HYDROTHERMAL VENTS are the planet’s exhaust pipes. Kilometres below the ocean surface, they relentlessly belch out searing hot water rife with harsh chemicals from beneath Earth’s crust. When they were first discovered in 1977, nobody expected these inhospitable sites to bear signs of life. And yet, thriving alongside these vents were colonies of tubeworms, mussels and clams entirely new to science. It is hard to think of an environment that could be more hostile. Now, however, new work is revealing evidence that these animals are raising their young in just such a place: the fractured rocks underneath the vents themselves.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Hunting tubeworms”
From the October 19th 2024 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings