'Hell on Earth' found under ocean
A British scientific expedition says it has discovered the world's deepest known underwater volcanic vent off the Cayman Islands.
Experts aboard the RRS James Cook say they found the vent 5km beneath the surface of the Caribbean in an area known as the Cayman Trough, a gap in the ocean's bottom that served as the setting for James Cameron's underwater thriller "The Abyss."
The vent's depth and isolation has raised hopes that new and exotic forms of life may be found basking in the warmth of the superheated mineral-rich water.
Marine geophysicist Maya Tolstoy said Monday that the new discovery is nearly 1km deeper than the next-deepest vent.
They discovered slender spires made of copper and iron ores.
The water being pumped out from of the so-called "black smokers" is hot enough to melt lead.
The area is almost half a mile deeper than has ever been seen before and, with extremely high water pressure, it is tantamount to a "hell on Earth".
