Disguised as a seabed miner, American ship Glomar Explorer lowers a giant claw to grab a Soviet sub lost on the Pacific floor. United Nations Law of the Sea conference proposes to tax seabed miners as a way of enriching poor nations. Mussels and tubeworms share a vent site. 1977 American team dives in Alvin to a volcanic rift in the Pacific and discovers warm springs teeming with undescribed species of life, an ecosystem new to science that includes tubeworms, snakelike creatures standing upright in long tubes. 1979 American team exploring Gulf of California with Alvin finds mineral chimneys that blow clouds of black smoke and discharge water hot enough to melt lead.
Scientists propose that the seabed's hot springs are the birthplace of all life on Earth.
Venting black smoker chimney. 1981 Ronald Reagan becomes President and begins an arms buildup, including new classes of deep craft and new kinds of deep espionage. 1982 Volcanic seamounts in Pacific are found to be covered with rare metals, including cobalt. United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty is finished and opened for ratification, saying deep minerals belong to the world's people. Reagan proclaims Exclusive Economic Zone around the United States, effectively doubling the nation's size and fueling a burst of exploration in deep waters.