Hydrothermal Vents (Underwater volcanoes)

[AlexB23]

Hello folks. Remember that old adage, where humans have explored more of outer space compared to the oceans? There are volcanoes that exist under the ocean, known as hydrothermal vents, only discovered around 50 years ago. Apparently, scientists are trying to work out if there is life on other objects in space, and astrobiologists theorize that there could be life near underwater volcanoes on Europa (an icy moon of Jupiter). That sounds pretty cool, isn't it? @Astrophile , what are your thoughts on the possibility of life on Europa?

Quote from Space.com: "[Researchers] found that not only could moderately warm vents be maintained over a wide range of conditions on these moons, but that the low gravity allowed for warmer temperatures emanating from the vents. In addition, the low efficiency of heat extraction from the core of the moons (which are thought to be pretty cool in the first place) in the low gravity would allow such moderate- to low-temperature vents to be maintained for possibly billions of years."

Hydrothermal Vent info:

What is a hydrothermal vent?

Hydrothermal vents are the result of sea water percolating down through fissures in the ocean crust in the vicinity of spreading centers or subduction zones.

oceanservice.noaa.gov

Europa article from Space.com:

If alien life exists on Europa, we may find it in hydrothermal vents

If there's life on Europa or Enceladus, it could have a network of deep-sea hydrothermal vents to thank for its existence.

www.space.com

Spoiler: Religious stuff (Hydrothermal vents in the book of Job 38)

Relevant verse about Earth's hydrothermal vents:
Job 38:16 (NIV): "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?"

Verse explained:
Job 38:16 is where God asks if Job has journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep – implying a sense of curiosity and exploration about the mysteries beneath the ocean's surface, and how deep God’s knowledge is. The discovery of hydrothermal vents in the 1970s by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography is an example of how humans have sought to uncover these underwater phenomena, over 2200 years after this verse was written. In other words, this verse shows how God knew His creation thousands of years before humans did.

 

[Laodicean60]

Book of Job is something else, how did a primitive man even know to articulate some things that weren't discovered until later? I heard there's a supervolcano under the ocean that is larger than any volcano on land. Maybe the Pacific Ocean?

 

[AlexB23]

Book of Job is something else, how did a primitive man even know to articulate some things that weren't discovered until later? I heard there's a supervolcano under the ocean that is larger than any volcano on land. Maybe the Pacific Ocean?

Yeah, the Book of Job was divinely inspired. No way that man from 2200 years ago could explain undiscovered features of the Earth that would not be discovered for over 2000 years. Blows my mind. Any agnostic and atheist might want to check the book of Job, cos it goes on to explain the water cycle (well, in Job 36), but hey, I am not here to force Christianity on anyone.

I have not heard about the Pacific supervolcano, but have heard of the Yellowstone one. Oh wait, I did hear of the 2022 Tonga eruption. It is not Yellowstone big, but it was the largest recorded eruption in modern history.

Tonga eruption info:

Tonga Eruption Blasted Unprecedented Amount of Water Into Stratosphere

The huge amount of water vapor hurled into the atmosphere, as detected by NASA’s Microwave Limb Sounder, could end up temporarily warming Earth’s surface.

www.jpl.nasa.gov

 

[Uriah S]

Many cool things to know about volcanos.

There doesn't seem to be a Pacific Supervolcano though according to ranker.com

You may be thinking of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", or the fact that these hydrothermal vents stretch continuously over 10000 miles from the North Atlantic, through the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans into the Pacific - which some would argue makes that by far the largest volcano known anywhere.

 

[AlexB23]

Many cool things to know about volcanos.

There doesn't seem to be a Pacific Supervolcano though according to ranker.com

You may be thinking of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", or the fact that these hydrothermal vents stretch continuously over 10000 miles from the North Atlantic, through the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans into the Pacific - which some would argue makes that by far the largest volcano known anywhere.

Yeah, there is only the Ring of Fire. There is no Pacific supervolcano, though, there are large volcanoes in the Pacific, but not large enough to qualify as a supervolcano.

 

[Uriah S]

I'm not keen on this term supervolcano, seems a bit unnecessary. I looked it up, there is a definition, but to my mind what makes a volcano super will vary according to who defines it.

I'm happy with volcanos being volcanos. Some are big, some are really big. We know Yellowstone is huge.

 

[AlexB23]

I'm not keen on this term supervolcano, seems a bit unnecessary. I looked it up, there is a definition, but to my mind what makes a volcano super will vary according to who defines it.

I'm happy with volcanos being volcanos. Some are big, some are really big. We know Yellowstone is huge.

Yeah, I am not that fond of the term also. Hey, volcanoes come in different sizes, just like many things in life, and people as well.

 

[Laodicean60]

Many cool things to know about volcanos.

You made me look and maybe it's name is Tamu Massif. Then I saw this:

New supervolcano capable of immense destruction possibly discovered in Pacific Ocean

A group of volcanoes in the Pacific might actually be separate vents of a single supervolcano, scientists have revealed.

www.newshub.co.nz

I don't want to derail this thread about vents.

 

[Ophiolite]

I don't want to derail this thread about vents.

That's OK. I'll derail it with a pun: is an eruption a volcano just venting its frustration?

 

[Laodicean60]

That's OK. I'll derail it with a pun: is an eruption a volcano just venting its frustration?

Now that you mention it, yes. lol

 

[AlexB23]

That's OK. I'll derail it with a pun: is an eruption a volcano just venting its frustration?

Haha, good one.

 

[Uriah S]

That's OK. I'll derail it with a pun: is an eruption a volcano just venting its frustration?

Ba-dum-tss.

It's ok, I suspect all your faults are normal.

 

[AlexB23]

Ba-dum-tss.

It's ok, I suspect all your faults are normal.

Haha, good one. However, sometimes, we like to shake things up a bit.

 

[essentialsaltes]

One of the most interesting things (to me, anyway) about the life found near them is that they use a very different source of energy than most life on earth.

The hydrothermal vents are recognized as a type of chemosynthetic based ecosystems (CBE) where primary productivity is fuelled by chemical compounds as energy sources instead of light (chemoautotrophy).[28] Hydrothermal vent communities are able to sustain such vast amounts of life because vent organisms depend on chemosynthetic bacteria for food. The water from the hydrothermal vent is rich in dissolved minerals and supports a large population of chemoautotrophic bacteria. These bacteria use sulfur compounds, particularly hydrogen sulfide, a chemical highly toxic to most known organisms, to produce organic material through the process of chemosynthesis.

--

Obviously for most of our macroscopic earth life, we're ultimately dependent on light/photosynthesis. 'We' are either plants, or things that eat plants, or things that eat things that eat plants.

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

I like the snails that live on the hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean.
Chrysomallon squamiferum, also called the volcano snail, the iron snail or the scaly footed snail, they're the only animal in known existence to absorb iron metal ions from the sea water and the vents to form iron sulfide armour basically on their bodies.

Nasty looking critters, but also very cool. They can come in black, white, or gold, depending on the ratio of iron, sulfide, pyrite and gregite in the vent water.

 

[Ophiolite]

I like the snails that live on the hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean.
Chrysomallon squamiferum, also called the volcano snail, the iron snail or the scaly footed snail, they're the only animal in known existence to absorb iron metal ions from the sea water and the vents to form iron sulfide armour basically on their bodies.

View attachment 353543

Nasty looking critters, but also very cool. They can come in black, white, or gold, depending on the ratio of iron, sulfide, pyrite and gregite in the vent water.

View attachment 353544

Ah! Cephalopods. The marine forms are a popular food around the planet and the French adore the land variety. Personally, I have a long standing agreement with the entire phylum: I don't eat any of them, and they don't attempt to eat me. This has worked out well so far - I have never been attacked by an octopus, or even frowned at by a mussel. Crustaceans are a different matter.

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

Ah! Cephalopods. The marine forms are a popular food around the planet and the French adore the land variety. Personally, I have a long standing agreement with the entire phylum: I don't eat any of them, and they don't attempt to eat me. This has worked out well so far - I have never been attacked by an octopus, or even frowned at by a mussel. Crustaceans are a different matter.

I like to snack on the occasional prawn myself, either cooked as is, skewered on the barbecue, or as a piece of scampi.

 

[AlexB23]

One of the most interesting things (to me, anyway) about the life found near them is that they use a very different source of energy than most life on earth.

The hydrothermal vents are recognized as a type of chemosynthetic based ecosystems (CBE) where primary productivity is fuelled by chemical compounds as energy sources instead of light (chemoautotrophy).[28] Hydrothermal vent communities are able to sustain such vast amounts of life because vent organisms depend on chemosynthetic bacteria for food. The water from the hydrothermal vent is rich in dissolved minerals and supports a large population of chemoautotrophic bacteria. These bacteria use sulfur compounds, particularly hydrogen sulfide, a chemical highly toxic to most known organisms, to produce organic material through the process of chemosynthesis.

--

Obviously for most of our macroscopic earth life, we're ultimately dependent on light/photosynthesis. 'We' are either plants, or things that eat plants, or things that eat things that eat plants.

I remember learning about how bacteria under the ocean use heat and sulfur as fuel.

 

[AlexB23]

I like the snails that live on the hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean.
Chrysomallon squamiferum, also called the volcano snail, the iron snail or the scaly footed snail, they're the only animal in known existence to absorb iron metal ions from the sea water and the vents to form iron sulfide armour basically on their bodies.

View attachment 353543

Nasty looking critters, but also very cool. They can come in black, white, or gold, depending on the ratio of iron, sulfide, pyrite and gregite in the vent water.

View attachment 353544

These snails look so alien, but so cool.