Atlantis II Deep

{{Short description|Deep sea basin in the Red Sea}}

The Atlantis II Deep is a deep sea submarine basin located in the Red Sea, notable for containing hot brines. {{Cite web|title=Atlantis II Deep {{!}} basin, Red Sea|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Atlantis-II-Deep|access-date=2021-05-10|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}} It has been observed to experience a gradual temperature increase over the past 50 years, 56°C to 68°C, influencing the microbial communities and biochemical processes within its brine waters. This has been studied to understand the shifts in microbial communities, their metabolic pathways, and the consumption of hydrothermally generated aromatic compounds.{{Cite journal |last=Wang |first=Yong |last2=Yang |first2=Jiangke |last3=Lee |first3=On On |last4=Dash |first4=Swagatika |last5=Lau |first5=Stanley C. K. |last6=Al-Suwailem |first6=Abdulaziz |last7=Wong |first7=Tim Y. H. |last8=Danchin |first8=Antoine |last9=Qian |first9=Pei-Yuan |date=2011 |title=Hydrothermally generated aromatic compounds are consumed by bacteria colonizing in Atlantis II Deep of the Red Sea |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/ismej201142 |journal=The ISME Journal |language=en |volume=5 |issue=10 |pages=1652–1659 |doi=10.1038/ismej.2011.42 |issn=1751-7370 |via=ISME|pmc=3176515 }}

Atlantis II Deep holds the largest known hydrothermal ore deposit on the seabed. {{Cite journal|last=GAZZAZ|first=MOHAMMAD|last2=PINGTAN|first2=LI|last3=NAWAB|first3=ZOHAIR|date=1989|title=Mineralogy of Metalliferous Sediments from Atlantis II Deep -Red Sea|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4197/ear.2-1.3|journal=Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Earth Sciences|volume=2|issue=1|pages=25–36|doi=10.4197/ear.2-1.3|issn=1012-8832|url-access=subscription}} It contains amounts of copper, cobalt, and zinc that exceed normal seawater traces by around 1000 times. The upper 33 feet of the basin holds a relatively small but rich deposit of valuable metals.