Latest Hydrothermal vent Stories
(AP) -- Photographs taken by a spacecraft orbiting Mars indicate that active volcanoes may still exist on the red planet, further eroding its image as a dead world and offering prime sites to prospect for signs of Martian life. Images from the European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter indicate geologically recent volcanic activity in the summit craters of five Martian volcanoes, with some areas showing activity as recently as 4 million years ago. Though long in human terms, 4 million years...
The limits to life have consistently listed carbon-based organisms as central. While methane-consuming microbes are still carbon-based, they do offer novel ways to extract energy even without light or oxygen. Their role in our solar system is a subject of fruitful speculation.Astrobiology Magazine -- A team of University of Minnesota scientists has discovered how iron- and chromium-rich rocks can generate natural gas (methane) and related hydrocarbons when reacted with superheated fluids...
Latest Hydrothermal vent Reference Libraries
Bathymodiolus thermophilus is a species of large, deepwater mussel, a marine bivalve mollusk belonging to the family Mytilidae. The species was discovered at abyssal depths when submersible vehicles began exploring the deep ocean. It occurs on the sea bed, frequently in large numbers, close to hydrothermal vents where hot, sulphur-rich water wells up through the floor of the Pacific Ocean. This is a very large mussel with a dark brown periostracum, growing to a length of about 8 inches....
