By Femi Akinola
It was described as an Atlantis-style ‘Lost City’ in the North Atlantic Ocean. It was located just west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge mountain range and hundreds of metres below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.
Discovered in 2000, the ‘Lost City’ is thought to be a window into how different ecosystems exist in the universe, including on other planets.
Lost City is an incredible city featuring monoliths stretching over 200 feet. Researchers disclosed that anyone who reaches down there to see the city will see ‘towers’ covered in calcite growths.
Researchers at the University of Washington, United States, hinted that the ‘Lost City’ structures have clusters of delicate, multi-pronged carbonate growths extending outward like upturned hands’ fingers.
According to the researchers, snails, crustaceans, and microbial communities all call the Lost City home owing to its unique environment. Crabs, shrimp, and eels have also been spotted lurking there, but they are much more rare.
Created in a ‘hydrothermal field, ‘ it disperses hydrogen, methane, and other dissolved gases into the surrounding water, resulting in the bizarre, ‘tower-like’ structures that make up the city.
Equally unusual is that the hydrocarbons produced by the vents in the hydrothermal field were not created in the typical way using sunlight or carbon dioxide but rather through chemical reactions on the ocean floor.
Microbiologist William Brazelton told the Smithsonian in 2018: ”This is an example of a type of ecosystem that could be active on Enceladus or Europa right this second.”
Brazelton’s words, referring to the planets Saturn and Jupiter, show how rare an infrastructure like this is. It’s become a fascination for many, yet it could be easily destroyed.
People have been calling for the Lost City to be listed as a World Heritage site to protect it, but the city has yet to be granted this status.
In basic terms, this means nothing can stop it from being destroyed. With mining happening around the thermal field in Poland, the Lost City could come dangerously close to being wiped out.