A leak of hot liquid has been found on the ocean floor near the west coast of the United States. In this respect informs University of Washington.
The discovery was made by the crew of the research vessel RV Thomas G. Thompson, whose expedition was delayed longer than expected due to weather conditions. 80 kilometers off the Oregon coast, the ship’s sonar showed unexpected bubbles about a kilometer below the ocean’s surface. Further research using an underwater robot showed that the bubbles are only a minor component of the hot, chemically distinct liquid flowing from the sediment. The place was called the “Pythian oasis”.
“They saw not just methane bubbles, but water coming out of the seafloor like a fire hose. “This is something I have never seen and, as far as I know, has never been observed before,” said Evan Solomon, one of the authors of the research paper.
Further research showed that the fluid leaving the seafloor was 9 degrees Celsius warmer than the surrounding seawater. Calculations show that the liquid comes directly from the subduction zone of Cascadia, where the temperature ranges from 150 to 250 degrees. The seepage comes from a fault zone formed by the sliding of tectonic plates.