At the bottom of the sea floor, an ancient and almost alien environment is home to organisms who have never seen the sun. Instead, they survive off the belching sulfur of deep-sea hydrothermal vents, geologic formations where magma heats water and spews aquatic smoke. Chemosynthetic bacteria have evolved to take advantage of those chemicals and have been thriving in these strange biomes for billions of years. Some of the earliest fossils on record from such microorganisms date back 4.2 billion years.

This specimen is a geologic fragment of a prehistoric Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent that was recovered from Kidd Creek Mine in Ontario, Canada. It first appeared in the Fifth Edition of the Mini Museum and we're excited to bring it to the shop as a solo specimen. The material was donated by Glencore Canada's Kidd Operations. We are greatly indebted to Chief Geologist Peter Calloway's assistance in procuring this specimen.

You can also check out a special MM5 pin depicting this material here!