Photo: Highest Microbial Life Found Around Volcanic Vents

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Two patches of white ice shine like eyes near the top of the Socompa volcano between Argentina and Chile.

Vents near the rim of Socompa spew water, carbon dioxide, and methane that support surprisingly diverse communities of microbes, thought to be the highest such life-forms known, researchers announced in February 2009.

Photograph courtesy Steve Schmidt

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