Video pictures relayed live back to the research ship mounting the operation show spindly chimneys up to 10m high.

BBC: Deepest undersea vents discovered by UK team

If Japan has to pull back on its buying of Treasurys to focus on its own mounting debt, that would put some pressure on interest rates.

FORBES: Fed Faces New Questions With Japan Crisis

Alice, still standing between them, was looking back and forth, catching glimpses of their majesty as their mounting anger caused them to let it slip, and getting drunker on them.

NEWYORKER: A Tiny Feast

Its once spectacular revenue growth has slowed to a crawl on stagnant sales for its core cardiac defibrillator and pacemaker products, mounting skepticism over its back-surgery devices and industrywide price pressures.

FORBES: On The Cover/Top Stories