The information that scientists learn at these deep sea communities might hold clues to the possibility of life on other planets such as Mars. Although some of the microbes fall within the taxonomic group called Bacteria, the majority belong to a different taxonomic group. Archea includes the microorganisms found in these extreme environments. Eucarya includes the plants, animals, protists, and fungi. Scientists are only beginning to learn about microbes at hydrothermal vents and why they thrive there.
New species continue to be discovered.
Microbes have been found within the chimneys built above the vents and within the water that is ejected at the vent. There is also the potential that microbes live deep within the ocean crust, perhaps as much as several kilometers below the seafloor. Evidence that microbes exist in the deep subseafloor comes from clouds of abundant biogenic material that are ejected when a volcanic eruption occurs on the seafloor, and from rock cores obtained on cruises as part of the Ocean Drilling Program. The following is an article from the Ocean Drilling Program Volume Greatest Hits published in 1997 that explains what evidence has been found for microbial activity in drill cores from the deep sea. Until recently, conventional wisdom held that Earth s subsurface was a sterile place, devoid of life.