Cayman Trough

The BBC’s Science Editor, David Shukman, is aboard the Royal Research Ship James Cook as scientists from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, explore the deepest hydrothermal vents yet discovered on the planet, in the Cayman Trough beneath the Caribbean Sea.

Scientists have revealed details of the world's most extreme deep-sea volcanic vents, five kilometres down in a rift in the Caribbean seafloor.

The undersea hot springs, which lie 0.8 kilometres deeper than any seen before, may be hotter than 450°C and are shooting a jet of mineral-laden water more than a kilometre into the ocean above.