Thanks to submarines, sonar, and robotic vehicles, the international scientific community has made significant progress in studying oceanic ridge zones, where the Earth's crust is in a constant state of formation and movement due to tectonic plate separation. It is in these areas that we find a higher concentration of life on the seabed, thanks to the heat filtering through from within the Earth's crust. Submarine volcanoes allow us to encounter vast sources of life.
So far, a great biodiversity of invertebrates and microorganisms has been discovered, including worms, shrimp with eyes on their backs, and other species unique to this ecosystem.
Another phenomenon studied by these scientists are the so-called "hydrothermal vents", deep thermal springs formed when seawater filters into the subsurface and re-emerges heated through small craters on the ocean floor.
The bacterial species living near these phenomena are of particular interest to science, as they endure extreme temperatures and pressure changes without issue, making them potentially highly useful for humans in industrial processes.
However, beyond the potential future applications of these microorganisms, the grand theory driving researchers forward in their investigations is that it was likely in this very environment—over 3,000 metres deep—that life on Earth first emerged.
