Would a food chain based on bacteria in hot springs be able to support a human population?

I'm designing a city built to take advantage of valuable mineral deposits in a large polar desert. The city is built around a Yellowstone-esque region of hot springs and geysers, where underground ice is melted by magma close to the surface. Water is easy; food is less so.

• Could chemosynthetic bacteria in hot springs produce energy that a human population could use?
• How would humans exploit that energy - directly eating the bacteria, or using microbivores as an intermediate step?
• If humans are eating the bacteria directly, what kind of preparation would they need?

I'll also be implementing other food sources, like rooftop gardens and trading for food, but I want to have a broad range of food for this city.

posted about 8 years ago

Werrf‭

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