More recently, however, microbial life
found around hydrothermal vent ecosystems (i.e., the «Lost City» found in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is cooler than those found at «black smokers») indicate that Carbon - 13 is not selected against Carbon - 12 in hydrogen - rich environments where microbial life is starved of carbon, essentially in the form of carbon dioxide (Alexander S. Bradley, Scientific American, December 2009: pp. 62 - 67).