Scientists on an expedition at Océano Schmidt Institute (SOI, in English) discovered in the volcanic seafloor Places called Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) a new hydrothermal spring larger than a professional football field, spewing water at high temperatures.
This system of “respirators” as it is also known hot water jets from the ocean located 2,500 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, as indicated by the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the SOI in a joint statement.
With an important role in life Due to the chemical substances they emit, the field covers 9,178 square meters in the west of the archipelago and consists of five chimneys similar to geysers and three springs, where the temperature of the hottest water recorded is 288 degrees Celsius, a likely product. near magma. volcano.
The team from the United States and Ecuador, aboard the research vessel Falkor (also), led by Roxanne Beinart and Jill McDermott, from the universities of Rhode Island and Lehigh, respectively, chemical signals were detected in the field of ventilation as they explored the region with the SOI ROV submarine SuBastian, on a 43-hour dive, the longest of their seven-year exploration.
“Crab Street”
With the expedition, they were looking forthe identification of hydrothermal vents in the western part of the Galapagos expansion center and new vent fields, which they reached when a Galatheid crab, known as a deep-sea prawn, appeared in front of the submarine.
“The number of crabs increased as the scientists advanced towards the hydrothermal vent, where they surprisingly found giant tube worms (riftia pachyptila) circling the hot water,” they said.
The Ecuadorian observers on board, Ricardo Visaira Coronel, from the Galapagos National Park (PNG), and Dennisse Maldonado, from the Navy’s Oceanographic and Antarctic Institute (Inocar), named the CAMP on VENTILATION As “Crab Trail“.
