At https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/11/scientists-discover-arctic-submarine/ … Chinese scientists used a submersible to access the eastern Gakkel Ridge, an underwater volcanic chain buried in the Arctic Ocen. The submersible reached depths of 5200 m – and took 40 dives to collect data. The ridge actually lies beneath deep ice. Oh dear, it is permanent as well. When is the Arctic sea ice going to disappear.
A Chinese ice breaker was also involved in what was sub zero waters. The Gakkel Ridge structure lies between Greenland and Siberia – hidden under a blanket of ice. It never melts. It is said to form part of a global mid ocean ridge system responsible for generating new oceanic crust within the Plate Tectonics model. However, Gakkel appears to spread at an unusually slow rate. Slower than fingernails grow. Actually, fingernails grow quite quickly. Is that an estimation rather than a measurable rate of spread? Even at such a slow rate it is said to generate geothermal energy in order to sustain ‘complex’ geological activity. Samples of rock, ocean water, and marine organisms were collected by the submersible. Scientists will analyse these we are told but it might take years. The idea is to unlock geochemical signatures and signs of biological activity. It is not clear if they found deep sea vents down there which may favour life.