Component of volcanic gas may have played a significant role in the origins of life on Earth
...sulfide is present in volcanic gasses and deep sea vent emissions today, and since these geological phenomena were prominent features on the early Earth, it is reasonable to assume that the gas was present. In their report, the scientists demonstrate that the gas can bring about a vigorous chemical re...Novel sulfide-binding mechanism found in deep-sea tubeworms
...al of many worm species, the deep-sea hydrothermal vent tubeworm, Ritia pachyptila, has a second, smaller hemoglobin. The research group characterized this second hemoglobin by X-ray crystallography, providing the first such detailed structural information of a protein from a hydrothermal-vent animal. Hy...... in specialized habitats in the deep-sea. Deep-sea vent tube worms may have originated from shallow-water species, using whale falls as a food source along the way. Whale bone worms have been around for 30 to 40 million years. Its conceivable that whale worms first appeared on whales and later adapted to ...Hydrogen and methane provide raw energy for life at 'Lost City'
...e anyone could have imagined. One massive seafloor vent was an unheard of 18 stories tall. And all were cr...gray, suggesting a very different composition than vent systems studied since the 1970s. Scientists who named the spot Lost City knew they were looking at ...University of Chicago researchers reveal secrets of snake flight
...g the 3-D reconstruction of the head, midpoint and vent coordinates of the snake throughout its trajectory. Socha found that the snake uses its ribs to change its body shape; it flattens from head to vent. The snake takes control of its flight by undulating through the air in a distinctive S-shape as if s...Researchers discover underwater volcano
...avernous rock pillars surrounding the hydrothermal vent area. As the submarine landed near this area, scores of eels, each approximately one foot in length, emerged from the rock caves and crevices. The scientists named this novel marine hydrothermal community "Eel City." "At this point we do not know wh...Researchers find evidence of photosynthesis deep within the ocean
...p said of the plucky bacteria that were found in a vent field called 9 North off the coast of Mexico. The ...e extremely hot water (350 C) coming from a flange vent and the very cold water (2 C) surrounding it. The research team is led by J. Thomas Beatty of the U...Oceanographers work a quarter of the world away from ship they're 'on'
...ers investigating the eerie Lost City hydrothermal vent field are working "aboard" a landlocked science co... The expedition marks the return to the Lost City vent field discovered in 2000 during a National Science Foundation cruise. The field, formed in a very di...Secrets of the deep may hold key to life on other planets
...ia take their energy from hydrogen sulphide in the vent fluid. "They're among the fastest growing animals ...been placed in titanium mesh cages at hydrothermal vent sites 3.5km down in the ocean. Dr Little will return to these sites in the East Pacific Rise off the...Novel protein complex enables survival in hostile environment
... showed that this gene exists only in hydrothermal vent methanogens and their close relatives, but not in other microorganisms. From the sequence of the fsr gene, Johnson and Mukhopadhyay discovered that the novel activity of Fsr comes from a unique structure; two previously known proteins with unrelate...'Fish with chips' reporting from ocean top highlights at Census of Marine Life mid-point
...ey sampled animalsadapted to life in these extreme vent environments,where water super-heated to 350 C in Earths crustflows from black smokers on the deep ocean floor.Comparison of the specimens collected with those foundon hydrothermal vents previously discovered north ofthe Equator provides clues to the...Shining a light on deep-sea vents: Science meets policy
...tate, former chair of the US Ridge 2000 program, a vent biologist, and a co-author of the InterRidge state...ent. "We want to make a clear statement about why vent research is important, how the scientists are going about it, and what they are doing to learn as mu...Giant deep-sea tubeworm's meal ticket comes in as a skin infection
...the traps at the bottomnear an active hydrothermal vent and returnedthe next season to collect them, bring themback to land-based laboratories, and analyzethem carefully using molecular techniques andfluorescence- and electron microscopy. By a painstaking reconstruction of electronmicrographs of thin slic...Ocean microbe census discovers diverse world of rare bacteria
...es. The sampling locations included a hydrothermal vent on an underwater Pacific volcano 480 km (300 miles) off the coast of Oregon, as well as several North Atlantic sites between Greenland and Ireland. The most unusual sequence tags come from organisms present in low abundance, and these bacteria make...At an underwater volcano, evidence of man's environmental impact
...ic rocks as it flows beneath the ocean surface. So vent sediment is usually loaded with iron, lead, zinc, copper and other metals. Indeed, hydrothermal venting on the bottom of ancient sea beds is the way some of the world's largest on-land metal deposits were formed. However, when he and his colleagues...Ocean seep mollusks may share evolutionary history with other deep-sea creatures
...a lurking just below the crust. Although seep and vent fluids are a poisonous brew for most species, animals such as giant tube worms and the mollusks studied by Kiel and Little thrive with the help of the symbiotic bacteria. "If you can become adapted to living at these sites, you can make a very good l...Bacteria that use radiated water as food
...ed by a single new species related to hydrothermal vent bacteria from the division Firmicutes. The ancient age of the fracture water and comparative DNA analysis of the bacterial genes suggests subsurface Firmicutes were removed from contact with their surface cousins anywhere from 3 million to 25 million...Extreme life, marine style highlights 2006 ocean census
...ditions around 407C fluids spewing from a seafloor vent (the hottest ever discovered), a mighty microbe 1 ... Extremes of Science Hottest At a thermal vent 3 km below the surface in the equatorial Atlantic, Census researchers found shrimp and other life fo...Microbe fixes nitrogen at a blistering 92 degree Celsius
...earchers is the first from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent that can fix nitrogen, says Mehta, first author on...xation was occurring at hydrothermal vents because vent animals had completely different nitrogen isotope ratios than non-vent deep sea animals. The work th...'Good vibrations' from deep-sea smokers may keep fish out of hot water
...oceanographers are looking for new ways to measure vent flows, which are a source of heat and minerals in ...ecording system was deployed in the Main Endeavour vent field. The field is on the seafloor about 300 miles west of Seattle on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Crone...