When the first deep-sea vent creatures came into view 40 years ago through a porthole of the submersible Alvin , everyone was speechless, as no one expected to find life thousands of meters deep. This luxuriant ecosystem clustered around volcanic vents did not draw sustenance from the sunlit world, like most living things. Instead, these creatures all hosted "chemosynthetic" bacteria, redefining the limits of the types of ways animals can make a living. Since then biologists have discovered nonphotosynthetic food webs not just at volcanic vents around the world, but also at cool seafloor oil seeps, on sunken logs and animal carcasses, and in seagrass beds and mudflats. And new technologies now are enabling researchers to unravel these intricate chemosynthetic food webs. They are discovering new sources of energy, new capabilities of these bacteria, and have a greater appreciation of the complex interconnections not just among organisms in these environments, but also with organisms in the great ocean and beyond.

中文翻译：

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研究人员解析由化学而非光驱动的生态系统

40年前，当第一批深海喷口生物通过潜水器阿尔文号的舷窗出现时，所有人都哑口无言，没想到会在数千米深处发现生命。这个繁茂的生态系统聚集在火山喷口周围，并没有像大多数生物一样从阳光普照的世界中汲取营养。相反，这些生物都拥有“化学合成”细菌，重新定义了动物谋生方式的极限。从那时起，生物学家不仅在世界各地的火山口发现了非光合食物网，还在凉爽的海底石油渗漏处、沉没的原木和动物尸体上以及海草床和泥滩中发现了非光合食物网。现在，新技术使研究人员能够解开这些复杂的化学合成食物网。他们正在发现新的能源，