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On the deep seabed, hot springs called hydrothermal vents support whole communities of animals without any sunlight. Bacteria there make food from chemicals in the vent water, and the animals live on the bacteria.

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Vents form near volcanic ridges, where seawater seeps into cracks in the ocean floor, is heated by magma below and gushes back out full of dissolved minerals. The first were found in 1977, when scientists diving in the submersible Alvin near the Galápagos Islands came upon warm vents crowded with giant tube worms, clams and crabs. Two years later, vents on the East Pacific Rise were found spouting black, mineral-laden water at about 350°C. The bacteria live by chemosynthesis: instead of sunlight, they draw energy from chemicals such as hydrogen sulphide. The discovery showed that life can thrive without the Sun, and it now shapes the search for life on ocean moons such as Jupiter's Europa.

Türkçe oku
Derin deniz tabanındaki sıcak su kaynakları, yani hidrotermal bacalar, güneş ışığı olmadan koca bir canlı topluluğunu besler. Oradaki bakteriler bacadan çıkan sudaki kimyasallardan besin üretir, hayvanlar da bu bakterilerle geçinir.

Bacalar volkanik sırtların yakınında oluşur: Deniz suyu okyanus tabanındaki çatlaklara sızar, alttaki magmayla ısınır ve çözünmüş minerallerle yüklü olarak geri fışkırır. İlk bacalar 1977'de, Galápagos Adaları yakınında Alvin adlı araştırma denizaltısıyla dalan bilim insanlarının, çevresi dev tüp solucanları, deniz tarakları ve yengeçlerle dolu ılık su çıkışlarına rastlamasıyla bulundu. İki yıl sonra Doğu Pasifik Sırtı'nda, 350°C dolayında sıcaklıkta ve minerallerden kapkara görünen su püskürten bacalar keşfedildi. Oradaki bakteriler kemosentezle yaşar: Enerjiyi güneş ışığından değil, hidrojen sülfür gibi kimyasallardan alırlar. Bu keşif, yaşamın Güneş olmadan da gelişebileceğini gösterdi; bugün Jüpiter'in uydusu Europa gibi, buzun altında okyanus saklayan dünyalarda yaşam arayışına yön veriyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Hydrothermal vent
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