Over thirteen thousand feet below the surface , hundred - foot hydrothermal vents spew black , 690 degree fluid like chimneys from the ocean floor . Tiny crab , shrimp and limpets hatchway beneath the smokestacks , and a remotely - control vehicle named SuBastian went down there late to link up them .
After locating a new set of hydrothermal vents in a region promise the Mariana Back - Arc near the Mariana Trench in 2015 , scientists returned with a investigation get by the Schmidt Ocean Institute , called SuBastian , in 2016 . Scientists operated the remotely operated fomite ( ROV ) from aboard their ship , Falkor , which collected data and live - streamed the dispatch this past December .
The Back - Arc region hold chimneys up to 100 feet tall and teems with life including prawn , crabs , and lobster , according to a recentpress releasefrom the Schmidt Ocean Institute in Palo Alto , California . The backbreaking rock provides a substratum for ocean life to latch onto , as compare with the muddy ocean floor , explainsNational Geographic . pot of other countries have ROVs like SuBastian , David Butterfield , Principal Research Scientist at the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean at the University of Washington told Gizmodo . “ But its technological capabilities should make it one of the best ROVs out there when they get all the wrinkles ask care of . ”
The temperature , geology and alchemy of the Mariana Back - Arc could run to very specific ecosystem unlike anywhere else in the sea , aside from similar vents . “ Everything that last on these volcanic hot springs is there because of the chemic energy coming out of the seafloor , ” said Butterfield . “ We think there ’s a regional variation in the species that depends on the fully grown scale architectonic picture . ” The research worker suspect that novel species will show up in the samples they necessitate , but need fourth dimension to analyze the data further to make that decision .
SuBastian face challenge , like endeavor to find the plume pick out the year before , and swim through an erupting submerged vent . The ship was capable to take striking photos of the vents and produced the TV footage take in this mail service .
Next , the scientist will continue ironing out any kink in the rover and analyzing the data and samples collected on their despatch . But Butterfield was most excited that the Schmidt Ocean Institute will allow other scientist to apply for time to use resource like Falkor and SuBastian for their single research pauperism .
[ Schmidt Ocean InstituteviaNational Geographic ]
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