SEA BOTTOM rich in natural resources and valuable Microbes
Only about 5 percent of the seabed of the planet is less studied in detail. Meanwhile, the minerals on Earth has remained small. The ocean is the bottom, which is two thirds of the planet, keeps unimaginable reserves of raw materials and dragmeta.
In this case, the mass of the unknown still pose a vast system of natural underwater areas near the bottom of the sea, fed by hot springs, which produce not only valuable minerals, but also provide habitat for unique microorganisms living at such high temperatures.
This view of the seabed made geologist and geophysicist Peter A. Rona from the Department of Geological Sciences at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at the State University of New Jersey. Ron - consultant on mineral resources of the seabed, the United Nations, he spent over 40 years in the study of the oceans. He issued a brief overview of his work in progress Resources of the seabed (Resources of the Seafloor) In the international journal Science on January 31.
One of the discoveries of the Rhone - a rich mound of metal the size of two and a half miles, located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. At least 50,000 years mound collected in a variety of combinations of metals - copper, iron, zinc, gold and silver. These ores were produced by jets of hot springs of metal-rich sea water, he said.
Before the discovery of plate tectonics on the oceans thought of as a large bath, says Ron. Now we know that the Earth#39;s crust, most of which lies on the ocean floor, broken into tectonic plates that move and their movements cause extraction of high temperatures and material from the mantle to the surface of the planet. As a result, under the ocean floor has accumulated most of the mineral world, the true scale of which we have no idea.
When the cold, dense seawater seeps through cracks in the tectonic plates kilometers deep into the oceanic crust, it reaches hot layers in the mantle. Contact of the cold water and mantle causes sharp increase in pressure of the substance on the same fracture discharged again onto the surface of the cortex to the ocean bottom, carrying a stream of hot gases and the water temperature can range from 100 to 400 degrees. So there are underwater hot springs.
When the hot flows of matter reaches the cold sea water, minerals cooled, compressed and create structures on the seabed, such domes. In addition to the formation of domes, minerals, hot water and minerals provide the environment and energy for those who love high-temperature microbes living at the bottom of the bottom, and are the most resistant life forms known to us. These microbes contain enzymes and bioactive compounds that can be used in our industry and way of life for human DNA fingerprinting by his fingerprints to create detergents, techniques for the conservation of food, ways to search for oil and gnawing at the creation of pharmaceuticals.
And when all the land-based natural resources run out, people should pay attention to the ocean floor, where are the countless storehouse of raw materials and precious metals.
Contact information:
Bill Haduch, bhaduch@ur.rutgers.edu, 732-932-7084, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
