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Article: Life blooms on floor of deep Siberian lake.
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- August 18, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Life blooms on floor of deep Siberian lake
A joint U.S.-Soviet research team has discovered an oasis of life around springs of heated water along the floor of Siberia's Lake Baikal, the oldest and deepest lake on Earth. Many similar "hydrothermal vent communities" thrive in the oceans, but until now scientists had never seen an example in fresh water.
Expedition members discovered the field of vents at a depth of 1,350 feet in the northern section of the 395-mile-long, crescent-shaped lake, which sits just north of Mongolia. Using a submersible to explore the field, researchers photographed a rich community of sponges, bacterial mats, snails, fish and ...