Using volcanoes as swimming pools? The most heat-resistant animals on earth

As we all know, most of the creatures on Earth find it difficult to survive in extreme environments, such as high temperatures and extreme cold. However, nature is so vast that there are still some magical exceptions in many places. For example, volcanoes can be used as swimming pools for animals. The reason for this phenomenon even puzzles scientists.

Amazing species living in volcanoes

In fact, the volcano itself is also one of the wonders of nature. It is mainly formed by the eruption of magma from underground due to the movement of the earth's crust. These molten magmas are usually extremely hot and are a "forbidden area" that most creatures avoid. However, there is a kind of animal that enjoys this high temperature environment very much.

It is the Pompeii worm, which mainly lives near submarine volcanoes. It is covered with fur and is a mollusk that can survive and reproduce in high temperature environments. It is known as the most heat-resistant species on earth.

Pompeii worms mostly gather in the crustal activity zones, which are often surrounded by many submarine craters, and the high-temperature hot spring zones here can be said to be their breeding grounds.

You know, the temperature in the high-temperature hot spring zone can reach as high as 400 degrees. Being able to survive in such an environment is indeed a miracle in the biological world.

How did the Pompeii worm form?

Volcanoes are not the only kind that people can see on the surface. Some are mainly distributed at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Some scientists, based on the understanding that life originated in the ocean, pointed out that the reason why Pompeii worms can appear in places like volcanoes and survive is because volcanic gases can be evaporated under the action of high temperature and high pressure.

For example, common carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, which react with magma minerals to produce these organic substances.

Through the analysis of evolutionary biology and comparative genomics, scientists compared the conserved and differential sequences contained in the genomes of bacteria and eukaryotes to build a tree of life.

The results showed that archaea are a special life form between eukaryotes and prokaryotic bacteria, and they can survive in extremely high temperatures or in places with strong acids and alkalis.

If the outer layer of magma ejected by the volcano encounters lower temperature sea water, it will slowly begin to solidify. At the same time, in the process of high heat and gas ejection, it will also be affected by the low temperature, causing the temperature to continue to rise, and eventually form a visible underwater chimney.

Later, researchers saw a large number of archaea near the submarine chimneys. In fact, submarine chimneys can be divided into two types: one is the white chimney, whose temperature is usually between 100 and 300 degrees, and its composition is sulfate minerals and silica;

The other is the black chimney, which has a temperature between 300 and 400 degrees. Its main components are pyrrhotite, pyrite and sphalerite, as well as an iron sulfide, which is particularly dark in color and will gradually turn black after accumulation.

The Black Smoker was discovered in the late 19th century when the USS Alvin deep-sea submarine accidentally discovered it during a dive and also found other life communities in the surrounding area, such as worms and crabs.

This discovery has attracted widespread attention from many scientists because in addition to the special environment of high temperature and high pressure, the water deep in the seabed also contains many harmful substances, such as sulfur, mercury, etc., which are all very toxic and acidic.

Among them, the Pompeii worm is the most eye-catching. It is a creature that is directly rooted in the surface of the chimney stone pillars and lives in a place similar to a thin and long tube. It usually chooses to bury its body inside the tube, but it will also expose a part of it. Because of its bright red and white colors, it is also easy to attract attention.

At first scientists did not think it was a living creature, but soon they captured footage of the Pompeii worm slowly crawling out and wandering around.

According to observations, the Pompeii worm is about 6-8 cm long and its main color is red. The places where it roams are almost all high-temperature areas, with temperatures reaching over 100 degrees. If other creatures were in such an environment, they might have been cooked, but they swim very leisurely.

In order to solve this mystery, the United States once again sent the Alvin into the sea in 1995, hoping to detect the specific temperature around the Pompeii worm.

After careful measurement with a special thermometer, it was found that the temperature at the bottom of the tube where they live is between 62 and 74 degrees, and the highest is 81 degrees. The temperature at the mouth of the tube is between 20 and 24 degrees, so there is a temperature difference of about 40 to 50 degrees in its home.

So why can Pompeii worms tolerate high temperatures so well? Scientists have conducted many explorations and studies on this, and even tried to capture a few and bring them to the laboratory for in-depth research, but in the end they found that Pompeii worms cannot leave the seawater, and most of them died before entering the laboratory, and scientists cannot explain why.

Speculations about the Pompeii worm

Scientists have put forward two hypotheses for this. The first is that it is due to the collagen contained in Pompeii worms, and the second is due to the influence of the tubes they live in or the hair growing on their bodies.

After careful measurements, scientists found that the amount of collagen contained in Pompeii worms may be the main reason for their resistance to high temperatures, because this collagen can remain stable in high temperature environments.

At the same time, the hair on its body is to some extent equivalent to "heat-insulating clothing", which can protect the body, and the hair also belongs to bacteria that coexist with the insect body.

The bacteria are generally distributed behind the Pompeii worm. The Pompeii worm can use the bacterial secretions to complete the self-protection process, which can not only help itself isolate from high temperatures, but also filter out toxic substances around the underwater chimneys.

Correspondingly, Pompeii worms also provide bacteria with the nutrients necessary for survival, thus ensuring that there is always sufficient water around the bacteria.

Conclusion:

It is not difficult to see that nature is full of wonders. Even in a high-temperature environment like a volcano, there are still creatures that can live freely. There are still many unknown areas in nature waiting for us to explore. I believe that with the development of the times and the advancement of science and technology, the answers to those questions that confuse us will eventually be found.

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