Strange creatures living in the deep sea environment are being studied by scientists, which may reveal a different evolutionary history from life on Earth and provide hints about the possibility of life existing on other planets.
These organisms thrive near hydrothermal vents in the incredibly hot environment of the deep ocean, as they rely on bacteria living within them. These bacteria extract energy from hydrogen sulfide found in the magma.
According to Dr. Crispin Little, who teaches Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Leeds, they are the fastest-growing organisms on the planet, with a complete community capable of developing in just three years.
He states that the communities of organisms living in underwater volcanic regions depend on geochemical processes rather than solar energy, setting them apart from major events like mass extinctions or climate change on Earth.
Their evolutionary history is distinct from organisms that depend on photosynthesis and may resemble life forms that develop on other planets.
We know very little about the geological history of these organisms, having only discovered them about 20 years ago, particularly regarding how they become fossilized.
Dr. Little and his colleagues in the field of geochemistry have received funding to conduct experiments on seabed fossils to understand the formation processes of these organisms.
Dr. Little mentions that they have found some organism fossils but are still unsure why they are located there. He adds that it is challenging to explain the fossils discovered by scientists without further study.
To conduct their experiments, samples of organisms from the hot magma region were placed in a titanium cage at a depth of 3.5 kilometers in the ocean at a hydrothermal vent. Dr. Little plans to return to the Eastern Pacific off the coast of South America in the next three years to investigate their fossilization process.
