Life in the ‘Hot Soup’ 

Deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, scientists recently uncovered a colossal hydrothermal system that may even hold clues to the origins of life itself. 

Sprawling across 4.3 square miles northeast of Papua New Guinea, Chinese researchers discovered the Kunlun hydrothermal field, a massive undersea system of craters and dolomite walls that rivals anything previously seen. 

The field is marked by more than 20 giant depressions, some nearly a mile wide and more than 320 feet deep, formed through explosive eruptions and long-term hydrothermal circulation. 

It dwarfs the Atlantic Ocean’s famed “Lost City” vent system – once considered the largest of its kind – and offers a rare look at how Earth’s geology can generate both hydrogen and habitable conditions in the abyss. 

“The Kunlun system is unique not just because of the exceptionally high hydrogen flux we observed, but also because of its scale and geological setting,” Weidong Sun, marine geochemist and co-author of the new study, explained in a statement.  

Unlike the “black smoker” vents that gush scalding water, Kunlun releases hydrogen-rich fluids at temperatures below 104 degrees Fahrenheit. These mild conditions, combined with its carbonate-rich terrain, create an environment that resembles the alkaline “hot soups” thought to have supported Earth’s earliest microbial life billions of years ago.  

“Compared to the carbonate towers formed in the Lost City, these pipes/pits provide a more sustained and stable evolutionary time frame, offering a potentially more suitable environment for the evolution of early life,” the team wrote in their paper, as reported by ScienceAlert. 

Using a crewed submersible and advanced seafloor spectroscopy, scientists measured molecular hydrogen concentrations and estimated that the system contributes up to eight percent of the global abiotic hydrogen output from all submarine sources – a huge share for a single site. 

“What’s particularly fascinating is the ecological potential,” Sun noted. “We observed diverse deep-sea life thriving in this environment, including shrimp, squat lobsters, anemones, and tubeworms – species that may rely on hydrogen-driven chemosynthesis.” 

Beyond its scientific value, researchers say Kunlun may also represent an “ideal target” for tapping deep-sea hydrogen as a potential energy source.