and tubeworms—species that may depend on hydrogen-fueled chemosynthesis.”
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