'Hell on Earth' found under ocean

'Hell on Earth' found under ocean

au.news.yahoo.com

A British scientific expedition says it has discovered the world's deepest known underwater volcanic vent off the Cayman Islands.

Experts aboard the RRS James Cook say they found the vent 5km beneath the surface of the Caribbean in an area known as the Cayman Trough, a gap in the ocean's bottom that served as the setting for James Cameron's underwater thriller "The Abyss."

(visit the link for the full news article)

They discovered slender spires made of copper and iron ores.

The water being pumped out from of the so-called "black smokers" is hot enough to melt lead.

The area is almost half a mile deeper than has ever been seen before and, with extremely high water pressure, it is tantamount to a "hell on Earth".

How hot? They don't say. I'd say it's hot.

au.news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Holy hell that sounds insane. I can only imagine what kind of stuff goes on down there.

I wonder if its like... the oceans heater?

The research teams diary can be found here

From the The National Oceanography Centre, Southampton...

The Cayman Trough is the world's deepest undersea volcanic rift, running across the seafloor of the Caribbean. The pressure three miles deep at the bottom of the Trough - 500 times normal atmospheric pressure - is equivalent to the weight of a large family car pushing down on every square inch of the creatures that live there, and on the undersea vehicles that the scientists used to reveal this extreme environment. The researchers will now compare the marine life in the abyss of the Cayman Trough with that known from other deep-sea vents, to understand the web of life throughout the deep ocean. The team will also study the chemistry of the hot water gushing from the vents, and the geology of the undersea volcanoes where these vents are found, to understand the fundamental geological and geochemical processes that shape our world.

NB: Leads melting point is 621.4F or 327.4C.


[edit on 13/4/10 by spearhead]

Hearing about this makes me wonder about other planets specifically Europa. It stands to reason that there could be similar geological occurrences there providing a very diverse habitat.

Satan must be taking advantage of Cayman's tax loopholes.

reply to post by spearhead


This is not hell on earth, it is just a scientific discovery.

So, there is something there - it is just something that is on earth.

reply to post by catwhoknows


yes i understand this is not hell on earth. that's just what the news article states.
strange how life can be sustained in an environment above 300 degrees C.

reply to post by spearhead


However, there IS a place near West Bay on Grand Cayman that is called Hell.

Apparently, the British scientists will be here studying these vents in the Cayman Trough until the 20th of April. Click on this link for The Cayman Compass -- there is an interesting video of the "black smoker" underwater vent -- 3.1 miles beneath the surface.

Does anyone know the percentage of the Earth's oceans that are unexplored? I can only imagine what sort of craziness we will find down there.

reply to post by catwhoknows


It is something quite amazing, that no-one has ever witnessed before. Hell, the water down there is so hot, only the pressure is stopping it from boiling in an instant, yet there is life.

Amazing!

S&F

reply to post by spearhead


Yes - nice find.
Cheers

Originally posted by cwt8466
Does anyone know the percentage of the Earth's oceans that are unexplored? I can only imagine what sort of craziness we will find down there.

If you can believe it, less than 10%!!

Crazy isn't it? All that money spent on space exploration and we don't know more than 10% of our own back yard.

reply to post by spearhead


That's already well known in the scientific community. There are extremophiles living in places such as the hot geysers of Yellowstone.

However, as stated by zarlaan, despite it not being a planet, Jupiter's moon Europa is a highly likely candidate for harbouring extra-terrestrial life with its vast ice surface, deep oceans and potentially warming iron core not to mention the energy created as it flexes due to it's eccentric orbit.

Here's another treatment of the OP Story with a little more information on the machine that survived the extreme pressure of 3.1 miles down.