Source: Science Daily
Author: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Despite being relatively close together, two recently discovered hydrothermal vent fields in the Gulf of California host very different animal communities. This finding contradicts a common scientific assumption that neighboring vents will share similar animal communities, and suggests that local geology and vent-fluid chemistry are important factors affecting vent communities.
An article just published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B describes two remarkably different hydrothermal vent fields discovered in the southern Gulf of California. Despite being relatively close together, these vents host very different animal communities. This finding contradicts a common scientific assumption that neighboring vents will share similar animal communities. Instead, the new paper suggests that local geology and the chemistry of vent fluids are important factors affecting vent communities.
In 2012, scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) used undersea robots to discover a new hydrothermal vent field along the Alarcón Rise at the southern end of the Gulf of California. Continuing the effort in 2015, they discovered a second, very different vent field in the Pescadero Basin, just 75 kilometers to the north.
Led by MBARI scientists, the research involved scientists from Mexico, Canada, Russia, and Germany. In preparing the recent paper, they analyzed collected organisms and video surveys to determine community composition. They also performed DNA analyses of water samples to identify larvae of vent animals and stable-isotope analysis to assess food supplies at each vent field.
