Hydrothermal chimneys (IMAGE)

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Hydrothermal chimneys

Caption

Looking down on tall stalagmite-like hydrothermal chimneys from extensive mineral deposits at the Aurora hydrothermal field, Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Ocean. Pale cream-colored “blobs” near the tops of some chimneys represent geothermally-fueled microbial life of a kind that could exist on Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

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Photo credit: ©Alfred Wegener Institute

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