Tomorrow Today
Exploring the Deep – Black Smokers and Hot Springs (5)
Deep sea exploration is viewed by marine scientists as one of the greatest scientific challenges of the future. This gigantic area covers two thirds of the earth’s surface. In collaboration with the MARUM Research Center in Bremen, Tomorrow Today's five part series takes a fascinating look at the work of marine researchers.
Geologist Wolfgang Bach’s research area is one of the most remarkable structures in the deep sea. The MARUM scientist, who is also a professor at Bremen University studies the hydrothermal vents called "black smokers." Some of these chimney-like hot water springs on the sea bed are formed in the mid-Atlantic, in an area known as the Logatchev Field where tectonic plates are moving apart and a new ocean floor is emerging from below. How the black smokers come into being, and what enables molluscs, shrimp and crabs to exist in their chemically aggressive environment are just two of the questions that Wolfgang Bach wants to answer. In this film, he shows Tomorrow Today stunning images from – as he puts it – "the oases in the desert of the ocean floor."
