Hum Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 OXFORD, England ? A "lost world" of sea creatures was discovered near Antarctica, British scientists announced Wednesday. Scientists doing their first exploring of deep-sea vents in the Antarctic said it was unlike anything found around other hydrothermal vents -- a world populated by new species of anemones, predatory sea stars, and piles of hairy-chested yeti crabs. It was "almost like a sight from another planet," said expedition leader Alex Rogers, a professor of zoology at Oxford University. Even in the eye-popping world of deep-sea vents, the Antarctic discoveries stand out, with the unfamiliar species of crabs found crowded in piles around the warm waters emanating from the seafloor. Many of the animals found at the vents have never been found at hydrothermal vents in other oceans, Rogers said. "To see these animals in such huge densities was just amazing," Rogers told LiveScience. In the dayless world of deep-sea vents, energy comes not from the sun but from the hydrothermal energy generated in the oceanic crust. The yeti crabs seem to cultivate "gardens" of bacteria on their chests, which are covered with hairy tendrils. These bacterial mats almost certainly provides the crabs with sustenance, Rogers said. In turn, predatory seven-armed sea stars stalk the periphery of the vents, snacking on unfortunate crabs. "We were absolutely stunned to see the animal communities, because they were so different from the hydrothermal vents seen elsewhere," Rogers told LiveScience. He and his colleagues reported their results today (Jan. 3) in the journal PLoS Biology. Weird life flourishes at deep-sea vents the world over, but no one had ever found hydrothermal vents in Antarctica, explained Jon Copley, a professor of earth and ocean science at the University of Southampton who also participated in the research. That's largely because it's more difficult to do research in the harsh Southern Ocean than in temperate climes. more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisp Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Time to visit Europa. guru 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xero Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Cooool! Considering how long the Earth has had water I bet you'll find a lot of weird creatures that survived the disasters occurring on land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Time to visit Europa. Europa and Enceladus etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Send down Captain Nemo ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Neo Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Time to visit Europa. It's questionable if Europa can produce enough heat though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 It's questionable if Europa can produce enough heat though. In a conventional, molten core-type scenario, yes, considering Europa's size etc, but there is speculation that Jupiter's gravitational pull could exert enough push and pull on Europa that it could, in effect, "stir" the structure of the moon into producing enough internal heat to create something similar. It is believed that this is why Io is so active, so it's not inconceivable that a similar process could be happening at Europa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 It's questionable if Europa can produce enough heat though. Pretty sure it must have some internal heat, given the fact that it's constantly squashed and pulled by Jupiter's gravity and the other moons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Haven't they send a landing probe to Europa yet ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Not yet, but it's high on the to-do list, but first comes an orbiter to do detailed studies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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