When Chilean scientist Osbal Dojoa led an expedition of 8,000 meters under the sea to a human-free area, his team discovered microbes that produced more questions than answers. January submarine expedition Atakama TrenchCreated by the encounter of two structural plates in the East Pacific.
Uroa, director of the Millennium Oceanography Institute at the University of Concepcion, told AFP:
He was joined by American explorer Victor Bescovo and Millennium Assistant Director Ruben Escribano on a 12-week trip from the north coast of Chile in a 3,650-mile trench that stretches to Ecuador.
Vescobo in 2019 Break the record Posted for the deepest submarine dive ever image And the video of the expedition, saying they observed “Extraordinary marine life.”
This video shows a “pasture” of a Horosarian (sea cucumber) grazing at the bottom of the Atakama Trench near 8,060 meters. This is the densest collection of sea cucumbers I have ever seen in a hadal trench and shows the massive life in this deep-sea ecosystem. pic.twitter.com/fDHBC3IY0j
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) January 22, 2022
By the time the expedition named Ataka Mahadal reached a depth of 100 meters, it was already in total darkness, and the crew’s view was limited to what the submarine’s powerful LED lights could capture. rice field.
Further below the darkness, a remarkable example of deep-sea creatures has emerged.
“We came across a geological structure, where we saw some unrecorded and perhaps new species of translucent sea cucumbers, such as some Horosarians and jellies,” Uroa said. ..
Together with Dr. Osvaldo Ulloa of Chile, he completed the first human descent to the bottom of the Atakama Trench. Temporary maximum depth 8,062m. Abnormal marine life observed: numerous sea cucumbers, rocks showing chemical synthesis, and the largest bacterial tendrils I have seen. pic.twitter.com/7IZEyyoAQ4
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) January 21, 2022
“We also found a bacterial community that had filaments that we didn’t even know existed in the Atakama Trench and was eating chemical and inorganic compounds,” he said. “It raised so many questions: what are those compounds? What kind of bacteria are they? We don’t know, we’ll have to go back there.”
The expedition also discovered an amphipod species, a type of crustacean closely related to shrimp. These were cleaning crustaceans, segmented worms, and translucent fish. They were found in the same place on an unmanned expedition in 2018.
Yesterday I continued diving in the Atakama Trench with Dr. Ruben Escribano of Chile. Dive about 7,200 meters near Richards Deep and witness the growth of ultra-deep coral, Elpidids Peniagone (small animals), and unknown colors (bacterial mats?). pic.twitter.com/ouM7PuCeEK
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) January 24, 2022 “Incredibly ambitious project”
The Atakama Trench, also known as the Peru-Chile Trench, is where the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate meet. It is an area where many earthquakes and tsunamis occur.
“We will place three sensors on the South American Plate and two sensors on the Nazca Plate to see how the ocean floor deforms,” Ulloa said.
So far, “these types of sensors only exist on land.”
This device allows scientists to observe where energy is stored in areas where earthquakes have not occurred, helping to predict where the next earthquake will occur.
“This is a very ambitious project,” Ulloa added, adding that it is “the largest experiment done here in Chile’s underwater geology.”
The sensor will be installed later this year.
“There is a lot of interest from the international community to install more sensors in the region to study all the processes involved in the collision of these two plates.”
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