However, a new discovery made 3,000 metres deep off the coast of Svalbard, in Norway, has the scientists all excited.
The underwater mountain range is supposedly home to a field of hydrothermal vents.
Jøtul, the giants in Norse mythology, is the name given to the underwater hydrothermal vent field.
Why are hydrothermal vents important?
Hydrothermal vents exist at depths in the ocean where light doesn't reach and it is always dark and cold.
A mountain range that exists deep within the ocean near the Arctic Circle has thrown up a surprise for scientists studying the area. Known as the Knipovich Ridge, the area wasn't thought to be of much importance. However, a new discovery made 3,000 metres deep off the coast of Svalbard, in Norway, has the scientists all excited. The underwater mountain range is supposedly home to a field of hydrothermal vents. The entire field is nearly a kilometre in length and 200 metres wide and has been named after a Norse mythology creature.
Jøtul, the giants in Norse mythology, is the name given to the underwater hydrothermal vent field. Jøtul are giants that live under the mountains in Norse mythology.
Explaining how the system works, marine geologist Gerhard Bohrmann, University of Bremen in Germany, says, "Water penetrates into the ocean floor where it is heated by magma. The overheated water then rises back to the sea floor through cracks and fissures."
"On its way up the fluid becomes enriched in minerals and materials dissolved out of the oceanic crustal rocks. These fluids often seep out again at the sea floor through tube-like chimneys called black smokers, where metal-rich minerals are then precipitated."
Why are hydrothermal vents important?
Hydrothermal vents exist at depths in the ocean where light doesn't reach and it is always dark and cold. Hydrothermal vents in such regions release minerals into the water which create an environment conducive to life which thrives on chemosynthesis, under which chemical reactions are harnessed for energy instead of sunlight, as is the case with photosynthesis.
Such a scene proves how much this undersea thrives than actually believed. One of the reasons such a discovery is important is because it holds clues about how other worlds, planets and moons, where the conditions are very different from Earth, might be able to host life.
The Jøtul Field sits on a slow-spreading ridge, a boundary between two tectonic plates. Valleys and ridges are continuously forming here as these plates are slowly moving away from each other.
(With inputs from agencies)
