Scientists make deep-sea discoveries (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Scientists from University of Southampton make deep-sea discoveries

10:52am Wednesday 11th January 2012 in Education By Jon Reeve, Education Reporter

THOUSANDS of metres deep below the ocean surface, they are the life-giving phenomena that sustain previously unseen communities improbably teeming with life.

And Southampton scientists now believe the undersea hot springs that shoot essential warmth and minerals into the harsh climate of the sea floor could be far more prevalent than experts first thought.

A team from the University of Southampton has discovered the world's most extreme deep-sea volcanic vents, five kilometres under the Caribbean.

They say their research provides a vital piece in the jigsaw of fully understanding the planet, and the way creatures evolve and adapt.

Around 800 metres deeper than any vents seen before, they spew out mineral-laden water at temperatures thought to be hotter than 450C, that can travel up to a kilometre towards the surface.

And the “black smokers” in the Cayman Trough, an undersea trench south of the Cayman Islands, provide life for thousands of a new species of shrimp which has a light-sensing organ on its back instead of normal eyes.

The Caribbean discoveries, by a team led by marine geochemist Dr Doug Connelly at Southampton's National Oceanography Centre and marine biologist Dr Jon Copley, from Southampton University, come just weeks after revelations of similar finds by Southampton scientists in the Indian Ocean and near Antarctica.

The researchers also found black smoker vents on the upper slopes of an undersea mountain called Mount Dent, which has its peak still more than three kilometres beneath the waves despite rising nearly three kilometres above the seafloor of the Cayman Trough.

And those discoveries, made using a robot submarine and deep-diving vehicle sent from the Royal Research Ship James Cook, could hint at vents being far more prevalent than previously thought.

Dr Copley said the research provides vital information about deep ocean environments, which are increasingly being targeted for fishing and oil production.

He said: “It just shows how amazing our planet is, and how resilient life is that it can thrive in such environments.

“We need to determine what lives where, and this tells us more about how animals disperse and evolve in the deep ocean.

“One of the big mysteries of deep-sea vents is how animals are able to disperse from vent field to vent field, crossing the apparently large distances between them.

“But maybe there are more 'stepping stones' like these out there than we realised.

“We think of our planet as explored, but in reality our exploration hasn't yet begun - more than half of the world is covered by water that's more than two miles deep.”