Re:Researchers rethink life in a cold climate after Antarcti...
by ricree on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @03:31PM
(#26158421)
>Wasn't it just a few years ago they found microbes underwater where there wasn't any sunlight?
It sounds like you're talking about the life around hydrothermal vents[0], which ultimately depends on chemosynthesis[1]rather than photosynthesis. This has been known since the late 70s, and actually fuels significant macroscopic life[2], not just microorganisms.
There's also deepwater life surviving off of things like marine snow[3], which is nutrient carrying detrius from the surface, or whale falls. But both of those ultimately depend on photosynthesis that happens near the surface.
It sounds like you're talking about the life around hydrothermal vents[0], which ultimately depends on chemosynthesis[1]rather than photosynthesis. This has been known since the late 70s, and actually fuels significant macroscopic life[2], not just microorganisms.
There's also deepwater life surviving off of things like marine snow[3], which is nutrient carrying detrius from the surface, or whale falls. But both of those ultimately depend on photosynthesis that happens near the surface.
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent#Biology_of_h...
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosynthesis
[2]See giant tube worm, for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riftia_pachyptila
[3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_snow