National Natural Science Foundation of China

Both hydrothermal vents and cold seeps are the important pathways of transfer and exchange of materials and energies between lithosphere and exosphere (biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere). Their discoveries of these two extreme environments have made the study of the material cycle between the earth’s spheres more accurate. Recently, a series of investigations show that in some special areas, hydrothermal vents and cold seeps are not isolated from each other rather have some interaction or coupling relationship in tectonic geology, biological ecology and element cycle. Taking the Okinawa Trough in the Western Pacific Ocean as target, based on the previous discoveries, this study uses geophysical comprehensive processing analysis, visual observation, seabed shallow drilling, side-scan sonar and other means of investigation to take biological, mineral, fluid sampling and laboratory research to study the structural development characteristics and geomorphology of the symbiotic zone of the hydrothermal-cold seep system in this area. The evolution of seabed fluid flows, biological communities and mineral elements are analyzed to study the tectonic-geological interaction between adjacent hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, establish the coupling model between the two systems in terms of matter and energy, and reveal their communication and exchange between biological ecology in the same area. Our goal is to establish a basin-scale interaction model of hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, evaluate the resource effects, and deepen the understanding of the regularity of the regional flow-solid interaction in this extreme environment of the Western Pacific Ocean.

Lin G, Lu J*, et al. Adaptation to the deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps: Insights from the transcriptomes of deep-sea mussel in both environments. in prep.

The geographical similarity of the cold spring-hydrothermal system supports its biological and ecological similarity. By revealing the mechanism of organisms adapting to extreme environments, exploring the exchange and integration of biological ecology between cold spring and hydrothermal systems, establishing a model of material transport and circulation between cold spring and hydrothermal systems, and evaluating the resource effects of the interaction of two extreme systems in the same unit. This study takes deep sea mussels taken from adjacent cold spring and hydrothermal ecosystems as research objects, analyzes gene expression patterns and gill symbiosis mechanisms of different tissues, and explains the differences in biological adaptation regulation mechanisms in different ecosystems.

冷泉-热液系统地理位置相似性支持其生物生态相似性。通过揭示生物适应极端环境的机理，探索冷泉和热液系统生物生态间交流融合，建立冷泉-热液系统间物质输送和循环模式，评估同一单元两个极端系统相互作用的资源效应。 本研究以取自相邻冷泉和热液生态系统的深海贻贝为研究对象，分析其不同组织的基因表达模式及鳃共生机制，阐释不同生态系统下生物适应调控机制的差异。