Creatures living on violent undersea volcano

[Owlscrying]

An active underwater volcano which spews torrents of lava and noxious gas has become a surprising hotspot for sea critters, scientists revealed today.

Studying them may provide answers to how sea life could adapt to the world's increasingly acidic oceans, they said.

The unique volcano near the island of Guam erupts so frequently that it has built a new cone 131ft high and 984ft wide in just three years.

But despite the tumultuous conditions a large number of creatures including shrimp, crab, limpets and barnacles, have thrived at the volcano called NW Rota-1.

NW Rota-1 provides a one-of-a-kind natural laboratory for the investigation of undersea volcanic activity and its relation to chemical-based ecosystems at hydrothermal vents, where life on Earth may have originated.

Part of the evidence that the volcano is in a constant state of eruption comes from an underwater microphone - or hydrophone - that was deployed a year ago at NW Rota-1 by OSU geologist Bob Dziak.

The hydrophone 'listened' for the sounds of volcanic activity. Another hydrophone and other instruments will monitor the volcano in the coming year.

Source / Pic