Once believed to be geological and biological oddities, a new study by Oregon State University researchers suggests that hydrothermal vents and methane seeps on the ocean floor play huge roles in ocean ecosystems and global climate.
Despite this importance, these habitats are in danger due to a variety of human activities such as deep-sea mining and energy harvesting.
OSU researchers stumbled upon the strange hydrothermal vents and methane seeps approximately 40 years ago, habitats that shocked scientists everywhere with their bizarre tubeworms and unique oozing gases.
"It was immediately apparent that these hydrothermal vents were incredibly cool," said Andrew Thurber of OSU and co-author of the study. "Since then we've learned that these vents and seeps are much more than just some weird fauna, unique biology and strange little ecosystems. "
"Rather than being an anomaly, they are prevalent around the world, both in the deep ocean and shallower areas," he said. "They provide an estimated 13 percent of the energy entering the deep sea, make a wide range of marine life possible, and are major players in global climate."
The life forms in these vents and seeps consume approximately 90 percent of the methane released in the ocean, preventing it from entering the atmosphere and becoming a greenhouse gas with detrimental effects on the climate.
"We had no idea at first how important this ecological process was to global climate," Thurber said. "Through methane consumption, these life forms are literally saving the planet. There is more methane on the ocean floor than there are other forms of fossil fuels left in the oceans, and if it were all released it would be a doomsday climatic event."
Human exploitation has already damaged these habitats, and efforts have already begun to mine them for lead, gold and silver, which causes physical disturbance and affects the habitats and their biological connections.
Hydrothermal vents and methane seeps provide numerous ecosystem services due to many of them existing outside of territorial waters, scientists are hoping that international collaboration will lead to their conservation in order to preserve their ecosystem benefits.
The findings were published May 19 in Frontiers in Marine Science.
