Smokin' Medusa

Oceanographers have discovered an undersea mineral chimney that churns out hot, iron-darkened water. The new "black smoker" resides about 8,500 feet underwater along the Pacific Ocean floor off Costa Rica.

The scientists aboard the research vessel Atlantis were exploring a section of the East Pacific Rise, one of the "mid-ocean ridge" systems where new crust is made as the earth spreads and releases molten lava. 

With a remotely controlled robotic vehicle named Jason II, the researchers spotted some unusual marine life living along the hydrothermal vent. They named it the Medusa vent due to the presence of pink jellyfish within the scientific order Stauromedusae and spiky tubeworm casings strewn the chimney. They bring to mind "the serpent-haired Medusa of Greek myth," said expedition leader Emily Klein, a geologist at Duke University.

The bell-shaped jellyfish sighted near the vent "are really unusual, and the ones we found may be of a different species because nobody has seen types of this color before," added expedition team member Karen Von Damm, a hydrothermal vent specialist at the University of New Hampshire.

According to Von Damm, scientists often have found mid-ocean ridges wherever there are geothermal vents warmed by heat energy from the underlying volcanic conduits. "Each new vent sighting sparks fresh excitement, because each one is different," she said.

With temperatures reaching 635 degrees Fahrenheit at the vent's opening, marine life must endure scorching conditions.

"Frankly, it's astonishing that a rich ecology thrives in these extreme environments," Klein said.

--LiveScience Staff

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Credit: Duke University