Strange, smoke-filled landscapes stretching for miles. Glistening gold nuggets strewn about. A larval shrimp can swim long distances, traveling to other hydrothermal vents. It loses its eyes once it settles on a site. Welcome to the ink-black depths of the Atlantic Ocean, where cracks in Earth's crust spew toxins and superheated water, a combination that fuels an odd menagerie of life.
Future research includes plans to install permanent observatories on sea floors.
In five to 10 years, these mysterious underwater worlds may play out their drama via the Internet, just a mouse click away. Extending from Iceland to the South Pole, the ridge runs along the seam where the North and South American tectonic plates are gradually separating from the Eurasian and African plates. This towering chimney is more than 16 feet tall and part of a bigger chimney that stretches 100 feet above the sea floor. Underwater volcanoes along the ridge continually seep molten rock, which becomes new ocean floor. Along the chain of volcanic activity are fields of hydrothermal vents, which resemble underwater chimneys.