Not the GOM but sure interresting,
a clear signal that the earths crust is changing :



New Deep-Sea Hot Springs Discovered in Atlantic: Hydrothermal Vents May Contribute More to Oceans' Thermal Budget
ScienceDaily (Oct. 9, 2010) —
[link to www.sciencedaily.com]

Scientists from the MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen on board the German research vessel Meteor have discovered a new hydrothermal vent 500 kilometres south-west of the Azores.

snips:
The vent with chimneys as high as one meter and fluids with temperatures up to 300 degrees Celsius was found at one thousand metres water depth in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The discovery of the new deep-sea vent is remarkable because the area in which it was found has been intensively studied during previous research cruises.

The scientists saw a plume of gas bubbles in the water column at a site about 5 kilometers away from the known large vent field Menez Gwen that they were working on. ...

... the scientists have been intensively searching the water column with the multibeam echosounder. To their astonishment, they have already found at least five other sites with gas plumes. Some even lie outside the volcanically active spreading zone in areas where hydrothermal activity was previously not assumed to occur

"One of the questions that the team would like to answer is why the hydrothermal sources in this area emit so much methane -- a very potent greenhouse gas," says chief scientist Nicole Dubilier, ... "Another important focus of the research is the deep-sea mussels that live at the hydrothermal vents and host symbiotic bacteria in their gills. The mussels obtain their nutrition from these bacteria."


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From the "Related Stories" section at that page:
(older article, but relevant)


Genetic Adaptations Are Key To Microbe's Survival In Challenging Environment
ScienceDaily (Feb. 7, 2009)
[link to www.sciencedaily.com]

snip:
The gene's presence in N. profundicola suggests that it might play a role in the bacterium's ability to survive rapid and frequent temperature fluctuations in its environment.

The researchers also uncovered further adaptations to the vent environment, including genes necessary for growth and sensing environmental conditions, and a new route for nitrate assimilation related to how other bacteria use ammonia as an energy source.

These results help to explain how microbes survive near deep-sea hydrothermal vents, where conditions are thought to resemble those found on early Earth, as described in the study. Improved understanding of microbes living in these conditions may aid our understanding of how life evolved here


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Newer article sais:
Genetic Adaptations Key To Extreme Microbe's Survival In Challenging Environment
ScienceDaily (Feb. 17, 2009) [link to www.sciencedaily.com]

snip:
These results help to explain how microbes survive near the vents, where conditions are thought to resemble those found on early Earth. Nautilia profundicola contains all the genes necessary for life in conditions widely believed to mimic those in our planet's early biosphere and could aid in understanding of how life evolved.

"It will be an important model system," Campbell said, "for understanding early microbial life on Earth."
Quoting: Krispy71



WoooHooo! Maybe Europe will not freeze this winter after all!..Great find, as always, MzK! Love me some Max Planck Institute! What I can't figure out is:
Why are they so surprised about the ejaculations of the mid-Atlantic ridge?? Magma, etc has been coming up there for eons! I would expect that they would actually look for thermal plumes there. Hmmmm. Justification for research funding, or just your run of the mill perception management?
Thanks, MzK!
edit to add> I was looking at the Loop Current and Gulf Stream yesterday, and it doesn't look that sick, I must say. Maybe that was misinterpreted.