On Earth, sea-floor spreading is fuelled by molten rock upwelling from deep inside the Earth.

BBC: Enceladus has 'spreading surface'

Over the weekend, it was also reported that Japanese experts have found a large deposit of rare earth minerals on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.

FORBES: A New Trend for Rare Earth Stocks?

The high prices fetched for copper, gold and rare-earth minerals are leading to a surge in interest in mining the ocean floor.

BBC: UK Seabed Resources joins deep-ocean mineral-mining rush

These organisms, which have fundamentally different metabolisms to normal microbes, are found in hydrothermal vents on the deep-ocean floor and in rocks and springs hundreds of metres below the surface of the Earth.

BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Antarctica's resources 'at risk'

Last year, he hired undersea experts to scan the ocean floor to find the massive engines that propelled the Apollo 11's space capsule from Earth to outer space.

WSJ: What Makes Jeff Bezos Tick? A $42 Million Clock, for Starters