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Antarctic hydrothermal vents host an array of new species - 02.06.2012

Map of ESR
Map of East Scotia Ridge (Photo credit: COSEE-TEK)
Hydrothermal vents along the East Scotia Ridge (ESR) of Antarctica's Southern Ocean were first discovered in 1999 using a Towed Ocean Bottom Instrument (TOBI) which included sidescan sonar, swath bathymetry, profiler sonars, magnetometer, an optical light-scattering sensor and CTD instruments. Rapid changes in seawater density (indicated by light scatter) and temperature (indicated by CTD) were attributed to hydrothermal vent activity [1] and in 2009, the region of interest was revisited and black smokers were identified using a Seabed High Resolution Imaging Platform (SHRIMP) with a down-looking camera [2].
Yeti crabs
Colony of Yeti Crabs (Photo credit: NERC ChEsSo Consortium)
In 2010, a team of scientists from University of Oxford, University of Southampton, the National Oceanography Centre, and British Antarctic Survey lead an oceanographic expedition to further explore deep-sea hydrothermal vents of the ESR. During the mission aboard the R.S.S. James Clark Ross, a number of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives were conducted using the National Oceanography Centre’s Isis ROV. The resulting video surveys of the vent region uncovered a diverse and unique array of new species. Detailed results of the expedition were published in the Public Library of Science report listed below [2]. A stunning slideshow of captioned images from the ESR hydrothermal vents can be found at Discovery News.

References:

  1. German CR, Livermore RA, Baker ET, Bruguier NI, Connelly DP, et al. (2000) Hydrothermal plumes above the East Scotia Ridge: an isolated high-latitude back-arc spreading centre. Earth Planet Sci Lett 184: 241–250
  2. Rogers AD, Tyler PA , Connelly DP , Copley JT , James R , et al. (2012) Hydrothermal plumes above the East Scotia Ridge: an isolated high-latitude back-arc spreading centre. PLoS Biol 10(1): e1001234. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001234

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