Cold seep seafloor observatories revise the notion of‘life in the slow lane’OA

Research on the dynamics of chemosynthetic deep-sea ecosystems has followed two major directions,the studies of hydrothermal vents and cold seeps.Choosing one or the other has impacted the biological perspective of practitioners in the field:hydrothermal vent researchers are accustomed to rapid and episodic change;cold seep researchers are on the whole attuned to stability and continuity.