Why in news?

Indian oceanographers have achieved a historic feat by capturing an image of an active hydrothermal vent located 4,500 meters below the Indian Ocean.

This discovery, made under the Ministry of Earth Sciences' Rs 4,000-crore Deep Ocean Mission, holds immense potential for mineral exploration.

What’s in today’s article?

• Deep Ocean Mission (DOM)
• What Are Hydrothermal Vents?
• Imaging of underwater hot spring

Deep Ocean Mission (DOM)

• About
  • DOM is a program to explore the deep ocean and develop technologies to use its resource.
  • The mission, estimated at Rs. 4,077 crore over five years, will be implemented in phases.
    • The first phase (2021-2024) has an allocation of Rs. 2,823.4 crore.
  • This mission-mode project supports India's Blue Economy initiatives, with MoES serving as the nodal ministry to coordinate this multi-institutional effort.
• Goal
  • To develop technologies to use the ocean's living and non-living resources, and to improve understanding of the ocean's role in climate change 
• Components
  • The mission has six main components, including:
    • Manned submersible: A submersible to carry three people to depths of 6,000 meters, equipped with scientific tools and sensors 
    • Ocean climate change advisory services: To develop models and observations to understand and predict climate variables 
    • Deep-sea biodiversity: To study the flora and fauna of the deep sea, including microbes, and to develop ways to use the ocean's bio-resources sustainably 
    • Deep ocean survey and exploration: To identify potential sites for multi-metal hydrothermal sulfide mineralization in the Indian Ocean 
    • Energy and freshwater: To develop ways to use the ocean for energy and freshwater 
    • Advanced marine station: To establish a station for ocean biology 
• Lead agencies
  • The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Department of Space (DoS/ISRO), the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), and other organizations.

What Are Hydrothermal Vents?

• Hydrothermal vents are underwater springs found near tectonic plate boundaries.
• They occur when cold water at the seabed (around 2°C) interacts with magma in tectonically active regions, heating up to 370°C.
• This superhot water emerges as plumes, rich in minerals and gases, through vent chimneys and fissures.

Imaging of underwater hot spring

• The Discovery Process
  • Survey History
    • The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) in Goa has been conducting geophysical surveys in the Central and Southern Indian Ocean Ridges since 2012 to locate hydrothermal vents.
  • Recent Campaign
    • In April 2024, NCPOR and the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) conducted high-resolution imaging along the Central Indian Ridge, narrowing their search using an automatic underwater vehicle (AUV).
• Historic Image captured
  • The Indian AUV launched from the research vessel Sagar Nidhi captured a high-resolution image of the vent during a 12-15 hour observation campaign.
• Significance
  • Mineral-Rich Deposits
    • Hydrothermal vents are significant due to their deposits of valuable minerals and metals.
    • These are: Copper, Zinc, Gold, Silver, Platinum, Iron, Cobalt, Nickel etc.
    • These deposits can remain active for hundreds to thousands of years, making them economically and scientifically vital.
  • Biological Insights
    • Hydrothermal vents support unique ecosystems.
    • Chemosynthetic organisms thrive by utilizing chemicals enriched with minerals and metals, similar to how plants use sunlight for photosynthesis.
      • Chemosynthetic organisms are organisms that use chemical reactions to create food, rather than sunlight, and include bacteria and archaea.
  • Significance for India's Deep Ocean Mission
    • This discovery boosts India's Deep Ocean Mission, especially the Samudrayaan initiative, focusing on mineral exploration.
    • The findings confirm earlier surveys and open new opportunities for understanding deep-sea ecosystems and resource potential.
• India as a leading player in deep-sea exploration
  • This milestone positions India as a leading player in deep-sea exploration, with promising implications for scientific and economic advancements.
• Future Exploration Plans
  • NCPOR plans to intensify exploration through TV-guided grab sampling to study the economic and biological potential of these vents further.