A groundbreaking discovery has been made by scientists exploring the Earth’s subsurface, revealing a mysterious ecosystem that has left experts astounded. The revelation came as a result of research conducted by the Deep Carbon Observatory, focusing on the exploration of 'deep life' beneath the Earth’s crust.
During their investigation, the team unearthed a significant amount of carbon and identified the presence of 'barely living zombie bacteria', a finding that took the scientific community by surprise. The researchers presented their findings at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting in 2018, detailing their drilling efforts ranging from 2.5km to 5km into the seafloor across various continents and seas.
By analyzing samples collected from continental mines and boreholes exceeding 5 km in depth, the experts managed to construct models of the biosphere residing beneath the Earth’s surface. This hidden biosphere, often referred to as a 'subterranean Galapagos', predominantly consists of two types of microbes – bacteria and archaea. It is estimated to span an area of approximately two to 2.3 billion cubic km, containing a staggering 23 billion tonnes of organisms, surpassing the combined volume of all the world’s oceans.
One of the researchers remarked on the unexpected richness of life below ground, stating that a decade ago, such extensive inhabitation of subsurface rocks was unimaginable. The discovery of 'microbial dark matter', comprising populations of cells that defy conventional lab cultivation due to slow replication rates or challenging growth conditions, further underscored the resilience and adaptability of these subterranean organisms.
Despite the harsh conditions characterized by darkness and nutrient scarcity, an astonishing 70% of the Earth’s bacteria and archaea thrive in these extreme environments, shedding light on the remarkable diversity and abundance of life forms existing beneath our feet.
