What does this mother lode of plates add up to?
ANSWER TO LAST WEEK’S SATURDAY SCIENCE STUMPER:
The so-called “Lost Cities” at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean are limestone towers formed by deposits from alkaline hydrothermal vents — underwater geysers. NASA researchers propose that this might be the kind of place where life on Earth first arose and that other oceanic worlds, like Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus might have life originating from the same heat energy and chemical reactions. One building block of life plentiful around the vents is acetate, which is a vinegar-like liquid from which more complex compounds can be formed.